A Northampton songwriter’s music is getting new life — almost two decades after her death.
When musician Andrea Coller died due to complications from Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 29 on April 30, 2008, she left behind a rare artifact: a CD of acoustic demos. Nearly 20 years later, Easthampton producer Bill Michalski has spent two and a half years bringing those tracks to life.
Michalski released the album, called “Death & Sex in Plain Language,” on May 1 — by coincidence, one day after the 18th anniversary of her death.
“It wasn’t really deliberate, but at the same time, it does seem kind of poetic,” Michalski said.
Michalski and Coller first crossed paths in 2007 at a writing workshop led by folk-rock musician Nerissa Nields. Shortly after, Coller sent him a CD labeled “Top Secret Demos,” a collection featuring 13 original songs and one cover.
Before Coller’s death, Michalski had known her for only 14 months. Yet, there was an undeniable quality to her songwriting that resonated with him and ultimately drove him to finish the project.
“At the time, when I had an in-car CD player and just popped that in, I’m like, ‘Ohh, I can hear this,’” Michalski said, noting that the album had robust pop tracks that leaned naturally toward folk-pop. The recordings felt “very raw,” anchored by smoky vocals on a record that was, as he put it, “not too long, just the perfect length.”
“I took to it immediately,” he said.
Before diving into production, Michalski sought permission from Coller’s inner circle — a group that conveniently included many of his own friends. He kept them deeply involved in the creative journey, sharing in-progress mixes as the tracks evolved.
“Once that happened, I did have an intuitive sense that … she would like where my gut was in terms of how to add to these” and that it “would be along the lines of what she would have wanted,” he said.
“I always assume people are going to ask, ‘Why did you wait so long to do it?’” he added. “And I guess I don’t really know the answer. I’m just glad that I did.”
When the Gazette visited Michalski’s Easthampton home, the producer offered a behind-the-scenes listen from his “studio” — which is actually a bird-themed guest bedroom. Cueing up the track “Silver Lining” on his desktop computer, he played the original acoustic demo followed by his fully arranged version. The update features 34 tracks, or separate audio layers inside the production software Logic Pro.
“It’s possible I could have been more efficient about that,” Michalski laughed. His additions included backing vocals, bass guitar, accordion, fiddle, lap steel guitar, and a full drum kit accented by a shaker and tambourine.
“There are a few songs that are a lot simpler, and then there are even a few that are more complicated,” he said. Ultimately, the process entailed trusting his instinct for what the song needed.
In 2007, Coller won a nationwide nonfiction essay contest sponsored by Glamour magazine for “I Want My Life Back,” an account of her experience with cancer. Writer Erin Zammett Ruddy also interviewed her in March 2008. Although Coller found out she won the contest before she died, she never had the opportunity to see her essay in print.
“I bought this copy,” Michalski said, holding up the June 2008 issue of Glamour, in which Coller’s essay was printed, “at the airport on my way to her funeral.”
Michalski said that in the process of making the album, he became “an Andrea Coller historian.” Beyond her music, he remembers her as a talented writer and a funny and vivacious person who “really dressed with flair.”
“She definitely had a feisty [attitude of], ‘I’m fighting cancer, I’m taking it head-on, and I’m not going to let it get me down and I’m going to live my life to the fullest while I have it to live,’ and I do think that spirit comes across,” Michalski said.
When asked what he would say to Coller if she were still alive, Michalski replied, “I would say, ‘Damn, you wrote 13 fantastic songs, and I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to hopefully elevate them and get them out into the world as much as I can, so that as many people as possible get a chance to hear it.”
For more information about Andrea Coller or to listen to her music, visit andreacoller.com.
