Hey! Given your journey from ‘Take My Hand’ to ‘Life, Love & Everything After’, how do you see your musical evolution influencing this latest album’s sound and themes?
A: I think the biggest part of my musical evolution has been achieving a sound that feels authenticating to me. For the longest time I struggled to get the sound in my head to translate to recordings but I feel I’ve really been achieving that the last few years. As far as the themes go I really feel on this project more than ever I have opened up and expressed a lot deeper concepts than before.
What inspired the decision to release an extended version of ‘Life, Love & Everything After’, and how do the additional songs complement the original tracks?
A: The biggest inspiration for the extended release was the fact that you never know which song is going to resonate with someone and be there for them in their time of need or add to the joy they’re feeling when things are going well. These songs were helping no one by just sitting on my hard drive and now they have a chance to reach whoever they’re meant to be there for. The additional tracks also are expansions on the concepts the album is based off of. Life, Love, & Everything After isn’t just a name for the album it’s the concepts the songs are written about. The concept of life and it’s struggles are furthered by the songs “Why Do I Do This” and “Save Myself”. The concept of love is explored in more depth with the tracks “With You” and “I Could See It In Your Eyes”. And finally the concept of everything after is book ended with the outro song “The End”.
Can you share the personal experiences or stories that fueled the creation of tracks like ‘Why Do I Do This’ and ‘Save Myself’?
A:
Ofcourse. The song “Why Do I Do This” is a reflection on my own self sabotaging
behavior along with my negative self talk about where I am at in my life. I think it
is a very relatable concept that we constantly feel like we should be further in life
and we would be if we could only get out of our own way. Although there is no
happy resolution to this song I think it serves as a reminder that we need to be
kinder to ourselves. The song “Save Myself” is one of a very few songs that I
struggled to release at all because of how personal it is. We all have that person
or person’s in our life that are in a bad way that we just don’t want to give up on.
But at a certain point in order to have a chance at saving yourself you have to
consider letting that person go. The song isn’t as cut and dry as that. It’s about
extending to that person a final helping hand in urging them to see all of the
things they have to live for and that you will be there for them until your dying
breath but only on the condition that they’re willing to actually accept the help.
And if they’re not willing to accept help and or help themselves. Asking them to
let you know now while there is still time for you to salvage your own life.
Your album explores deep themes such as love, loss, and mental health. How do you balance these universal experiences with your unique personal voice in your songwriting?
A: I think part of the innate beauty of these universal themes is that no matter how much of our own voice and experiences we infuse into songs about these themes the underlying concepts are so unifying that there will always be a point for people to connect. Which makes balancing the universal experience with my own a little easier as even if I do get somewhat heavy handed with point of view i don’t think it ever eclipses the subject. From a writing perspective though I tend to try and be very universal or accessible in my choruses, allow a little more depth in the first verse to enrich the story but not block anyone out. Then the second verse and onward whether it is a third verse or a bridge I give myself full freedom to be as specific or vague as I please because I feel at that point the listener is along for the ride and not only is willing to listen but deserves that story to develop on a much deeper level after investing into it.
The single ‘With You’ is currently receiving radio play. What does this track mean to you, and why was it chosen as the lead single for the extended album?
A: “With You” was selected as the lead single and song we pushed to radio not only because I feel it is a good starting point for people to discover who I am musically. But this song was important to me because it is a love song for anyone and everyone. After talking with some friends that were in relationships or getting married a common theme was moments in songs that felt like they didn’t pertain to their love or gendered language that not only didn’t represent them but at times made them feel excluded or that love songs in general weren’t written for people like them or their love. I wanted to write a love song that was inclusive because I feel like everyone is worthy of love and everyone is worthy of a love song.
You’ve achieved viral success and a significant streaming presence. How has this digital reach impacted your relationship with your audience and your approach to music?
A: I’ve been lucky enough to be on the right side of the algorithm a few times and have that grow my audience. One of the biggest differences was a few years ago when touring in person wasn’t a possibility. It made me realize I could still play and connect with people online whether that’s via posts or live performance. I still use that as a part of growing my relationship with my audience to this day. One of the most amazing things is that unlike an in person concert which don’t get me wrong, it is one of my favourite things to do and I will always strive to play in person as much as possible. But one of the benefits of a virtual concert is it can live online forever and reach people far into the future. I’ve even had live virtual concerts that only had a few hundred viewers when I was live but then years later via sharing and algorithm, hundreds of thousands of people started viewing them and connecting with my music.
With a successful Canadian tour behind you, how have your live performances and interactions with fans across the country influenced your creative process?
A: My recent Canadian tour has started to influence my creative process in a lot of ways already. The main way is in crafting a soundtrack for the full human experience. When I wasn’t doing as many full band live performances I started very quickly writing almost exclusively sad songs or love songs. And after watching how the crowds interacted with some of my more upbeat music it has inspired me to write and release more music to accompany the good times in life and create those joyful live moments at concerts.
Having worked with notable figures like Dan Brodbeck and shared stages with Canadian icons, how have these experiences shaped your artistic development?
A: Sharing the stage with iconic artists definitely inspired my live craft. But my growth as an artist and my recorded output is due largely in part to my experience with Dan Brodbeck on my 2014 album “Take My Hand”. Dan engineered, produced, mixed and even played guitars when needed on that project and it was the first time the songs I wrote actually felt like music to me. The things I learned from watching Dan produce that record and the music that came from it were the first steps on my way to releasing music that truly felt like me. Over the years of starting to record, produce and mix my own music I’ve had the luxury of being able to send some things back and forth to him to pick his brain and being the amazon guy he is he was always there to give some awesome feedback and advice. A cool other fact is for that CD release concert Dan actually joined me on stage and played guitar in my band. Dan is not only a gem and a huge asset to the Canadian music industry but I consider him a friend and without him I wouldn’t be where I’m at musically today.
As an artist who’s also engaged in songwriting for others, how do you navigate the creative challenges of writing for different voices and genres?
A: Navigating the creative challenges of writing for other artists and genres definitely seems daunting at first. But it can sometimes be much easier than writing for yourself. When you’re writing for yourself you’re sometimes too close to the subject matter and can’t see the forest for the trees. When you’re writing for someone else you have the luxury of approaching the subject matter or the experience they want to write about from the outside looking in. When it comes to different genres I’ll be honest for the most part a good song is a good song and can translate to and transcend genres. That’s why you see so many of these covers by famous artists that are bending genres that sound so incredible because at the center of it all is always just a well written song.
Looking beyond ‘Life, Love & Everything After,’ can you hint at any future projects or directions you’re excited to explore in your music career?
A: Definitely! As always I’m going to keep exploring the more intense side of the human experience like on this album including continuing to write about mental health as I feel it’s one of the more important subject matters I write about. But on top of that I’m going to focus on the joy in the music a lot more because without darkness there is no light and I want to do my part to not only bring understanding to the darkness but to bring joy and light through my music and live show as well.