Guest Column - Amy Millan Interviewed

In the midst of an august afternoon torrential down-pour, I made my way across a flooded Queensway to Britannia Beach (the site of this year's Ottawa Folk Festival) to spend a few moments with Miss Amy Millan. Upon arriving at the festival site, the rain subsided and I was greeted with an all access pass and some warm sunshine. Amy took some moments away from a delayed CBC interview to spend some time with little old Matt McKech from Thick Specs at a picnic table.

MM/TS: Amy – thanks so much for taking the time to do this today.

AM: Oh, it's no problem at all.

TS: Take me back to the beginning of 'Edith's Mission' and even before -

AM: (shocked) Really? You wanna go that far back?

TS: Well, I guess I'm just wanting to know what started you down the road of music?

AM: Raffi. No word of a lie. It was Raffi. I was obsessed with his songs since I was 3 years old. I would sing along incessantly with all of our Raffi records. And actually, that's what began my stalking of the Whiteley family who now play with me and on a lot of my songs – the Whiteleys actually sang with Raffi on  a lot of those records. Isn't that weird?

TS: That's pretty cool because that leads into my next question – at  a live show at the Bronson Centre back in the fall with Stars, you mentioned on stage how the Whiteley family have influenced you greatly in music – Can you expand on that?

AM: Ya know, I just love the Whiteleys. I've been playing with Jenny and Dan for so long and they both bring such joy to playing music. They've always been so inviting to me and they've never been classist or exclusive. I've played with pretty much their whole family – their father and uncle. And they've been doing music for so long – I mean, they had a gold record with the Junior Jug Band when they were 12 years old. I've been blessed to have them around. And they're hilarious so when I'm around them, I'm always laughing.

TS: When you're not touring, where is your home base and how does that influence your writing?

AM: Montreal is my home – in fact, I just bought a house there. I love Montreal. I think the city has this unique influence because for a long time, the rents were pretty cheap and there was (and still is) a pretty big art community, there. And the girls are really pretty. Seriously.

TS: Speaking of home bases, is it true that you lived in Thunder Bay for a while or was that a rumour?

AM: Total rumour. I've heard that before too. No – I never lived in Thunder Bay. I do mention it in a song but that's about it.  

TS: Was there ever a time where music seemed like an impossibility for you?

AM: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, I was very, very broke for a long time. I can remember getting my first SOCAN cheque and I was so excited. I mean, my bank account was always in the minus. My mom got me this overdraft protection thing and it was always in the red. But I recorded a song that appeared in a Hollywood movie and the movie wasn't that big but I guess the song got a lot of plays in Poland and  that was that.

TS: Was that 'Drowning Mona'?

AM: Yes it was! Very nice. You've done your homework. But after that SOCAN cheque, I remember thinking 'WOW – I can actually go out and buy myself a pair of shoes!'. But it helped having friends in the same boat – ya know with Broken (Social Scene), The Dears, Metric – we could all kinda help each other at times when we needed it.

TS: How encouraging or supportive are Torq and the rest of Stars with your solo projects?

AM: Well first, let me just say that Stars is my number one thing, baby. Always will be. And yeah, they are all awesome about it. They're all my number one support with my solo stuff. In fact, they all pretty much play on the records and a lot of them play live with me. Chris and Evan and everyone else are always super supportive.

TS: Your two solo works so far ('Honey From The Tombs' and now 'Masters Of Burial) seem to both center around death in the titles – Is that coincidence or is there a running theme, there?

AM: No, it's on purpose. I think about death a lot, actually. But I find the more you think about death, the more you think about life and when you realize you'll be dead one day, you're more likely to enjoy what you have around you. And I mean I'm pretty obsessed with human interaction and the way we communicate and I find it interesting that even though someone may have been through a pretty rough experience, that person can find a way to bury things down and still go on. The title of the new record kinda came from thinking about that idea – and a lot about elephants and how they have an amazing capacity for memory – and ya know that expression 'the elephant in the room'? Well that expression comes from the idea that elephants bury their own dead. It's pretty amazing to think about life that way and the stuff we bury.

TS: It's great to finally hear your recorded version of  (the Death Cab song) 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark' – Have the Death Cab For Cutie guys heard your version and what do they think?

AM: Oh, Ben (Gibbard) was super sweet about it. They were all really cool with the idea and loved it and were supportive from the get-go. And Ben is just getting sweeter with time now as he's marrying the lovely Zooey Deschanel. Kinda crazy. But yeah, I've always loved that song and I'm glad it made it on to the record.

TS: There are a few other covers on 'Masters Of The Burial', too – there's a Weeping Tile cover and a Jenny Whiteley cover – what made you want to record those songs?

AM: I guess whenever I do a cover, I feel like it's a song that I wish I'd written, myself. And they're just so much friggin' fun to sing, ya know? I find there's not as much pressure when you're singin' someone else's songs. It's a sort of nice freedom.

TS: Thanks again for your time today, Amy.

AM: No – thank YOU, Matt.

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.

Comments

[Tim]

Holy Frig! Amy Millan is awesome. Nice 'view, lad.

[Megs]

So cool. I loved the part about the elephants.

[Christine]

great interview, Matt!

[gregg]

Whoa Matt. This is really friggin' cool. I have been listening to Honey From The Tombs for a while now and I never knew she had a new solo album coming out. Right on.

[herb]

wow. raffi?

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