The Canadian musician visits Europe
Calgary-born, Vancouver located musician Kirsten Ludwig has just released her fourth oeuvre, EP "Wasted Years" (Oscar St. Records). Here, again, she lets you into her world, willing to share her experiences and feelings, poetically encrypting her confessionals for a truly intimate and empathic, melancholic but hopeful atmosphere. All of this put to music that belongs to no genre but could be alluring to those who like fragile folk and hypnotic, multi-layered, shoegazey music. Her voice is very much part of the texture of the hooky songs but need in no way hide - her craft as a singer is astonishing.
Sadly not many people at all heard her voice carry out onto the street and felt lured into the cozy Tsunami Club, a fine institution in Cologne that loves people and loves music, something you cannot buy. It is your livingroom dolling up as a venue. The weather? A weekday? Too much else going on? Who knows. Promise me not to miss the rest of Kirsten Ludwig's tour and her next visit.
While Kirsten played electric guitar herself, she was masterfully accompanied by Layton Kramer from her band who accentuated the wistfulness of her songs perfectly. Apt and good support was by Wandering Souls, a singer-songwriter duo from Cologne.
Before her gig, Kirsten Ludwig kindly took some time to answer a few questions, so here goes, with thanks to Rola Music and Tsunami Club and of course Kirsten Ludwig herself.
Offbeat Music Blog:
Thank you so much for taking the time, Kirsten! I hope you had a good tour so far despite the strenuous journey and parking situation here!
Kirsten Ludwig:
We are now three shows in and other than the parking situation it’s been great (laughs).
OMB:
Let us start at the very beginning. How did you start out as a musician?
KL:
I have always been singing since I was a baby and over time I started playing music and teaching myself guitar and started writing songs. I don’t remember a specific moment. It was always happening. I started writing poetry when I was young and that turned into songwriting. My Mum played guitar, so I started messing around on it when I was about fourteen. And then, never looked back, I guess.
OMB:
In 2014 you released your first album “Drifting” after a long backpacking trip?
KL:
Exactly, I was gone for a year and I did not know if I wanted to pursue music at that time but I had all these songs pertaining to that experience and the perfect way to compile all those memories was a record.
OMB:
Two years later - you did not have a label - you released “Honest Tracks” (the name says it all)?
KL:
Yeah (laughs), for that one I did the recording and mixing of the bunch of songs myself. I was experimenting because it is a little different to my other records. That one I self-released. It was more for me than anyone else. I was just seeing what I liked and what not.
OMB:
And then came the big one - the album “We Get It Now” out on Oscar St. Records which is owned by Kathryn Calder (Immaculate Machine, The New Pornographers, Frontperson), herself a well-known musician, a good role model.
KL:
Layton who is my guitarist and my musical confidante introduced us. It was definitely a dream to meet Kathryn and also have her be excited about my music. She played on the record and we created a close friendship. I love being on her label. It is a very collaborative experience. She wants to empower her artists to make their own decisions and be as creative as they can. If feel lucky to be on Oscar St. Records.
OMB:
Feels like home?
KL:
(Laughs) Totally!
OMB:
Before we talk about your new EP “Wasted Time”, I would like to ask you this: You moved from Calgary to Vancouver (presumably because of the music scene) and generally travel a lot. Always on the move, a true nomad. Can you float freely or do you need something in every location, be it people, places or even rituals, to anchor you down?
KL:
Oh, that’s a good question! Definitely coffee, I always need coffee (laughs). Otherwise I can just exit in a place. Touring can be quite easy for me because I do not feel necessarily connected anywhere. Not connected, homesick.
OMB:
Well, Vancouver is a huge place.
KL:
It is! I am lucky to live on Vancouver Island which is a ferry ride away and Victoria, the city I live in, is a bit smaller. But the West Coast is beautiful, the ocean being so close to it.
OMB:
Do you take inspiration from that environment?
KL:
I used to. I think there are definitely a lot of West Coast clichés that songwriters run into, so I am always conscious to not reuse those. But the experience of moving away from home and being independent, I definitely took as inspiration, that’s for sure.
OMB:
Speaking of songwriters: People have a hard time to put you in a genre. I know the allocating of genres is also to help people to recommend other music, but it can become oppressive if they try to put you in a box.
KL:
Totally.
OMB: Now, they have you somewhere in between folk, singer-songwriter, dreamgaze/ambient. Both the folk and singer-songwriter tradition would put the lyrics very much in the foreground. But even though you are a very word conscious person, your music is very detailed and layered. I assume you do not write the lyrics first?
KL:
I actually write it altogether. It all comes out together in one big complete song. I usually sit down and write something and I don’t really edit it. It comes out.
OMB:
Lucky you! It sounds so easy, it probably isn’t!
KL:
(Laughs) No, I mean, if you have writer’s block that is not the way it goes, obviously. In the best case scenario that is how it is.
OMB:
Do you find it useful to keep certain routines to work?
KL:
I definitely think creativity is a muscle as in, you should be exercising it every day. I don’t follow that rule because I get busy. But I do notice on tour, I am more creative and in the zone because I am playing music every night. I should think of a routine for sure.
OMB:
It became clear after the release of your EP “Wasted Time” (it might be different now in that you can live on music now - but who can nowadays) that your day job put such a burden on you, sucked up energy that you probably would have rather loved to put into music?
KL:
Yes, definitely. I worked in Customer Service for five years.
OMB:
(Whispers in pain) Didn’t we all?
KL:
(Laughs) Yeah, so you all know how it feels to have no energy at the end of the day and having to talk to people all the time and serve people. I was just totally depleted. Luckily I have a job now, I can be creative in.
OMB: What do you do now?
KL:
It’s called Digital Merchandising and it’s like online store designing. It is more computer based. Coincidentally after I wrote “Wasted Time” about this gruelling job taking all my energy away, I got a new job. I still can’t fully exist on music because it is very hard, especially in this day and age, for sure.
OMB:
A while back I spoke to Mathias Kom of the band The Burning Hell from Canada and their idea of personal hell was touring in Canada. How do you find it?
KL:
(Laughs) Yeah, I chose to come here instead of touring Canada because I love it here and obviously Canada is so big, you drive eighteen hours without a show, just gruelling drives. Whereas today we drove seven hours and it was nothing. Touring in Canada is hard because there are only certain pockets of good venues.
OMB:
But “Wasted Years” is not only about your customer service experience?
KL:
It is about change. I am writing about wanting change and manifest that in “Wasted Years”. “Beyond” is about what that change looks like. Lastly “I Think I’m Ready” is about accepting that change. There are all different circumstances but they go through this arch of grappling with how my life will change.
OMB:
Did you find your life changed a lot recently?
KL:
Yeah, even since I wrote these songs at the beginning of the year, things have totally shifted. Maybe I just needed to write a song about it (laughs).
OMB:
For the past two releases you have had a fairly constant band with you. How do manage with others in the band contributing to songs or interpreting them their way? Are you okay with that?
KL:
Yes, because the people I surround myself with, I totally trust their opinion. They are all better musicians than me. I feel we are all very in sync. During my career I have definitely worked with people where the other thing does happen. I had to learn to navigate that. But I am lucky in finding a community where I rarely have to say “no, that sucks” (laughs).
OMB:
What would you think if people who buy your songs, make them their own and totally misunderstanding them. Now, there could not be the horrible possibility of misconstruing something wrong politically in your songs, but still..
KL:
Interesting. I mean, this is the classic songwriter answer but it is up to everyone’s interpretation because once you put it into the world, it is not really yours anymore, it is for other people to listen to. I find it amusing actually if people think I was writing about something different. It is kind of funny.
OMB:
It would be interesting to know since your music seems to gel so effortlessly between genres, what music you would listen to yourself?
KL:
I love Radiohead. And I love Danny Elfman, the composer. And I love the band The War On Drugs. They also use a lot of soundscapes and good catchy melodies. Those three. I listen to so much. And Joni Mitchell…obviously. Canadian sweetheart (laughs).
OMB:
Of course! One last thing: I have been at a big conference and festival in Germany recently where the main focus was on keychange, more women please in all aspects of the music industry. I did not find it so much of the problem, neither on the creative side, nor on the industry side nor on the media side when the music concerned is folk or electronic or indie - women seem to be represented there alright. It would be interesting to know from a younger person, from another country, big progressive country, have you encountered difficulties?
KL:
I definitely think women are on an uprise in terms of coming to the forefront of the charts. But the majority are still men and in Canada, in the music industry, I definitely notice that. It is getting better but that’s why I feel so lucky to work with Kathryn because she is all about empowering women. She is the only label owner in our area, I think, who is a woman. I am sure I have run into some issues. It doesn’t deter me much. I just keep going. I think though there is still work that needs to be done, especially behind the scenes. In the States too. We are trying to change that and inspire younger people. Even though I am still young, I still want to inspire the next generation. When I grew up, I did not have a woman role model in music. It never seemed possible to me. It would be nice to show people, it is possible.
OMB: And on that note: Thank you so much, Kirsten!
KL:
Thank you!