Catching Up With Canen

By Ian Smith

Under the alias Canen, Jo Strogatz (A’24) has released a handful of jazzy, alt-RnB songs over the course of last semester, including singles and covers on her Instagram, @canen.mp3. Her latest single “He Sleeps Lightly” was released in January and is her most personal song to date, telling the tale of her sexual assault with refreshing clarity. I sat down with Canen to discuss her inspirations, songwriting process, brushes with fame, and community.

Interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Can you talk about what artists you listened to as a child? And do you think those influenced you and your music now?

I grew up on strictly The Beatles. That was all that was playing in my house. But I feel like most of where I take inspiration from is jazz singers. Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Vaughn, all the greats. I actually didn’t grow up with any jazz in the house, but I just heard them in movies, I would hear them in the background, and I would spend the rest of the day singing those songs. And I would, like, make up jazz songs while doing my homework until I was old enough to actually look stuff up and listen to it on my own.

Do you find yourself taking inspiration from movies or nature or anything else around you that’s not necessarily music?

I’ve kind of started to experiment with drawing inspiration from mythology, because that’s where my artist’s name comes from. So I’ve kind of started to explore incorporating some elements of that without being too explicit, but it’s definitely a work in progress.

I want to talk about one of your songs in particular, He Sleeps Lightly. I remember watching that release come out, and it was really inspiring knowing that other people can look at that song and have their story be told. How did it feel like seeing so many people come out in support of that song?

Did you feel like writing that song was like a big release?

Looking at the songs that you’ve put out, I noticed a lot of them are pulled from your personal feelings or relationships. Is that a conscious choice that you make?

I definitely did not expect the response that I received. I spent many months with the song fully finished just scared to release it, I was going back and forth with whether or not it would be worth it, because it’s a big sacrifice to put this out since it’s so vulnerable and it can really affect your relationship with your family and with other people. I kind of had to sacrifice a bit of myself for this release. And seeing so many people have such a good response to it really is such an important reminder to me why I do what I do. Why I lay myself bare, even if it feels completely raw and terrifying. It’s a good reminder that it’s all for good.

Yeah, it was a huge catharsis for me. When I was assaulted, I had a hard time speaking about it. I had a hard time putting together what had happened. And it can

be really hard to sort through so many feelings of victim guilt, and not fully understanding what even went down. But just knowing that something was very wrong. And writing the song was a way for me to sort through all of that and separate myself. I deliberately wrote it in third person, because there was no way that I could even say the words “I” or “me”. I had to disconnect myself from what had happened in order to really figure out what had happened.

Yeah. I like to write when I feel confused, if that makes sense (laughs). If I’m not really sure about something, writing about it helps me clear my head. In some of these songs, like So Damn Alone is about a very complicated but very specific feeling of being the person who leads someone else on, and the guilt that comes with that. I do enjoy writing about things that are not just the typical “I love this person” or “I hate this person”. I like getting into those really specific things that are hard to put into words. And I guess that naturally ends up being relationships and

You’ve talked with me a little about some notable people that have noticed you on your Instagram. Which notice were you the most excited about?

Noah Kahan. Noah Kahan! (laughs). I love Noah Kahan so much. That was insane for me. Because I saw that he liked [a cover of his song that I posted on Instagram], and I was freaking out. And then I saw that he commented, and I was freaking out, like dancing in the hallway. Fully masked, of course. And then he reposted it. So I’m there just screaming and freaking out, calling everybody that I know. And then he privately messaged me, and this was before I’d even responded to any of this, to personally thank me for making this cover and for “using my talent to sing his song” (scream of happiness). Like, he’s genuinely such a good person. He’s very real. And I love that about him and his music. You can tell that he’s not manufactured in any way. He’s just fully himself as a person online and as a musician and an artist. I really admire him. So that was super exciting. I was, like, running laps down the hall. I also have some weirder recognitions, like Gad Elmaleh, who’s this really popular French comedian. I’m online friends with him because he loves vocal jazz. We send each other messag-

es in English and French and that’s kind of a weird one. And JP Saxe might know I exist. My friend just texted him the cover I made of his song so… To be continued, I guess. Those have been the peaks of my life. I was telling my roommate that I can officially die now, honestly, with Noah being somewhat of my Instagram friend. It’s so weird, because he likes my posts now, and it’s like, “You perceive me!” (laughs). So crazy. Hopefully he doesn’t read this, that would be embarrassing. I don’t think he’d care, I think he’d be flattered.

Well, I was pretty disappointed with Tufts’ singing ban. I wasn’t able to do what I really wanted to do. And because of that, I also wasn’t able to meet any sort of music community. But that all changed in December when the Jackson Jills decided to do auditions over the break. Even though we weren’t singing for a long time, just meeting other people who also share a love for singing was really amazing. Getting into the Jills was actually the first moment that I felt like I had a community at Tufts. It’s very strange and a little bit isolating to only know the people who live near you,

I want to ask about your experience like being a musician at Tufts. Have you found a community of musicians here?

the people who live near you, because you feel like you only know a fraction of this campus, and I love the people that I’ve met, But I also feel like I didn’t have that sense of community at Tufts until I got into the Jills. And they’ve just been so incredibly warm and welcoming and the nicest, most loyal people, so I’m very happy about that. And also,

I met a guy named Harrison Clark in my math class. And he’s a fantastic musician in S-Factor.

And he’s just kind of started slowly introducing me to other musicians at Tufts, because he understands that I can’t meet anyone right now. So he’s been very good at connecting me with other musicians which has been fun. He actually recognized me in my zoom, which was the only time I’ve ever been recognized. He

Zoom DMed me and said, “Are you Canen?” (laughs). It happened when we were just doing introductions in our math class. That was funny.

I’m currently in the process of recording two new songs. I don’t know how much I should tell you about them. But I’m working with a producer in Davis Square. And we’re getting started on them soon. So I’m super excited about this because I’ve really missed that whole process of creating a song from start to finish. So that’s kind of the highlight of my weeks now is working on this. I don’t know how much I can tell you, because I don’t know how much I even know, if I’m being honest. I don’t know what’s going on (laughs). But yeah, you can expect more music.

What can we expect next from Canen?

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