Before our big move engulfed our lives for a couple of months, the talented and beautiful Emaline Delapaix reached out to me as a reader of The Little Red Journal. I certainly love when people reach out to me and I hear all of the different stories they have about their lives and the paths they have taken. Emaline struck me as an amazing singer, and I immediately responded to her and asked if she'd mind being interviewed. After all, I'm a huge fan of great indie music, and she's vegan!
As you read our following interview, which was conducted in late December, play her music in the background to really enjoy this post. (My personal favorite is Pomegranate!)
LRJ: You've played all over from Canada and USA to all over Europe, including England, Italy, and Denmark (and so many more). Where would you say has the most vegan/vegetarian friendly audiences and eateries?
ED: Canada is pretty great actually, especially B.C., where I have spent most of my time. The US is up and down, depending on where you, are but of course in any big city, you're going to find great vegan stuff. In Europe, it's the same, depending where you go. I would say Italy is one of the hardest places I have been to be vegan, but if they are open minded enough, you can still get the chef to prepare something delicious and vegan for you. Germany is pretty good and getting better all the time, and I see that in Poland in the past 12 months, vegan and vegetarian cafes and restaurants are taking off, so that's very cool, too.
LRJ: You moved Eastern Germany a few years back and taught yourself how to play the piano, acoustic guitar, and celtic harp. Why did you choose those instruments, and how long did it take you to learn each?ED: Well technically, I am still learning them all, but the guitar came first, as it's what I had and was portable, then piano which I taught myself on a small midi keyboard, and any real piano I could get my hands on, then I rented a little celtic harp. I am very new and basic on that instrument and am saving up for a nice travel harp. I fell in love with harp when I first heard it years ago, but I think my real love is piano, though until recently, I didn't have a chance to explore that as I don't own one. In January, I will be renting a piano practice room here in Berlin until I can get my own so excited to see how I will grow.
ED: My main focus seems to be on nature, travel, depression, relationships, and being true to oneself and finding your path. I don't technically write the music out, as I can't read or write [music], but I do it all by ear. Since I was two years old, I knew I would sing; the music just came naturally after that. Whenever life is difficult, I find some peace in music. It's gotten me through some very tough times in my life, and I am not sure I would have made it where I am without music, so for that, I am grateful.
LRJ: I know you travel frequently for your shows. How do you manage to live a vegan lifestyle while on the road?
ED: By carrying emergency supplies! (Such as nuts, fruit, vegan chocolate, and crackers). There is always fresh juice in the bigger stations here in Germany, so that's a blessing.) Usually, venues are pretty cool and I tell them ahead of time I am vegan, so a meal is sorted out. Here in Germany there is a chain of pharmacy/grocery stores that you can find in or near most train station and they stock a small selection of vegan products.
LRJ: Let's hear about a few of your favorite songs of all time. Tell me a little bit about each one and why it drew you in!
ED: Tori Amos - Winter | A father/daughter/growing up song. It's one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and I still love it as much as I did the first time I heard it. Tori Amos is a huge influence musically on me and she taught me not to be afraid to write and sing about things that most other female singer songwriters shy away from.
Kate Bush - Night of the Swallow | I left home when I was 16 to escape an abusive father and the first week after leaving, I locked myself in the house, closed all the curtains and played this record on vinyl over and over, like a sort of exorcism. It's very powerful to me and one of Kate's lesser known songs, but still gives me goosebumps.
Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day | I grew up listening to Kiwi/Australian band Crowded House, and as far as I am concerned, they are one of the most underrated bands in the world. Even Thom Yorke from Radiohead is influenced by them! Killer melodies and harmonies. They write perfect, intelligent pop music and this song is partly written about my home city Melbourne.
Anja Garbarek - Still Guarding Space | Anja is a wonderful singer songwriter from Norway and I feel this song could be about going through depression. Wonderful, moody experimental pop with crunching beats and strings.
Richard Shindell - There goes Mavis | A fantastic Folky Bossa Nova style song about a little girl who frees a yellow canary who flies over the sea on a big adventure. Richard Shindell is a US American singer songwriter who isn't very well known but he writes wonderful songs with beautiful and haunting lyrics. I cover one of his songs and tell as many people as I can about him.
Note from LRJ: Thanks again to Emaline for the interview! If you'd like a chance to win a free copy of her EP, between breeding seasons, leave a comment below about your favorite song.
Give them a listen here!
Track List:
1. between breeding seasons
2. swallow
3. pomegranate
4. hibernate
5. the miles
6. until next spring
Emaline Delapaix is an Australian singer, composer and musician who lives between rural Western Canada and Germany with her big orange cat Reece. She spends a lot of time writing odd folk pop for piano, acoustic guitar and harp and sometimes whatever else she has lying about the place. Some say she sounds a little like Kate Bush or Tori Amos, but she also loves a lot of Scandinavian music: music that invokes the weather like storms and warm sunsets.www.emalinedelapaix.com
www.emalinedelapaix.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/emalinedelapaixmusic
I like "the miles". Thanks for sharing! I love your interview series.
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