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1.) We’re very excited to be speaking today with acclaimed singer and songwriter Melissa Lauren; greetings and salutations, Melissa! Before we get the proverbial Q&A ball rolling, how has your 2022 been treating you?
It has been incredible, actually. While we kicked off the year with Covid in the house, immediately following I started a new work position at an organization called Renascent: an addictions treatment centre. I have found my work in mental health has upped my songwriting game. Also, 2022 had lots of fun musical projects and videos, tour booking, etc. Just finished some great vacation time with the family too.
2.) Congrats and kudos on your upcoming September 9 album, My Voice! This marks your third studio album. Do the roll-outs for your work get any easier now that you’re three albums in, or are the days leading up to such a major release always a little fraught?
This release has had an extremely long roll out. I have not performed in a while so it has been feeling a little admin heavy, to be honest! The month leading up the release is always super stressful with so many moving pieces and an abundance of possibilities/tasks you could be doing.
However, playing and touring the music in the Fall will fix that:)
3.) What was the genesis of My Voice? Is there a VH-1 Behind the Music story you could share with us on the creation of this lovely album?
Ohh I love those! Well, it pretty much started with an argument. We (my husband, me, and our 6-year-old daughter) were knee-deep in isolation. My husband and I were constantly arguing and I had never felt so misheard and misunderstood; ironically, while we were closer in distance than we ever were. I decided to try and channel it outward. The album features several stories of the human voice: it’s barriers to being heard, triumphs, beauty, challenges.
It occurred to me that many of us were living in microcosms of the world inside of our homes. Relationships ruptured or grew closer. Many lived in longing and loneliness with only a screen to talk to, or no one to hear their voice. Children struggled to find their voice buried in the everyday work stress that parents had to sift through while home. Some took the opportunity to put the outside world aside and snuggle in. Some of the privileged remain privileged while others were not as lucky, and glaring disparities in the world continue to show their gaping wells.
I WAS SOO thrilled when Tyler Emond agreed to produce the album. There is not one stitch of it that didn’t turn out as I visioned and that is because of his artistic and fluent musical ear, patience, and recording capability!
4.) How is My Voice similar to your sophomore album? How does it differ?
Well, the similarities are my approach to original writing: Don’t worry if everyone doesn’t get the lyrics- go with it! The emotion will come through. It also is similar in the sense that I play with lots of jazz idioms. What is different- I have embraced the cover song more on the new album! People like familiarity and good songs stick for a reason. There is also a bigger variety of stories and perspectives in the songwriting. Also, my first time adding strings and pedal steel.
5.) Did My Voice offer up any special challenges for you not only as a musician, but as a person?
The process of moving from songs to recording is always hard for me; I tend to get bogged down in minutia and sometimes lose the big picture. My obsessive compulsive nature can cause me to fixate and lose the joy in a project. This is where finding the right producer is magic.
6.) Who was your producer on My Voice and what did your collaboration look like in the studio?
Tyler Emond! He has been playing bass with me for years and works with some heavy-hitters- Tyler Shaw, Matt Dusk, The Ventanas. His musical ability spans many genres. Working with Tyler has been one of the most amazing musical experiences of my life. He immediately understood every vague and distorted thought I had for the project and expertly created a vision that we both shared. His instinct, creativity, and foresight were not dwarfed by his attention to detail and organization. I am so excited to share what he has done to my music, rather, the music that we created from my stories. We spent lots of time listening to references, nailing the essence of each song. When we moved to recording, he knew how to get the best out of all of us. (At one point, I held a knife while recording vocals!)
I am glad I caught him while I did; he is now super busy!!
7.) Do you have a favorite track on My Voice, one that resounds for you above all others?
Well this question is the hardest! It shifts, depending on what I need at the time- I hope that is the same for listeners. Right now I guess “Back to You” and “My Blue Heaven” since they are for my family. (My daughter helped me write the second set of lyrics for “My Blue Heaven.”)
8.) We’re absolutely head-over-heels for “My Blue Friend” off of My Voice. What’s the story behind this remarkable track?
Yessss… I am so glad you asked! This one has a bit of a hidden meaning. It is about a battered woman who decides to poison her husband because a bird on her shoulder tells her to. The listener can explore what the bird represents. We had fun playing with the production subtleties on this one.
9.) My Voice is made up of eleven indelible tunes. Was it always intended as an eleven-track opus, or were there other songs that did not make the cut that we might hear sometime down the line?
This is what is funny about doing an album: to a certain degree, you move to new songs by the time the album is released! Luckily, this has not been the case for me- I have not yet performed any of the album songs. There are definitely a handful of originals that didn’t make it on the record…super hard to choose. But audiences will hear some new previews on tour!
10.) As a celebrated singer-songwriter, which comes first for you–The lyrics or the music?
This tends to vary from song to song for me. I think lyrics are super important to me but they need to be coupled with good melody for the listener to hear them. Some times the melody is shaped by the lyrics.
11.) On the heels of the release of My Voice, can fans look forward to seeing you on the tour circuit this fall?
Yes!!! New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Vermont, Manchester, Maine, New York State, and Western Canada in November. Dates and links to tickets on my website.
12.) Musically, who turns you on right now?
I love Lake Street Dive, Begonia, Leon Bridges, Harry Styles.. I discovered one of my new favs at Folk Alliance International- JigJam- an amazing blue grass band from Ireland.
13.) You do a corker of a cover for the lovely song “Insensitive” on My Voice. What are some of the special challenges as a musician when covering another artist? Is it easy to become intimidated?
I was super intimidated by covering “Insensitive” and the Rufus Wainwright cover; I chose songs that I loved the minute I heard them. The issue with both was trying to make it different enough from the original while still maintaining the essence of the song. The original Rufus tune is epically beautiful in its orchestration. We didn’t have the resources for that so it wasn’t an option…I tried to make that one my own. “Insensitive”- we played up the sad and incorporated some “Good Mother” elements. (Another beloved Arden song!)
14.) Final–SILLY!–Question: Favorite movie about the music scene–This Is Spinal Tap or Almost Famous?
Ok- WHITE CHRISTMAS! Does that count?? It is about producing a musical! I Love “Waiting for Guffman” too, “The Producers”.
