Review Fix Exclusive: H. Kink’s Lisa Rieffel Talks Origin, Goals And More

Review Fix chats with H. Kink’s Lisa Rieffel, who discusses the band’s origin, signature sound and goals for the future.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Lisa Rieffel: I’m pretty sure I came out singing. As far back as I can remember, this is always what I’ve wanted to do. I used to lock myself in my aunt’s bathroom in Belleville, NJ — and I had this toy machine called “Star Studio” and it had two places for two different cassettes…  one side could play a song from a tape, and the other side would record your voice over the music from the other tape.  I would stay down there for hours, just making songs.  Not much has changed! I still really enjoy the process of creating songs and putting together the pieces.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Rieffel: It’s really pretty varied, sometimes there’s lyrics first, that I’ve jotted down in a journal, or perhaps bouncing around in my head.  And I fit them into an instrumental track that Timm has bounced over my way.  Other times, we’ll be together and I’ll hum him something and we build it right there in the studio.  I’ve recorded hundreds of songs for over a decade with my close friend Luke Tierney, and he produced a lot of the songs on this record.  Luke and I have a shorthand in his studio, and so often times, we can get the bones together for several songs in just an afternoon. And as studio-recording sensation Tim Robinson says… the bones are the money. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Rieffel: The gorgeous mistake. Sunlight shining onto a loved one’s iris. Loneliness. My friends.

Great art. Traveling. 

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Rieffel: Genres are a very 20th century way of thinking and categorizing.  H. Kink is a music project, wherein Timm and I express ourselves in whatever way we’re feeling at the moment.  I’d probably avoid trying to describe it to someone, because music is like a painting and it means different stuff to different people.  Depends on what song you pick. Some are rhythmic, some have guitars, some are synth, some are country.  I’d say “check it out, hypothetical person!” 

People have had a hard time pinning down what our sound is because we do whatever it is that we are feeling. It has afforded us this magnificent freedom that continues to inspire.  

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single? 

Rieffel: It was Halloween & a particularly late night of recording at Henson Studios in Hollywood. 

Timm and I were giggly and high off what we had recorded early that evening, and decided we most definitely needed to sneak into Studio B and have an impromptu seance to summon Karen Carpenter for musical guidance and inspiration. Out of respect, I still don’t like to talk about what happened that night, but safe to say it was absolutely magical. I never had an experience like that and doubt I will again. When the seance was over, we immediately wrote this song. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2019?

Rieffel: To be happy. Vow to continue to make the best art I can. Get as many people to hear our record as possible, because I believe in it so much. 

Review Fix: What’s next?

Rieffel: More music, more videos, more love! Currently working on a very creepy idea for a video for our song, Kill All the Rats. 

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Rieffel: Yes! Take time to check out new bands, follow lots of people online, expand your circle, take naps, watch small movies before Disney kills them all, be nice, make art, even if you think it’s totally impossible, tell other people about the art you like, be kind to one another, and and um, if you can, hire more female filmmakers.