Acid House Interviews : Padma

Hey everyone, welcome to AH Interviews! I've been interviewing friends and colleagues for the past few weeks, and starting now, I'll be posting the Can Con interviews up here and the others on the Rave On Blog site. You can also catch up on past interviews there as well. Enjoy!

I discovered Padma when I put out a call for artists to play at a David Suzuki event this spring. It was refreshing to see an artist out being an artist, and working tirelessly and passionately for environmental causes, without thinking of it as an 'angle', but more a 'responsibility'.

Padma

ja ~ Hi Padma! First of all, thank you so much for doing this!

p ~ No worries!

ja ~ Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, and where you are now in your career?

p ~ Sure. I’m a singer-songwriter, originally from the UK, though I move around a lot and currently live between Vancouver, the UK and Spain. I’m also a Buddhist, and a blogger. I released my first full-length album (‘Here’) on Just Music (a UK indie label) in 2008. My second album, ‘In Defense of the Wild’ is due out in August (2010). It’s a political eco-folk record – a bit Nick Drake and a bit early Bob Dylan, though with some drums and some extremely sexy Hammond organ thrown in for good measure. I’m doing it independently this time, though it will have the support of Backstage Vancouver in Canada and Trilithon Records in the UK.

ja ~ People who read this will be emerging artists all the way up to industry professionals. I value your opinions, so anything you think is helpful or info to get out there would be great - it is interesting to hear your thoughts about how in today's industry, you really need to be a business person, marketing expert, social media pro and jack/jill-of-all-trades..can you talk a bit about all the different things you are doing... and things you have had to learn along the way?

p ~ Yes, I think it’s always been the case that if you wanted to get noticed, you had to be able to create a buzz as an artist. Previously you were trying to attract the interests of a label. Nowadays you may be trying to do that, but it’s also feasible to cut out the middle bit and just engage with your audience directly. The idea that you could just be quietly pootling away being ‘artistic’ and then be ‘discovered’ by a label that would then inject lots of money and contacts into your life and let you continue to be artistic, only now also incredibly rich and successful too, is not really how it’s ever been. Any label, manager, agent or whatever who is interested in taking on an artist wants to know that they have got it going on already, and they can then plug into that and help move it on to the next level. You can only attract them when you don’t need them anymore. Everyone in all fields is always essentially asking ‘What’s in this for me?’ – so you have to put yourself in the shoes of the person/organization you are trying to attract, and be the answer to that question.

For me, I worked hard to build a relationship with the label that eventually signed me, and I’d already done a couple of small-scale self-releases. I learned a lot from doing my first full-length release with them – there’s no way I could do this one on my own if I hadn’t already been through it with them. They brought the money, industry know-how, and understanding of the process of releasing and promoting a record properly, and I brought the music and plenty of hard work. This time I’ve done all the hard work I did last time, but I’ve also done the vast majority of the bits they did as well, and I’ve had to do it on a fraction of the budget, which has meant finding more creative ways of getting things done, and doing more of it myself. It’s been a pile of work – writing, performing, recording, mixing, pulling in session musicians, designers, mastering company, writing press releases, building websites, organizing distribution, working out the promotion plan, networking on and offline, etc, etc, etc. It’s a LOT of work and I think there will always be a role for labels/some kind of support, because there’s just so much to do. Fortunately I have a great manager and some extremely talented friends who’ve helped me out a lot.

ja ~ When I first read about you, I was happy to see that you are keen on environmental issues. Do you agree that it is the responsibility of the artist to use their voice to create positive change?

p ~ Climate change is without doubt the greatest threat that humanity has faced. You could argue that the nuclear threat in the Cold War years was comparable, but that didn’t happen in the end, and this IS happening. Many people don’t really want to take on the full force of that, but it’s true. So for me, everything else is secondary. I’m a musician, so music is my way to articulate that, as is blogging, doing interviews and so on, as well as the way I live my life day to day. I think everyone in every walk of life, artists included, have to get with the programme on this one. Playtime is over. All the old goals – fame, money, big car, big house – that time has passed. But I think this is also a great opportunity for positive change on lots of levels. If anyone out there is wondering what they’re supposed to be doing with their life, this is it! Move towards sustainability, school yourself and then school others and help them too. This is happening and we are the generation who are faced with the task. My album in fact is all about climate change, sustainability, community, reconnecting with nature, and the need for political and economic change. It’s not a preachfest though! It’s written in the first person – about how I experience it. The songs were written or conceived while I was living completely off-grid in a yurt in the Spanish mountains. So it’s got a lot to do with a love and respect for nature, as well as just trying to keep humanity going a while longer.

ja ~ As a Buddhist, how do you deal with fame and ego - or do you just 'not'? What is your goal as a musical artist? Do you have a vision of you ever saying ' ah, now I've made it' or is that moot.

p ~ I get asked this a lot! For me, music is my spiritual path. Everything is tied together – music, spirituality and activism. When I am on stage, it’s a spiritual practice. Being totally present and authentic and vulnerable in front of a crowd of people is not so easy. It’s much easier to ‘perform’ – to adopt a persona and act cool. But that’s not really my interest. As Morrissey once said, ‘Seals perform’. I’ve been at shows and been completely humbled by the person on stage. That’s what got me into music and that’s what I’m trying to achieve – and it’s not something you can fake. So I guess that’s my goal. That and averting environmental catastrophe. And becoming enlightened. And having fun doing it.

As for fame, I struggle to be interested in it. I wish I was more interested in it really, I think it would get me out there more! I think it depends on your motivation. For me, I would like to have as many people into my music as possible because that gives me a voice to talk about things I want to talk about. Otherwise I’m just some nutter, jibbering alone in a corner.

But becoming famous is essentially about tireless self-promotion – it’s the ‘business’ part of the music business - and that’s my least favorite part of being a musician. It’s also something that comes and goes and to cling onto that as a goal is a hiding to nothing. I know people who are becoming famous, and I’ve known people who are famous, and also people who were famous. In the end, we are all just doing our thing and living our lives, day to day. That’s how you actually experience it. You get up, have a cup of tea, brush your teeth, breathe in, breathe out. The flow of life continues and feels as normal as your life right now. I’ve been in the cool places with the free champagne and it’s fun for a treat, but as a general lifestyle you are still essentially standing, sitting, walking or lying down. Drinking, eating, sleeping. How many people are playing your CD in their bedroom, or pointing at you when you walk down the street is quite an odd way to judge whether or not what you are doing has value. I try to keep my focus on this moment. THESE are the golden years!

ja ~ Is the music business different here in Canada compared to the UK? If so how and why did you choose Canada as your 'other' world?

p ~ Well, I have found it remarkably easy to get into the music scene in Vancouver compared with London. I think it’s quite a bit smaller for one thing, and you’ve got (or at least had, before they cut the funding) quite a bit of support for the arts here. Music BC does an excellent job, for example, as does Backstage Vancouver, and indeed Rave On Studios keeps on popping up on my radar!

I suppose one of the things about the UK is that there are a lot more people in a much smaller place, so there is a lot more opportunity to get in front of people and perform. I’ve heard quite a few people bemoaning the lack of venues in Vancouver, and I think that’s true. Though personally, I think that a venue is essentially a room that you can fit some people into. So musicians could be making their own nights in all kinds of places.

But in the end I think the business is about people making music and trying to get it out there to people who want to hear it. How that happens is changing everywhere, on a regular basis. The music world is in a period of massive change because of the internet and the rise of digital, and that is an international phenomenon. No one’s sure where the money is coming from these days, and that’s the same everywhere!

ja ~ What music are you listening to these days?

p ~ The Canadian music I like right now are Julie Doiron, The Rural Alberta Advantage and T.Nile (who I was lucky enough to have singing on my album). Other music right now – Speech DeBelle (Speech Therapy), Arctic Monkeys (first album), Belle and Sebastian (Boy with the Arab Strap) and Emiliana Torrini (Fisherman’s Woman).

ja ~ Do you believe people can still make a living in the music industry today?

p ~ Absolutely. I know quite a few people who make a living as musicians, but it’s tough. Most people who do it combine it with producing, sessioning for big acts, teaching and such like. And they are busy all the time, hustling hustling. I don’t think I know anyone who makes their living solely from selling CDs of their own music. I think you have to decide how important making a living from it is to you compared with making the kind of music that you want, and living a lifestyle that you enjoy. If you are happy to make radio-friendly, genre-specific stuff, ideally that people can jump up and down to when drunk, and you don’t mind being on the road a lot, you can definitely make a living from music. But anyone I’ve every spoken to about being a musician says DON’T DO IT FOR THE MONEY!!!

Outside of being a musician, there are loads of opportunities to make a living in the music industry. It’s a big industry and is still worth a lot of money. But again, for the hours you put in, the money’s not great. And the better the money, the more like any other job it becomes. You can make good money being a music lawyer, for example. But you don’t spend much time listening to music.

ja ~ In the sea of artists out there now, with music so readily available, how do you create a fan base? How do you try and be seen?

p ~ Good question! Basically, not like everyone else does. That’s the only rule. Creativity is king these days. Strip naked, stand on the counter at the police station shouting “I love Padma”, while you’re friend films it. Then stick it on Youtube and issue a press release. Be sure to mention www.indefenceofthewild.com in your press release, and that the album is out in August. You could add that the CD version comes with a 16-page booklet of writings, and the dropcard is made of 100% post-consumer waste, and is embedded with wild flower seeds, so once you’ve downloaded the album, you can plant the card, water it and watch it grow! I mean, that kind of thing would be newsworthy, right?

ja ~ As an artist, what are you doing that is working, and what is something you have tried that has not worked?

p ~ I’ve noticed that what works best for me personally is to largely ignore the conventions and do my own thing. When I left the UK to go and live in the yurt, I attracted far more media interest than I did when I was gigging regularly on the scene in the UK. I was interviewed on national radio a couple of times and played a couple of sessions. It was an odd experience being flown into London after living such a quiet remote life, then being picked up by a BBC car and driven to a plush studio where everyone was very nice to me. All the while I stank of woodsmoke and my pocket had a hole in it from where the mice had chewed through to get to the candy I left in there. My life is often this weird mix of opposites!

So I think staying true to yourself is really important. No one is interested that you can be a musician just as well as all the other musicians out there. They want to see who you really are.

What hasn’t worked? I’d say leaving it up to other people. In the end this is my ride and I have to take responsibility for making it work. Sure I can get help from others, but I’ve found that leaving things up to ‘the professionals’ does not reap the rewards you think it will. You know you best. Learn from the wise and experienced, but don’t just leave them to it and trust that everything will go according to the plan you have in your head. You are the only one who has access to your head.

ja ~ What is your greatest joy?

p ~ A spring day at the yurt, when the chores have been done and you can just sit there all afternoon, communing with the universe.

ja ~ Do you have anything to share with up and coming artists, or music professionals etc, based on your experiences, that would be helpful? ie: on the road, live shows, in the studio ..

p ~ One thing I’d recommend is BE NICE. I’ve met a lot of really friendly, positive people in the music industry. I’ve also met a fair few who seem to think that the way to be taken seriously as a rock n roll rebel on the way to stardom is to be a complete asshole. But that’s not how it is at all. People like working with nice people. And you will need a lot of people’s help between where you are now and fame and fortune. Most of the famous musicians I’ve met have been really nice people. I don’t know where the asshole musician myth came from, but we should collectively take it round the back and shoot it.

The other bit of advice I heard recently that I thought was good was ‘If your plan for success depends on you being discovered, it probably won’t work’. Making a career in music takes a lot of work over a period of time. If you are the exception to the rule, great! But don’t make that your plan. That doesn’t mean it’s not fun, by the way. If it’s the right thing for you, it doesn’t really feel like work.

ja ~ Thank you so much Padma, great interview!

www.padmaland.com