Always interested in music, from early piano lessons, I was inspired to write lyrics for my Duo Ex Machina series and Kitty and Cadaver (Clan Destine Press) especially since it’s not really feasible to use existing music and lyrics for these, due to copyright restrictions. And if I was going to write books about musicians, I really needed to give them some songs to sing.
I wrote lyrics initially, and made up simple melodies so that they had the rhythm of songs and not simply poems.
And then I met Josh King, my neighbour and a musician and music producer, and we decided to work together to see what could be done with my words and those basic melodies.
In partnership with Josh and some of the singers he knew (and, for a later song, my bagpiping brother, Richard Harris) we developed a numbber of songs from from Kitty and Cadaver, the Duo Ex Machina series, and a few songs inspired by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (mostly modern interpretations sung from John’s perspective).
Our songs are released across numerous music platforms under the name ‘Duo Ex Machina’ – check the songs out on our Duo Ex Machina YouTube channel.
Otherwise, you can find Duo Ex Machina songs on:
Melbourne band, Bronze, headed by Jess Harris, has also collaborated with me to arrange and perform songs from Kitty and Cadaver, including performing an unplugged set of six songs at the 2019 launch of the novel. To date Bronze has recorded Rain Song and Down.
| Bite Me Feat. Jenni Powell | Bite Me on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
|---|---|---|
| Eclipse | Eclipse on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Honour featuring Richard Harris on bagpipes and Josh King on vocals. | Illuminated on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Listening | Listening on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Sink or Swim featuring Ebony Gray | Sink or Swim on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Illuminated (inspired by John Watson!) | Illuminated on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Copper Beaches (inspired by John Watson!) | Copper Beaches on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Shotgun Breakup Feat. Jenni Powell & Loic Mamet | Shotgun Breakup on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Hymn/Him feat. Loic Mamet | Hymn/Him on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| High Feat. Jenni Powell | High on YouTube | Duo Ex Machina via Songcast |
| Down | Down on Spotify | Bronze |
| Rain Song | Rain Song on Spotify | Bronze |
| Gretel’s Lullaby | Live performance on YouTube | Bronze |
| Song for the Dead | Live performance on YouTube | Bronze |
| Banishing the Bones | Live performance on YouTube | Bronze |