The Peak

Joanna

By Nicole Kornelson

Chapman-Smith plays Café Deux Soleils February 20.

Sitting and reflecting, for some, is best aided by music. Joanna Chapman-Smith, a former student at Simon Fraser University, has made a music career out of artful reflection. When I first attempted to reach Chapman-Smith last week for an interview, I was greeted by her singing voice on her answering machine, a warm rendition of “please leave a message.” Try number two gets the interview rolling.

The release party for her newest album, Contraries, at the Ukrainian Hall Friday night had Joanna running around all week in preparation. Sleep? “Sleep is done,” she replied. Her first album was recorded during her studies here at Simon Fraser in 2006, and the following year, Eyre Corvidae was officially released. Immediately after graduating, Joanna got work as an artist and hasn’t “had to do anything other than music” to support herself — something most artists only dream of.

I asked if she had made certain goals ahead of time for her music, and she tells me goals were never really part of her perspective or approach. “You’re sort of drawn to [music],” and to “the people who really get into it. It’s almost like you don’t have a choice.” She admits, “There’s a lot of work that goes into being a musician,” but she’s never had to set goals.

Joanna is delightful and full of international flavours, beyond even her music. Her stepfamily is from Brazil, and her parents come from New Zealand and Italy. The sounds of her family history inspired her to tell the story of her past and present with this album. The first track in Contraries, “Urbanities,” shows her dreams of “going to New Zealand and living off the land under the sky” and introduces us to her life here where the “city lights come alive.”

“Between the Minds” was inspired by the fights her and her siblings had last year on a family trip to Brazil, and even has her brothers singing and whistling on the recording.

Joanna’s personality shines in this album. From the kiwi bird signpost on the cover of the album to the inspirational poetics of William Blake, Joanna’s tastes and sensibilities are all brought to the forefront. A minor in English Literature in her student days, she admits to being “sort of geeky with poetry.”

Regarding Blake she says, “I’m really taken with the idea of the “Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” He was dealing with good and evil, and the eternal battle between them. He was saying, you know, maybe nothing is good or evil in and of itself, but that eternal conflict is very important.” She “fell in love with that idea.” The track “Things Are Gonna Go Wrong” is about the acceptance of that basic idea. She said, “I explored it a lot, and it’s sort of self-reflective. That’s the process of songwriting.”

It’s hard to describe the sounds of the album using words like “multicultural” because the album is filled with more than that. The upbeat upright bass played by Justine Fischer, Dawn Zoe on the accordion, and Wayne Adams hittin’ the drums all add quirk to Joanna and her clarinet pieces. There’s swoon. There’s sway. The music itself reminds me of a Jewish or Greek wedding. Parts also sound a bit like a tango and Astor Piazzolla, most likely from the accordion. When asked about finding it hard to gain an audience, she laughs. “I’m a mish-mash. I haven’t really met anyone that doesn’t like it.”

Though so many people are involved in the album and its process, community is the main value and direction taken up by Chapman-Smith. East Vancouver and Vancouver are her communities, and right now that’s the crowd she’s connecting with. “I’m sort of going grass roots. I’m obsessed with community, and I meet people from all over,” she tells me. The approach is building more than relationships with the people — it’s building her audience.

After quite liking the fact that Joanna takes the time to connect with community first and a crowd second, I give her kudos; “way to use the arts well!” Her response, after a laugh? “There’s actually a festival I love called Artswells! It’s up in Wells, B.C. It’s super community oriented, that’s why it’s great.”

With a family, and culture, from all over the world, the music of this SFU grad is taking her places. If you try to reach her and get nothing but the answering machine, even that will have you walking away with more bounce in your step.