The Weather Station

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Another day, another interview!
Lead singer Tamara Lindeman from Toronto (CA) band The Weather Station was kind enough to answer my little interview.
The Weather Station is the project of Tamara Lindeman (and lovely collaborators as well). Their debut album called ‘The Line’ is amazing (their song ‘East’ is a favourite of mine) and they just completed their sophomore album, expected to be release this summer. Well, I will say no more. Just listen. I guarantee you will fall in love with them.

Which ice cream flavor(s) do you like the most?

Coffee.

What is your last or upcoming project about?

Well, I’ve just completed a new album. The Line was about huge landscapes, yet this one is about small, contained ones. A house. Dishes. Flowers. It’s warm, and gentle, and very folk. I just let the songs be themselves. Some of them are very sad, but kind too. It’s a real change for me, yet I like it so far. Who knows what I will do next?

How do you make music? Any specific workflow or methods?

Let’s see. I sit down with my instrument when I get the urge, if it feels like something good is coming out I hit record on my computer right away.
Then I just record away, let it all come out, for as long as it makes sense. Then I listen back and write down all the words I said. Sometimes I’m not really sure what they mean, but often that’s good, when they just work, and rhyme, and exist in their own little world.
So I get something edited, then I sleep on it, make a few revisions, and try and let it go. Sometimes it’s a much longer process, but generally the songs I write in 10 minutes are the ones I like the best over time. Though I’ve written some exhaustively over years that I like as well.

How do you make a living?

How do I? Good question.

How do you feel about people sharing your music?

Well, you put a lot of work into your music, a terrifying ammount. It takes over your life, and you don’t sleep much, and you forget to call your friends back. And then, well, suddenly, it’s finished, and then it just goes out into the world. And it’s good, you want it to go out there and make friends and meet people.
Yet, you do want it to be responsible too, to earn its keep. After all you’ve done for it. But of course, you know, you would have done it anyway, so in a way, it doesn’t matter. Just so long as it pays you back the money you spent putting it through college.

Who was your musical hero[in]s when you were a kid?

When I was a kid I liked classical music and, forgive me, musicals. I guess I liked Simon and Garfunkel too, that’s not so bad.

What musical genre do you love but would never make yourself?

Noise music. Punk.

Which artists are you following at the moment?

Generally, I follow my friends and acquaintances, people I’ve met, people I know… Bruce Peninsula (ok, I follow them pretty closely, like into the van and onto stage), Snowblink, Ryan Driver, Castlemusic, Timber Timbre, Sandro Perri, Entire Cities…

download track Easy (Live on Southern Souls)

*Came So Easy*

Just cause it came so easy like quiet evenings in my kitchen. Just cause it came so easy like little breezes of indecision. Lines of ants came crawling through the cracks there in my tiles. Sat there and I watched them as they pillaged in single file.

Just cause it came so freely I was loath to admit it. Just cause it came so quickly – I was startled like I had tripped. And I reached out an accusing hand to the treachery of the street. Leaning as though in the wind you helped me to my feet.

Your kind words came so easy and I half winced at the sugar sweetness. Made me feel so wealthy so I got tongue-tied, I got restless, and I opened my doors and windows to the many creatures of July. Strange cats come in mewling, bugs that crawl and ones that fly, all my flour fell victim to slow and sullen moths, in the heat we both were gasping wrapped in dripping cloths.

Just cause you came so willing I never made you, I didn’t call for you, so sure i was needless but all the strange things of the dirt are obstinately drawn to sweetness bite through plastic through the masonry. You came uninvited with a jar of your parent’s honey.