MWN: I’ve been asking all of the artists we have been interviewing a theme question. One of them is, how do you prepare for a festival like this? Because it is very different, you have a different crowd of people coming to see your shows. A lot of people are like “we just come and play” and others do prepare mentally.
CLARA -NOVA: The biggest thing is, at least what I’ve done this year, which is different from other years, is I’ve brought as little as possible.
MWN: That’s smart.
CLARA -NOVA: We play with a bigger set up. We’re still playing a full band performance, but I didn’t bring my keyboard. I brought my pieces I needed, didn’t bring the pieces I didn’t really need. That’s been helpful. Normally I have too much gear and it’s hard. You load in so many times a day. I sort of streamlined everything and it was really helpful. I’ve been here four or five times, and it’s water off the back. It’s a little crazy to play. You don’t get sound check, so you go have fun. It’s about playing music. You have no control of what it’s going to be, so you go and have fun and that’s it. That’s how I prepared myself.
MWN: Can you tell us a little bit more about your music? SXSW is an event where people come…and people aren’t familiar with a lot of bands. You have your lists of artists that you are “I’m gonna see them!” But I saw 5 bands I had no idea who they were, but they were really good! So, for someone that is coming to the festival- how would you describe your sound/ live performance to them? I know that can change from record to record but in general?
CLARA -NOVA: This record, I feel like, it’s kind of baroque pop, a little electronic, and still really heart-centered. Influences of mine are Radiohead, Rufus Wainright, Feist, and Fleetfoxes; at least as far as contemporary people go. The you have Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. So I feel like it’s a mix of all the influences and has its own sound. My brother calls it “pop plus! Too new for a name!”
MWN: Haha “pop plus” I love that! Now, when you were growing up, were you influenced to play music or was it something you picked up on your own?
CLARA -NOVA: It was always something I was doing. It felt pretty natural. My dad is a musician, so it was in the house. I feel like because of that I was inclined or shaped in some way subconsciously without knowing it. When I was little, when he’d play piano I’d sit on his lap and put my fingers on top of his and it kind of started that way. Then I took clarinet lessons, I took cello and vocal lessons always, then guitar. I don’t play cello at all anymore but…it’s my favorite orchestral instrument. I think it came fluidly but it was always in the house. I was allowed to be an artist. Some people feel like they weren’t allowed to be an artist, but my parents were pretty encouraging. My brother is an artist as well. It kind of fell into my lap. I started writing songs when I was four or five, really bad ones but I was playing and singing and writing.
MWN: When it comes to writing music, do you go in the studio knowing what you want the record to be like? Or does it evolve as you are putting it together?
CLARA -NOVA: I think it evolves, but usually there is sort of big colors or big ideas as some sort of parameter. I like this sonic element, or this one, and it comes from there. That’s as far as recording. Writing, I have an idea. I keep massaging the idea, pulling on a thread till it unravels into a song. It kind of shapes itself, like making a puzzle. But recording, at least this record, I went into the studio with my friend Shawn Everett, and I brought a whole visual mood board. When we get stuck on ideas, we just point at a picture, like “How do we make it sound like a sequined robot?” We just try and manipulate sounds or add a melody that came from looking at the image.
MWN: So you put image to sound? I’ve never heard of that, that’s really cool.
CLARA -NOVA: I’m a very visual person, so a lot of my songwriting comes from visuals. Like, I’ll go to a museum and leave with a song idea from a painting or something like that.
MWN: Were you exposed to a lot of visual art growing up? Or was it something you just found on your own?
CLARA -NOVA: I’m French-American, and I grew up in Paris and Los Angeles. As a kid, we were always going to museums. In Paris, we were a block or two from The Louvre and we’d go to the museum all the time. I think it shaped what I find inspiring or maybe even shaped the way I look at things.
MWN: Oh wow, that’s awesome! You just grew up around all this amazing art and music. Speaking of art lets talk about The Iron Age. your latest album! Were you nervous at all prior to its release?
CLARA -NOVA: I signed with a label that folded and took all my music. So, this record has been in the works for five years. I made it once and they took it. So I spent the last two years, re-recording it all. This is the first batch of songs to come out from the re-recording of the record, which is why I call it The Iron Age.
MWN: Oh no. I am so sorry to hear that. This must mean so much to you. I was going to ask where the name came from…Re-recording, how was that experience like? Did you add new things to it?
CLARA -NOVA: It’s different and the same. I re-recorded every single note on there, changed the parts that could be better. I was so happy with the record I made with Shawn, and it felt like a real loss. I wanted to find a way it would stop feeling like a loss.
MWN: That’s interesting that you recorded it all again, and I like the name for it. The record is really good. I was listening to it at the hotel the other day. I love seeing women making music because people always say there aren’t that many girl bands but women in the music industry. There are so many great artists, people just don’t look.
CLARA -NOVA: Yes, Girl Power! There is a second chapter coming out called “The Golden Age” That will come out later this year. More music coming soon. Trying every few months to put music out. We had 20 songs, and I’m rerecording all of those. I have another 5 coming out in a couple months.
MWN: I love that! Because sometimes bands, things get in the way so music doesn’t come out. It’s a process. It’s really cool you have the opportunity to do song after song. Let’s go back to my previous question: do you find it difficult to be a female musician at all? Or have you had a really good experience with that? Or does it matter?
CLARA -NOVA: I think it can be hard to be a musician in general. As someone who has experienced a label removing what you have, I think I’ve had unfortunately a non-unique music experience where your music gets lost. I’ve had some friends who are in the same boat now as I was in. So, I think it’s hard to be a musician in general. I think right now women are having a big moment that is earned and deserved and I am excited for that. A lot of women, myself included, have had the normal interaction or just ignorance around what is appropriate or not. It’s never been malicious. I feel like I’ve had a normal experience. With anything, it is important to find your tribe: male, female, anything. It sort of progresses past gender and preference and more of who is your tribe. I have that and feel lucky. When I have hard moments, I have a community around me filled with all of those people: men, women anyone, the spectrum of that.
MWN: You sound like a very wholesome musician and your music reflects that. It’s always exciting to speak to someone who actually knows their music. I’m sorry that happened to you with your label. It’s a terrible thing. At least you overcame all that.
CLARA -NOVA: I think there was a moment of ‘is this gonna break me” and it almost did. After that, music is my life. There has never been a plan b.
MWN: That’s when it’s the best. It’s genuine and honest.
CLARA -NOVA: So I feel like I’ve had a spectrum of experiences, and I’m thankful I have a community of artists around me and they inspire me, continue to inspire me and keep me going. Music keeps me going.
MWN: Now we’re gonna go to a bit of fire-round questions. Fun questions, all related to music. Do you remember the first record you bought?
CLARA -NOVA: Something that came to mind was TLC. I was a kid of the 90’s. So TLC or Mariah Carey.
MWN: Your first recollection of live music?
CLARA -NOVA: Not a first, but one of my favorites was seeing the Ed Sharpe guy before he was Ed Sharpe. Metric was my high school staple.
MWN: Wherever home is, what song reminds you of home?
CLARA -NOVA: Good question. I love the song O-Yoko, it’s a John Lennon song on Imagine. It’s all of these daily non-important emotions that he makes important because of her.
MWN: John Lennon reminds everyone of good things. He was a great musician. One of my favorites. To wrap things up, what you do hope when people read these interviews?
CLARA -NOVA: I hope they’re musicians, inspiring musicians, or established, that they don’t let the craziness of the music industry affect them. I hope they keep making music, and they follow truth and passion. I think we need more voices in the world right now speaking about truth. I hope they do that.
MWN: Beautiful! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions! For everyone reading this interview make sure to check out Clara Nova’s latest record The Iron Age!
By: Maria Limon| Exclusively for @Music, Why Not! | All Rights Reserved |
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