Slow Leaves | Interview | New Album, ‘Meantime’
Slow Leaves’ latest album, ‘Meantime,’ is about waiting for something momentous to occur in life, and how all the mundane stuff that happens during the wait actually constitutes what is meaningful.
An elegant earthiness courses through ‘Meantime’ which features a collection of folk songs adorned with paisley 1960s and 70s touches. While there is a retro sensibility to music, it is offset by an immediacy to the lyrics, setting him firmly in modern times. Slow Leaves is a self-contained solo project with Davidson curating every aspect of the music and its presentation, including being the multi-instrumentalist, producer, cover art designer, photographer, and videographer. He views the totality of these various aspects as being essential parts of a larger project of self-understanding through artistic methods. His folk and psych-rock stylings recall older songwriters like Mickey Newbury, Nick Drake, Gene Clark, and Neil Young.
“I like the words to come from the music”
How much work went into the making of your new album, ‘Meantime’?
Grant Davidson: Many of my albums start with demos that I make on my own. Generally I’ll keep toying with productions and song structures until I fall in love with them. Those are the ones that make it on an album. It can be a lengthy process but for me it’s the part that I like best so it rarely feels like real work. The real work starts with the formation of a formal album, when what at first is the feeling of infinite potential must be corralled and compressed into something concrete and final. In some ways, the finalizing of an album is the death of it, creatively. Naturally, the hope is that it finds new meaning with new listeners. I’m always looking forward to starting the process for the next one.
Would you like to expand on how you usually approach song writing? Does it vary from song to song or do you have a go-to process?
Like most lazy songwriters I desperately hope for songs that appear suddenly in a burst of inspiration. But they’re not all like that. Most start from an inspired seed but require work to get them from “this is amazing” to “this sucks” back to “this is amazing” again. Those are the songs that survive. Typically my songs get hung up on the lyrics. I’ve experimented with writing lyrics first but it’s not as satisfying for me. I like the words to come from the music. Sometimes they jump out with enthusiasm, other times in dull cliches. I guess my process is to have trust that more good ones are coming even if it doesn’t always feel that way. And then I wait.
What’s your upcoming live schedule look like?
I’m currently working on Canadian tours in the fall and then likely some UK and Germany dates in the new year.
Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up and how did you first get interested in music?
I grew up in Winnipeg where I live now. I started playing guitar because I wanted to be like Jimmy Page after I first listened to a second album by Led Zeppelin on cassette of my older brother’s. I always liked the ballad and acoustic songs best so I spent more time fingerpicking than learning blistering solos. I preferred the side of guitar that allowed me to drift off and daydream. I still do. Once I had some songs under my belt, I played the local coffee shops, confident I’d be discovered and my music career would take off effortlessly. I’ve learned a lot since then. I got a University degree that I never used because I wanted to leave the door open for music. But I also never committed to music because it seemed like an ill advised risk. After years of feeling my inner core rot from lack of commitment in either direction, in my thirties with a wife and a three-year-old son, it became clear that I had to give my music a fighting chance or live long with regret. So I quit my job and started making music for my full time gig and haven’t looked back.
What can you say are some of the major influences? Have they changed over the years that you’ve been an active musician?
My biggest influences remain Mickey Newbury, Gene Clark, Tom Rapp, Jolie Holland, and of course Bob Dylan. Mickey’s my favourite because he writes heart wrenching songs and delivers them with a sincerity that sometimes borders on the edge of cheesy, if you were to ask my wife, but for me he never crosses that line. The emotion in his voice and the vulnerability in his lyrics make him one of a kind. I think Frisco Mabel Joy is a perfect record. Jolie Holland’s singing style always reminded me of a fluttering bird, especially in her early records. There’s an unpredictable whimsey that I think influenced my own singing style early on. I think she allowed me to notice new possibilities in my voice and was a big influence on the evolution of my singing. I could elaborate on the rest of the list above, but I think the overarching theme is that none of them fit neatly into a genre or style of music. They’re all rooted in country and folk as a starting place, but bring in all sorts of other influences that make them hard to pin down. Radio often didn’t know what to do with them. Most of them got more respect from other songwriters than from the critics and tastemakers. I guess that idea appeals to me.
Klemen Breznikar
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