VOLUME XIII
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE
SAMANTHA SAVAGE SMITH _________ LEONIE GRAY TIDAL WAVE _________ CHAII NOELLE
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE VOLUME THIRTEEN - QUARTER ONE
FOR PASSIONATE CREATORS WHO WORK TO FLESH & BONE IN ORDER TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT SHOWS THEIR HEART.
OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE C R E AT I V E T E A M
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R Brandynn L Pope DESIGN
Brandynn L Pope WRITERS
J a m e s L i a m Wa rd PHOTOGRAPHERS Brandynn L Pope Sean O’Day
W W W. O B S E S S I V E C O M P U L S I V E M A G . C O M E M A I L fleshbonemagazine@gmail.com I N S TA @obsessivecompulsivemag
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INDEX 06 08 12 16 20 00
NOELLE SINGER/SONGWRITER T I D A L WAV E MUSICIANS CHAII M U LT I - TA L E N T E D A RT I S T L E O N I E G R AY SINGER/SONGWRITER S A M A N T H A S AVA G E S M I T H SINGER/SONGWRITER ALBUM REVIEWS TO BE DIGITIZED
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to talk with us!
Noelle
Absolutely, thanks for having me!
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Let’s jump in and talk about your debut EP, 30k. From my understanding, these songs can stretch back to over a decade of song-writing. Tell us a bit how these songs have morphed over time to fit into the finalization of the EP? The 30k EP takes you through the highs and lows of young love. As I experienced it all, I wrote songs about every situation. I’m so thankful that I have these songs to look back on, to remember all of the emotions that I felt. I want my listeners to know that they are not alone.
Who, if anyone, did you decide to work with on producing or engineering these songs? What was your overall studio experience like to bring these songs to completion?
I worked with many incredible songwriters and producers to bring these songs to life. My studio experience was great. I grew up recording in my dad’s studio, which is in our basement, so i’m really comfortable in most recording studios. I recorded some of the songs on the EP in Toronto, and some at home in my basement studio. My mom recorded Therapy, Forever Yours, the choruses of Hope You’re Happy and 30k in the basement!
What are some of the major themes that you explore throughout the EP? 30k walks you through all of the emotions of your first love/ relationship. Some themes are heartache, mental health, the initial butterflies and the breakup.
When it comes to the title, 30k, where does this title and idea come from? The title track is called “30k.” The name came from the line “30 thousand in the air and in my bag right now.” When an airplane flies, it’s 30 thousand feet in the air!
What were some of the key inspirations and motivations that led to you wanting to pursue music? Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by music, so it was very natural for me to want to pursue a career in it. My parents both sing, and my mom taught me basic piano chords when I was like 10. Once I started writing my own songs, I knew that that was what I wanted to do forever.
How have you found that being from Ontario, specifically from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, has influenced you in your artistry and your sense of community with music? Growing up on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory exposed me to a vast variety of music from the powwow drum to the native wind flute. The wind flute really inspired me in regards to my vocals, because I love high, soft, emotional ballads. I really want to inspire the younger generation in my community to chase their dreams. No matter how big or crazy your dream is, if you put your heart and soul into it, it will work for you.
A lot of your visuals have this wonderfully hazy, nostalgically glamorous approach. What is it about these visuals that you enjoy and most specifically feel that they encompass your brand as a songwriter? I’ve always loved vintage jazz and old Hollywood movie stars. I feel as though this aesthetic fits my music perfectly. I want my visuals to feel glamorous, raw, emotional, and vintage, just like my songs do.
What should people be on the look out for from you once the 30k has been released? I’m going to release a ton of music this year. I have so many songs that I can’t wait for everyone to hear. I also hope to finally do some live shows and meet some of you!
Tidal Wave Late last year, you released an EP. What were some of your musical focuses going into building that body of work? How long had you been working on some of those songs before they had been released? Our musical focuses specifically for that EP were early 2000s rock for the most part, with a good dash of 90s alt rock. A big thing going into that record for myself specifically (Connor Young) was that I wanted it to feel like a real living band. There were overdubs done but most of that record is single takes. The drums push and pull and mistakes are made, but I purposely kept them in to make it a raw real recording. Some of our biggest inspirations at that time were Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Preoccupations, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, The Microphones. This was a weird record to put together due to the pandemic. Some of the songs, specifically Regrets and Eurotune came from the initial inception of the band which was just myself and guitarist Marco Carboni back in 2018. The recording sessions for that EP were done in 2019 and we were all set to release it in 2020 before, well you know.
What were some of the themes that you were exploring on that EP? That EP had a lot to do with where I was in my life in my early 20s. A core theme of the record is being uncertain if you’re putting your time into the right things in your life. The passing of time and ever impending death has been a strong motivator for myself my entire life and some of that spilt over into that record. With your latest single, “This Cost Of Life,” Was this something that you all had been working on during your time building that EP or was it something that came naturally after you had already finished the EP? “This Cost Of Life” was interesting. During the pandemic I wasn’t sure if I even necessarily wanted to make music anymore. We had an initial burst of songs at the beginning but things crawled to a slow and I found myself very unmotivated. Over the summer I would demo guitar ideas periodically and for some reason that opening guitar bit drew me in. Over the rest of the year we slowly worked on it not sure what it would be. By this point the EP was mastered and completed so we were still focussed on sorting out the release of that. When we heard we were able to play a full capacity show for our EP release I suddenly felt compelled to complete the song and get it tracked.
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How do you feel that this new track differs or pushes you into the next stage of your musical career? I feel as though it’s a bit of a midway point. There’s another song that’s coming out soon as well that I see as a partner to “This Cost Of Life”. For myself I find those songs the closing of a certain era for the band. They still include a lot of those maximalist qualities of our early work, but finally we have a lineup that is consistent. A lot of those early songs were us just figuring out how to work as a team, and these 2 new songs are us firing on all cylinders. There’s a new record coming along and I think the natural progression of our music will be will make sense with these songs as the bridge.
How do you feel the Toronto music scene has affected you as artists and molded both your band as well as your pursuit of music? The Toronto music scene has been exceptional for us. We all come from various bands of multiple different styles so we try to draw something from every corner of the music scene. We’ve had nothing but support from our friends and fellow musicians, and have really helped us get our feet off the ground. Seeing our friends bands take off and gain success has just inspired me and kept me wanting to create with friends.
Packaged along with your music, you have very distinct artwork.Why have you chosen the different visualizations of the statues, and then the nostalgic photographs to embody your most recent releases? I found something about the statue motif to be very visceral and representative of the music. The juxtaposition of the flowers full of life and the cold dead statues seem to be very representative of our music at the time, some of those major chords with those sad lyrics. In regards to the photo for “This Cost Of Life” I just wanted something visceral and raw. That track is very noisy at times and I wanted something distorted to match that, especially as you said the themes of nostalgia and the lyrics of looking back on the closing of a relationship.
Of course, due to the mandates throughout Canada there have been a lot of pushing around different shows. As well as your Sneaky Dee’s show, is there any other way that you hope to celebrate your releases? Well we’d always love to play more shows, but the dream would be to hop on a tour. It’s been a bit difficult though as we’re a rather large band and it’s still difficult to chart out whats going on in the touring world, though I have to say things are starting to look up. We did a last minute live session release this time around as our Sneaky Dee’s show was postponed.
Tell us a little bit about your journey the last two years. Have you found this time of isolation has been a great component to building new songs and working together to focus on Tidal Wave as a group? The past 2 years have been quite a trip. I was personally scared that this entire band would fall apart. How do you keep 7 people all together when the worlds coming undone and people are losing their jobs and moving away with no certainty it would end. Since our last show in 2020 we’ve added guitarist/vocalist Marcus Retterath who is a genius in atmospherics as well as adding bassist Dylan Burrett to our roster, who’s such a creative player tonally and parts wise. I feel like the lineup has truly solidified.
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The biggest thing for us have been building a studio. When things were uncertain most of us piled our gear together got a space and have been slowly building an incredible space. “This Cost of Life” was the first full song to come out of there, and I have to say our sound has really grown from it. Instead of getting in to a studio for a day to get the drums done, we’ve got all the time in the world getting everything to sound exactly like we wanted. Kinda like how those massive records we adore work, where they had the time and facilities to truly capture the sound they want. All this is to say, we have a ton of new songs that are currently being recorded, that never would have happened if everything hadn’t slowed down.
Is there anything else that people should be on the look out from you? There’s a new song coming out very soon. And we’re deep in the trenches right now completing our full length. It’s a pretty intense project so I don’t want to necessarily put a deadline on that one, but be assured, it is coming.
CHAII Tell us a little bit about your musical background and your earliest influences of music while living in Iran. What aspects of this music do you still carry with you? The first 8 years of my life living in Iran is definitely where a lot of my musical influences come from. Persian music is such a big part of my family memories and my identity. From that I carry the uptempo celebratory music with me. Music and dancing is a huge part of my Persian culture so I like to bring that into my music today.
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Being known as an Ultimate DIY artist, how did you go about learning all these different aspects of music from the actual writing process to the production side of things?
PHOTOS BY: Evan Xiao
I started making music in highschool, writing, recording and making beats with a self taught approach. I carried on by going to uni doing creative arts and outside uni taking any opportunity I could to be in any studio I could get my hands on to record New Zealand artists, later I felt having the terminology was important for me to be able to communicate with other engineers and producers when it came to my music so I went and studied audio engineering. In this process I fell in love with the different sides of making music and videos. The constant work I put in for other artists taught me a lot.
In recent years, who and what have been particularly inspiring for you on all artistic fronts? Musically artists like Rosalia are so inspiring. I love it when artists, especially female artists take control over their creative artistry and music production to really bring their vision to life. Rosalia, MIA, Raveena and many other artists that bring their culture into their music as artists that are raised in a Western society.. The outcome is always really special.
Tell us a little bit about your latest EP release, Pineapple Pizza. What were some of the themes that you wanted to explore both lyrically as well as lyrically? With Pineapple Pizza EP, I really wanted to keep the project light and very collaborative. Anytime you collaborate to this extent on a project you find that you push yourself into things you wouldn’t have tried otherwise. So many fun memories are attached to Pineapple Pizza. Lyrically it’s a very in the moment type songs.
From my understanding, you are beginning to work on releasing a new body of work. What are you hoping to focus on this time around? I’m taking it back to my roots with the project I’ve been working on. Lots of experimenting and musically taking everything to another level. Personal, fun, cultural and the most me I can ever be. It’s a challenging direction to head into, but I want to see if I can really make this happen on an international level.
You have this fabulous bright style with all of your promotional material. What is it about this sort of imagery that you are attracted to and feel represents you as an artist? Growing up I’ve always had a thing for mismatched bright clothing that don’t quite work together. Very questionable looks. But as an adult now I’ve learnt to be fun with my style again but on another level collaborating with great Stylists like Brooke Tyson to bring some of the crazy expressive ideas to life. Tastefully.
What have been some of your accomplishments as an artist, thus far, that you are most proud of? My mind was blown having my music featured on games, movies and fashion brands. Still feels out of it. I’m just proud that the music I enjoy making, which doesn’t quite fit in a box, has been noticed and used by major brands.
What should people be on the lookout from you next? Any exciting new projects that you can tell us about? Yes, very excited to be deep in making my first Album. Been waiting so many years for this moment, loving every minute and can’t wait to share the new music.
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Léonie Gray
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to talk with us! Let’s dive right in and talk about your upcoming record. How long have you been piecing together some of these tracks? Some of the tracks were written 6 years ago, so I’ve been indirectly working on this album for what feels like a lifetime! Overall the album was written during the “chaos” of 2020, which gave me so much free time to reflect on my experiences and learn new skills, like the piano.
What kind of themes and subject matter did you explore on this record? Is there anything in particular that you find yourself drawn to writing before anything else? I openly talk about therapy and I feel like the entire album revolves around my mental health and how getting to know myself, my patterns and healing my traumas influences my life in general. I like to pour myself in my songs, being vulnerable even when it might make some people uncomfortable.
From my understanding, you recorded and produced your EP, Sensitive, by yourself. What was this experience like for you? What were some important things you learned from that experience? It gave me a completely different perspective on my creative process. I brought myself out of my comfort zone several times and found new ways to connect with my art. It was hard to start from scratch, and find inspiration outside of existing chords.
After having done some of the recording process on your own, what was it that you took with you when going to work with another engineer or team of people on your future work? I felt more competent when I was explaining my vision to a producer or working with musicians for live shows. It deepened some notions that I learnt by myself, especially the mixing process. I also got to understand what I liked in a song, and create something that was really curated for me, by me, instead of adjusting to someone else’s ideas all the time.
Tell us a little bit about your journey with music. What was your introduction to thinking about pursuing music seriously? As well as, what have been some key points that have enabled you to keep pushing and continuing the journey? If you met me at 3 years old and asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, you’d have the exact same answer as today. I always felt a connection to music, and wanted to sing. My passion for singing was purely self-driven at first, I didn’t really have a singer I was looking up to or wanted to sound like. My parents wanted me to develop my own sound and tone before going to a singing coach, so I sang for 7 years in any contest we could find and I started classical singing when I was 14 years old for 2 years, which really helped me improve my falsetto. I moved to Montréal at 18 years old to pursue my musical career, knowing that it would be harder to do it while living in a small town. That’s also how I got to practice my English the most, since I was born and raised francophone. A decade later I signed with La Maison Mère for management, then signed a record deal and here we are!
How have you felt that moving to Montreal and being a part of that music community has affected you as an artist in your adult life? Moving to the city was definitely a game changer for me, I felt like I finally had the possibility to evolve as an artist more than “just” a vocalist, and meet so many musicians from various backgrounds. I don’t think any of this would have been possible if I stayed in my hometown.
When it comes to visuals, both photography promo, album/ single art, and musicvideos, what does your process look like to get something that both capturesthe essence of you as an artist and the specific tracks that they are embodying? I’ve always been drawn by anything vintage, musically and visually, I love the nostalgic feelings that it creates. I enjoy adding a modern touch to it as well. I usually compose and write songs while having an image in mind, even if it’s not specific, and I try to fit the visuals to those images.
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PHOTOS BY: Ville De Pluie
More specifically with this release, what sort of visual feeling did you want to come from it all? Definitely the late sixties, early seventies. For some reason, I want strangers to look at the cover of the album and feel like it was released between 1968 and 1973. I wanted something intimate, warm but also a bit mysterious.
With the release just short of a month away, what else should people be on the look out from you? Where is the best place to pay attention? Definitely upcoming shows, which will be announced on my social medias like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. (@leoniegray or @ leoniegraymusic
PHOTOS BY: Heather Saitz
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Samantha Savage Smith Congratulations on completing your upcoming record, Fake Nice. While at the time of release, there’s still going to be a bit for our readers to wait for, but let’s talk a little bit about it. You essentially worked on it with only one other person [Chris Dadge], what did that process look like for you both? Dadge & I basically hunkered down in our basement studio and just moved through each song one at a time, enlisting some of our musician pals to play on tracks when needed. It was a pretty laid back approach and maybe took a bit longer than booking time in another studio and cranking it out in a week or two, but the attention to detail that process allowed was well worth the time. Every decision behind each song was incredibly thoughtful, and it was also just great to be able to put on my housecoat & slippies, scuffle on down to the basement, and get to work. I was at home and at ease, in my element, and that allowed me to push parts of this record outside of my comfort zone. I recorded all of my vocals separately at our pal, Graham Lessard’s, home studio, and at first it seemed like maybe an unnecessary division of labour, but after getting to those final moments and seeing how it all played out, it was clear that it was the right call. I had to allow myself to feel uncomfortable again, and vulnerable, and I also had a lot of my own ideas when it came to vocals. I was almost treating them separately than what we had tracked instrument wise on the record, almost like I was singing for someone else….but they were still my songs…if that makes any sense…? I kinda tricked myself into lettin’ r’ rip, and to not be afraid of sounding bad, or making “unclassy” calls in my vocal performance. I mean, I did some pretty bad stuff in the process, but I wasn’t yet sure exactly how far I could go. So that in itself was a revelation to see what I was capable of as a singer. It’s hard to fully paint a picture of how this album was made, as it went on for a couple of years, but the end result is something I am undeniably proud of.
How long have you been working to bring together some of these tracks? Forever and a day! [laughs] But I guess I’ve been working on this record for the better part of the last 5 years.
What were some of the themes that you chose to explore on this record? How did you want to approach some of these topics? The overarching theme of Fake Nice is essentially grappling with love & life’s demands while struggling with mental illness. Some songs are a love letter to my “past/pre-medicated self” and some are just simply hoping you can still be loved by the ones around you even if you are occasionally a tragic mess. I had waffled about whether this is something I wanted to bring up at all - as the world loves to fixate on those very two words “mental illness” ... One suddenly becomes a spokesperson for it, and it can negate the endless tapestry of our complex emotional workings of being a human, for anyone, in whatever state, and for wherever their wellbeing might be. I write these songs about myself, and my moments in time, but the final work is for everyone. So sometimes I choose to stay obtuse in regards to the more matter-of-fact meanings behind the lyrics, in order to not overshadow someone’s own personal interpretations when hearing the music.
From my understanding, you have a team of live artists that help to perform live with you. What brought you together with some of these individuals? What made you decide to take the route of having a backing live band rather than performing on your own? Over the course of the past 10 years I’ve had a variation of live, backing bandmembers, and they’ve all been awesome! But after my hiatus of making music/playing live I had to reform a new group. I really wanted to take the opportunity to work with players I hadn’t worked with before, and as I approached each individual myself, it just came down to me seeing them play in other projects, and wanting to get in on the amazing things they were doing. It’s ended up being a stellar crew, and not only do they slay at their instruments, they bring so much heart and kindness. It’s quite a feeling to have a crew of people who care so much about the music I have written and produced, and always bring their A-game. I definitely don’t mind playing a solo show here and there, but I strive to bring the songs I have written and produced on record to translate the same in a live setting. There are so many great parts on the album, and I always end up missing them when I play solo.
You’ve been working on your music for a substantial amount of time. Is there anything that you would want to say to the version of you that wrote Tough Cookie now that you have the foresight? “Stop being so shy and afraid of the world, Samantha!” [laughs] But in all seriousness, I don’t know? I really love the sense of agency I have with this new record, and the pride I feel for this new body of work surpasses anything that has come before it. But really, that’s just developing as an artist isn’t it? All the “could-of-would-of-should-of”s are all part and parcel with trying to make the next attempt even better. I wouldn’t be where I am creatively, or even emotionally, if it wasn’t for all the ups and downs of the last 10 years in music. It’s all about the journey, am I aright?
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When it comes to the visualization for this record, whether it be music videos, promotional work, single art and album art, who have you decided to work with to create your final vision? When it comes to visuals, it’s been a very collaborative process, which I’ve been loving! I’ve had the honour to work with some really fantastic Calgary creatives for this album. I really wanted to keep it all close, homespun, and near and dear to my heart. I’ve been working with Heather Saitz in multiple capacities, with both the music videos and some of my press photos. She’s got such a way with lighting and has great creative vision; we can really sit down and jam out a concept together really well. You must check out her work! She is amazing. I also got to work with one of my favorite of Calgary’s experimental photographers, Jarret Edmund. He has always done such beautiful work with film photography, and one of our shoots ended up being the album cover! To give you a sense of how crazy this is, I was originally not intending to put my actual face on the cover (once again), and was going to work on something myself, as I’ve always felt a bit shy about having an actual picture of me on the cover. But when I saw Jarrett’s photo, I was like “That’s it, that’s the cover” - and the rest is history. My good pal and old friend Lisa Davies - a graphic designer extraordinaire - has an eye for all the cool things, and owns her own online shop Dept. She is responsible for all the beautiful fonts, the album layout, and my website. Everything has come together so nicely, and it’s a true pleasure to be able to work with such creative forces so closely. Everything about this record, including the visual components, has been intensely thought through with these people, and the end results have me quite chuffed!
How have you felt the community in Calgary has affected you as an artist and song writer over all? I would like to think so. My city is a place where I can try out new ideas, and see what works, and what doesn’t, in a live setting. Also, the Calgary music scene is endlessly supportive; I can’t stress that enough. In a digital age such as ours, and coming out of the isolation part of a pandemic, finally playing those first shows back really reminded me of how important one’s community is and just being around people in the flesh! The air feels electric when going to see or play shows again. It’s cathartic even.
Fake Nice is set to be released on April 22nd, are you planning on celebrating the release in any type of way? Well I’ll be certainly be throwing one hell of a release party here in Calgary, and it’s going to be an incredibly stacked and eclectic bill (as one does for their hometown release shows), but the band I will be hopping across the pond shortly after the release to play the Focus Wales festival and a string of UK dates thereafter. We’ll also be making a wee pit stop on our way home, stopping in Toronto and Montreal before we settle back into life in Alberta.
What else should people be expecting to see from you leading up to the actual release day? Up until then you can expect my final single “Fake Nice” to be released in conjunction with the release. It will arrive with a super fun video that was creatively tackled by Heather Saitz and myself. It was a concept I’ve been stewing on for years, and I’m really excited to see it come to fruition. My favorite Calgary drag performer, Queen Valerie Hunt, stars in it and her performance absolutely blew us away. We had such a blast making it, and Val grabs right onto the emotional rollercoaster of the song, and just captures every peak and valley of the track with her iconic, charismatic, and zany punk aesthetic.
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