Interview with Canadian indie alt-pop/rock artist JEEN
#cinqque5tion interview with Canadian indie alt-pop/rock artist JEEN with Host Jovin Tardif from What On What's Good
Today on #whatonwhatsgood with Jovin Tardif, I am here with Canadian indie alt-pop/rock artist JEEN. In our interview we discuss musical idols, writing songs, attending a writing camp in London, England, discussing full-length LP 'Dog Bite' and much more.
1. What inspired you to start making music?
I started singing at a really young age but I remember seeing the Woodstock documentary when I was like 13 years old. It basically changed my entire perspective on life. Couple years later, I quit school and joined a band.
2. Some of your idols include The Who, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Beastie Boys, Jane's Addiction, Nirvana. Can you tell us a favourite song and why?
"Summertime Rolls” by Jane’s Addiction: That song sounds just like the title. Perry Farrell is a god imo. "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd is a dream and David Gilmour is also a god. I remember hearing "My Generation" by The Who in a record store when I was in around grade 9. It wasn’t written for our generation, but it felt like it was for us too and I fell instantly in love with them.
3. You have written songs for many recording artists including Great Big Sea, Serena Ryder, Res, Hawksley Workman, Brendan Canning, FUWA FUWA (j-pop) and Martin “Doc” McKinney. What advice would you give to new artists about writing music?
Don’t stop. You’ll write bad songs and you’ll write good songs but if you don’t keep writing you won’t write either. We are pretty much at the worst point in music industry history. The landscape has been decimated from where it was when I started so I’d say just keep your head down and try not to look around too much. There’s a million things out there waiting to take you down so you have find that thing that keeps you going.
4. Can you tell us where and what you learned at a writing camp in London, England?
Writing camps are weird and fun and good for learning discipline I think. We had to write a song a day at the London, UK camp and I’d be grouped with one or two other writers/producers who I pretty much met that day. It’s exciting. You never know what you’ll get and it’s especially cool when it clicks. Also got to take a black cab over a legit canal every day to get to and from work so that was good.
5. What do you like to do outside of music?
Omg, literally nothing, or at least I forget. I hate to admit it but music has pretty much consumed me these past few albums. Hopefully we can revisit this question in a couple years when I chill out.
6. Your album Dog Bite was released on October 22. What can you tell us about the full-length LP? (i.e. themes, personal stories, etc...)
We made it deep into the 2020 part of the pandemic so it was pretty chaotic at times. But I loved every minute of it and writing/recording it practically saved my life last year. My head was a mess like anyone else and I basically wrote the album in small batches and recorded the same way. It started as an EP, a group of 6 songs I think. But I ended up writing more and we just kept building on it. Dog Bite is the 3rd album I’ve done with Ian Blurton involved and it gets more fun every time. We’re in studio again now for another one so I’m stoked for that too.
Comments
Post a Comment