There seems to be a trend in the past couple years with major musicians “going indie”.  As is the case with Canadian darling, Sarah Slean, who recently left her label Warner Canada (albeit on good terms) to have a bit more freedom and control over her endeavors.  After stepping out of Warner’s spotlight you think Slean would take a well deserved break; however she remains a busy girl,  promoting a new album (a collaboration with the Art of Time Ensemble) , working on a musical, and planning a wedding, among a long list of other things. Between her juggling act of projects, Sarah took the time to answer a few questions most of her fans have been yearning to ask!

Skipster: Hey Sarah, first and foremost, we miss you in Rochester! Any plans of a US tour anytime soon? I know people are getting antsy, especially in places like Chicago and LA, where it’s been years.

Sarah: No plans just yet, but I miss it and now that I’m fully indie, there are no political obstacles… It can be about what it’s meant to be about: music and people. Humans want to tell each other things, we long to bridge the gap between our individual islands of consciousness, and music has always been so good at that. I loved playing certain spots in the Northeastern states and those “rare gem” songwriterspots in LA like Hotel Cafe… it’s a whole new ballgame for me now, so I’ll see you out there!

Skipster: Now that you’re doing things sans Warner, will you be looking into finally releasing things down here in the US, or do you feel the market is too risky?

Sarah: Absolutely – digital music distribution has blown everything wide open. It allows artists to find their audiences in a much more accurate and productive manner. On the down side there is so much crap out there and so many people making recordings for the wrong reasons, but the up side is that audiences have become their own quality filters – it’s no longer a label or a radio station deciding what’s worthy – it’s the listeners themselves, and they share these opinions online in communities pretty much like old fashioned word-of-mouth, except it’s now global! – that’s totally empowering. I’ve always believed that the public’s tastes have been drastically underestimated by the media.

Skipster: Do you have any ambitions as an artist that you’ve felt you couldn’t do before due to label constraints? A Live DVD? More EPs? Vinyl, perhaps?

Sarah: All of it. There are literally no limits anymore. I’m making a score book, something I have promised fans for years. I’ll be composing music for a string orchestra in Paris in 2010 on a Canada Council grant and likely producing concerts for that music upon my return. Art shows, vinyl, more small press literature and poetry, whatever my imagination can dream up and my patience can deliver. I’ve done some acting cameos here and there too. An incredible Toronto dancer and I are working on a collaborative project for next year and we just received a grant for it… And of course the musical, my still unfinished musical… No limits!

Skipster: Lordy! I remember years ago you talking about the musical you were in the process of writing, Boy Wonder I think you called it.. Whatever happened with this?

Sarah: In Paris I will be focusing on improving my orchestration skills for exactly that purpose. I don’t want to rush it, the story has to be just right. I trust that the universe will deliver this whole finished piece to me at exactly the right time.

Skipster: Ahh and the sheet music! Last time mentioned, you said it was near completion?

Sarah: I hereby promise that it will be out this December.

Skipster: So, I read you recently graduated from the University of Toronto, how in the world did you find time to study and finish work amongst touring and your busy schedule?

Sarah: It was tough but I was absolutely determined, and so, voila. Determination is a wonderful thing. Ah school… I already miss it. Perhaps a masters one day.

Skipster: Being a music student and an acclaimed musician, did you run into fellow students who knew of your work?

Sarah: Occasionally. It was awkward when I had to give class presentations and I would get really nervous…. Ugh, excruciating.

Skipster: So with your recent release with the Art of Time Ensemble, would you mind talking about how that came to be and your experience with that?

Sarah: Art of Time is the brain child of Toronto’s Andrew Burashko, a pianist and great lover of all-things-cultural. His mission is to push boundaries and force different disciplines to combine in new and unexpected ways – which I find really interesting and courageous. Too much of what’s out there today is safe and inoffensive – classical music, jazz and pop all occupy their separate territories and there is little cross-pollination, little work that challenges a player/arranger/songwriter, and this project does just that.

Skipster: On the topic of art- what contemporary musicians or releases have you enamored this year?

Sarah: I loved the Fleet Foxes album. I’ve been out of the loop culturally – it’s been a major milestone year for me personally, so my appraisal of “the scene” would be decidedly lacking I’m afraid.

Skipster: From what I understand, The Baroness, as beautiful as it is- contains some of the darkest most personal lyrics you’ve written to date (allusions to lonliness, affairs, anorexia, etc). Was the writing and releasing of this album a way of facing all the problems you dealt with and essentially healing from them?

Sarah: Yes, for a long time writing music has been a way for me to alchemize pain. But I really believe The Baroness was the last chapter in that book. The songs and lyrics on that record were like coming into a clearing after walking for many years through dark, dense, forest. They were straight-up, direct and succinct in a way that is unlike everything I’ve written before. It was as if those hot spots – loneliness, self destruction, a sense of total alienation and emptiness – were forcing me to finally give them my focussed attention. Once I had the tools and courage to face them and address them with plain language, they no longer haunted me. I think in this way songwriting is like casting spells. There is such power to finding the truth and speaking it. Once “Get Home” was written I knew that situation would never ever happen again. Once “Looking for Someone” was written, lo and behold, there he was. Now that those ghosts are gone, I’m looking forward to making music from a place of gratitude and effluent joy. I’ve touched on it briefly before, but I want to write a whole album of it.

Skipster: Lastly, as many people notice, all of your albums differ so much sonically. Now that you’re starting to write for a new album, will you be experimenting with any new sounds or do you have any ideas of what we can expect?

Sarah: As I said, I cannot wait to make music from sheer joy, wonderment, astonishment, glee.

Skipster: Well we cannot wait to hear it!
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Sarah’s latest output Black Flowers, a cover album of sorts put out in conjunction with the Art of Time ensemble ,is available in her online store, along with her last effort The Baroness. Sarah will be touring with the Art of Time ensemble for a short period in the fall. Check her site for dates!

Listen to some Sarah gems below:

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Scott Pollack, 2009