Highway 99
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Starting work on new album
WHO: Siobhan Duvall
WHEN: Sunday, Aug. 5
WHERE: SkateSpace Stage (4 p.m.), Boot Pub (10 p.m.)
Starting my job as Pique ’s entertainment writer seven months ago, I came from a background of straight radio news reporting. My experience in the entertainment industry was limited to time spent doing theatre, television and music in my teens and early 20s. Although there was a time I longed to be a professional entertainer, I had never come in close contact with artists really living the dream.
Siobhan Duvall (pronounced Sha-vawn) was my first Pique interview. I recall receiving the press pack from Vancouver’s "power pop punk princess." Pink folder. A pink CD entitled Star . And a photo of a blonde bombshell sitting in front of a mirror, striking a seductive pose as she applied lipstick. She was everything little girls dream of while playing dress up, singing into a hairbrush.
But seven months ago, Duvall, too was entering unfamiliar territory. She was no rookie to the scene, spending numerous years as the guitarist for Bif Naked and then several more promoting her own EP, but Star was Duvall’s first full-length solo songwriting endeavor. She suddenly found herself thrust into the position of singer, songwriter, front women and business woman.
I caught up with Duvall to discuss the music industry, an outsider and insider, both with new insight. I wondered, if for Duvall, the world was still coming up pink.
Pique : How have you been faring the last seven months, relying solely on your own material?
Duvall : It’s been interesting. I’ve been getting a lot of attention from the media but I think the main thing I’ve realized is how much I have to approach this as a business. It is an artistic venture, but that’s only half of it.
Pique : The last time we spoke, your focus was just on getting the record made and getting out to promote it.
Duvall : That’s right. When you get all those things together, you think "Great, everything will be fine now." But now you have to learn how to deal with pieces of paper with numbers on it. Before I was concerned with getting myself together musically and visually, like choosing the graphics and layout for the CD. Those things alone can be quite stressful.
Pique : That’s all the personal and emotional stuff.
Duvall : Yeah, and once those were finished I realized I hadn’t even done a quarter of the work necessary. As an independent artist, I’ve had to learn to do a lot of things I don’t think I ever wanted to learn. (Laughs) I don’t like all the tedious stuff. What I’ve been learning lately is how to balance being on the phone all day and dealing with numbers with being a musician. You can really get sucked into just doing the self-management work and forget about "Oh yeah, I’m supposed to go play."
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