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Q&A // BROOKE FRASER > Because we have questions. Celebrities have answers.
Two years ago, folk-pop musician Brooke Fraser stood on the lawn at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, waiting to see one of her favorite bands, Fleet Foxes. Brooke, a 27-year-old, New-Zealand native, was burnt out and exhausted following a three-year tour for her second album, Albertine (the album debuted at No.1 in New Zealand and reached five times platinum).
As Robin Pecknold, lead singer of Fleet Foxes, sang that Saturday night, his music ignited something inside of Brooke. "It was a moment where I remembered the power of music as a language, a connector," Brooke says. "I remembered that I've been given the gift of speaking a particular dialect of this language and realized I didn't have the option of being resigned to silence, and I didn't want it."
The experience gave way to her third record, Flags (Oct. 2010), which showcases Brooke's writing and music talent with well-crafted narratives and colorful characters. She says the storytelling makes performing songs about her personal experiences more "survivable" compared to the rawness of her previous album.
The award-winning songwriter and musician has been on tour since October, and tomorrow night, May 13, Brooke will perform at the Bottleneck along with the Cary Brothers. She recently talked with Jayplay about growing as an artist, her tour and love for words.
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Music as a language: Brooke Fraser, whose second album debuted at number one in her native country. New Zealand, is touring to promote her third album Flags. The award-winning songwriter will play the Bottleneck with Cary Brothers tomorrow night. This is her first time playing in Kansas.
I've read that you traveled the United States solo after the three-year tour for your second album exhausted you. How is your experience this time around?
It's a million times different. I'm in a whole different headspace as a person. I think the material on my new record has brought so much balance to the older stuff and there's a lot more happy material on this album, which has proven to be so much more fun to play. It's always amazing to play new material, too, and see new places. With this run in particular, we're deliberately going to cities in America that I've never been to. We're playing in Kansas for the first time.
Can you tell me more about your solo travels through the U.S. before working on Flags?
Whenever I was in a city for work, I would try to grab a few weeks to go off into the wilderness, and I got to do that twice. First, in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in the summertime, and then, in the winter, I went to Bodega Bay in California. It was beautiful. I stayed in a house on the cliffs with the waves below crashing up against the rocks. I feel very fortunate that I was able to go and experience parts of America that tourists would probably never reach.
What do you find most rewarding about being a musician?
My favorite part of it is writing. I think being a songwriter is something I'll be able to do for the rest of my life. I just really enjoy the creation of the songs, finding out who they are, the way they want to be and the stories they want to tell.
And I suppose the other aspect of it is when those songs kind of leave your hands and the privacy of your bedroom or studio and begin to reach people's ears for the first time. It's the scariest part, as well, because it's like when your children go to school for the first time and you're hoping they make friends and don't get bullied, but you aren't sure and you can't control it. Of course, it's most rewarding when the songs do connect with people and start to take on lives of their own.
What's been your most enjoyable day off during this tour? Where were you and what did you do?
We haven't really had any time off on this tour because any days off have been drives, but we had a really beautiful drive from Raleigh, N.C., to Charlottesville, Va. That was a part of the world I've never driven through before and it was beautiful, and we watched Jurassic Park along the way.
If you could plan a dinner tonight, what would you eat and whom would you invite?
I would want to eat a delicious salad, some freshly caught fish and a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, maybe from New Zealand. I would want my mom to be there, my friends from Australia and Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes.
If you weren't a musician, what would you see yourself doing for a living?
I always thought that I would be a journalist. I always had a love for words and for stories, so definitely something involving writing and creativity.
I know you've done a lot of work with humanitarian and charity organizations so what do you have going on now and what motivates you to do it?
There are a number of them, but nowadays I'm most involved with an organization called Charity Water, and they build clean water projects in developing nations.
Even before I was a full-time artist and I was just playing to a café of 20 people, it's been important to me. Humanitarian issues are something I've always been passionate about and I don't think you need to have millions of dollars or go on world tours to make a difference as a musician. Any platform that you have can help other people, if you so choose it. For me, I try to do that in a number of ways by raising awareness through talking about it, blogging about it, or writing songs about it. It's about using the resources I have and directing them toward something that is purposeful.
It's important to stay true to yourself. I think you'll always regret not pursuing your passions; even if it doesn't work out, you know you at least gave it a go.
What advice do you have for college students who aspire to be musicians?
// SARAH CHAMP
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