Saltar al contenido

CLARA ENGEL: Music as a way of being in the world (INTERVIEW)

CLARA ENGEL

Today exclusively for Global-Pop, we had the pleasure of interviewing Clara Engel, a non-binary Canadian artist who has made music and art her way of life and expression in the world. His music has been played on the CBC, the BBC and the Italian National Radio. He has also worked with artists such as Aidan Baker, Armen Ra, Thor Harris and Siavash Amini. In this conversation, we dive into his creative process, his influences, and his view of the world and music as a transformative force. In the same way we will talk about “Sanguinaria” his new album that is about to be released.

I picked up a guitar when I was eleven or twelve, and I wrote my first song when I was thirteen. In hindsight it feels sort of inevitable – I’m just a person who needs to make things as their way of being in the world. Before that I wrote poetry and drew. I still make visual art as well, and all these practices feel connected.

Thank you, that is interesting to hear.

Experimental: I agree, in that my songs are also poems and don’t follow a traditional pop structure.

Melancholic: I suppose. I’ve noticed there’s a tendency to label music that is not explicitely “upbeat” or “happy” as “downbeat” or “melacholic,” and I don’t really see the world in those terms. I have a bit of a tragicomic outlook, which might be genetic – I think my father was like that too. Unfortunately people pick up more on the tragic aspect in my work, but the comic is there too, if you listen closely.

I’m not sure exactly what you mean by sensory. I take a bit of a cinematic approach with my lyrics in the sense that I’m often not telling a story so much as describing a scene, fleshing out imagery, which ideally would invoke the senses.

It’s named after a spring ephemeral, “Sanguinaria Canadensis,” the Latin name for bloodroot, which blossoms near where I live. I started writing these songs when it was blooming last year, and when I looked up the plant I found it very interesting. The flowers are so delicate and beautiful but the root is really big and gnarled, and when you cut it open it’s bright red and poisonous. That image suits this collection of songs quite well.

I don’t like the idea of singles – this album feels to me like a chapbook of poetry and I’d like people to experience it as a whole. I’m also becoming ambivalent about videos – while I do enjoy them sometimes, I generally find it much harder to get lost in a song if there is a video. The worst for me is when the video has a plot – then the song really gets lost. I think my music is best appeciated in dim light, with maybe some shadows or abstract reflections dancing around. All that said, there still might be some visuals. We will see.

I’m continuing with my practice. I think of evolution as a mysterious and incremental process. I’m always listening and reading and trying to pare my work down more to its essence, whatever that may be. Questions about artistic evolution are probably better answered in hindsight, by someone other than me. So when I’m gone, if my work survives, someone else can make pronouncements about my evolution or lack thereof, if they want!

CLARA ENGEL

Greetings. Thank you Global-Pop for inviting me, and to whoever may be reading this. My new album Sanguinaria will be available for pre-order on Bandcamp on May 19th.

FOLLOW CLARA ENGEL ON THEIR SOCIAL NETWORKS

Slide
SUSCRÍBETE Y FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRA CULTURA ALTERNATIVA

Suscribete gratis a nuestro boletín semanal, para que recibas en tu correo todo nuestro contenido con enlace directo. Pero si lo tuyo es el trato exclusivo, puedes suscribirte a nuestro BOLETIN PREMIUM por solo 1$USD al mes, y recibiras toda la edicion del mes en formato revista PDF más un articulo exclusivo, pera que lo guardes en tus archivos para siempre.

SUSCRÍBETE Y FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRA CULTURA ALTERNATIVA
Slide
SUSCRÍBETE Y FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRA CULTURA ALTERNATIVA

Suscribete gratis a nuestro boletín semanal, para que recibas en tu correo todo nuestro contenido con enlace directo. Pero si lo tuyo es el trato exclusivo, puedes suscribirte a nuestro BOLETIN PREMIUM por solo 1$USD al mes, y recibiras toda la edicion del mes en formato revista PDF más un articulo exclusivo, pera que lo guardes en tus archivos para siempre.

SUSCRÍBETE Y FORMA PARTE DE NUESTRA CULTURA ALTERNATIVA

COMPARTIR

RELATED CONTED

CUNAGUARO: Una victoria en el festival Nuevas Bandas llena de stoner rock (ENTREVISTA)

FIRE ROOTS: Rock australiano con pasión latina (ENTREVISTA)

I WANT POETRY / “Solace + Light” (REVIEW Y ENTREVISTA)

LOVE GHOST: Una fusión de “Veneno” y emo-trap-rock (ENTREVISTA)

MORE INTERVIEWS

SHADOWS COLONIES / “Pinching Raindrops” (NUEVA CANCIÓN)

THE THING WITH FEATHERS: Un vuelo hacia el éxito con “Something Wrong”

WORMLORD / “Open Wounds” (NUEVA CANCIÓN)

LAREZ: Un reflejo musical de relaciones fallidas con “Y te vi llegar”