Julie Doiron
- Location: Montreal,
- Websites:
- Bio: Here's a bunch of words to describe Julie Doiron: happy, positive,
hopeful, excited, and especially, rocking. Yes, you're reading that
right. In the past, people were used to ... (more) - Bio: Here's a bunch of words to describe Julie Doiron: happy, positive,
hopeful, excited, and especially, rocking. Yes, you're reading that
right. In the past, people were used to reading things like sad, quiet,
acoustic, thoughtful, and reflective. That all changes with her new
disc, "I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day". Meet the new Julie
Doiron.
"I'm more positive, for sure," she laughs, from her home in Montreal.
"I guess it's because I'm happy, pretty much...maybe...finally. I think
that I finally figured out how to move around a little easier in the
world. I feel a lot happier, and if things aren't going as well, I try
to change it. Maybe that's why. I just was starting to write happier
songs, 'cause it feels like a new chapter in my life."
Julie Doiron's always been pretty easy to figure out. More than any
other songwriter, you can tell exactly what's going on in her life, as
she lays it all out in her lyrics. She's direct, and painfully honest,
but she can't help it. "I just sing about what's happening," she
admits, resigned to her style. "I don't know how to do anything else.
I don't know how to write any other way. I've wanted to...I've tried!
Because sometimes I feel like maybe I shouldn't be so direct, but I
don't know how." In the past, listeners have shared in the heartbreak
of loneliness, the break-up of a band, the grind of raising young kids,
and the dark fears anyone can slip into during a relationship. While
the direct approach is still all over this new album, this time she's
almost the happiest woman in town. "I keep saying that it's a change in
a positive direction. I've started to love life most of the time, and
I'm happy, and I'm having a great time raising my kids. Although I'm in
the middle of divorcing my husband, we get along really well, and we
have these beautiful children and everyone's civilized and we're all
getting along very well. And I think that I feel really positive and
really good."
Just check out the titles to get the feeling. The songs include "The
Life Of Dreams," "Lovers Of The World," "Nice to Come Home," and, tellingly,
"Glad To Be Alive." Doiron, always the most humble, down-to-earth,
self-critical performer, is actually pumped about getting this one out,
and hitting the road with a band. That's a big, dramatic turn for her.
"Either I was afraid of success, or I just didn't want to play the game
that you have to play to achieve more notoriety, a more commercial
level. I guess I just didn't want that in the past. Now, it's not that
I want it now, it's just that it's a good record, and I feel way more
confident. I guess that I've matured, and when I give a show, I want to
give a really good show, and I want people to really enjoy it as much as
I enjoy playing. So, I think I have matured, and I've learned how to do
it properly. I've been a bit of a slacker," she laughs. But, it was
sort of in spite of myself, because I was always conflicted. Did I want
to be a stay-at-home mom? I was always trying to decide what I actually
wanted in life. In the last three years, my life has changed, out of my
hands, and so I've decided to embrace this whole music thing in a bigger
way. And I know I can do it, and I know I can be good at it. So I
guess if I've made a record I think is worthy, I should give it my
all."
To go along with her great mood, Doiron's made the most rocking disc of
her solo career, and certainly since her days with indie heroes Eric's
Trip in the '90's. It's part of a desire to get back to her electric
days with that band. The past couple of years have seen Eric's Trip
regroup for triumphant reunion tours, and a rekindling of her work with
Trip mainstay Rick White, who produced her 2007 disc Woke Myself Up, and
returned for this album. Eric's Trip, of course, is the little band
that could from Moncton, New Brunswick. The first Canadians signed to
Sub Pop Records, way back in 1993, Eric's Trip were the ultimate low-fi,
DIY quartet, refusing to move out of White's parents' basement,
recording everything there, even doing the hand-made cover art. Equal
parts volume and emotion, the band's 1993 disc Love Tara is now regarded
as an influential classic in Canada and especially Europe, name-checked
along with Lou Barlow's work as a low-fi masterpiece. The band broke up
shortly after Rick and Julie did, but they remained closer than people
knew. "Working with Rick is great, fantastic. Rick and I obviously go
way back, we've known each we like, 16, so that's been 18 years. We did
kind of work together in more relaxed ways, like when I'd have to do
demos, I'd phone him up and say, can I come and record a demo at your
house? And he'd say sure, come on over. We were still always really
good friends, but I always felt that I needed to distance myself from
that other part of my life for a while, in terms of making the albums.
And then I think I just decided to embrace what Eric's Trip was, and I
still love Rick, he's still a great friend. And I know that he has such
a good ear, and he's so good at engineering and getting good sounds.
And I can really trust him, and I have full faith."
I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day was recording at White's home
studio, in an isolated and beautiful spot northwest of Toronto. Doiron
handled the electric and acoustic guitar parts, Rick did all the bass
and keyboards, and the only other musician was Fred Squire, for all the
drums, and some lead guitar. Squire, from Sackville, New Brunswick, is
Julie's bandmate in another of her projects, Calm Down It's Monday.
He's the subject of several of the songs on the disc, and one of the big
reasons for her current happiness. "The whole thing is kinda funny,
because Rick is my ex-boyfriend, and Fred is my current boyfriend, but
it's great, because they get along really well. He's my loyal bandmate
and special friend, that's safe to say." Typical for Julie Doiron,
nothing's a secret.
She's also thrilled with the surprising success of Woke Myself Up.
That album brought her to the attention of new fans in the U.S. and
Europe, and even bigger crowds in Canada, where it was nominated for the
2007 Polaris Prize, the Canuck equivalent of the Mercury Prize.
"There's this whole new group of people that I've never seen at shows
before. There was a visible change when I was nominated for the Polaris
Prize. It was people that had their ear to the ground. I think people
were checking me out because of that. There's definitely some younger
people coming out. It's not just people who have been with me all
along, we're all getting older together, which is nice, but I think
there is a new group of people who are discovering music for their first
time, or they're growing into it as well.
"There's something about it that makes me feel really hopeful. Maybe
that's partly because of the success of the Woke Myself Up. It got so
much attention that I didn't expect. I felt, whoa, people are
noticing, and they're buying it, and they're listening to it. I feel
excited. Everyone that's heard it seems to love it. For once in my
life, everything feels like it's working."
Happy, positive, excited, rocking. Everything is coming together in
Julie Doiron's world, from embracing her electric past with Eric's Trip,
to embarking on a new and energetic phase of her solo life with some of
the most upbeat and inspiring songs of her recording career. More and
more people are discovering this honest, direct songwriter, and now that
journey is more fun than ever.
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