Millbrook, Ontario singer-songwriter Serena Ryder released her first indie album at 15, has had international success, opened for bands like Aerosmith, won back to back Juno Awards, and is only 25 years old. It is enough to make anyone want to pinch themselves.
“I should, shouldn’t I? That would be a really good idea. When I am talking to people outside my own little world I think I should stop and pinch myself. Just in the past six months I have realized this is now my life and my home, the only home I can find which is inside my skin,” Ryder told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine in an exclusive interview. “I am just starting to become comfortable with my skin and my life, but I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to be doing what I am doing. This is an unreal job doing unreal things. You have to try and keep yourself grounded by realizing you have a home that you carry around with you at all times. I do think pinching is a good idea it helps with blood flow.”
Ryder is extensively touring in support of her album Is It O.K. She performs live on the Coca-Cola Stage at the Calgary Stampede July 6th.
“Yeah!! I am really excited!! I have always wanted to play there, I love that whole culture, horseback riding and cowboys. I grew up riding horses and did a lot of barrel racing and pole bending at summer camp. So I am pretty stoked, my band is pretty excited too. It seems to be constantly on the go for me. I am touring on the road 85 to 90 percent of the time: touring for two months, home for a week and back on the road for a few weeks. It is a bit of a whirlwind.”
In 2008 at the Juno Awards in Calgary, she won Best New Artist, and this year in Vancouver walked away with the award for Adult Alternative Album for Is It O.K. She is still amazed to have received the award in a category that also included Hawksley Workman, Kathleen Edwards, Sarah Slean and Ron Sexmith.
“When I found out the other nominees I was totally knocked on my ass, I couldn’t believe that I was in the same category. All of those people are on my iPod, I know all of their catalogues. They are people who have inspired me to do what I do. It was another affirmation for me. We all exist in this together but it is amazing,” she recalled. “To be nominated was enough for me so I was totally blown away and semi-speechless when I won. I had no idea what I was going to say if I were to possibly win it. I remember being so nervous and freaked out I had no idea what I would even begin to try and say. I felt very humbled by it. When I got up on stage the only thing I could remember right before the category was the music that was played beforehand. There was a trio of musicians that had played and they made me feel so safe and I forgot about everything that was around me. I felt like you could disappear into a different time and state of being by allowing yourself to relate to music. That is what I talked about. It was an absolute huge honor.”
Being in a room with musical heavyweights like Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, k.d. lang, Buffy St. Marie and others is truly inspiring for the young artist.
”I have found it to be more of a reality check than anything for me. There is so much talent, passion, inspiration and possibility in every single human being that exists. You have a perspective of who you are because of your life, your parents, how other people treated you. When you get into a room full of these amazing people it is not only inspiring but fulfilling and empowering to realize you have that power inside of you too, everybody does: to be able to do whatever it is you do the best that you can do it. To be honored for that is amazing. I was sitting watching Buffy St. Marie give her speech, three meters away from her, watching her bright shiny light on stage. The things she has done politically and emotionally for so many people out there in the world is so amazing. What she said, about being another person on the planet and being blessed to be able to share her thoughts and emotions, she has this childlike excitement and awe, and it was awe-inspiring to be there.”
People who have never heard Ryder’s incredible vocal range got to hear it for the first time on the broadcast, where she performed part of Little Bit of Red in a segment that also included performances from Crystal Shawanda and Divine Brown.
“It was very brief. I didn’t really have much time to think about it. I personally found it a bit difficult to totally rock out in 1-point-something minutes. It usually takes me about twenty minutes to warm up on stage, let alone not even having a whole song. I think this year the biggest deal for me about the Junos - and I was able to watch some of the pre-rehearsal stuff from backstage - Kathleen Edwards and Bryan Adams were magic, it was amazing.”
Ryder is a very busy woman, constantly touring. She is a big part of the Festival circuit, having played events like Bonnarroo, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest and Denver’s Mile High Music Festival.
“If I could (just) do festivals for the most part I would be pretty happy. You have the best of both worlds - you have your spot, your show - but you also get to share the stage with other musicians. When you are doing your own shows for the most part it is all about you. You rarely see people outside of your camp aside from people coming to your shows. It is you and your band, and maybe the people that are opening for you or that you are opening for. With festivals you are able to catch up with musicians or meet ones you haven’t met and always wanted to. You can go out and hang out with the audience in a way that you don’t really get to in a venue because you have your backstage and have to be in a certain place at a certain time. I love festivals they are my favorite thing to do.”
Another favorite thing is covering other artists, of which she has done Bruce Springsteen’s Racing In The Street, Kylie Minogue’s Slow, and Hank Williams’ Ramblin Man among others. Her 2006 album If Your Memory Serves You Well is a collection of covers of Canadian Songwriters including Leonard Cohen, The Band and Paul Anka.
“It is almost like a vacation for me. Being able to celebrate other people’s music and contributions to the music world is amazing. I feel that is how we do most of our learning, from the mirrors that are other people in music, art, and in the world. Other people mirror back at us who we want to be, and learn how to be who we are. I find a lot of my lessons have come from people who have come before me or exist as well with me in the world. They have a different perspective because of their different lives and different things they have gone through. If I have the opportunity to sing that touches me in that kind of a way, it is like a vacation for me. It feels like a relationship with the song instead of something that comes directly from your own brain. You get to have this little mystery journey with other people’s interpretations with the world and their emotions.”
Ryder’s songwriting and voice draws a wide variety of people, which gives her great pride. In fact, she admits that her current album, and most of her songwriting in general, focuses on themes of being comfortable with oneself.
”I have such a diverse fan base and I am so stoked about it. … I lived in Portland for a while and had a great time, I got a tattoo because that is what you do in Portland. I came back to Toronto and realized I am so blessed to live in such a diverse city it is amazing. People from all over the world, all different races and sexual orientations, it is magical to be part of that. When I travel through the states and see how segregated a lot of places are, it is painful. I didn’t actually realize that still existed, being a young white girl who lives in North America you grow up in a certain way of living and it pains me to think that someone would ever judge anybody else for where they are from or their sexual orientation. It is horrible.”
“It is really exciting how more people identify themselves as just people in the world that they exist. I am really frustrated when people feel they need to put labels on themselves in order to identify themselves in the world. I think a lot of people are frustrated with that in general but don’t know the reasons; they are constantly trying to identify themselves as this kind of person, but not this kind. My record is really about being comfortable in your own skin and not trying to fit yourself into boxes. It is important to do what you feel and feel what you do.”
“We all have this abundance of inspiration and love inside of us. The less that we try and fit ourselves into boxes…we will definitely succeed in the world and have a lot less pain. That is a big deal for me in a lot of my songwriting, being able to feel comfortable in my own skin and emotions.“
A lot of artists her age - especially young females - are not typically involved in the songwriting process of their own music. However, Ryder continues to hold fast to that aspect of her talent in Is It O.K, as she has done since day one.
“There are a lot of different ways that (songwriting) has been important in building my career. Everyone has a choice in how they want to be seen and heard. For me personally there are a lot of ideas and concepts inside of myself that need to be verbalized. I do think people need to give just as much respect to people who are singers alone; there is something that is translated and articulated in the vibration of the voice that words can’t do.”
“I have always been intrigued with melding the two and trying to find some sort of symbiotic relationship between the vibration of voice and the words that are said. I find that how I write songs is very similar to that. I will find a certain sound that sounds good with a certain chord and I will move my mouth around it until the words come. Sometimes the words don’t even make sense when I start to write a song…the words come later on when I listen back. There is a lot to be said about just writing it beautifully and that is a part of my own process.”
