Land of Talk – Long Lost Interview
The following is an interview I did with Elizabeth Powell of Land of Talk in December of 2008. The interview was originally going to be for another publication, which ended up going under, and the tape got lost in the mess that is my belongings. Until recently, when I decided it was time to finally type up the transcript because Liz said some really interesting things and they are worth hearing. I had to do the interview over the phone because Liz was about to have a surgical procedure, and a lot of the interview was inaudible but was able to recover one part – here it is.
If there was one song on Some are Lakes to show what Land of Talk is is there one you could pick? From where it was and where it’s going to go?
I feel like I would do a mashup of Yuppy flu and Some are Lakes to kind of show where we’re going. It’s hard. Actually Some Are lakes is a bunch of songs that was written a long time ago as well as some written really close to the recording, like Dark Shuffle, which was one that I wrote once the drummer had left. I wrote the drum part for that, and it shows what happens when I’m left to my own devices for the music. Maybe it would actually be dark shuffle and Some are Lakes, a meld between those two.
So not Corner Phone then.
Well as much as I would love to stay in the noise-loud theme of music, I think that any Land of Talk songs I’m going to be singing, I’m really going to have to tone it down. That’s part of the reason my voice is destroyed. It’s competing with the three amps on stage, and the songs are heavy. I think I’m going to have to tone it down, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get soft.
Songs like Corner Phone will probably be relegated to my pseudo noise punk project, yet to be created. I love to sing, and if I didn’t have voice problems I would still be doing a little bit of everything. But I have to cut out a few songs, like Speak to me Bones, which just shredded my voice every night. I’m still able bodied and lucky to be alive, so I’m not complaining, but there are some things that handicap me.
What do you think it is that draws people to Montreal as opposed to other cities like Toronto or Vancouver?
Toronto has a more of a 9-5 sort of style. Montreal has a lot of cheap living, and I think that factor’s into it. Vancouver I’m assuming has the same kind of high rent. Any bigger city you get the culture but you don’t get the lower rent like Montreal. So I think the cost of living here is much more suitable to an artist’s needs. Then it attracts more artistic types, so I guess it’s probably economics.
Right, I’m sure that’s a factor especially right now.
Definitely.
On that note, what do you think has been the most important thing that you’ve done to remain as successful as you had.
Not giving up, as much as you are constantly feeling like it. It’s just having this dumb, stubborn persistence, honestly. Because there are so many talented people out there. I’m looking at all my CDs from people who have made albums better than I will ever make. If I thought like that I guess I would never be playing music. I think it’s just this naive persistence and loving to do what you do, knowing that there is nothing else in your life that would bring as much satisfaction and challenges.
Do you think you’re a lifer?
Well, I’ll stay as long as everyone will have me. Maybe it’s just reaching that age, I’m 28 so there are a lot of other factors that might dictate how I drive my life. I will dedicate as much time as I can this, but if there was an opportunity where I was taking care of someone else I would do it. My hope is to keep making music as long as I physically can. But sometimes life gets in the way, so I would be up to that too. I’m not going to become a teacher or a doctor.
Where do you go when you need inspiration?
Actually it’s always been books. I’ve thought about that recently. I tend not to listen to music when I’m in writing mode. I’ll actually stop listening to all those CDs.
Right now I’m reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace and there’s a scene describing the sounds of a tennis tournament, an underground athletics complex. That got me inspired about how the drums should sound on the new song. He was describing a sort of glass in case, almost like an aquarium, with a “pock” and a slap to describe the sound. That’s probably a big factor of how I approach moods and types of songs. It’s by no means only lyically, but it’s how I set the tone.
The band played a month later at the Horseshoe Tavern to a full house with Little Scream and Zeroes.
Tags: Interview
