Written by Kindah Mardam Bey   

One of the most gifted singer/songwriters in Canada, Ann Vriend has brought her stunning vocals, intelligent lyrics and compelling tunes to her third independently released full-length album When We Were Spies. AnEVibe sat down to a delightful interview with Vriend, as we mulled over the subjects of the secret service lifestyle, love, the record industry and ‘Hallowe'en'....

1. Hi Ann! It's great to speak with you today about your impressive new album When We Were Spies. What was the inspiration for the espionage theme? 

Thank you Kindah, it's been a risky album to make!  The inspiration for these songs comes from my experiences as a secret agent.  Due to confidentiality I can't go into too much depth about that; all I can tell you is that I posed as a music journalist while actually doing some under cover work for a European agency.

These songs come from my struggle towards the end of my time spent as a spy; I had fallen in love with another agent, and was questioning the whole idea of trust and faithfulness in a relationship versus protecting myself and my own agency-- whom he was employed to sabotage, and vice versa.  It was constantly hard to know if I should follow my heart or my head, or to know when he was and wasn't doing the same.  And it was hard to know if sacrificing my personal life for my professional life was a good choice or not.

2. How did the new album evolve? Did you go in a new direction with When We Were Spies or did you expand your focus on the style of music we are used to hearing on your previous albums.

The album actually began with a song that didn't make it on the album, which opened with the line, "You were crying, I was hiding, like a spy." It revealed to me other songs I had been writing centred around this exploration I seemed to be having about how much vulnerability and trust and transparency you allow yourself to have in a relationship, from the level of an intimate, personal one, to political and social ones. Of course not EVERY song I was writing then fit under this umbrella, but a good handful of them did, and once I decided to go with this direction for this album, I wrote more around that concept and it started to be clearer how we wanted it to hang together.

Musically it began with my meeting Doug Romanow, the producer of the album; he met me when I played at the Horseshoe in Toronto.  We sort of kept in touch off and on, and co-wrote demo-ed a couple of tunes together.  Then I got some money from a radio station in Edmonton to do some recording, and Doug declared he really wanted to do the album with me, and I really liked working with him, so we plunged in.  From the start I had said I wanted to make an album that was accessible to mainstream radio and audiences, but still very much the Ann Vriend of previous records; the quirky, literary, melodramatic singer songwriter that often plays solo folk festivals and house concerts.  I guess the main difference with this album is that it is very big, very epic, it's passionate in a lush and multi layered way, and is less rootsy and acoustic, though there still are a lot of breathable, earthy elements in it.  It's still a very far cry from Top 40 teen formula stuff, it falls under the category of Baroque pop, I've been told.  I'm a big fan of really big sounding albums, of Brit pop bands like U2 in Achtung Baby era, or Coldplay, or Athlete, David Gray.  Or even the Beatles, where they added instruments and layers outside the regular 4 piece band configuration.  And while my album doesn't sound like these artists per se I did want that big, epic, cinematic feeling in the album, which took more layering than a roots/folk approach to production.  I thought it would be interesting to contrast that with a very tender, breakable way of singing, and really bring out the fragility of the character in the songs. 

3. A lot of your albums and songs are inspired by love, why is music so motivated by love (or the lack of sometimes)?

Ah. Well, I can't speak for all the writers of music, of course!  But I think music is very, very emotionally direct.  More direct than any other language, at least any written, spoken one-- you can understand the feeling of the music without knowing the language the writer of it speaks, you can "get" its cadences, its mood.  And music is very powerful:  If you watch a horror movie, or even a romance movie, with the sound off, without the music, you are much less impacted by the film.

So my guess is this is why music is often the arena in which to address the most heartfelt sentiments humans have. Not to say romantic love is the be and end all of human sentiments.  But it's a really big part!  With my writing, on the surface the lyrics are about romantic relationship, but oftentimes I try to get in more of a... well, for lack of a better word, "political" outlook; I try to convey how the characters in the song are shaped and affected by their economical and social and political environments-- though at the same time they're 2 people trying to relate to each other within the struggles of their environment.  It's about love, but in a vacuum, not love on its own, but love in a place, in a time, and my hope is you learn as much about the place and the time as you do about the lovers.

4. Tell me a little bit about how the songs ‘St.Paul's' and ‘Hallowe'en' came about. 

St. Paul is a song I wrote quite a while ago, and it came from my observation of a lot of people around me just sort of getting numb and giving in to the North American rat race, and not really feeling very alive anymore, or motivated to do things they know ethically matter.  Which is very easy to do!

So, I didn't want to write a song criticizing that, because I'm part of that too, I get way too tired to join every social justice and environmental thing there is out there, you know, the struggles of daily life can really occupy nearly all of your waking hours some days.  But I did see this emptiness in the eyes of people sometimes... people that were just looking for a reason to wake up and really stick there neck out about something they believed in and was risky-- but emotionally rewarding-- for once.  The interesting thing is the first time I ever played this song live was at a speech given by Stephen and Avi Lewis.  It couldn't have been a more appropriate place to unveil the song.  It was an honour and really fit with the sentiment and the vibe of the speech.  It ended up being one of the singles from the album, which came as a bit of a surprise to me; it's a fairly complex song in some ways, lyrically anyway. But it seems to really strike a chord with people.

Hallowe'en I wrote first as a poem, when I was touring in Australia. I was a bit homesick, especially because it was during Hallowe'en, and in Australia no one really does anything for Hallowe'en, it's not a big deal over there at all, there's no trick or treating, or getting dressed up, etc.  In the meantime I was getting these emails from friends in North America about parties and Hallowe'en plans, and it just got me thinking about the absurdity of this bizarre holiday, and what its origins are. Because I was doing so much traveling and observing in general it hit me increasingly that a whole lot of things in our culture are pretty absurd, there are parts of it that are haunting and scary in real life, no need to pretend or dress it up.  Doug did a great job taking this very raw, very simple song I laid down in one sitting at the Wurly-- I wrote the music to it one night after I got back home-and adding programming from top to bottom, and yet still keeping this really sincere, earthy vibe going on, really building toward the end. I was pretty thrilled about how it all came together.

5. As you play piano and sing, what comes first for you, the lyric or the tune? 

It varies from song to song; there isn't really a formula to it.

6. You do a great cover of Neil Young's ‘Rockin' In The Free World,' why did you pick this song in particular? You also took it in an interesting direction, would you explain the ‘how' and ‘why' of that. 

I'd been playing that in my live show for quite a while, and when it came down to putting the album together Doug and I were encouraged by a radio tracker (the one that broke Feist with her BeeGees cover, incidentally) to put a cover song on the album.  We had enough original material that we hadn't thought of doing that, but he made a convincing case for it. So then there was the question of WHICH cover, and my partner suggested Rockin' in the Free World, and that I do it like the mournful, passionate lament I did in my solo show.  At first that seemed like a weird idea, but it grew on me, and it's been interesting to watch the response to our version, it's really been all over the map -- understandably when you take a much loved, passionate song like that and change it up, there are going to be lovers and haters of your interpretation, especially when it is less low-fi rocky and done by a female in a non low-fi pop style.  Regardless of that, for me, being from Alberta, the song really seems uncannily relevant, despite the fact it was written 19 years ago. Neil Young has this incredible talent of writing songs that never seem to stop being true-- quite infuriatingly and sadly so, in this case. I hope that bringing that song up in 2008, especially in my home province where I get a good amount of radio play, might make the occasional person think about that for a sec.  If not, keep on rockin', man.

7. You are a big fan of Leonard Cohen, what is it about Cohen's music that is so inspiring to you?

He writes some absolutely exquisite lyrics that still remain consistently committed to everyday language.  And though he's a really limited singer you really believe him when he sings, partly because the melodies are so logical and simple. He's just an astounding writer. When you listen to him you really get the feeling this guy knows you better than you know yourself, and yet simultaneously is one of the most fragile people out there.  My one complaint is the unimaginative and cheezy production on his albums since the '90s, they sound like someone programmed them in 10 minutes on a Casio and thought no one would notice, I really don't know why that's happened, but the fact that his songs transcend that is testimony to how good they are.

8. What are some other artists or albums you love to listen to?

Royal Wood, Sigur Ros, the Beatles, Coldplay, Radiohead, Aretha Franklin, Alternate Routes, Cat Stevens, Sarah Slean, Bob Marley, U2, Queen, Athlete, Ray Charles, Manu Chao, Morcheba, Jacob Dylan, Katie Melua, Scissor Sisters, Billie Holiday, Nathan Wiley, Emmylou Harris,Lucinda Williams, Toots and the Maytals, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, I'll stop there but of course the list is endless. 

9. You have a large fan-base in Australia, why do you think the Australian listening audience has embraced your style?

That's a good question.  I think it's a combination of me just liking going over there, and a sizable amount of Aussies liking the more quirky, approachable artists over and above mainstream industry stuff; it's a place where Jon Butler, the Waifs, Kasey Chambers, Missy Higgins are from, you know?  These are talented people but it's not all about glam or cult of celebrity with them.  People just seem to appreciate raw honesty in music-- and in people in general-- in Australia. There is very little tolerance of pretension.  And I'm the type of performer that can be pretty intense but I also break down the barrier between the audience and myself when I get on the stage, and that just seems to work really well down there.

10. You know the Canadian independent music scene quite well; tell me a little about your perception of it. 

Well, it's a tough, tough thing. The Canadian weather, the large distances between towns, plus the fact lots of people don't have the time or money to go out, and the fact that there is less and less dollar value for recorded music with the whole downloading thing; these things combined make it really hard to carve out a living for yourself.  And yet there are people out there who are really pumped about good music and good live shows, and I've managed to find some of them and some of them have managed to find me, all without the help-- and, in fact, the cold shoulder of the Canadian music industry, for the most part.  It would be nice to not have to do everything by myself and in SUCH a grassroots, exhausting way all the time, but it seems to be the only option right now, and I have some really great people helping me out on an independent level.  It's a little strange; when you consider that I've sold nearly 10,000 albums, that most of the industry in my own country is not remotely interested in working with me.  I've pretty much given up trying to figure it out, and am just concentrating on the fans instead, who actually help put food in my belly, and who it's all for in the first place. 

11. How does being a singer and musician from the Western part of Canada (Edmonton, Alberta) show itself in your music or your career? (or does it?)

Edmonton is a blue collar, dirty town where people work hard-- some of them make a ton of money from the oil boom, but the other people don't, and can barely keep up.  And even the people who make tons of money still work a lot of hours.  So, it's that sort of gruff "put your head down and work" kind of town, especially in the long winters.  The genre of music I've pursued is a lot different from what blue collar towns tend to produce, such as punk, alt country, folk/roots, blues, all of which are really prominent in Edmonton; whereas literary, epic, layered Baroque pop albums are really rare. Maybe I write these highly charged, intellectual, lush, romantic, songs of longing in reaction to that, I don't know!  But the delivery of my shows and my vocal delivery have a lot to do with being from this gritty, down to earth place, people are very turned off by pretence; there is a value I admire of people being sincere and honest.  And, what's interesting is though I've never considered myself a country singer, people seem to be hearing a "twang" in my singing-- outside of Alberta, that is. So, there must be something in the water in Alberta, and I hope not just from the contamination from the oil extraction...you can't escape where you're from, I guess; you can just use your imagination to escape here and there.

12. What is the best advice you were ever gave? Or favourite quote?

I was in Australia with Corb Lund and some other Alberta songwriters, and it was during a particularly really hard period in my life, including economically. I was lamenting to them that I had been really foolish not to have a backup plan in case my music career didn't work out.  Corb said, "Well, then: you're a lifer", and I sort of looked at him indignantly at the time, but I've realized you do find ways to survive in music when you have to, that's for sure.  It's not always very glamorous or easy, but you do. Or you get out. It's that simple. 

13. What are you listening to now?

Actually, the radio.  I'm doing a lot of driving on this tour, and checking out new music and listening to the news that way at the same time. And to a whole bunch of other artists I've met on this tour, who has wanted to trade albums with me. 

14. What are you reading now, or what is your favourite book of all time?

I really wish I had time to read more, but it's pretty dangerous while driving.  And a bit disengaging to do while performing, and those 2 things are mainly what I'm doing these days!  .. the last book I read was when I was in Germany, it was "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." I couldn't put it down (luckily I was mostly taking the train at that point).  I also really love all books by Barbara Kingsolver, for starts.

15. Before we finish up here today, can you disclose any top secret agent information (I promise I won't tell anyone)?

Hmmm.  This seems like a lot already... I'm afraid I must keep my end of the bargain I made when I defected.

Read AnEVibe's Review of When We Were Spies
Read AnEVibe's Review of Modes Of Transport
Read AnEVibe's Article on Ann Vriend