Slean at Sea
Singer recreates lush orchestral sounds of album on tour
Singer-songwriter-pianist brings Part 2 of her opus to Ottawa Friday night,
For Canadian musician Sarah Slean, the concert hall is no place for politics. The Junonominated singer-song writer pianist, who is also a talented visual artist and actress, made the news last month when she declined the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in support of the Idle No More aboriginal protest movement. In an interview this week, Slean said her decision was influenced by John Ralston Saul’s 2008 book, A Fair Country.
“That book sent a shock wave through my system, in terms of how he was defining Canada, and how he made me realize that the aboriginals in this country were never conquered. They were always the partners of the settlers. The climate was so harsh and the land was so unforgiving, we needed each other. We needed their knowledge,” explains the 35-year-old native of Pickering, Ont. who has a degree in philosophy and music from the University of Toronto.
“It was always a partnership, the mutual understanding of negotiating in good faith and mutual consultation, and we would steward this land together. That is what I thought this country stood for. It hit that emotional nerve with me because I feel like they’re being ignored ... I find that so utterly disrespectful. It’s not just rude, it’s unconstitutional, it’s unCanadian. And it’s so inspiring that Canadians are banding together and saying, ‘This is not the Canada that we are a part of.’ ”
Although the issue stirs her sense of justice, Slean is unlikely to preach to music fans who attend the dates on her upcoming Canadian tour, which starts in Ottawa’s Centrepointe Theatre on Friday. “I try not to throw it in people’s faces,” she says. “People don’t come for that in the concert experience. But I really do feel like we’ve come to a time where we can’t be silent.”
Musically, Slean set herself up for a major touring challenge when she recorded Sea, the second part of her critically acclaimed 2011 double-album opus, Land and Sea. The first part, Land, was relatively straightforward, requiring only a fourpiece combo to bring the music to life, as Ottawa fans saw during a wonderful NAC Presents concert in November 2011.
To accommodate the lush orchestration of Sea, however, a different selection of stringed instruments was needed. A full orchestra is impractical, so Slean decided to form a core group and augment it with professional classical musicians in each city, depending on the size of the venue. The strategy worked like a charm on her recent tour of Europe.
“The wonderful thing about classical musicians is you can put a score in front of them, and with a good two hours rehearsal, you’ve got an entire show prepared, and that’s all it takes,” Slean says from her home in Toronto, taking a brief lull before she dives into rehearsals for the Canadian journey.
“It’s really efficient that way. I would like to be able to tailor the show to the environment, and it’s not possible to present a large string orchestra in the community café in the middle of Canmore,” she says.
Ultimately, the goal is the same: “The experience of being in a dark theatre, this is what I wanted Sea to be heard in. I want people to experience it that way, with pristine sound, world-class musicians, and in a nice comfortable seat in a comfortable room where you can suspend your disbelief and be taken away.”
‘I want people to experience it that way, with pristine sound, world-class musicians, and in a nice comfortable seat in a comfortable room where you can suspend your disbelief.’
SARAH SLEAN
Describing her show
In order to take us away every night, Slean says she has to keep herself emotionally steady along the road, no easy task when there are myriad details to look after and no major-label support to fall back on. After three major-label studio albums, Slean is now an independent artist following her own business model.
“There’s inevitably things exploding in your path everywhere you go. You’re doing morning press, then you’re on the bus. It’s organized chaos really,” she says of the indie touring experience.
“I’m sure I might have a couple of meltdowns, there might be some tears, but it’s all redeemed on stage when I start to hear that sound. There are moments of true transportation where I am completely enveloped and my whole sense of self dissolves, and that’s the brass ring for me. I get to taste it on a regular basis when I’m performing live. It’s all worth it.”
As for the future, Slean is working on an even more ambitious project, a full-scale musical that calls for an orchestra and chorus of voices.
“It could be staged with sets and costumes, or not,” she says.
“It could simply be performed. But my ultimate dream is to have it staged, and if you really want to know, I want Tim Burton to make it a movie.”
Don’t underestimate the petite, blue-eyed singer. Her focus in realizing Land and Sea, from concept to tour, should serve as a heads-up to the Beetlejuice director.
“This is the thing with being an artist,” she says, acknowledging her tendency to dream big. “When I start to see what this thing wants to be, when the pieces start coming together and I can get a whiff of the wholeness of it, it gets to a point where there’s no way I can do anything else. “It has to be that.”