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| Dahlia Wakefield : Email Interview with Dahlia Wakefield : May 11, 2006 |
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1.How did the songs come together for Close to Home? Did you write for the record? Basically, most of the songs off “Close To Home” were a collection of songs that I had written many years prior to actually recording the album and were simply fine-tuned once I started working with producer Greg Johnston in our pre-production sessions. There were only one or two songs that we strictly co-wrote together in the same room. So no, I didn’t exactly write for that particular record with the intention of writing for it. I just simply love writing songs. Most of the songs were already written…and in some cases…re-written at our pre-production sessions. There were a couple lyrical co-writes with other people, and I wrote most of the music. I was fortunate that a few songs came to me with both music and lyrics together at the same time; that doesn’t happen very often. We chose from about 25 of my songs, demoed 13, and narrowed it down to 10, which now appear on “Close To Home”. If you visit my website www.dahliawakefield.com 2.How did you hook up with Cyclone Records? I just simply received an email from Brad from Cyclone Records one day. He wanted to know if I’d like to be an upcoming compilation CD, “Heart of Alberta”. He was very persistent, and I liked that. I’m happy that I agreed to take part in that project, and I’m also very glad to be associated with Cyclone Records! Brad has done an amazing job at promoting “Heart of Alberta” as well as some of the other compilation records that he is spearheading at this current time. He seems to be very “in tune” with the music industry…you can tell he puts his heart into helping the artists on his roster! 3.How did you go about recording for the Cyclone comp? Two of my songs (‘Let’s Talk About Love’ and ‘You’re Coming Home’) that appear on Cyclone’s compilation CD “Heart of Alberta” were already released on “Close To Home” in late 2003. I just decided to further my promotional efforts by participating in the compilation, and I’m really glad I did it! More exposure is never a bad thing. 4.Tell me about the other comps you’ve been on. The very first compilation album I appeared on is called “Music From Within” and was produced by the music program where I attended, Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton. I covered the blues/rock song “Shallow Water” by Rita Chiarelli. The second compilation album I appeared on, “Faces in the Crowd”, was the result of a prize for placing second in the 2001 Windrift Music Songwriting Contest for the song “I Believe” (co-written by my good friend Maryanne Schwartz). The third compilation album I appeared on included my song “I”, and it was the result of participating in the 2004 Edmonton Independent Music Expo. And lastly, “Heart of Alberta”, released by Cyclone Records, contains two of my songs “You’re Coming Home” and “Let’s Talk About Love”, which was co-written by my good friend Tina May Koski. In the near future, the latter song will also be appearing on the upcoming 2006 Film/TV Sampler CD from Band Promote. I firmly believe that compilation CDs are an effective tool in reaching a broader spectrum of people, resulting in a wider listening audience…and possibly increased sales. It’s all about exposure… something that all indie artists need in this crazy music business. 5.Tell me about the songwriting process for your upcoming release, “Down This Road”. The difference between my debut album “Close to Home” and the songs on my new CD, “Down This Road”, is that this time, the songs were definitely written for the new album. Winnipeg producer Jim Stoeber and I met over the internet in May 2004. He proposed an album deal, and I agreed to take part. Very early in the process, we decided to write and/or pick songs to be exclusively included on the new CD. Between us, it was very collaborative effort, and most of the songs were written purely over the Internet! (Gotta love technology :) Jim started off the writing process by sending me an mp3 of the music for each song via email…so I could write the lyrics. Once I wrote the lyrics for each song, I would record a demo vocal and email him the song as an mp3. Then, then he would record a few backups, add a few more instruments, and email me the song to record my additional harmonies. Jim recorded all the instruments and wrote the music for 6 of the songs on this new album; I wrote the music for three songs. However, while I wrote most of the lyrics, there were also a couple collaborations on a few songs… with writers Stacie Jay Shinewald and Maryanne Schwartz. The tenth song that Jim and I decided to record is a cover song by Nik Kershaw (it’s been one of my favourites for years); you’ll have to guess which one it is… until it’s released, that is. 6.How was recording handled? Where/with who was it done? Because Jim lives in Winnipeg, and I live in Edmonton, logistics was a bit of a problem, but we decided to work around it. I had a very crappy computer in the beginning, but was fortunate to hook up with Adtel Inc.’s studio to record the first three demos. After Adtel generously donated a better computer to me, the rest of my lead demo vocals, as well as the backup vocals, were recorded in my own basement studio. Most of the backup vocals that I recorded myself now appear on my album. This was the first time I’d ever recorded anything on a computer, so it was a huge learning process, but a very satisfying one. Eventually, Jim and I finally met, twice, to record the final lead vocals. We met for the first time in Saskatoon, after my Folk Festival gig in the summer of 2004, to record three songs at his sister’s home. Then, in the summer of 2005, I traveled to Winnipeg to record the lead vocals on the final seven tracks at Jim’s studio. While I found that whole particular recording process to be very challenging and slow, it gave us freedom and time to explore different ways of presenting the songs. Although I didn’t always feel like I had creative control, I truly feel we did a great job, even with distance between us. “Down This Road” is scheduled to be released on my independent label, Squirrelly Girl Music in late June 2006/early July 2006, and I’m looking forward to it! 7.What are your promo plans for this release? Since this album was written online, my plans are to promote it online… through my website; to sell it on CD Baby as well as off the stage; and to basically try to reach anyone who would like to write a review on my music and/or play my music on their internet radio stations. I’ll also give it a go with a select few commercial stations with a DMDS prize that I won to solicit to radio stations within my genre. Although commercial radio is extremely difficult for independent artists to land spots; it can be done. There’s no harm in trying. It might just take some time. I’m just going to try to get it out there in as many ways as I possibly can. I guess it’s all you can do. 8.How important is it to you to be hands on about the non-musical aspects? (cd artwork, promo stuff) It is very important for me to be hands on about all that stuff. I want to present the best that I possibly can, and that means taking control of those things… because I am the only one who knows myself fully and completely. Sure, it’s time consuming, but it has to be done... Besides, that’s the true meaning of being an indie artist - for one to be self-sufficient and independent. 9.What’s the deal with Squirrelly Girl Music? Is it a working project at this point? Squirrelly Girl Music is my company…my umbrella label under which I release solely my own music. It contains my record label, publishing company, distribution arm, and promotions department (and God knows what else)…and I do it all myself. Eventually, I’d like to eventually hire a manager; it’s getting to be a little too busy these days. I’d also like to expand sometime in the future to perhaps release other artists’ albums on my label as well. So, it is still very much a project in the works in itself at this point in time. 10.Anything in the works we should know about? Like I mentioned before, my upcoming CD for “Down This Road” will be released in late June 2006/early July 2006…keep checking my website for exact details for the CD release party! Right now, I’m also negotiating a couple publishing deals for film/TV. I’ve also got a few gigs this month; just check out my website at www.dahliawakefield.com * If there is anything you’d like included that I didn’t ask about, please let me know here and I’ll include it: Here’s my take…a little acronym on the meaning of being “independent” in the music industry. I’ve compiled this based solely on my own experiences…hopefully it can help future artists: INDEPENDENT I - I have final say in all my creative projects. If you like control, indie is the way to go! N - Network, network, network! What else can I say? Network! D - Depend on no one but yourself. It’s really the only way to get things done the way you want; just keep in mind it’ll take some time. E - Everyone has an opinion; yours is what truly counts when presenting your songs the way you want. P - Pretend that you have success; eventually it’ll lead you in that direction. E - Entertain an audience (consisting of other than your family & friends) by playing your originals live every now and then…they’ll be judge & jury. N - Never give up. It’s all about your determination & drive to succeed in this crazy music business. D - Don’t is a 4-letter word. But DON’T be discouraged E - Elevate your consciousness to continually write & create songs that inspire you. N - Never sell your songs outright; there are future royalties to be made…eventually! T - Tell EVERYONE about your music! Even if only one person loves it, at least you’ll have made a difference to that one person in this ruthless, competitive music industry! And who knows…you might end up with some sales…?! List any 5 songs in your most current (last listened to) playlist 1. “Photograph” - Nickelback 2. “Santa Monica” - Theory of a Deadman 3. “Boondocks” - Little Bigtown 4. “Lifetimes” - Sheryl Crow 5. “Unwritten” - Natasha Bedingfield |