Stay tuned!

Coming soon, interviews with Rob Lamothe, Dave Pomfret, Terra Lightfoot, Mark McNeil and Mike Trebilcock... with more to follow. Possibly some video interviews and live performances recorded in my studio. If you have any feedback on these intereviews, PLEASE leave comments.

Cheers,

Dan

An in depth interview with Carolyna Loveless.

Well, it's been ages since I decided to start this blog and I've finally found the time and energy to start posting. A heartfelt "thank you" goes out to Carolyna Loveless for conducting this interview ages ago. I'm sure she's written a million great songs since this interview was conducted but this is well worth the read.

I first "discovered" Carolyna at an open mic at the Artword Artbar. To say that her solo acoustic performance was electrifying would be a major understatement. Once in a while you come across "the real deal" and this was it! Carolyna's entire being is engaged when she performs - amazing voice, of course, but also eyes, shoulders, lips, eyebrows, hands, legs... she is a radar dish picking up on some stellar energy and bringing it into the room like an old tube radio hooked up to a new, kick-ass loud speaker. And she's smart and articulate too!

Dan: Which four songs are you particularly proud of?

Carolyna: Who Pays, I Can Give You Love (A Christmas Song), Workin’ and Wild as the Wind

Dan: Which one is your overall favourite?

Carolyna: Each new one is the fave for a moment - but these four linger most this year - of the four Workin’ is the funnest to play with a band - Who Pays shuts the room up, - I can give you Love makes grown men cry - and Wild as the Wind is my song of freedom. :)

[ You can find links to all of these songs and lyrics on www.reverbnation.com/carolynaloveless and Taxi Music site at http://www.taximusic.com/hosting/home.php?artist=carolynaloveless - some free downloads available on Taxi and on reverbnation for those who become “Fans”]

Dan: What influenced these songs? ...what was going on at the time each was written?

Carolyna: Who Pays- Brother was a tortured young drunk who has been sober a little while now. He inspired this song once he became sober after a friend of his was sent to prison for murder.

I Can Give You Love - was started as a “what i am looking for in a lover-man’ kinda song and ended up being re-written to suit the relationship between me and my Farmboy.

Workin’ was written two days before I headed into Stone Gossard’s studio with some Rock Stars. When they said “yes” to the call for recording I wrote it for them!

Wild as the Wind was a final goodbye to an ex-husband that had serious control issues that paralleled my own need for his love . Again - my song of Freedom

Dan: Which is your favourite, lyrically?

Carolyna: Who Pays - “Pain and anger burnin’ his belly, mixin’ with the alcohol and pills - He’s makin’ himself ill...” killer-hard to sing but seriously effective lyric that even quiets a live rock room like This Aint Hollywood and The Roxy.

... but my all time fave lyric is from, "A Life Like This" - it is a story of my life - the pain and the pleasure - it was difficult to write - has been brutal to play at times - and sometimes I still choke up when listening to it - but the HOPE found in this song is the dream my life was made up of at the time.. you can hear this on myspace at www.myspace.com/carolynaloveless

Dan: Is there something that you think is misunderstood or goes over people's heads lyrically?

Carolyna: I don’t pay much attention to other’s opinions or interpretations of my work. I have played songs and heard players discussing my work and all of them getting a different message or slant on the song - i write them for me - i play them LIVE for everyone else.

Dan: Great answer! Which is your favourite musically?

Carolyna: Wild as the Wind is a recent fave. The live arrangement I do with the boys is gorgeous. It reminds me of musical time gone by. Remnant but not ripped off. I like it a lot.

Dan: That's an amazing tune. I love how stripped-down and bare the version on Reverbnation is. It really draws you in. Did you hear the finished song in your head from the beginning or just the guitar part?

Carolyna: Lyric and main melody line first.

Dan: Which song of yours do you think is not quite where you want it to be?

Carolyna: The best part of recording songs in so many venues and studios is that you get an opportunity to hear what you like and what you don't. I will add more dynamics to the changes in Who Pays. I will add piano and strings to I Can Give You Love. Workin’ starts too hot on the vox mix and the boys were left out in the OffTheTop intro - i will change it so they are coming in all together with the vocal and lessen the heat on the vox. Wild as the Wind will get a heap of guitar and whirly arranged inside the, what I feel is, beautiful arrangement of the vox/melody.

Dan: Are there any songs that you feel are too personal to play or songs that you wouldn't play in certain situations?

Carolyna: A Life Like This and Fallen Angel are two of my songs that I find hard to play live - emotional roller coaster rides. I never play them during a full moon or when feeling overly girlie.

Dan: who's your favourite writer?

Carolyna: Too many to mention - but Neil Young lyric and the more modern Ray Lamontagne and Lucinda Williams are some of the more famous writers I have enjoyed.

From the hammer, Mike Trebilcock, Rob Lamothe, Lori Yates, and this interviewer, Dan Medakovic, rate highly.... music by Kori Pop, Huron and Lee Harvey Osmond - the LIVE shows of Dave Rave, Lynn Bebee, and The Arkells - The voices of Terra Lightfoot, Melissa McClelland, Mary Simon, Kori Pop, The Joys, and Rob Lamothe... and the sexyiness of The Arkells and Tom Wilson.

Dan: Thanks for the props! You've mentioned some of my favs too. If you have to choose one over the other, would you choose lyrics or melody? And why?

Carolyna: Lyric. Though one without the other is not a song and I really, really love the song.

Dan: I agree. But I'll take a boring melody with killer lyric over a great melody with cheesy words. When did you start playing and when did you start writing?

Carolyna: Piano at 5 - Guitar at 19 - was co-writing gospel songs with mother by 9 years old and performing them in church and jamborees.

Dan: What is your favourite time to write and what are you usually doing at the time?

Carolyna: When there is no noise - around me or inside me. The perfect time for me is Quiet time and it has lasted up to 14 hrs at one sitting.

Dan: Lol. That reminds me of when I was supposed to be attending university classes but instead I would wake up and grab my guitar, and next thing I knew it was dark and 9pm. An entire day could go by without even realizing it. How long does it take you to write and what's your process?

Carolyna: By the time i have played a song 400 times it is written - for better or for worse. There are some that after 400x they will never be played again - others are just getting started then. Live shows help me adjust them to the best feel for the song in each situation - solo or full band, genre changes and emphasis.

Dan: Do your songs stand on their own or do you want people to take something away from each song about you as the author/creator?

Carolyna: Again, truely, I don’t care what people take from them - as long as they take them. Like them or not - play them ten times or only once - put them on high rotation on your playlists - call in to radio stations and request them - do with them whatever pleases you after I have let them go.

Dan: If you could steal the talents of any writers and musicians absorb them into yourself, who's would they be?

Carolyna: Ray LaMontagne’s emotive qualities - Pink’s ability to ROCK the HELL out of her own songs- and Steve Marriot’s vocal ability for extended shows....

Dan: What's your secret desire as a songwriter? Something you want to do but something is holding you back? e.g write sappy love songs, write reggae/metal, etc...

Carolyna: Since divorce, and publishing success’, I hold nothing back. I just don’t care anymore. What I write is what I feel to write. Like it, like me, or don’t. I smile through it all now.

Dan: Do you have any alter-egos that come out only in your music?

Carolyna: Sex and Love soak the music I write. It’s all about love baby. I love LOVE.

Dan: Woohoo! :- ) What role does humour play in your songs? In your life?

Carolyna: Though I love to laugh, only a few dittys that I pen during a most humorous moment in my life, contain humour at all... for me anyway - I have heard people giggle while I play and I wonder “what was that?” lol

Dan: What subjects do you avoid (if any) in your music?

Carolyna: I try to avoid blame and angst. We feel these things as young people, in the extreme, so my early writings were heavily angst ridden... but once you hit a certain age and skill level, you tend to write about more interesting moments of life, or delve into the creative areas of your brain and create joy even during these familiar moments of pain and angst or grief. Finding a place for hope in the saddest song and recreating your piece, is an art in itself.

Dan: Yes, I always love that aspect of hope during the darkest moments. Please finish this sentence.. "My dream career highlight would be... "

Carolyna: Continuing to record/publish a few saleable songs a year and placing a few in blockbuster movies and international commercials. The continued respect of my peers and being invited to the big SHOW every few months, would be a lovely way to keep moving through this wonderfully blooming career.

Dan: How does song writing fit into your life?

Carolyna: It is the main bulk of my day job these days. What a great time of life.

Dan: What's your next project?

Carolyna: Finishing album (just completed three more tracks at Sun Studios - Memphis) and moving the album through new markets I’ve not yet worked extensively (Europe and East Asia). Wandering around the planet, slowly, playing the shows I WANT to, not the ones I used to HAVE to take to make the $$ to keep moving. Placing a few more tracks in viable, commercial projects and thriving in the opportunities created by those successes.

Dan: If you could collaborate with anyone in Hamilton, who would it be?

Carolyna: Tom said “Let’s do it”, then never returned my calls..lol so.... Luke and Melissa, The Arkells, and Love to rip a serious gospel blues tune I wrote with Alfie Smith and Lori Yates and Mary Simon, Lisa Winn, Rob Lamothe and Karen Johnson and Terra Lightfoot, on accompanying vox+ - Brian Griffith and Andrew Aldridge on Guitars - Dave Krusen on Drums - Jesse O’Brien on Whirly, and Aaron Goldstein on the Carter - at Jukassa with Nick Blagona....

Dan: ...in the world?

Carolyna: Nick Cave, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Johnny Reed, Ray LaMontagne, Lucinda, Lanois and Brian Blade, Margo Timmons, The Dirty Three, Paul Kelly, Amos Lee, Greg Allman...

Dan: How do family/job factor into writing?

Carolyna: Music has been my “day job” for 24 years full time... so it factors into all of it. I am one of ten kids so you can be sure that is the reason I needed music, making it a factor. I haven't any children of my own, making that the BIG factor in being able to be as free as I am.

Dan: Do you feel held back in your musical abilities or do you embrace your limitations?

Carolyna: When I was married, I felt held back. BIG TIME. Everything had to be able to be managed for two instead of one. Now, I hang on my own hook, [teeter] on the edge at times and have absolute bravery in all decisions I make with my work.

I go where the shows i WANT to play are and I ask for what I want from the players I have always wanted to play with. I earn and pay those players a working wage and demand it from club owners. I have found my stride and my confidence in my own work and ability to create the life I want by working very hard at the life I live.

Dan: What's your key learning in all the years that you've been writing?

Carolyna: Experience everything, entirely. Then write about it as colourfully as you care to. Dream and do. One life baby - LIVE it large!!!

Dan: Advice for other writers?

Carolyna: (see above) … and to quote.... “to thine own self be true...”

Dan: If your songs were an animal, which animal would they be and why?

Carolyna: Why a Cougar, of course.... read/listen to the lyric to answer the “why” part of that query.

Dan: If you could be reborn in any century, when would you choose?

Carolyna: I am a woman. Unless I was born into royalty, and even then, I would not have wanted to be a woman in any other century than this one. Musically, it would have been a trip to experience the 16th century in say.... Austria.

Dan: What's your favourite venue to play?

Carolyna: The Roxy (L.A.); The Palladium (Sydney); The Commodore (Vancouver); This Aint Hollywood (Hamilton); Festival stages around the world.

Dan: What's your favourite instrument to listen to?

Carolyna: Guitar

Dan: Do you ever get writer's block and what do you do about it?

Carolyna: Leave it alone - have heaps of sex - fall in love - travel for fun instead of work... it all helps.

Dan: If you could choose one of your songs to play at your funeral, which one would it be?

Carolyna: A Life Like This

Dan: Why?

Carolyna: Clarity and Hope [check it out www.myspace.com/carolynaloveless ]

Dan: Do you ever want to rock out? get the funk out?

Carolyna: I get a few moments a night each show to kick the piss out of a few rockin’ blues numbers I’ve written. LOVE it with the right boys on my stage...

Dan: Are you reading anything?

Carolyna: Always

Dan: What is it?

Carolyna: 7 Kinds of Smart

Dan: How open are you to constructive feedback on your songs?

Carolyna: YES!

Dan: Truthfully?

Carolyna: Depends on where/whom it comes from.

Dan: Do you ever make changes as a result?

Carolyna: If it is coming from someone with a potential placement for the track - looking for something more specific - I always attempt a reworking of the arrangement to assist in the project.

Dan: You are amazing Carolyna. Thanks so much for your time and best of luck as you continue your musical journey!!!

Welcome to Hamilton Songwriters!

Welcome to Hamilton Songwriters.

As a local songwriter I am very passionate about creating a space where songwriters can discuss the art and craft of songwriting and share their music in a different context than the corner of a noisy bar. During live performances, it's often difficult to go into the kind of details that you might want to in terms of discussing what inspired a song or your favourite lyric or image in the tune. You know for sure that you'd lose at least 75% of your audience (even though the other 25% might find it very interesting). Well, I guess this site is for the other 25%!

I hope to post at least one or two live recordings each month which will be recorded at my Silver Studio Hamilton recording studio. I have MANY great songwriters that I want to bring in over time but I'm happy to accept your suggestions. Just drop me a line at dmedakovic2@cogeco.ca. Eventually, I hope to get some questions in advance of my interviews so you can have a direct say in the interview itself or request a song or two. We'll also have a small studio audience and you will be given an opportunity to attend for your favourite artist's appearances.

Cheers (and support your local songwriters) !

Dan Medakovic