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Melissa Oliveri
179 Plays4 years ago
Melissa Oliveri is a multi-disciplinary artist who came to Minneapolis, MN from Montreal, Canada in 2006, bringing with her an eclectic mix of both French- and English- Canadian cultures.
A born creator, Melissa has been writing stories, drawing, and playing music since childhood. Her most recent endeavour is a podcast called The Skylark Bell, which she writes, records, narrates, hosts, and produces. A large part of the podcast is the original music that accompanies most episodes, all which is composed, performed, and recorded by Melissa under her stage name Cannelle, the French word for cinnamon, which was partly inspired by the colour of her hair.
Melissa’s diverse musical influences range from Alternative music like Pixies and PJ Harvey, to French artists like France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, and Jean Leloup, and women songwriters like Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap, Tori Amos, and Amanda Palmer.
Having experienced an important loss as a child and lived through the grief that ensued, her art often tug on the heartstrings, but she can also write about everyday life situations from a humorous angle. Whether playing a silly song about her favourite snacks, dreaming about living among palm trees, or softly singing an ode to a departed loved one, her songs and stories will make you feel exactly what she wants you to feel.
https://melissaoliveri.com/
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
You
Introduction: Meet Melissa Oliveri
00:00:02
Speaker
are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host Ken Volante.
00:00:09
Speaker
Editor and producer, Peter Bauer. This is Ken Vellante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast, and I have a guest who I'm very excited to talk to. Melissa Oliveri, who does a podcast I discovered, the Skylark podcast, and is a musician. Lots to explore. Melissa, welcome to the show.
Early Artistic Journey
00:00:36
Speaker
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
00:00:38
Speaker
Thanks. And listeners might not know this, but Melissa and I totally got to geek out on Twin Peaks before we came on. Love Twin Peaks. And I'm sure I'll come up when we're talking. But, Melissa, were you an artist when you were born? Oh, yeah. Yeah, no doubt. I've been creating things
00:01:07
Speaker
since i could use my hands so what did you start so what what type of things did you what type of things do you make i know you're singer i know you're singer and so i want to yeah i want to hear about like the different type of things you started to develop and and do so um well as a child i'm an only child and um i i mean i've been writing making up stories and drawing pictures and and you know
00:01:36
Speaker
plucking out melodies on the little tykes piano or whatever it was, Fisher Price and I was a kid. So, you know, that's been there the whole time, but I would also like create games out of, you know, popsicle sticks. Like I would make travel games for myself because we spent a lot of time in the car and, you know, things like that. So there was always that kind of inventive mind. And now that has translated to
Blending Music and Storytelling
00:02:02
Speaker
I've always been a musician, so creating music, writing songs, things like that. And more recently, I started this podcast and the podcast is me reading a story that I wrote. I started writing almost 10 years ago and shelved because I didn't know what to do with it and I had a young child and work and all that stuff.
00:02:23
Speaker
But yeah, eventually I didn't know what to do with it. And then my friend suggested I turn it into a podcast and I wasn't sure. And then I thought, Ooh, I could write songs for it. And that was kind of the aha moment for me was, was the music part of it. And then I thought, Ooh, I could have sound effects. And, uh, and that was it. When I fell into that, it just became so much fun, a lot of work, but a lot, a lot of fun and very, very, it kind of ties in my love of writing.
00:02:48
Speaker
my love of music and I get to do it all in one spot. So that's why I love that. Yeah, let's chat a little bit about the podcast. I discovered it and the integration of sounds, mysterious sounds, the beautiful music you create, haven't written it, and then you narrate it. It's all you that's in there and different
00:03:11
Speaker
different iterations and different pieces. So I really appreciate that.
00:03:20
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It seems like quite the project. Now, I've listened to, I've listened to the whole thing and just love the serial aspect of it continuing on
Fantome Friday: Ghost Stories
00:03:29
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the story. There's short pieces, there's short parts of the book of the story, 79 Minutes, and Fantome Friday. Can you tell us about what you do on Fantome Friday? Yeah, I love Fantome Friday. So initially,
00:03:46
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When I started the podcast, I thought, okay, I'll just read one chapter at a time. And then I thought, I only had one book at the time. And I thought, okay, well, I should probably, you know, stretch this out somehow. What can I do? And I thought, Oh, on the last Friday of every month, I'm going to tell a ghost story.
00:04:02
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And, um, but then I didn't know that I'd have time to write a ghost story. And I thought, well, I've had weird experiences. Why don't I just tell one of those each Friday? And so that's what I've been doing. And it's, it's kind of a fun departure and they're kind of, those are standalone episodes. So people could just go technically and listen to just that.
00:04:22
Speaker
they wanted to, and then the story continues on its own the following week. But yeah, you have permission to jump into Phantom Fridays, but listen to the whole thing as well. No, it's out every week. One of the pieces which speaks to me
00:04:47
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is I know you're from Canada and I mentioned some a French Canadian ancestry of Québécois and what's really interesting in how I'm connecting a little bit more subtly to your program is that my
Cultural Influences
00:05:01
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My Nana spoke French and so it seemed otherworldly. I was just a city kid growing up, but she spoke French and she was a ghost. She told some of those stories. I don't remember them at all, but there was always this sensitivity to foreshadowing, foreknowledge, old country, something like that. And there's that element in your show where there's a lot of,
00:05:30
Speaker
mystery to it just seems like a big mystery. Were there cultural influences or like, you know, from from growing up in family like that? I connect to it that way. Is that part of where it came from? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. A lot. Well, Magpie, the main character, I think is sort of a reflection of me as a child.
00:05:56
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and definitely a lot of the places in the story are places that I went and I think the women in my family on my mother's side especially are very intuitive or empaths or you know that type of thing and
00:06:13
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I think another thing that has fascinated me is that when I was eight years old, my great, great grins... I'm sorry, there's my dog. There's been this actually on the podcast. The dog is totally fine because we've had cats interrupt before. Have you? Dogs are part of the show. Dogs are part of the show. She's 14 years old, so she gets to do whatever she wants. On my mother's side, I remember my great, great grandmother, she died at 105.
00:06:42
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And currently my grandmother is still alive in Quebec City as well. And she's just turned 105 earlier this month. Amazing. Yes. And there is something about that, about being that age and having nobody around you
00:06:59
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who lived the cultural references that you lived. She can't sit and talk about, hey, do you remember in the mid-1920s, there's nobody here who still recalls that. And I find that very fascinating. And I've added that into the story as well, like that concept of time.
00:07:20
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and how lonely it can be to have lived in a certain time. So I wrote that into it too. I think there's kind of a mystique there as well. But definitely, yeah, French Canadian and rural Canadian culture is absolutely in the story, even though I don't spell it out. I don't really say, should they live in a fictional town called Pocket? It could be anywhere. But my mindset was definitely there, yeah.
00:07:46
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Yeah, and while that point that you had mentioned about with not being able to converse about events that were shared experiences, for some reason I never quite thought about, maybe I'll think about it as I get older. But I hadn't really thought about, as time passes, there's not going to be anybody to interrogate, question, reminisce about your experience if it was that.
Impact of Personal Loss
00:08:10
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if it was that long ago. So Melissa, we'll get some conceptual questions. And one of them, you know, we're talking about your background, such I think might be appropriate. What or who made you who you are? That's so interesting. I wrote a song last year called The You That You Were.
00:08:34
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And the thought behind it was, we really change as we get older. And for example, when I was a child, I was kind of a weird kid, bullied and not cool, not popular. And I think that even though I kind of outgrew that and became my own person, and I'm very secure with who I am now and whatnot, but that person, that childhood person is still there. And sometimes we kind of want to push that away or forget about it.
00:09:02
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I think it's important to recognize and remember that person. And so basically what I'm getting at is in the song, one of the lines is, survival and circumstance, they go hand in hand shaping who we are. And I think sometimes we get put into situations that we have no control of and we have to react, however we react to get through them and survive.
00:09:24
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And that's a huge part of what makes us who we are. For example, my mom passed away when I was very young. And so a huge part of who I am was shaped at that specific moment and how I overcame that.
00:09:36
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And then, of course, there's the things that we choose, right? And so I met somebody and fell in love and moved here to the States. I left behind my house, my dog, my country, my job, and it all worked out. But that big move has been a huge part of who I am, too. So I think that's kind of how it works, at least in my mind.
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah. And I know like, um, there's something you said there about like connections to like ourselves or at different areas and how we might try to, um, might try to discard that. And, uh, there's reasons for that, you know, obviously psychological, but you know, it's still, it's still part of like, it's still part of our continuum and, and who we, who we remain to be. Uh, so, um,
00:10:27
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All right, so I told you I was really interested in the way that you create your show and the different type of talents and artistic expression that you used to make it.
Art as Legacy and Connection
00:10:43
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It's a beautiful piece of art to me. But I want to know from you, you're an artist, what is art?
00:10:57
Speaker
I think there's two sides to it, I think. So on the receiving end, I think art turns emotions into something tangible for people. I can look at a painting and, oh gosh, yeah, that expresses something for me that I couldn't express otherwise. So I think there's that. And then for the person creating the art, I think, in a sense, it's a way of leaving your mark.
00:11:27
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behind, of leaving something of you behind. At least for me, you know, with my mom passing when I was young, there's that thought process of we're finite. You know, at some point, the me that's here right now won't be here. What can I leave behind?
00:11:44
Speaker
And that, for me, is the driving force for creating art. But I think that art is that. It's kind of twofold. For the person making it, it's leaving a mark and then getting something out that will stay behind. And then for the person receiving it, it's, you know, something that helps them kind of process maybe emotions or thoughts. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. It's one of the, like, obviously central questions to explore. And I know
00:12:14
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for artists, like, you know, thinking about what you're trying to do and what the purpose is or whether you're trying to do it or not. I mean, I talk to artists to be like, well, I don't have a choice. So this this shit comes out of me. And like, there it is like, you know, where others are like.
00:12:29
Speaker
it's a meditative practice and building up, you know, so like the experience of producing it is different. I wanted to, I know you're a big Amanda Palmer fan. Yeah. Or AFP, Amanda Fucking Palmer. Yes, both. Yeah. One of the things, I read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, her book.
00:12:54
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And it inspired me to become an artist and to do podcasting because it just spoke to me so deeply. And now I know you've had a connection to kind of maybe the courage or what Amanda does for people and how people connect to her.
00:13:16
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She did a lot for me. Just that. That's enough forever. But for you, I know you have a kind of connection with her art and her style and how it impacted you. Can you tell us about that?
Overcoming Performance Anxiety
00:13:29
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Yeah. So I also read that book.
00:13:33
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I think it was in early 2019. There was kind of a, I guess I have to backtrack a little bit, but, um, so about 15 years ago or maybe a little longer now, I don't know what happened, but I, I, it was kind of around the time I moved to Minneapolis. It was a very stressful experience. It was a happy one. And, um, and I stopped
00:13:53
Speaker
performing music for anybody, including my husband. Like I wouldn't play in front of anybody. It was just this massive performance anxiety. And I thought it would blow over, but it lasted 15 years. Oh my gosh. And I know, and I still made music and created music and I played by myself every day. Like that never went away, but nobody, aside from the dog, heard it.
00:14:15
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But then, yeah, a couple of years ago, I read The Art of Asking. And I don't remember what sparked me to grab that book, but I'm glad I did. And you're right, it just hit me at a really fundamental level. And there's something about it that gives you permission to suddenly
00:14:34
Speaker
do things and ask for things, of course. And around the time that I read it, I had joined Amanda's Patreon and yeah, yeah. And she was putting out the new record and she was going on tour and I bought concert tickets for the first time in like 10 years. And so when her record came out, then she had this song called The Ride where the premise of it is life is just a ride, like
00:15:03
Speaker
you can't control it, let it go. And so those things, and then someone close to me passed away very suddenly. And that was kind of the last domino for me of, what am I waiting for? I have all these songs in my head and I have all these books written that are sitting on a shelf. What am I waiting for? And I went to see her show and that also kind of helped push
00:15:27
Speaker
everything to the forefront. And then from then on, it's just been this avalanche of creativity that I'm actually sharing for the first time in a long time. But she was definitely the first spark that lit the fire. So she doesn't know it. I'm super grateful to her. No, I mean, it's important where a couple of people who just met artists or connecting around an artist who said something. I mean, I think I remember in her book, there was a visual
00:15:56
Speaker
which can give you courage. I mean, because she was working, you know, as that living statue, like in Boston, right? Like I'm a living statue and have these flowers and she's doing this like art performance piece. And well,
00:16:11
Speaker
People can sometimes be shitty, right? I worked retail for a long time. Everybody appreciated her as the living statue. But for her, it was I'm out there. This is what I'm doing. This is the performance. It's going to go from beginning to end. And then I'm going to be done. And there's something there's something about that where I think you could place yourself in the context of like,
00:16:35
Speaker
Maybe I'm trying to make a song or I want to release a podcast or do a painting where, you know, I think those, she's deliberately given permission, but also with the, of asking of her way of saying like, I'm doing this as an artist, I'm asking for your support. I'm asking for you to like, be like, this is really cool and come join me. And she has that,
00:17:00
Speaker
organizing piece about it which I just adore so yeah it's yeah it's really nice to
00:17:08
Speaker
It's a great book, everybody. Read the book. Even if you're not necessarily a creative person, even if you're not going to use it for that purpose, it'll still give you, you'll get something out of it for sure. Yeah. Yeah. So you're welcome for the book sales, Amanda. It's a, it's a, it's a super one. All right. So, um, one of the thing I wanted to ask you because, um, um, we're talking about art and what art's supposed to do and,
00:17:38
Speaker
I asked the question, what you think the role of art is? I speak to some guests, it's like, ah, disrupt, there might be a political edge, or it's to make you think.
Art for Comfort and Connection
00:17:49
Speaker
But what do you think is the role of art, or your art specifically, like the role of art?
00:17:55
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's interesting. You bring up the political part, and that wasn't my first thought, but that absolutely is there. My dogs are just crazy. But in my life, art has been more of a source of comfort.
00:18:15
Speaker
than political action, even though I'm grateful that that type of art is out there. But for me, it's been almost like a blanket, like a safe space. And what I discovered when I started sharing, initially, my music and now the podcast, is that people use my art. My dog just burped. That was not me. Just in case that made it into the audio. This is an edited podcast. Oh my goodness. Thank goodness.
00:18:47
Speaker
Okay, where was I? Where was I? Oh, yes. Okay, so when I started sharing my music and then the podcast and people started approaching me about it, what I didn't realize what happened is they are using it as a source of comfort
00:19:01
Speaker
and security as well and so now I kind of approach it almost in that way. I still write what I write and play what I play because that's what comes out of me but I use it as a way to connect to other people and I think that's how they are using it as well.
00:19:19
Speaker
Well, even the instructions that you give, I mean, it's like, you know, get a blanket, have a warm beverage. Like you're setting up, you're setting up the scene. And even though like it's, you know, ghostly, mysterious or something, there's not, it's like not unsettling, like unsettling in the way of like, like, you know, tuck yourself in for, you know, saw to, you know, like, you know, um, so, uh, I appreciate how you do that. And I think sometimes.
00:19:47
Speaker
when we can underplay how the sounds or voice or music truly impacts us. And I think podcast is connecting a lot to just the audio of the person's voice and connecting that way. And I think you could do a good job, even with deliberate setting of mood in doing that.
00:20:17
Speaker
One of the things that I ask artists, and it's like a big question, because that has to do with what you do and the public out there. What do you think your art is? And what do you think other people think your art is? Oh, wow. Interesting. That's a great question. What is my art? I think what I want my art to be is a
00:20:46
Speaker
full blown experience. So and I'm finally with the podcast, I've kind of found a way to do that. But even with music, you know, it's not so music, obviously, is something that you hear. But, you know, if I do, for example, a live stream, because obviously, live shows were kind of out of the question recently. But I always think about, okay, what's in the background of the video? What am I going to wear? What and it's not a vain thing. It's what's going to be entertaining to look at?
00:21:15
Speaker
You know and um
00:21:17
Speaker
So, and then I'll tell stories. I like to have that emotional connection. So I think what I want my art to be again is that full experience, which is what I try to put together with the podcast too. I try to use descriptive words and explain, you know, like I'll draw maps of my character's houses so that I for sure, okay, the kitchen is here, you know, and I see it in my head. And so I try to do that for other people too, when they're listening. So that's what I try to do.
00:21:47
Speaker
I think it works. Just from feedback that I get, people seem to view it as an immersive experience. It's not just one thing. It's not just music or it's not just a story. It's bigger than that.
00:22:03
Speaker
Yeah, thank you. I've been interested in a connected question and it has to do with like the artist and the artist process and then like the... See, my personal confession is that I'm way too concerned what other people think. Always have been my whole life. And so I'm always trying to calibrate down
00:22:23
Speaker
the external, what the external says about what I do, because it tends to be false, tends to be a product of my own mind, not other people's minds. And so to move more back to the process for the artist yourself, yourself, and I've looked at different parts of my art process, like am I satisfying or helping myself through the process? And it's different with every medium that I do. I'm wondering for you,
00:22:53
Speaker
as far as your process. Is it gratifying in and of itself the process in and of itself for you?
Creating for Self, Finding Audience
00:23:04
Speaker
And do you need the dynamic that I said about myself as far as the affirmation, do you think about that when you're doing your process? Not when I'm doing, not anymore.
00:23:21
Speaker
So I let that stop me for a long time. I think that was a big part. That was part of it, OK. Part of the 15-year hiatus. And enrolled into that was being bullied as a kid and feeling insecure and all of that. And when I finally, after reading The Art of Asking and all that that I talked about earlier, I finally came to a place where I don't really care. I shouldn't say that. But I don't care enough to let it stop me anymore. Yes.
00:23:51
Speaker
When I'm creating something whether it's the story or the song or whatever I don't think about the audience and Some of the things I've read say that well you should Make a living off of it, but I can't I feel like it has to just come from well sometimes come from me sometimes it feels like you're kind of channeling and
00:24:17
Speaker
somewhere else something or someone else yeah and that I love when that happens because I then I sit and wonder who we're going back to that mystical thing but you know when when it when it's something that comes from me
00:24:33
Speaker
I don't want it tainted by other people or what they might think. I want it to just be what it is and hopefully people will connect to it. And then that's how I'll find my people. I kind of use my art like a beacon. Here's me. Anybody else feel this way? And the beautiful thing so far, knock on wood, has been that
00:24:53
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if I've gotten a negative comment in the two years now that I've been putting this stuff out there daily almost. So it's, you know, not that there are people out there who don't like what I do. That's fine. You know, not everyone's going to love everything. It doesn't mean it's not good. It just means it doesn't speak to them.
00:25:10
Speaker
But yeah, it's been really, really cool. But my favorite moments are definitely those channeling moments where sometimes I'll sit in the hammock with my laptop and start writing the story. I'm writing now the continuation of the current podcast, the next two seasons. And next thing I know, there's like 5,000 new words. It's like these characters are,
00:25:36
Speaker
their story's already written, I'm just kind of typing it for them. Or with music too, I'll just start playing notes and sometimes lyrics will just pop out and they're not telling my story. Sometimes these lyrics have nothing to do with my life and then you're going, okay, you'll get three sentences and you're going, all right. Who is this? Yeah, who is this? A few years ago, my mother-in-law passed away and it was right around Day of the Dead.
00:26:05
Speaker
And that year we had really connected very closely with this woman at our farmer's market locally, who's originally from Mexico. And we went to see her that weekend and she had a booth set up for Day of the Dead with her banked goods that she was selling. And she told us, you know, the history and the culture and how it works. And so my son and I came home and we set up on a friend on the piano.
00:26:29
Speaker
with photos and, you know, the whatnot. And so now we've been doing that every year. And every year when everyone goes to bed, I sit and I play the piano for them. And I like to imagine, and maybe it's real, that all these little ghosts are sitting, you know, cross-legged on the edge of the piano listening to me. And some of them sometimes are like, you should do this.
00:26:50
Speaker
And every Day of the Dead, every night that I played, every year, something new comes out that I don't feel like it's coming from me. And so I think it's twofold. Sometimes it comes from the outside, but sometimes it comes from some other...
00:27:04
Speaker
place. And that's a phenomenon that I've heard multiple artists talk about. So it's a thing, we just don't know what it is yet. Yeah, and I want to just follow up more on that. And because I find it deeply fascinating the way that you talk about it and artists do, it's present in your work.
Sensitivity to Energies
00:27:27
Speaker
with, um, with what I'll say, your sensitivity, like what's energy, we could call it whatever we want. That's not for me to do for you, but the sensitivity to that energy, to that influence, to that force. Is that difficult for you to manage? It can be, um, it can be, it's, it's interesting to talk about cause I'm, it's hard to explain, but I'm, I'm very scientific minded and I'm,
00:27:57
Speaker
not spiritual in the sense I mean I grew up going to church and whatnot but that's just not part of my life and so I try to navigate that with these experiences that I have you know and I and I try to be kind of scientific about it like how does it work and it it's really central to well pretty much the story in the podcast but a lot of my music too trying to sort out how
00:28:20
Speaker
you know, if I don't necessarily believe in an afterlife, but I'm encountering this person from, you know, 60 years ago in their energy or whatever. So that's a huge, huge piece of my life. But sometimes it is hard, you know, not all energy is good energy. And so sometimes you walk into a room and you just feel this
00:28:46
Speaker
something in the air that can be really distracting or can even one time only, it actually made me physically ill and I had to leave. Yeah, so it is. It's hard to navigate being so, and then I think it also applies to living people. I shouldn't only speak about dead people because I can sponge off whatever energy people are emitting just in general. So it's definitely tricky to navigate.
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah, and thanks. Thanks for talking about that. I know it's it's it's, you know, it's it's it's it's personal, but it's like, for me, it's it's it's it's a reality that exists out there. You don't have to like explain away. And now everybody has different type of viewpoints on it. But, um, it's present in your work. And that's why I wanted to engage with you on it. If you will spell by
00:29:44
Speaker
The light was fading. My God, when Chan draws, the woman in the blue dress, blue dress, blue dress.
00:30:21
Speaker
Hands on the glass, future and past colliding But who's haunting me? It could be me, it could be you It could be me, it could be
00:31:00
Speaker
She sings for all the little ghosts sitting on the piano She sings for all the things that break her heart
00:31:11
Speaker
Those little ghosts who laugh and cry Sit and wander side by side Listening as the woman falls apart
00:31:57
Speaker
We stare at each other in a fading light Both eyes were raised by the woman with the blue eyes
Inspiration Behind 'Blue Dress'
00:32:32
Speaker
You are impressive Melissa. Oh, thank you Blue dress blue dress Beautiful track. Thank you Tell us what you want to say about it
00:32:51
Speaker
Well, the music part came to me, I guess, around the holidays last year. And it was just instrumental. And the only part I had was actually not a lyric that ended up making it into the song. But it was, they call her Enchantress, the woman in the blue dress. And that was all I had for months. And finally, I was putting out, so with the Phantom Friday episodes of the podcast,
00:33:21
Speaker
I write an original song for that episode every time. Or I, well initially I thought I would use a song that I already had, which happened once and then none of my songs fit in with the other episodes. Unfortunately. I know, I was like, oh no, now I have to write a new song every time. But it's been great motivation and the podcast is very time and energy consuming and this is a great way to not let music kind of fall by the wayside.
00:33:50
Speaker
So that's where that comes in. And so I had this piece of music about a woman in a blue dress and the story that goes with that episode and that that song goes to is a story about when my husband and I bought this house that I'm sitting in right now. And just before we moved in, we came to measure windows and I had an experience up in our room where I felt this woman in an old timey dress
00:34:15
Speaker
Looking out at a lake and when we bought our house, I mean I had been in Minnesota for just a few months I didn't know this neighborhood. I didn't know anything about it, but there's no lake outside our bedroom window. I can tell you that Yeah, um, and I just kind of brushed it off and thought I was you know, I do have a good imagination So I thought that's what it was And two weeks later we came to pick up some mail that had arrived prematurely at our new address and my husband actually knew the previous owner They'd been to high school together
00:34:44
Speaker
And so we're sitting there chatting on the front steps and blah blah blah. And she says, by the way, did you know that the lake that's four or five blocks away actually had a peninsula that came out?
00:34:54
Speaker
And so our bedroom window would have had a view of the lake back in the day. And I have goosebumps even now thinking about it. And so I tell that story and I thought, okay, well, I have this little piece of music and I have this idea about a woman in a blue dress. What if hypothetically that woman up there was wearing a blue dress? What would I say about it then? And then that's where the lyrics came about.
00:35:20
Speaker
But another thing we were talking earlier about my experiences, I guess the part I forgot to mention, but the thing that I find so fascinating about it is how I'm experiencing her, but what if she's experiencing me at the same time? And so that's how the song ends. We're both mesmerized by the woman with the blue eyes, meaning
00:35:42
Speaker
what if we what if she saw me too you know and that whole concept of maybe I'm a ghost to somebody at every waking moment potentially you know maybe 60 years from now somebody will walk through this room and they'll feel like this weird
00:35:57
Speaker
David Lynch energy. Why leaving this me I ain't leaving this plane. I'm hanging out. It's pretty great. I can't wait to haunt all those bullies from high school. Yeah, but that's where that's where the concept of the song kind of came in and, and it has all these distinct, you know, parts to it musically, really parts that
00:36:19
Speaker
normally wouldn't fit together and I and I sort of strung them together somehow and I like that because it's a little bit disjointed and a little awkward but it's it still works which is kind of how I think life and afterlife and all those encounters kind of are too you know they make you just a little uncomfortable you don't quite understand them but they're there and so that's that's how that all came about now I had a question um
00:36:46
Speaker
that I was interested in going back to the beginning, you know, coming from Canada.
Bilingual Creativity
00:36:50
Speaker
And you speak French, right? I do. Yeah. And one of the things I wanted to ask you about, only because I love the French language, but particularly in songs. You know, I love Sir Gainsborough and some of the French pop and Charlotte Gainsborough.
00:37:16
Speaker
and other stuff. I love it. Can you tell me being bilingual, being able to move between that? Do you feel there's things you can do in French that you can't do in English?
00:37:36
Speaker
It's so interesting because I grew up speaking both languages. My mother's family is French. My father's family is Anglophones from Quebec. So they're all bilingual. And so I knew both alphabets and I was like two or whatever. So, you know, it comes into that when you're filling out forms like your primary language. And I'm like, well, it depends where I'm living, I guess.
00:37:55
Speaker
So, yeah, it's strange how the brain works with that. You know, there's certain phone numbers that I only know in French. If I want to say them in English, I have to write them down. It's really, or if I've identified somebody as French in my brain, even though they're bilingual, I cannot speak to them in the other language. So, yeah, it's a really weird thing. But I have written a couple few songs in French and
00:38:23
Speaker
It's a lot of fun for me because I like the playfulness, like Sales Gang's Bull that you're talking about. There's a playfulness there that... I mean, there are playful English songs too, but it's just a different vibe that you can't capture it quite the same way. My aunt who does not speak English asked me a couple of weeks ago, well, can you translate your podcast?
00:38:51
Speaker
And I would love to, but that is heckin' time-consuming. But watch out. One of these days, the podcast will be in French, too, I think. Well, yeah. I mean, it's come up. I mean, on the tech point, I think on the tech point,
00:39:10
Speaker
there's going to be a more quick, ready translation that's going to happen through artificial intelligence. I'm not saying that's the way it should be. I'd say it's simply going to happen, you know, as far as in different languages. And oh, thanks for that, too, because I was like, oh, I'd love. And just and I know that the brain thinks differently in different languages. I studied Spanish and I'm actually
00:39:36
Speaker
Um, I dabble in language is the best possible way. Like I'm intellectually curious about language and being able to express notions in it, but I'm not. I haven't shown myself to be particularly adept at language acquisition, but it hasn't, it hasn't, uh, stopped me. The problem is I found that I pick languages that are too difficult.
00:39:59
Speaker
I'm trying to study Navajo in Mandarin now. Oh, that's super cool. It's cool, but it sounds cool, but I have to carry out some basic level to say that I'm actually doing it. Yeah, I'm fascinated by people who, you know, French and English are different.
00:40:18
Speaker
And they have different routes, but there's still, I mean, at least we have the same alphabet. Like I'm fascinated by people who'll do, you know, Icelandic and, you know, Mandarin and English. Like it's just such a, I don't know, that feels like a way step above anything that I've ever done. You know, it's, it's really interesting.
00:40:37
Speaker
I think for me it tends to be the interrogation because the interrogation of the thought and what concepts can be reached in a language or not. How do you think in a language? That's what you're talking about. I can't sing or I can't accept this person if I see them and not accept. But I can't immediately interact with them because of that. All right, Melissa, you're totally
00:41:06
Speaker
properly warmed up for the big question of the show. Oh, okay.
Philosophical Musings on Existence
00:41:10
Speaker
All right. So why is there something rather than nothing? Okay. Okay. I love this. Well, can I give a long answer? Of course the show is. Okay. Okay. So well, it's interesting that you asked that just as we're speaking about being bilingual, because, um,
00:41:27
Speaker
You know, my whole life I moved a lot between French and English Canada and I was always the French girl to the English people and English girl to the French people. So there's, you know, now I'm a Canadian citizen and an American citizen. There's a lot of duality in my life.
00:41:42
Speaker
It took me a long time to kind of reconcile all of it. I'm very introverted, but I also love performing. So there's just a lot of that. And so I think there's something and nothing. Or I don't think there would be something if there weren't nothing. It's kind of light and dark, right? If it was daylight all the time, we wouldn't
00:42:06
Speaker
We wouldn't even think about it. But because we have night, all of a sudden daylight becomes something. So they bounce off each other. But I'm glad there's something. I'm glad there's something. And you know, it's like, well, and especially as artists, if we're if we're creating, you know, well,
00:42:25
Speaker
There was nothing before that. And then all of a sudden, you make something. That's really beautiful. I think all the somethings are beautiful. I'm very happy that they're there, but they wouldn't, to me, exist if there wasn't also a counterbalance of nothing on the other side. But then is nothing something? I don't know.
00:42:46
Speaker
Oh, you see, I as host, I get these coming back at me and I've always figured out like, or tried to figure out what to do. And it's like sometimes I just, sometimes I just volley. I'll keep it in your court. I think nothing is something I don't know.
00:43:03
Speaker
Yeah, I know and I find the question fascinating. I mean, it's been, you know, more properly established historically is like, you know, God universe and all this stuff. But I think we're all individual creators. And I've tried to apply the question to, you know, is an artist trying to make, you know, make something from nothing, you know, and all those iterations of it. And I find it to be
00:43:27
Speaker
you know, like, just kind of like a fun territory, you know, to get into. Now,
Future Projects and Platforms
00:43:36
Speaker
I wanted to ask you deliberately about accessing your music, what you got going on with your music, where to find it. I'm a big Bandcamp fan. A lot of the bands and performers I mentioned, you know, get their stuff on Bandcamp. And I got your stuff on Bandcamp there.
00:44:00
Speaker
Could you talk a little bit more deliberately about so the audience knows like, you know, like where to find you for the music and what you're up to?
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah, so yes, you're right, Bandcamp. I've been loving Bandcamp, not just for myself to put my music on, but for other people. And there's that Bandcamp Friday that has been going on now since the pandemic, which is once a month. And I always wait till Bandcamp Friday, and then I look up all my connections on Instagram, and do they have something new? And I go and buy music from them then. I do have a little bit of music on streaming platforms,
00:44:37
Speaker
Um, I don't put my focus primarily on that. I do it because you kind of have to, um, but I like to connect a little more directly with people. And so, um, as I have a Patreon account, um, which is just so great. I put everything on there. It's a total stew. Like I have, you know, drawings and music. Uh, the podcast episodes are way ahead on the, uh, Patreon page than they are to the public.
00:45:10
Speaker
And I think I even have recipes on there. Children's stories that I wrote and illustrated a gazillion years ago are up on there. So it's really a mishmash, but there's something for everybody. So that's fun. And then as far as social media, I'd say definitely Instagram is my favorite. It's where I share the most things for both music, which is at canal.music. And then the podcast is just the Skylark Bell, all one word.
00:45:29
Speaker
finding that out. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:45:37
Speaker
And yeah, I do, I like to interact with people there. I feel like there's a great camaraderie and great community, sense of community on Instagram. I do have Facebook accounts too, for the most part, it's just kind of shifting whatever I put to Instagram over to Facebook.
00:45:53
Speaker
And and I like to when I do play live music I do it through Instagram Facebook just doesn't the sound is bad I've tried all different ways. It just doesn't work. So I'm sorry Facebook But I do play live on Instagram somewhat regularly. And in fact, I have something planned for mid-June It'll be my grandma mom's birthday. And so I'm gonna do a friendlish show around
00:46:19
Speaker
play some French and English songs. So you may want to hop on that one. That's not going to be on the calendar. Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's what I'm going on right, right at this moment. And like I said earlier, I'm writing, I've written book two for the Skylark Bell and I just started writing book three this week. So there's a couple more seasons ahead for the podcast at least.
00:46:40
Speaker
Lovely. Super excited. It's good as a listener to be excited from somebody's point of contact. What's next? I think the serial format is super fun. And if folks are behind, that's totally fine because I just listen all the way straight through. I was just walking and just listening all the way straight through. So I know sometimes the audience and listeners be like, oh, like even my podcast, I'll be like, well, if you dig it, that's fine. But you're going to go through two and a half days.
00:47:07
Speaker
And you know, it's it's it's fine, but I think you know jump in uh listeners jump in on the skylock bell is um Just just a just a great, uh podcast um, uh, melissa it's been it's been a deep pleasure to chat with you and I wanted to tell you too, um, I uh, I I appreciate, uh, you know what you put out and I appreciate the connection, uh from you in a
00:47:35
Speaker
Uh, a place, a state that I love. Uh, and you know, I know it's, it's been, you know, there's significant, um, social, uh, issues, you know, in Minnesota and Minneapolis, St. Paul, but a region of the country I very much love. And I feel, um, I feel it's great to be able to connect with you. Gosh.
Embracing Individuality and Cultural Reflection
00:47:53
Speaker
I mean, we didn't get that to PJ Hart. We'll have to chat again, but PJ Harvey, like, you know, we can talk for him. We can do a Amanda fucking Palmer episode.
00:48:05
Speaker
But I just wanted to ask you, anything you wanted to leave the audience with? Oh. I think my biggest piece of, I don't want to call it advice, but I had a moment later on in life that I wish I had had earlier, and it was, it's OK to be weird. It's actually preferable. Normal is boring.
00:48:34
Speaker
And so I want to leave the audience with that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for saying as a weirdo and eccentric. Yeah, saying that out loud. Me, I appreciate that. He has the weirdo and eccentric. But one of one of the things I have to mention, too, is that Melissa's wonderful shirt, the lady from Twin Peaks is my hero, has something to tell you.
00:49:03
Speaker
And I am convinced that Melissa Oliveri has something to tell us as well. Thank you so much for everything you do, Melissa. It's been nice to connect with you and everybody. Just go get the Skylark. Bell the podcast and check out Canel.
00:49:26
Speaker
canal music with Melissa Oliveri, you will be better for it. So thank you so much Melissa. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. This is something rather than nothing.