Anique Granger
Interview conducted on April 09, 2021
By Dan Locke
Originally from Fransaskoise with a piercing fingerstyle and adopted Montrealer with homemade songs. A road trip led by the guitar, accents of life stories and a flood of images that scroll
What is your upbringing?
I grew up in a francophone family in Saskatchewan, so I guess speaking French in a predominantly English region of Canada is a huge part of my upbringing. Is that what you mean?
How did you discover music?
Music was always a huge part of my life. My mom’s side of the family is extremely musical, so I grew up hearing aunts and uncles and cousins harmonizing together. Singing harmony, even in the car, listening to the radio, was second nature. Of course, there were piano lessons as a kid… and the choir at school. I don’t feel like I “discovered” music. It was always there, and I always knew that I wanted to pursue it.
How did you start to write music?
Looking back, I think songwriting came from 2 separate challenges. Like I said, I grew up in a family of singers… but as a kid, I didn’t have a whole lot of vocal range. I had trouble singing all the “girl songs” that were popular at the time. I also had a really hard time with music theory. I never learned how to read music. When I dropped out of piano lessons, I was about 13 and my mom didn’t want to get me guitar lessons, as I was not very diligent at practicing the piano. Guitar was more accessible and could be plucked quietly. I taught myself 3 or 4 chords and proceeded to write something that was comfortable for me to sing.
How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
My aunt Viv lent me an old acoustic that was really hard on the fingers! I think it broke…
What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model?
In 2013 I got a custom acoustic built by a Vermont luthier called Adam Buchwald. The company is called Circle Strings. It’s a OOO model, spruce top mahogany sides and back… fantastic for fingerstyle playing. I absolutely love it. When Adam was in the process of building it, he called me the day he was carving the neck and I drove 3 hours from Montreal across the American border to just see how it fit!
Describe your music.
That’s the hardest question! I just write songs. I play guitar. And I really love good lyrics. For a long time, my music was very guitar-driven. These days, I just lean towards simplicity and strong melodies.
What was your first performance at like?
So long ago I don’t remember! (I was so shy it was probably a bit traumatizing…)
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP ?
Of course! In Canada, it’s Socan.
In 2017, you spend 2 weeks on a icebreaker in the arctic Is that a good place to do song writing?
That was an incredible adventure. I think any place that gets you out of your comfort zone, learning something new and challenging “what you think you know” is good for songwriting.
What makes a good songwriter?
I don’t know! There are so many different types of good songs, and everyone has their strength! Lately I’ve been reflecting on the ability to use a simple image or idea to illustrate something bigger. We could call it depth, I guess?
What is the process of writing your music?
I usually start with a few words and a riff, or a piece of melody and let them feed / bounce off each other. Often I’m not quite sure what I want to say at first. The song eventually reveals itself and once I know what it’s about, I can focus in and precise.
About your song “My Name is Brian Wilson”, have you ever met The Beach Boy Brian Wilson?
No, I have not! The song is actually not about him at all. It’s about the sadness of not being who or what you want to be.
Tell me about your postcard you created on your website?
The artist Marianne Chevalier created a piece for each song / podcast of my last album. They are so incredibly beautiful that I wanted to give them more life, so I chose my 4 favorites and printed a set of postcards. I also love sending things through the mail, like in the old days. In this age of text messages, was hoping it might get people writing to each other more! They are available on my website and come with a digital download of the album.
Tell me about your lastest CD?
My latest Cd is actually also a podcast series! I based each song on a story that someone told me and documented the whole process, from the conversation to the final song, all the doubts and questions and scraps of ideas included. I wanted to explore something outside myself but what was amazing was realizing that in each story there was something universal and human.
What is your favorite track on your album?
The Name. That’s the song I wrote in the Arctic. I love the guitar part and my band gave it such a great vibe. The lyrics are about something very important to me: reconciliation with the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. As a descendant of settlers, it’s about admitting my ignorance about so many things, but pledging to listen and learn.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
I’m a bit old fashioned. I miss record stores and mix tapes… I miss “owning” and album, knowing it’s a part of my collection, and listening to it over and over till I know it by heart. I really feel that when we have everything (like on a streaming service) it’s sort of like having nothing. Sure, I love to discover things, but at the same time, streaming things on shuffle sometimes feels like musical wallpaper. That’s why I’ve gone back to listening to vinyl. When you have an object, you have a different relationship with the music. You listen differently.
The symbol # is known as the number sign, hash, pound sign and a sharp sign in music. The symbol has historically been used for a wide range of purposes Since 2007, widespread usage of the symbol to introduce metadata tags on social media platforms has led to such tags being known as “hashtags”, and from that, the symbol itself is sometimes called a hashtag.
Are people forgetting that the # is a part of music?
Maybe… I don’t read music so I have to admit I don’t see the sharp hashtag very often! 😉
Digital vs. vinyl?
Vinyl! (Shameless plug: my last two albums are available on vinyl! You can order them off my website… please help me empty the boxes of records from my basement!!)
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Kid fears by the Indigo Girls. I remember the first time I heard it : I went to a boarding school in a small town as a teenager and a friend from the city put it on a mix tape she sent my roommate, in the mail. It was like the world stopped then I heard that song. I thought, that is the kind of emotional impact I want to create.
How was it to do a show in English?
It was strange! I’m so used to talking and telling my stories in French. It sure kept me on my toes. I realize that I have a french accent when I speak English… but only when I’m nervous!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
No, but I think it will change. I have an optimistic, idealistic side that thinks that after a year (or two) of staring screens, people will NEED to see humans, to hear real live voices, unamplified. I love house concerts, small gatherings, and really believe that they are the future.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
Walking, sewing (trying to make my own clothes!), kayaking, gardening, walking… and recording. I’m practicing all about mixing and I’d love to do some producing in the future.
How did you feel to play a show in November. I see you were unmasked for the show?
The show was pre-recorded and the masks only came off when we were on stage, and at a distance. It was a bit surreal to see the crew masked up like that. Felt good to play, but a bit sad at the same time.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
Lots of walking and yoga every day.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I have trouble with the concept of “hobbies” because everything I do is just a part of life. Sewing, baking, doing my taxes, writing a song or messing around with sounds in a sampler. I guess I’m really lucky the line between work / not-work is so thin! Ok – one hobby I have is curling. Yes, the sport. We couldn’t play as a team this year, but my partner and I would go to the rink on our own and throw rocks for an hour or so. I love it.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
I don’t know. We’re all trying to figure that out! It’s hard… I feel like everything is becoming about a social media presence, which is a whole other skill set, like a parallel universe. The good thing about it is that it allows for a somewhat more personal interaction with fans. The flip side is that people often feel pressured to show so much of their personal lives. It’s less about a common musical experience and more about constant self-promotion.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
I hope not! I really feel like that’s just wrong. I mean, everyone has to start somewhere, maybe playing for peanuts when they’re a kid starting out, but at a certain point, we have to claim the value of what we do.
In the past if a musician stop doing music they find a new career. For example David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice over work for SpongeBob SquarePants.. If you can’t do music what would you like to be doing?
I think I’d be repairing something. Anything. I get really upset with our current culture of overconsumption! I like patching clothes and fixing furniture and building something out of old bits and pieces of recycled stuff. I tried to be a luthier for a while, I love fixing up old guitars… I wish I would have continued that work and hopefully I will again someday. My teacher once told me something along the lines of, “You can’t be a musician and a luthier. Both require too much work and practice.” He was right. Other than that, I’d have a huge garden, that’s for sure.
What is your happy place?
In a kayak, on a river.
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on Monday (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are added new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
I wasn’t aware of this. I think, if that continues, that independent artists will inevitably find a new platform. There is always a way to put music out there and the ways are always changing. There is also the danger of Spotify becoming too big and too corporate.
Anything in closing.
Maybe I’m old (I remember pre-internet times!) and nostalgic… but I dream of a time when people get fed up with being on their phones, glued to screens, and they start playing, in their living rooms, and listening. Not just professional musicians, but everyone. I dream of a time when music is not a product or a background noise, but an action, a part of life, something natural that everyone can express. I want friends to sing together for fun. I want to start a bluegrass jam, or a punk band, just for the fun of it.
