Interview with Clare Siobhan

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

I grew up in a family of musicians, and so from a young age I was totally surrounded by music. I sang, danced, learned piano, French horn and trombone, and by eighth grade I was composing music for piano – it’s really something I’ve always been into, and part of the way I was raised. In my day-to-day life, I actually do something other than music – I’m a speech-language pathologist, and working full-time now in Montreal.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Some of the things I value the most about music are connection and communication, and I think these things inform most of the ways I choose to spend my time otherwise. I get to experience both in my day job as a speech-language pathologist, and I’ve also finally joined a Montreal choir this fall! Outside of that, I’ve begun a mission to explore every borough in Montreal this year, so I’m hoping to have a good part of the city covered by the summer. I find any and all of my everyday experiences can influence my writing – little moments of people-watching, or ideas I’m ruminating on – it all comes out in my lyrics eventually.

How long have you been making music?

I’ve been singing and playing music since I was a kid, but I’ll say I wrote my first complete original song around age 13, and performed an original song for the first time in high school. As a solo artist, I’ve been performing since about 2016, first at different events on my university campus and around town, and then on the internet for a bit (you know…2020), and now hopefully with some more gigs here in Montreal!

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

I grew up in Truro, Nova Scotia, completed my undergrad in Sackville, NS, spent a year in Halifax, and for the past two-and-a-bit years I’ve been in Montreal. Moving here has coincided with a lot of really big life changes – finishing undergrad, starting grad school, moving through the aftermath of a breakup, making new friends and new connections, getting used to living somewhere with public transit, entering my mid-twenties – and I think all of that has come out in my music. I think any kind of impactful life experience informs my writing, since that’s where I write from – whatever’s bouncing around in my. Brain at the time.

Tell me about your most memorable shows, if you haven’t played live what is your vision for a live show?

My most memorable show so far I think was my EP release in late October, at Café Tuyo here in Montreal. It was my first (and to date, only!) show in Montreal, and my friends Sophie Lane and Kyleigh Hyacinth both had beautiful sets before mine. We packed that cozy café all the way full to standing room only, and the crowd was spectacular. The room was filled with laughter and tears and storytelling, and the crowd was kind enough to sing along with me to one of my favourite songs I’ve written, right at the end of my set. A house of 50-odd people softly serenading me and each other with words I’d written felt really special, and it was truly an unforgettable night.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Definitely Café Tuyo for the reasons above! A close second would be the Marigold Cultural Centre in Truro, NS – it’s a hometown institution, and when I opened for the fabulous band Brigid there in October 2022, the quality of the sound was amazing, and I felt like a real superstar. In Montreal, I’d love to play at Casa del Popolo sometime – I saw May Erlewine live there recently and it was a stellar show! Beautiful venue, great sound, and they do a very good amaretto sour.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Whoa, that is a great question! I’ve really been into the new Hozier album lately, and I know he’s incredible live, so I’ll definitely add him to the lineup. I’d have to add some East Coast folk favourites too, so I’ll say The Gilberts, Noah Malcom, and Hillsburn (check these artists out if you don’t know them already!). And to add some more big names to the mix, I’ll say Madison Cunningham, Jon Batiste and – hey, let’s shoot for the moon – Stevie Wonder. (I would like this to be a 10-hour concert, obviously, because you’ve got to go big or go home!)

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into making music and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

I think I’d give the same advice in both scenarios, which is to put a lot of effort into being a devoted audience member. I now listen to new releases like other people keep up with the news, and I try to see as much live music as I can manage. There’s no better way to be inspired in your own craft, than to continually witness others’ expertise in your community. Additionally, seek to broaden your own musical horizons: make playlists for your friends and your siblings, and encourage them to do the same for you – share interests and favourite artists, and never stop looking for new music to enjoy. We’re in such an incredible time right now for music releases, where so many thousands of songs are released each day – that’s a whole lot of new music, and it’d be a shame not to take advantage of it as much as we can.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

They all mean a lot to me, of course, but the one that’s been the stickiest in my head over the past few months has to be “Flare”. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t play it for myself sometimes when I was worried about something. “Flare” is a song where I really feel like I accomplished what I set out to do, which was make the U-turn from anxiety to acceptance and excitement by the end of the song, and it continues to ring true for me now. I’m also surprised at how much I’ve been able to apply it to different scenarios in my life, when I wrote it about something pretty specific. But since the song’s broadly about change, and since I’m in a very transitional moment in my life – the end of grad school, starting a career, emerging fully-formed into the world as a professional etc. – it hits home now and again for me.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

I really like playing “Amelia,” because I think the piano part’s pretty groovy and I really like the bridge. “Rosemary & Thyme” is also great to play because I wrote such a complicated piano part for it; it sometimes feels like gymnastics when I play it. As for requests, I’d still consider myself very much an emerging artist so it’s always a thrill to get any requests at all from an audience, because it means they’ve heard my music before! In Sackville, I used to get requests for “Rosemary & Thyme” because some people knew it around campus, and now if I’m ever live on TikTok, I’ll usually get requests for “I Built a House with an Arsonist” – which I always play, by the way, because that’s also a favourite of mine.

What is your creative process, and what inspires you to write your music?

As someone who doesn’t do music full-time, I have the luxury of having the time to wait for inspiration, and to write when the mood strikes. Even still, I write a lot, because I use it as a bit of a cathartic organizational tool. I’ve got a very busy brain with lots of mental tabs open pretty often, so something’s always on my mind – when I feel like I’ve kept that tab open for long enough, I’ll jot down a few notes in my phone. And if I’m really ruminating on it, I’ll take it out and make it rhyme. At the end, I like to have something that feels finished, thematically – I want to feel like that train of thought’s been wrapped up, and that there’s a conclusion, with no loose ends. It’s been serving as a way for me to figure out how I feel about things, and when I inevitably come back to that thought later, I know I’ve already resolved it, in rhyming couplets. Thankfully, other people enjoy hearing it too.

Do you have messages that you like to get across in your music, if so please tell me about them?

I absolutely do – I called my debut EP “Seek the Sun” just for that reason. I write about a lot of things – heartbreak, love, growth and change, hope and fear, worry and comfort – all the important bits, I think. I tend to write about things that are hard, but I’m committed to not leaving the song there. In everything I write, I want to let a little light in, and I want to make some space for joy and levity and ease, even just a little. Through and through, I’m committed to the idea that even when life is full of pain and hardship (and it is! That’s living!), there’s always room for joy, even great joy, if you’re willing to look for it.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

Lately, I’ve been luxuriating in post-EP-release relaxation, so I don’t have any big projects coming up at the moment. I’m really enjoying the break, actually – it’s nice to take a minute and just enjoy the final product of the project I’d been working on for a few years. Up next, I’m hoping to get some CDs printed, and maybe some merch at a later date, but nothing’s set in stone quite yet. The minute I do have another project coming down the pipeline, though, my listeners will be the first to know!

How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?

The best way to keep up with me is through Instagram, where I’m @claresiobhanmusic. From there, you can find my Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, YouTube, Bandcamp, Spotify, SoundCloud – you name it, I’m there. I’ve been a little quiet recently, but when I start posting again, Instagram’s the best place to find me! If you’d like to be really up to date, you can join my mailing list, and that way you’ll get all the latest Clare Siobhan info the minute I’m ready to announce it to my audience.