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Tell me about your journey into music. At what point did you realize that you wanted to be an artist, and what drove you into this career?

Michaela Slinger: I’ve kind of always just been singing and felt like I was a singer and an artist. So, I feel like there was kind of an early childhood knowing that I honestly kind of got away from and tried to talk myself out of pursuing music because, you know, it’s like it felt scary and unknown to pursue a creative life, but I ultimately found my way back to it. There is some lore. You can find it on YouTube. But my first public performance was actually when I was three, and back when Vancouver had an NBA team. We used to have the Grizzlies. I sang the anthem when I was three at an NBA game. So, one of my like earliest core memories is singing in front of 18,000 people. I’m sure that that kind of did something to my psychology. And so, I found myself back here pursuing a life of music and performance. It’s been really fun.

Who are some artists that inspire you and your music?

Slinger: When I was first deciding to be a musician, somebody that was a real north star for me was Maggie Rogers. And I’ve loved watching her career develop. I’ve been there kind of like since the beginning, and I think she does a beautiful job of letting herself grow and develop, and I really like that she co shows up for like causes that she cares about. She got a master’s degree, so she’s cool. She feels to me like somebody that’s kind of just following her path. Wherever that leads her. I think like early Kacey Musgraves also really grabbed me. I remember being in high school and during that time when I was in high school, we listened to a ton of kind of commercial country and I enjoy country music, but a lot of the themes I was kind of like, okay, I get it. The girl is also wearing jean shorts, and you’re also in a truck. And I liked that she was saying something and using her voice in a unique way. So, I feel like those were two kind of north stars for me. I was also a really big John Mayer fan. He just posted that it was the 20-year anniversary of Continuum, which makes me feel like an ancient relic of a person, but yeah.

What was going on in your life that sparked “Dreaming,” the single you released earlier this summer?

Slinger: Yeah, I actually wrote that song in Nashville last year. I’m back here now for a little trip. So, that’s kind of a nice bookend. But, my sister had texted me. My sister and I are really close. And I’d say a lot of this record is very centered on relationships in my life and how we are inside of relationships, romantic, familial, friendships. And my sister and I have, you know, we’ve seen our family grow and evolve and change together and we’ve lost people together and navigated divorce together. And so, she had sent me a text that basically she was out with some friends and just witnessing the strangeness that relationships can be in your 20s and friends with weird people and breakups. And so, she basically texted me and was like, I just don’t think I’m going to do love. It just does not seem worth it. And she was kind of being facitious and funny and I think she was a little bit drunk but also there’s always truth to the drunk text, right? And so I I took that to a writer the next day and so it’s kind of like from my older sister perspective to her about like just encouraging the vulnerability of letting yourself love and be loved and how amazing it can be. And I also feel like it was al I wrote it for myself about how like dreaming in a creative career can also only get you so far. And the crux of it is going out and just actually like doing doing the work and showing up and writing and performing. So, I feel like there’s kind of dual meaning.

What came first in that song?

Slinger: Yeah, I took it to — it was our first time writing together. My friend Lewis Johnson, he’s down here. He actually just — I guess he just won a CCMA because he is working on the Thelma and James stuff. And McKenzie Porter is Canadian, so he’s a frequent collaborator of hers. Him and I are writing together for the first time. And so the process is always a little bit different each time, but I think he started playing chords on the guitar after we were having this conversation. And then the verse came quite stream of consciousness. I think to me, it’s always — it’s always a dance to decide how kind of literal to be versus how zoomed out. And I think that’s kind of where the magic is in a song. But for this one, the lyrics, it’s like kind of drunk and you’re heading home now. Hate phone calls. Like I was just kind of narrating what was happening. And then from there, we spent a little bit of time on the chorus and we were just tossing words around, but that notion of dreaming only gets you halfway there. We knew that that was like the thing that we would keep coming back to. It felt like the perfect summary of what we were talking about in the verses.

You have an upcoming album, Green and Trying. Tell me more about the story behind the album and what inspired it.

Slinger: Yeah. Green and Trying. It’s out this Friday, September 25th. And to me it reminds me of kind of that period of like if you’re at a dinner party or out for dinner with friends and like the wine is low and the food’s gone and you’re all just like everyone’s kind of getting into some kind of deep discussion and some of it’s really funny and maybe like two people are talking about something heavy and they’re crying but like there’s kind of room for all of it around the table. That to me is like the picture of this record. The journey of writing it kind of accompanied me after I parted ways with my previous record label and was learning what it was like to be an independent artist, especially in the industry at this time. So, I was learning how to navigate that and experiencing other changes in my life. I got married and was continuing to come and write in different places. So, there was just a lot of growth and evolution. And I think that every song — yeah, kind of chronicles a relationship or the experience of being in a relationship in a different way. And I’m just, you know, trying to figure out how to be a better person.

What else can listeners expect to come with the album?

Slinger: There are definitely some really kind of raw, intimate moments on this album that are a bit of a sonic and lyrical shift from my previous album. There’s some upbeat and some fun and some joy. Of course, that’s always welcome at the dinner table, but there are a couple songs where like it’s the demo vocals that we used cuz it was just kind of intense and evocative and I couldn’t imagine like going and singing it over and over. So, I feel like there’s quite an emotional breadth to it and also there’s definitely a spirit of live music in it. We recorded a lot of it all in the room together at Protection Island Studios, which is just outside of Vancouver. So, that was really fun, too. I think it feels a little more organic and lived in than previous stuff. And I just — I really had a lot of fun making it. So, I think I can hear that. I hope that the listener can hear it as well.

How do you decide which parts of your life and experiences become lyrics and which parts don’t?

Slinger: Oh, that’s a good question. I didn’t know things could be off limits. That’s — you sound like my therapist. You’re like, “Hey, have you thought about—” Yeah. Like I said, it’s always, you know, when you’re writing lyrics, I think it’s a dance between how — specificity and then also universality. And also what’s like interesting for the purpose of the song. So there’s stuff also on this record where like it might sound like I’m singing about one person but in my head it’s actually a composite of people or sometimes I’m writing a little bit for who I feel almost as like a narrator or protagonist. So it can feel really intimate and personal, but it’s like — I think just like when I listen to an album from an artist, just because they say something doesn’t mean that it’s like that’s actually what’s happening to them and they’ve let me in on their innermost thoughts and feelings. So I feel like I have my own way of protecting people or ideas or moments.

When you listen back to your work from years ago, what do you feel like has changed the most about you and your music?

Slinger: Oof. Well, it’s funny because this album is called Green and Trying, this new one, and I do — I really still feel like I’m trying, but I think this album felt like more of a return to just me. And so, I feel like when I’m trying or my efforts, like I’m kind of trying to always come back to what feels natural and right to me. I feel like before I was really trying to expand into certain areas and push myself — like how can I make a great pop record or perform in this kind of like a pop show — and that helped me grow a ton, but I think this feels more like when I was 10 years old writing songs in my basement on an old piano kind of thing. So, I really let the songs lead and I think that everything was kind of just written with like my voice in mind and not me trying to do a certain thing, if that makes sense.

What’s the “green”?

Slinger: The green is how ultimately we’re all — we are all just green. Like, you know that saying, I’m kind of green. I don’t know what this is all about. And then kind of makes me think of the natural world as well. The story of that title actually — I was in a songwriting course on Zoom with like thousands of strangers from across the world and we all had to describe what we saw out of our windows, and it was January, and somebody was in the Midwest and they were talking about like how the grass was all dead but they were like, “Oh, but it’s green and trying.” And I was like, “Ooh, that’s me. I’m green and trying.” No more label. You know, like industry feels like it’s changing every 2 seconds. My life is changing. My personal relationships are changing. So it felt like it just encapsulated this period of time for me. So to whoever that stranger was, I don’t know, maybe I’m going to get a call from someone’s lawyer. I’m happy to share.

You have some upcoming live shows. What changes for you when you take these songs to a live audience as opposed to the studio?

Slinger: Yeah, so much. This — the studio, we definitely had lots of live instrumentation, but this relief show in Vancouver on October 3rd is the biggest band I’ve ever played with. And some of these songs we — we’ve never performed before. We’re truly like working them out for the first time in rehearsals these next two weeks. So, that’s been really fun. And I think it’s trying to figure out like what elements that you want to keep from the recording, but also how you want to have it feel embodied by the people that are in the room. So there’s lots of like cool little textures and sounds on the record from different pieces of gear or equipment or like samples of my voice cut up. So most of that stuff we kind of leave alone and we let the incredibly talented live band fill in that space. I’m going to have some friends sing with me. I’ve never had like backup singers before, so that’s going to be really fun. That’s an element of the record that we’re bringing live because there’s a song where it was just three of us singing at once in one room. So, we’re doing that. But yeah, it’s just — it’s just a bunch of people and a bunch of instruments having fun. And I’m excited and a little nervous because I usually play with my guitar a lot when I’m playing with fewer people. But I’m going to be mostly free of my guitar for these shows, which means I’m going to have to recall what to do with my limbs on stage, which will be nice.

What do you have planned for the next year of your career?

Slinger: That is a beautiful question and I really wish I knew the answer. But I’m also trying to not be so future focused and — type a plan — me and just see what happens. Like after these two release shows in Vancouver and in Toronto, I just kind of want to see where this music takes me. And of course, you know, I have — I have hopes and dreams that I will get to play these songs, you know, beyond those two cities and do some touring again. So, we will see. But I don’t know. And I think that’s — that’s part of being green and trying is to be able to say I have no idea what’s going to happen. And I’m — I’m trying to be okay with that.

What are some of your favorite spots for a night out in Vancouver?

Slinger: Ooh. Okay. I really like going to Good Thief. It’s next to Anh and Chi. But it’s kind of its own thing and they do really nice late night kind of happy hour. So, sometimes on the weekend if we’ve been like out watching a show or something — and we live in that neighborhood too — we’ll go, they make a really lovely old-fashioned and they have these fries and I don’t know what they’re frying the fries in, but it’s just like it’s perfect. Fries are perfect. So, I really like going there. Where else do I go? I’m such a creature of habit. I’m like, do I do anything else? Not really. Normally, we’re probably at home watching TV, but — and I have to shout out that I went to Green Auto for the first time. And I played a show there and it’s such a fantastic independent venue. So, I’m really excited to catch more shows at Green Auto and I’ll be there in the fall. And then, oh, you know what? I’ve got to also shout out in my neighborhood, The Park Theater, a great movie theater, one screen, no choices. When do we get no choices these days? We always have too many choices. This theater, it’s like, hey, this is what we’re playing. That’s kind of nice. … Toronto, I’m excited to be there as well at the end of October. It’s a place I’ve spent a lot of time now, so I feel like I’m starting to have my spots that I frequent there a lot as well.

Tell me some of your spots in Toronto.

Slinger: Well, I’m playing at the Burdock Music Hall. I love the Burdock so much, and it always feels just full of friends and it’s a great listening room, and so inevitably after seeing a show or playing a show at the Burdock we end up at 3 Speed, which is great, and people in Toronto stay up so late, which you could probably tell from my Vancouver answer — I’m not, I’m not usually out here doing that — and then I go to Toronto and I’m up at 3, kind of being a different version of myself. So 3 Speed is awesome. I love going to Type Books, just south of Trinity Bellwoods. Always make a point of going to that bookstore and I always find something. And then, I don’t know, there’s probably other places that I’m getting right now. You know, I’m on the subway a lot. Love, love the TTC. Don’t have a favorite stop yet…

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