By: Lisa Steinberg
Photo By A. Stafford
Q) Your music has been described as “indie pop,” but how would you define your sound?
A) Music you listen to while you cry in your parents basement. I’ve always said that I write country music and it’s my producer’s job to turn it into pop music and I think he does an incredible job.
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) Ruby Waters, Jensen McRae, Holly Humberstone and Bella Kay just to name a few. I’m inspired by women in pop music and people who tell stories. I think the storytelling aspect of music was one of the first things I fell in love with and it’s something I find myself coming back to.
Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Sweet Blue Moon.”
A) “Sweet Blue Moon” was really fun to write. It follows the reflection on a relationship and trying to figure out how someone remembers you. Do they remember the passionate parts of a relationship, the way everything blew up or the intimate moments you keep for yourself? I think we all want to be remembered kindly by people and this song is a bit of wish fulfillment in a way. It’s hoping and thinking that someone sees you in a kind light despite things that crashed and burned.
Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?
A) My music has always been about opening the door to let people into my life and allowing them to find themselves somewhere in it. My music is about real people and real stories, which is what I believe people are identifying with. They’re seeing themselves reflected in the stories I’m telling because as much as they might be special, they’re not unique. It’s salient to have your heart broken, but not an unfamiliar experience. I like to think that people are finding themselves in my highs and lows, and maybe even some catharsis.
Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?
A) Being an artist is really cool but this music is about my life and my life is kind of…boring? I don’t want to remove the glamour from it, but like only 10% of my life is doing fun-artist things and the rest of it is super normal – like filing taxes and doing dishes and coordinating which day I’m going to my parents for dinner. It’s this wonderfully-mundane life that I’ve created and that I get to write about and people want to hear about and that’s insane and lovely. But I thought it would be fun in my videos to just show how normal everything is. It’s just me. Being a regular dude.
Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) The story always comes first. Songwriting for me is an outlet, a way for me to process my life and my emotions, so it always starts with a story. The music and lyrics often come in tandem. I find a way to emulate the feeling I’m having in a sound. I’m making it sound a lot more complex than it is, but when I’m writing music it’s always more about making sure the feeling I’m trying to express bleeds through. That’s when I feel like I’ve written something worthwhile.
Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music?
A) I have a hand but most of the genius goes to Will Crann. Similar to what I said before, it’s about communicating a feeling and he turns my perspective into noise and sounds and (thankfully) music. We sat in the studio for hours where I would say things like, “I want it to sound like I’m in a cave, without the echo,” “I want it to sound like it’s coming through a TV, but if the old TV sound was really crisp and new” or “I want a drum that feels like nostalgia” and he would turn all my odd requests into something palpable.
Q) With the success of “Sweet Blue Moon,” is this a prelude to a full album or EP?
A) Teehee. Maybe.
Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you?
A) I love performing at Collective Arts in Toronto – the staff, the drinks, the energy of the venue is so creative and, honestly, I think just really great people work there. I love to play at the Roxy when I go to Vancouver – I played there a lot when I was younger and just getting started and their staff really took me under their wing. Over the next year, I’m excited to stretch my legs a bit and play new venues and add to my list of favourites.
Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?
A) How many people can I list? I love collaborating really with anyone – any genre, any vibe, writing with other people makes you a better writer. It gives you a new perspective, a new frame of reference. Everyone writes differently and I found putting myself in more rooms makes me better. So, apart from the people I mentioned off the top – Ruby Waters, Jensen McRae, Holly Humberstone, Bella Kay – truly anyone. I just want to make more music.
Q) What artist/musician are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?
A) The new Harry Styles album has me in a chokehold. It’s vibey and chill and what I need to sit on a dock to this summer. I’ve been listening to a lot of Dijon’s album Absolutely from 2021. And everything Erin LeCount has to say. She could breathe into a mic and I’d have it on repeat.
Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?
A) Thank you. What really else is there to say? I am the luckiest person in the world to have ANYONE who is a fan of my music. But there are people out there who want to listen to me, when they could listen to anyone in the world they picked me to spend their time on. And that’s worth the world.