Photo Credit: Alec Bowman Clarke
Born into a family of hermits, and then living through a period in history where socializing in person was pretty much off the table – it’s been hard for me to get back into that headspace. However, I was glad to know I wasn’t alone in this as singer-songwriter Josienne Clarke admitted it hasn’t been easy for her as well. It was just one part of the back-and-forth we shared as Clarke opened up about how Taylor Swift inspired April 2023’s ‘Onliness,’ the patriarchy in creative spaces, and more!
Kendra: Being a freelance writer comes with a lot of stress but at the same time, I love the freedom of sort of just doing my own thing without anyone hovering over me. When you decided to step out on your own, start your own label, and just do you – do you remember the first instance in which you felt that level of creative freedom for yourself?
Josienne Clarke: Being able to release whatever style of music I like in whatever format – whether it’s an EP, album, double album, etc whenever I want feels like a huge liberation. I don’t have the pressure of having to release something at least every 18 months, but also if I’ve got more material to share with the world I can simply share it.
I realized this pretty much the moment I left my contract, and began by releasing a Bandcamp-only digital release of 53 demos and unused song ideas (‘Historical Record vol.1&2;) that I had sitting on my hard drive. It was both a great opportunity to share my BTS creative process directly with my fans and a pure profit revenue stream from them to me with no middle men.
Kendra: As far as being a woman in a creative field, it’s rough. I feel like we have to always go above and beyond – and even when we do, it can still feel like it’s not enough compared to some of our male counterparts who are doing the bare minimum, and thriving. As someone who’s faced this, what advice do you have to artists out there who feel like their hard work will continue to go unappreciated because of their gender, race, sexuality, etc.?
Josienne Clarke: The music industry seems to think of itself as modern, forward-thinking, and yet it’s built on a pretty standard patriarchal framework. Basically, when you hear about someone who made several million out of music last year, it’s most commonly going to be a white man from a privileged background. I think some people within it don’t realize that they still make certain assumptions like, for example, in my case, that in a band the male(s) will be the main creative force, that they will have composed all the music. I’ve often felt as a female you have to make it so clear what work you’ve done in order to gain the credit for it. Time and again it will be attributed to the nearest man, beware!
Kendra: This goes hand in hand with what Taylor Swift also went through when she basically had to sit and re-record her old music and drop “Taylor’s Versions,” which is something you were inspired by, and how ‘Onliness’ started to shape up. Was this the first time you were moved by Swift’s career choices?
Josienne Clarke: It was inspiring to watch such a famous musician, one with huge contracts with vast legal stipulations, find a way around that to reclaim her art. It felt like if Tay-Tay can do it, then I must be able to!
She’s also an artist who’s changed musically over the years, never bowing to the notion that she must stick to country music roots, always mixing in new musical references with each record. I also find that inspiring her lack of genre boundaries. As someone who got quickly pigeonholed as an exclusively “folk” musician, I like the idea that I can let my music be whatever flavour and shape it feels right with each song or release.
Kendra: Let’s talk more about ‘Onliness.’ Your latest LP dropped not too long ago in April and was heavily motivated by solitude. This was overtly present over the past few years and something I sometimes find myself missing about the depths of 2020. Even after all we’ve been through, do you still find moments where you’re celebrating your alone time?
Josienne Clarke: For me, the first spark of a creative idea is a private, singular experience, I don’t know, and have never known, how to share that bit. Song ideas need to be sat with alone before any collaboration can happen. I’ve always worked this way and I think I always will.
I’ve always been someone who valued my personal space, and I think for that reason I found enforced solitude less difficult than some people. It comes more naturally to me. It’s been so nice to get back out and see people and be involved in real live events again but I have to say I found the shift back into talking to people hard. Like I’d forgotten all the normal social rules and the things you’re supposed to say!
Kendra: You noted how the title for the album reflects your songwriting; a balance of positivity and sadness. With that as the sort of basis of your pen, I’d love to know what artists or even authors you admired before you realized songwriting was something in your wheelhouse?
Josienne Clarke: When asked about songwriting and starting out I always mention Don McLean, my parents had his records along with Gordon Lightfoot, Janis Ian, James Taylor, etc., so I guess that’s where it all began for me.
McLean has such a lyrical approach to melody, but whatever he’s doing, be it an upbeat banger like American Pie or Vincent, there is always this sweet, naive melancholy hanging in the background. A yearning sense of longing or nostalgia as the backdrop to anything he sings.
I remember noticing this and being moved by it from such a young age, maybe as early as nine or 10 years old. So it’s not a surprise that I grew up reading the entire works of Thomas Hardy and the poetry of Sylvia Plath. When I write, I’m sort of attempting to channel those artists, but also trying to save myself from their fate, looking for the light to counter all the beautiful melancholy.
Kendra: Now it’s time for a side note – with it being May, I always think of the end of the school year and all those memories of field trips, parties, and yearbooks. With that, I’d love to know what your fondest end-of-the-school-year memory was?
Josienne Clarke: Oh well, I don’t know that I have one, sorry, I never really got on well with the whole school thing and I have long since buried all that. I’ve always been a solo traveler – much better suited to navigating life along my own wonky path, away from the structure of mainstream education!
Kendra: Lastly, with ‘Onliness’ out now, what else can fans expect as we continue towards summer?
Josienne Clarke: This summer is all about the best bits of the creative process, finishing writing the songs, shining them up, and making the arrangements. Choosing instruments and sounds, deciding on the production aesthetic, and then taking them into the studio to record!