Chris Velan, Indie Musician

For Chris Velan, arrival at the intersection of experience and opportunity occurred in the form of a phone call from two college friends who were making a documentary about a group of musicians in war-torn Sierra Leone. Although he had been a student of classical guitar from the age of nine and a veteran of the Canadian band scene, he had recently embarked towards a career as a human rights lawyer in his native Montreal. After the grind of law school and a year of life as an apprentice attorney, he made the decision that would change his course personally and professionally; he opted for the meaningful over the mundane.

His subsequent experiences in Africa left an indelible mark that would govern his choices as he contemplated future life once the film project was complete. His involvement with Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars (he produced their album and often performs with them) showed him that there is power in music that transcends even the law and put him literally on the road to making a career as a singer/songwriter.

The Interview

The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry? We’re happy to hear some proof if you want to supply it…

Chris Velan: I am terminally human.  I habitually spend my morning hours in my underwear, sometimes forgetting to put on pants altogether. When sharing the road with other drivers, I deem to be bad/slow/careless, I get a form of Tourette’s syndrome that involves uncontrollably spewing out expletives that make no sense whatsoever (Causing me to feel doubly ashamed for my outbreak and my lack of creative wit).

I seem utterly incapable of recognizing when my girlfriend, Sara, has had her hair done. I found myself crying the other day at the scene in the animated film, Up!, in which the old man loses his wife to cancer.

TDN: What’s your daily schedule on a normal day? (being as specific or general as you care to be)

CV: If I’m at home and not on tour….

I wake up at the crack of 9, drink at least two soy lattés (prepared by my girlfriend who refuses to let me operate our temperamental ’85 Gaggia machine), spend several hours chipping away at my email inbox (a task that could be completed by a more focused individual in probably 20 minutes), and go down to my basement studio where I try to write new material and rehearse for upcoming shows. Somewhere in the middle of all that is lunch, a run or a mountain bike on Mount Royal (or recently a Moksha yoga class up the street).

This linear accounting, however, is misleading. These activities more accurately, get carried out on some Newtonian vector plane that bends time and space such that all things are happening at once and yet not happening at all.

TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise. What lengths would you actually go to, in order to delete it from your schedule?

CV: There are two things that I would strongly prefer not having to deal with on a daily basis (I won’t say despise as it’s such a strong word). The first is emailing, the second is grocery shopping.

I would consider paying someone to do all of my emailing, but, notwithstanding the fact that I have nowhere near the money to hire someone for such a task, I think I would lose a lot of friends quickly if I went down that road.

As far as grocery shopping, I have found to my delight that our fridge and pantry seem to magically generate new food on a regular basis, without my having to go grocery shopping. I feel lucky and blessed for this miracle.

TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?

CV: If I could, I would overhaul the music industry to create a system where artists can make more revenue from their art.  Though the Internet is slowly changing this, the current system is fraught with onerous contracts and distribution regimes that are horribly weighted against artists.

TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?

CV: Ah, this is a tricky one because it goes against my belief that all of our life stages and events, no matter how forgetful, misguided or mistaken they may seem, are integral to getting us to where we are now.

I am sometimes tempted to say that the time I spent finishing law school and becoming a lawyer might have yielded interesting results had I directed them towards my development as an artist. But I really value those years for the growth and self-knowledge that they provided me. Ultimately, I needed those years to get to where I am now.

TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)

CV: Obviously, we have many stepping stones in our life. But when I think back on the moment where the Universe was really screaming at me to head in a certain direction, it was when I was at the end of my articling year (a year of student lawyering that we do in Canada before we do the bar) working at a law firm in Vancouver. After a year of busting my ass, I didn’t get offered a position. At the same moment, events had conspired to create the opportunity to travel to Guinea in West Africa to make a documentary film about refugee musicians with two friends from college. Following the Theodore Lytton quote from Journey To the Center of the Earth that “Unexpected invitations to travel are like dancing lessons from God”, I decided to go to Guinea. The experience was a transformative one that reminded me of my deep need to create music, and I returned home with that as my new life goal.

TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?

CV: I don’t seem to have a catch phrase. I wish I did! I could lie and make something up, though…

TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?

CV: Honestly, I don’t feel that I have one, single biggest accomplishment. I’m proud of the three albums I’ve put out to date. I’m proud of being a part of the Refugee All Stars project. But I’m also proud of my everyday efforts to continue along this challenging and sometimes difficult artist path that I’ve chosen. I’m proud of that personal endeavour to honour my own truth. It feels right in my heart.

TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)

CV: Music and love.

TDN: What’s the best part of your life?

CV: Being able to make a living (sort of) writing songs.

TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?

CV: I’m learning more and more every day on how to incorporate creating music into my life. But alas, there are much more powerful forces at play than just my “figuring things out”.

TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool?

CV: I get extremely inspired by the creative efforts of other artists. I’m deeply moved to action by the courage of the others.

TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?

CV: Don’t think so much. Be fearless. Trust your instincts. Trust your heart. Enjoy the ride.

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Chris Velan’s current album (his third), Solidago, is a stunning culmination of influences. From the folk-rock of his youth to the reggae of his college days to the echo of his time in Africa, Chris has created a unique collection of songs that invite listen after listen. Not often will you find a record that juxtaposes the horror of sectarian strife with the hopeful musings of errant love. Solidago achieves this seemingly without effort. The jarring lyrical content of “Wobbly Bones” is brilliantly offset by the lilting dirge that draws the listener to the stark reality of man’s cruelty to man without causing them to look away. Few songwriters working today would be able to make the point without contrivance. Followed by “Oldest Trick”, a sly skewering of our technological world, Solidago reveals itself to have a gravitas missing from most contemporary efforts. Capped by the starkness of “May Your Soul Get to Heaven”, Solidago is an album that begs for a follow-up.

Solidago is available on NewSong Recordings and on iTunes. Check the calendar for U.S. and Canadian tour dates. Pick your Chris Velan social media poison below:

www.chrisvelan.com

www.twitter.com/chrisvelan

www.myspace.com/chrisvelanmusic

www.youtube.com/chrisvelan

www.facebook.com/chrisvelanmusic

www.newsongrecordings.com