Interview w/ Calan Mai

Have another entry in my ongoing artist interview series ready for you today! We're going to head down to Queensland, Australia and upon the folk infused sounds of Calan Mai. You may remember the post I did on him a couple of weeks back promoting his debut single, "We've Got Love" and I praised him for his authenticity and hauntingly beautiful lyricism that shows how immensely talented he is and how passionate he is about his craft as well. Calan was nice enough to carve some time out of his busy schedule to do an interview for us to get to know him a little better personally, and understand where his interest in music is rooted from. Here is the transcript from that interview:

Give us your name and where you're originally from?

My name is Jordan Lawrence and I’m from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. I perform under the pseudonym Calan Mai.

What is your earliest recollection of listening to music at a young age?

My earliest recollection of listening to an album was probably around eight or nine years old when Mum bought me a copy of ‘Americana’ by The Offspring. That was the first time I got a sense that different genres of music had completely different attitudes and ideas behind them. 

Otherwise, the first song I remember really loving was ‘Heal the World’ by Michael Jackson. I was six.

When did you begin to realize that you wanted to become a musician?

I think there’s a difference between realising you want to learn how to play music and realising you want to be a ‘musician’, that is – realising you want to pursue music as your primary vocation. I realised I wanted to play music when I was 13 years old. At the time, my mate J.B. lived in a house that was going to be torn down to make way for one of those pristine, grey, gated housing estates that are all over the coast now. We were drawing pictures of dicks and waves on the walls of his bedroom and listening to Led Zeppelin when, out of the blue, I just decided I was going to learn guitar. Must have been Jimmy’s sweet licks.

I realised I wanted to be a musician when I met my managers, Adam and Nathan Lyons. That was less than two years ago.

What was the first song you've ever been personally affected by and how does it resonate with you to this date?

That’s a difficult question! I think the first song I remember really hitting hard was ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’ by Bob Dylan. That song knocked me sideways. Dylan has a way of being aloof and romantic at the same time. I still haven’t figured out how he does that.

Describe the recording process of "We've Got Love" and what inspired the lyrics and is it based on real-life events?

"We’ve Got Love" was the first song we recorded from my upcoming EP ‘Days on the Rock Face’. We recorded it in a weekend and the process was a massive learning curve for me. The lyrics are about my friends and family. It’s 100% based on real-life events.

Who were some of your favorite artists while growing up and how have they helped shape the man you are today?

Obviously Dylan. He’s a big one. Counting Crows were another band that really affected my songwriting process. Adam Duritz’ lyrics seem pre-written to me – like he’s written them on their own without music in mind. The songs are poems. The melodies, while wonderful, seem like a bonus. I would happily just read what he has to say – that’s how good a lyricist he is. For a long time I wrote lyrics in a vacuum - away from the guitar, away from singing. In the last year or so that’s changed. 

What is the music scene like in Australia and what genres are most popular down there?

To be honest, I’m not as aware of the Australian music scene as I’d like to be. It seems like this ‘folk resurgence’ (which is really more of a ‘banjos and suspenders resurgence’) is still going strong. So I’ll ride that wave as long as I can, I guess. But I don’t think I’ll be donning an accordion and waistcoat any time soon. 

The indie and electro scenes are probably at the forefront though. Who knows? I’m not going to pretend I know what I’m talking about.

For fun in your spare time, what do you like to do for fun and leisure, any sports you enjoy playing?

I grew up surfing all over the Gold Coast. I don’t do that much anymore. In my spare time I like to read or watch movies, go for long drives and spend time with friends.

What can we expect from you this year in terms of music, any new recordings or performances coming up down the road?

This year I’ll be releasing two more singles and my EP ‘Days on the Rock Face’. The EP will be released around July.

Lastly, what do you enjoy about playing and making music?

I enjoy getting to be a part of something new. ‘Making’ anything original, whether it’s a song, a painting, a dance – however crudely or clumsily you go about it – is, in my opinion, the best reason to be alive. I hope to do it for as long as I can. 

Thanks once again to Calan for being so gracious with his time in doing this interview. I can honestly say that his music is some of the most honest and beautiful music I've heard in quite some time, and I have high hopes for his career moving forward. For more information on Calan Mai, 'Like' him on Facebook here and follow him on Twitter over here. Check out "We've Got Love" on his Soundcloud page right here.