The last time Chantal Kreviazuk released an original album was 2009’s Plain Jane. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t kept busy. She’s been a prolific songwriter for artists such as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Josh Groban and Shakira. She’s been featured on tracks by artists like Kendrick Lamar and Drake. All while raising her three sons with husband and Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida. Her gorgeous new album Hard Sail was released in June. She plays the Taylor Centre on the MRU campus November 8^th.

"This album more than any album I have done is a real creative process mashup. There are songs on the album that I wrote and submitted to other artists that were on hold. P!nk had one called Meant For This. Kelly Clarkson had one called I Love You. They as artists have their own creative process and time and rhythm. When I suddenly came into this place of "hmm I need to make an album. I have stuff to say and it feels right for my family" Kreviazuk told GayCalgary.com. "When all of that started to come in I looked those other songs back in the eye and went Let’s see if I can’t maybe perform those and make them my own. Of course P!nk in her awesomeness was supportive and I took the song back. Kelly in the end wasn’t going to cut the song so it was perfect. I recorded them and those songs spawned the fire under my tush and I went with the momentum created. I started to get into that creative process of writing songs. I worked with my husband on half of the album. It was a beautiful experience. I think I have written for so many other people and been recording so much and performing a lot. Even though I haven’t toured or had an album to promote I’ve been really busy. It was different the process but felt great."

It is not uncommon for artists to take time away when starting a family. As was the case for Kreviazuk.

"I think the need to be a mom and prioritize and be near my family. If you make an album you really have got to get out there and work it otherwise there is no point in making it. I’ve released so many singles in Canada and am always busy and performing somewhere. It’s not like I felt a big void that I wasn’t working. I had a song with Kendrick Lamar and performed on SNL with him, I had a song with Drake. You feel like you are busy, I was fulfilled and really devoted to my beautiful family. Everything felt great and then it was like boom. I had some tragedy in my family, it also caused me to be really busy therapeutically seeking songwriting. There is a song called Lost that basically saved my life and caused me to not have a heart attack. I was in the middle of a crisis situation and went straight to the piano in a studio and it was so healing. It just poured out of me, as you hear it on the album is how it popped out of me. The music starts to tell you what to do after a while."

From the opening chords of Hard Sail to the final notes of Smile In Your Sleep the album is stunning both lyrically and musically. Kreviazuk’s voice soars on bigger tracks like All I Got and then softly rocks you to sleep on Smile In Your Sleep – a beautiful lullaby that closes the album and was spawned by a few scenarios.

"I was away on a family trip and one of my friends gets mad at us because we go to sleep to early and she wants to party. One night she was complaining and then the next time we looked at her she was asleep on the couch. She looked so beautiful because she was smiling in her sleep. I took a picture and the next day I painted it and gave her the painting," Kreviazuk said, adding that her role in the film Kiss & Cry - which will be released in 2017 - lead to writing the actual song.

"Kiss & Cry is about a young lady named Carley Allison. She was a vocalist and an elite figure skater from Toronto who got this cancer that only two other people had ever had and it took her life. Her family really wanted me to be a part of the making of her story. It was authentically portrayed in her true locations – the hospital, her skating rink, her home – and her family was very much a part of the process of telling her story. I played her Mom in the movie. There is a moment where Carley found out that she wasn’t going to live and there was nothing else that could be done for her. Her Mom and her went home and just sobbed together. They thought it would be really wonderful if I sang to her in that moment. There is a song I always sing to my kids at night called Alright For Now by Tom Petty. I said to the director that I really wanted to do that song. But Tom is tough, it would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to use his song in the film. I was like what am I doing? I’ll write my own lullaby. I was out walking alone with my dogs and the song just tore out of me, it was like this amazing force came through me. Thankfully I could record it into my phone."

Family is very much a theme of the album and a major topic of discussion during our interview. Kreviazuk and Maida raise their family in Los Angeles, allowing them some anonymity away from their fame.

"Raine and I are pretty bulletproof. We embrace our real life as a family not our celebrity life.  That’s why we decided to raise our kids in Los Angeles because everyone is either famous or works in entertainment and nobody cares. Not to say we are a big deal in Canada, but its where we’ve put ourselves out there so much. I wanted to foster character, a life in the arts and in service and to keep it simple. I don’t think there was much room for us to be surrounded by ourselves or people’s impressions of us. We really have gone rogue as people and managed to be grateful for our careers and an amazing life and experiences but very much honoring something even bigger. When you start talking about having children and being the guiding force behind a life that is some serious shit. We keep our priorities straight. We really do anchor each other and choose really amazing life partners. At some point love is a choice and I very much choose Raine. Do I think he’s beautiful? Yup. Am I completely attracted to him still? Absolutely and I am lucky for that. After 20 years together I choose him more and more because I respect him as a person. There is a maturity there that I am really proud of, and what we have managed to figure out. There is no manual, you have to find your own. Whatever it might be, but for Raine and I we have figured out what makes us tick as people and a couple and work really hard."

It seems after two decades together the couple has figured it out. It is still challenging to balance work and life at times. Maida just wrapped up a cross-Canada tour that’s conclusion is overlapping Kreviazuk going out on the road herself.

"It is really hard. He came home once during the tour but when he left it was like I am not seeing you for a month. Wow. We are trying to figure that piece out. I start to get pretty bummed out after about 10 days I kind of reach my ceiling. I will say I am really hands on with working remotely with our team. My mother-in-law is with the kids right now and we have an amazing village and are super blessed. This period where we are both not there is pretty intense but it’s going really well. You have to be a grown up. Prioritize the kids and make sure that is functioning well, tuck in there our own needs because we are also children of the universe and just communicate."

Fame has never gone to either of their heads. Both have been recognized for their support of charity around the world including being inducted into the Order of Canada. Their humble nature and desire to give back is part of what makes both so respected and adored in Canada.

"It is incredible. Every day you hear a new story and connect with a new soul and that is really powerful and a privilege. Yesterday I read a story about a boy who only connects through pictures. He has grown up finding my music as a major source of comfort. It was beautiful because the note was from a caregiver of his and there was no expectation or request attached. I wrote back and said that’s awesome how can I meet this person? Service to me is one of the most important ingredients in life to fail having. Being an artist I am presented with so many opportunities to serve so I feel really lucky. On the journey of life, it can be hard to figure out how you can help and connect and feel an experience in a way that honours your purpose. I can do that in many ways as an artist. I can sing and perform and leave it there. I can try and connect with a person who is hurting who has been on that journey with me in their way and appreciated my music. I took my son to Peru a couple of weeks ago with the Starkey foundation which provides hearing for people around the world. 10% of people are deaf and hard of hearing and 80% of those people have no means to help them with being deaf. My 12-year-old son and I fitted local Peruvians with hearing aids. 10 teams fit 500 people and he and I together fit 50 people. It was so meaningful and felt wonderful to pass on that value to him."

The intimate show at Mount Royal University will feature songs new and old.

"There is some private photos and footage in the show from my trip to Peru which is really special and people seem to enjoy. It is intimate, fun, funny and moving. It is cathartic for me. I play some of the new album and some older stuff and it has gone awesome so far. I am stoked.

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Writer Jason Clevett

Person Chantal Kreviazuk

Topic Celebrity Interview