Ann Vriend A Need So Wide (You're the One) Interview

Ann Vriend A Need So Wide (You're the One) Interview

The latest single from Canadian songstress Ann Vriend – A Need So Wide (You're The One) – comes as the enigmatic performer returns to Australia for a special showcase at the BIGSOUND music industry conference in September. The single was hand-picked based on the response the track always generates from Australian fans and features a quirky clip that is guaranteed to enamour Ann's already burgeoning fan base. A Need So Wide (You're The One) is the follow-up single to the recently released track You Can Have Me from Ann's highly acclaimed album For The People In The Mean Time. The jaunty track is another impressive offering from this incredible musician that will continue to cement her as a soulful force on the international scene.

A Need So Wide (You're The One) was penned early in Ann's career when she was working on her music part-time and moonlighting as a waitress. 'I worked the lunch shift," says Ann. 'I was always so exhausted because I was working two jobs plus gigging and trying to get somewhere with my career, so it was really hard to have any kind of upbeat attitude when I was there. The whole scene just depressed the hell out of me, it didn't help that it was the dead of winter in Edmonton so it was cold, grey and ugly outside. One day while I was waiting for my shift to start, I sat at the staff table and wrote the chorus lyrics to A Need So Wide. In contrast to this daily grind life I was living and seeing around me, I was actually in a really great relationship with this awesomely supportive guy, and that was kind of my only really bright light in my life at that time. I was looking forward to the reward of coming home and just being around something and someone positive and affirming."

A Need So Wide (You're The One) was also the song that acted as a pivotal turning point in the direction Ann took in her career in that it was the catalyst to which producer she chose to work with on for her album. 'I was shopping around to find the right producer and I had been recommended all these different fairly well-known Canadian producers, but none of them had made any albums that even remotely had the retro soul sound I wanted," says Ann. 'An Edmonton musician – incidentally the one the song is about – suggested I try Tino (Zolfo). We got together one Sunday afternoon and I brought in A Need So Wide as a vehicle to -try each other out.' I just sat down in front of a mic and he hooked up his crappy keyboard to a Wurly patch on his computer and I played and sang the song as a scratch keyboard and vocal. Then Tino added looped beats and played bass to it, and I quickly sung some background vocal harmonies, and basically we did the whole thing that afternoon, as you hear it now."

So, A Need So Wide (You're The One) was the first track that Ann and Tino Zolfo worked on together. The finishing touches were put on the track in the lead-up to recording the album For The People In The Mean Time and it found a perfect home on the long player. Considering the back story of writing A Need So Wide (You're The One) it is apt the quirky clip for the single features the songstress working in a diner. It depicts Ann and her -partner' working the daily grind, but coming home happy to see each other. She intentionally went for a retro feel with the clip as well to tie it all together.

'We used my actual house for the house scene, including the Hammond organ," she says. 'The party scene is shot in this recording studio in Edmonton owned by this guy who very seriously collects vintage '70s everything -- I mean every item in his house, down to the telephone, the dishes and the toaster, is vintage '70s, not just the instruments. It was the perfect place to have the shoot. Plus there's a little cameo by the drummer in my band, Peter Hendrickson."

Returning to Australia in September, Ann is embarking on a small run of shows to coincide with the single release. No stranger to Australian shores herself this will be the first time that the songstress has brought her full band out for a tour. 'I've been to Australia 10 times already, but it will be fun seeing the country through their eyes this time around," she says. 'Will they like vegemite? Will they know what sunnies are? Will I tell them? We've toured a lot together the past year and a half in support of my album and so I'm really excited about what we bring to the table for our live show, which no one in Australia has seen yet. I hope that our arrangements and the calibre of their playing really brings the same excitement to Australian audiences as it has in Canada and Europe."

Ann Vriend's single A Need So Wide (You're The One) is at radio now. Ann & her band perform a special showcase at BIGSOUND in Brisbane in September. For more information, please visit www.annvriend.com

Interview with Ann Vriend

Question: How would you describe your music?

Ann Vriend: A gritty twist on soul that takes you back to the late 60s/early 70s but overtop of modern beats. A quirky energetic spin on retro R & B. Or if you're one that needs the "so meets so and so and had a love child of" go ahead and listen and fill in your own blanks.


Question: What was it like to perform at BIGSOUND?

Ann Vriend: Fun! Such a short set, but glad to have a lot of people there despite literally 74 other bands playing that night. It was amazing to me so many people apparently know the words of the chorus of my single already- even all the way on the other side of the world. Quite exciting to have them all singing along.

Question: What can you tell us about A Need So Wide (You're The One)?

Ann Vriend: I wrote it when I was waitressing in this dismal pub where most of the customers sat feeding coins into a pokie machine all day, while drinking cheap beer that I would bring to them. The rest of the clientele was a few regular barflies that would want to talk to me all day, passing the time with the same stories we'd have gone through the day before. I was super tired because I was holding down 2 waitressing jobs plus trying to get my music career off the ground, so between all that it was hard to stay inspired. But I had a great relationship to come home to every night, so the song is about just clinging to that as a light at the end of the tunnel, like the one refuge from the daily grind. So though the verses of the song are about the drudgery of that the choruses are joyful and the groove of the song makes it far more positive than maybe the lyrics would suggest.


Question: What was it like filming the video clip?

Ann Vriend: We did it all in 2 days so it was pretty intense, but I had a good crew and lots of people donated their time and locations and props to make it all happen. It gave me a huge appreciation for how much work goes into full length movies- the amount of time it took to plan and execute and edit a 3 minute music video was so much work that I can barely fathom how many hours and manpower a whole movie takes.


Question: Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Ann Vriend: I think so- I think I expected it to be fair, haha. Seriously, it still boggles my mind on a regular basis how so many people fall for hype and miss the real musical gems out there. But over time you find believers. It's all about that. I'm lucky to have a good team of believers in Australia now and that makes all the difference.


Question: Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Ann Vriend: Yes. A wide variety of things.... for example, other musicians and their music-- going to a concert and getting ideas from their shows and their words, and things they evoke in your mind. Or other works of art in various mediums. And my own emotional journey of navigating life and coming across people and places affecting me- and a song can be a way to process that. In writing what you feel you sometimes surprise yourself about what you actually think or have experienced-- it can be like looking under a rock and finding out a whole life form is there.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Ann Vriend: Oh man, it's all over the place. I recently inherited about 1500 records from our trombone player who moved and couldn't take them with him. So I've been slowly getting through listening to those. A lot of old school jazz, and some fun stuff like the Village People. Ray Charles. Even his country album is great. Also Memphis Slim is awesome. Went to see Stevie Wonder concert this summer as well- which was mind blowing. Was just listening to him again last night. And also got some tix to Lucinda Williams- what a songwriter. Looking forward to checking out that Ryan Adams album of Taylor Swift covers.

Question: What's next? Tour/Album/Single?

Ann Vriend: I'll be doing a vinyl release show in Toronto at the end of October, and then a full vinyl release tour of Australia in early 2016-- which will include another single from the album. In between those things and playing shows with the blues band I'm in, the Rooster Davis Group, I will be working here and there on my next album, and doing a few solo singer-songwriter shows.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Ann Vriend: Yes and no.... There are some soul sucking gigs for sure, and some times when the little amount of money that comes your way is pretty disheartening when you realize how much time and energy you've put in for so long. And I've had some serious blows with record contracts falling apart, managers dropping the ball on things- things like that. But then I think: what would I do instead? I don't have another career to fall back on. Plus, starting something else from scratch that my heart isn't even fully in just seems harder than following what I've already started, especially because it has had so much positive rewards and exciting things happen along the way, too-- musical and otherwise. So I keep on keeping on. I remind myself there are pluses and minuses to every job and in the end you have to be ok with it on a big picture level, and when there's a bad day I try not to get too bent out of shape.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Ann Vriend: Man, that would be an awful choice to have to choose one over the other- I think it would be like asking a parent which of their children they loved more, haha. Recording is more on the introspective side- the creation of what you will eventually share. They are both intense and focused but in totally different ways. I think it would be like asking a chef if creating the recipe was more fun than presenting the finished dish to the guests: you have one in mind when you're doing the other. They require really different moods and head space but they are part of one big process-- at least that's the way it is for me.


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Ann Vriend: I think I wanted to do music as much as possible-- as in, not have to squeeze it into the corners of my spare time. I figured if I got good enough eventually it would just be my whole life-- and actually it has turned into that. But I didn't realize how much non musical business stuff I'd have to do to make that musical side possible. It's really like having 2 full time jobs at all times. But the reward is I get to do more and more music with more and more, and more and more with the people I am thrilled to make music with, on a level that is really exciting. It gets better and better and that fulfillment is the payoff.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?
Ann Vriend: Not having a head for business and not having any background in it- which has caused me to make a lot of mistakes, like trust people I shouldn't have trusted, and led me to have to learn a lot of things the hard way. I think very few artists LIKE being in business or think of themselves as business people-- most of us are not wired that way. But it is a time in the music business when you have to do a lot of things for yourself and you have to learn the ropes. So now the biggest challenge is just trying to find time for it all, without the music side suffering too much.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Ann Vriend: There are no typical days lol- seriously- one is completely diff from the next, depending on if I'm on the road or not, or how many promotional things I need to do. On tour the general routine is: wake up, find coffee, get on the road, while on the road try to get through your massive amount of emails, and maybe do a phone interview or 2, then get to the sound check, do the sound check, quickly eat and change, do the show, sell merch after and take pics w people and sign things til there is no one else left in line, then have a drink with the band, tear down all your gear, drive to where you're staying, flop into bed with maybe enough energy to brush your teeth. Non tour days you are pouring over paperwork or having a lot of phone meetings to line all that kind of stuff up in the first place. But other days are filled up with writing and rehearsing and recording. There's definitely a variety though, which is the spice of life they say. I think I wouldn't do very well at a 9 to 5 situation, though sometimes I do crave the straightforwardness of that!


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Ann Vriend: Having music be such a big part of my life, and the incredible people I've met along the way, who are now a big part of my musical and personal life. And the places in the world I've been able to see and experience on tour.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Ann Vriend: I am lucky that I get to collaborate a lot right NOW with a lot of artists-- I'm in a few bands back home- one is the Rooster Davis Group- a New Orleans piano based blues and boogie group, and I get to sing sometimes with this 10 piece soul band called the Mocking Shadows. An amazing thing would be to work with someone like Prince, or the guys from Radiohead, or Paul Simon, or Rick Rueben- the list could get really, really long here haha.


Question: Do you have a website fans can visit?

Ann Vriend: www.annnvriend.com


Interview by Brooke Hunter