Orenda Fink is known for her quiet, introspective songs and her unobtrusive approach to singing. Her music, both on her own solo albums and with Azure Ray (the band she fronts with longtime friend Maria Taylor), tends to be forlorn and unsettling, albeit imbued with an underlying belief in the ultimate goodness of existence. The songs on her new album, Blue Dream were inspired by the death of her dog, as well as general meditations on the limitations of existence on the material plane. On the LP, Fink goes deep into the primal questions of death and the meaning of life. The lyrics are dark, but the music is bright and buoyant, although still played at the laid-back tempos that are her forte. Fink will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on her.
Fink: One of my favorite drinks in the world next to a proper Haitian rum punch is a well-made martini. I used to bartend at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga., where an unlikely assortment of townies, sound men and service-industry folk would come in on slow nights just to have me make them a martini. Here is how I make mine:
Step 1. Chill the glasses by filling them with ice and water
Step 2. In a shaker, combine lots of ice, your choice of top-shelf vodka or gin (I like them both depending on the mood), olive juice (not too much) and the juice of one small wedge of lime. (This is a secret trick I picked up from another bartender. You don’t want to taste the lime, but the effect of having it in there is quite nice.)
Step 3. Shake the living hell out of it
Step 4. Take the now-chilled glasses and coat them with dry vermouth. I pour a little in and swirl it around the glass, and then pour the excess out.
Step 5. Pour the contents of the shaker into the glass and garnish with two large olives (blue cheese or goat cheese stuffed are delicious).
Step 5. Enjoy and repeat.
