Tell us about:

Your latest single you have released:

“Love Don’t Come Easy” is a song I wrote for your ears to listen to! More specifically, it’s a love song about the frustrating cycle of the dating scene: putting yourself out there, opening up to someone new, getting heartbroken, giving up, and then having to start the process all over again. It’s a universal experience yet one that feels so personal. It’a about that desire to find our “person.”

Your favourite lyric in this song: 

“You say you’re done with the apps / So don’t even ask / Not trying to catch anyone / On a new blind date / And the fish in the sea / Have got a disease / Nobody seems to be taking it / Seriously these days”

Your favourite song that you have created:

I don’t pick favourites among my children. They all have their strengths (and weaknesses). If I release a song, it’s because I love it and it expresses something either lyrically or sonically that I deeply connect with. 

Your favourite song to play live:

Right now I love playing “Love Don’t Come Easy.” It sounds just as good with a band as it does broken down to just acoustic guitar. And it sits in a perfect groove and pocket that allows me to play with the melody a bit. 

The song that was the longest to write and why?

“Love Don’t Come Easy” took the longest to write because it was so personal, and I wanted to have the lyrics fully written before I went into the studio to record. And when I write alone like that, I find I need to take time and step away from the song, periodically, to get perspective and to look at what I wrote with fresh eyes. Otherwise I get very self conscious about my songwriting. So this song probably took about three days to write, off and on.  

Your most emotional track:

My answer for this is also “Love Don’t Come Easy.” It’s my most emotional track by far. The first two songs I released were meant as more uptempo feel-good tracks, while “Love Don’t Come Easy” is a more personal ballad-type song.

Dream collaboration:

I would give anything to have been able to work with Bill Withers before he passed.

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:

It’s a combo of determination, excitement, and fear. Lots of chaotic energy flowing through my body right before that first song starts. 

The hardest track to play live:

Of the three I’ve released so far for the FAKE SUEDE project, “Don’t Mind If I Do” is the most difficult to play live. To do it justice it needs multiple singers and an extremely tight rhythm section. 

Essential items you always take on tour with you?

My Beats Earbuds are very essential. I always have an audio book I’m listening to that helps me escape the music and work for a bit, which is otherwise hard to do when you’re on tour. I also take a good pillow with me to get the best sleep possible every night, no matter what the bed situation is.

Describe your fans in three words:

Intelligent. Attractive. Great-taste-in-music.

A song by another artist or band you wish you had written:

So many! Bill Withers’ “Grandma’s Hands,” BeeGees’ “How Deep is Your Love,” Childish Gambino’s “Human Sacrifice,” Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” just to name a few!

What we can look forward to from you this year?

I have been hard at work writing music for this project, t, so I have a long queue of songs waiting to be released. Keep an eye out!

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