Singer-songwriter Laurie Levine has just launched a new album titled Border Crossing. She answers a few questions about this new offering, touring, gigging and writing.
Hi Laurie, how are things?
Hi Henry. I’m in Cape Town at the moment. I have just finished the Cape Town leg of my Cape tour and am off to the Eastern Cape tomorrow. Touring allows me to step out of the banality of the everyday and have a bit of a holiday. And I’ve got a view of the mountains and sea from where I’m staying. So I’m doing great.
It was really cool to finally see you live the other night in Mahogany Room, Cape Town. How’s the touring going in general, apart from the gigs in your hometown of Joburg?
It’s all going pretty well. I’ve been to KZN and am about to do my first extensive tour of the Eastern Cape. People seem to be enjoying the new sound and the new songs. The live show is working well and I can feel people being drawn into the songs. I’ve really enjoyed all the shows, one or two of which have been quite intimate. Touring can be tough – sometimes it’s hard to make a tour work financially. But it’s so rewarding and it’s important to play to people in different cities.
You’ve incorporated Erika Strydom on backing guitar and vocals for these performances. How did this come about? How do you experience playing the two-piece set as opposed to playing solo or with a full band?
I wanted to work with a guitarist for this tour, specifically electric guitar, as it’s a sound that features strongly on the new album. I approached another guitarist, who was unable to join me for the tour and he recommended Erika. She picked up her telecaster and we jammed together. When you feel like you’ve played with someone before, that’s when you know it’s going to work. Erika loves country and folk music and her style was perfect for this. She also sings amazing harmonies. I don’t often play with a full band and I never play solo, so playing as a two-piece feels very comfortable.
About the new album: What is the philosophy behind the title Border Crossing?
Once I had written the majority of the songs for the new album I realised that many have travelling images, metaphors and themes. I’m not really sure where that came from, but the first track of the album, “I’ve been walking”, seems to sum it up.
And then there’s the fact that this album feels like a definite shift; a gear change; a crossing over. On many levels. I have broadened my sound to encompass new influences.
It does seem like you’re tapping into some wider influences, compared with the Six Winters album – there’s quite a bit of country, rockabilly and other vibes in there. How did your songwriting/conseptualising process differ from that of your previous offerings?
For starters, some of the songs were co-written. It wasn’t really planned that way, but I have a home studio with my partner, Barry Berk, and we were making demos of the new songs. The co-writing just happened along the way. So the process was very different from how I’ve written in the past. I was much more open-minded and less precious. When there’s another writer it’s easy for the songs to go in a different direction. When we took the songs to Dan Roberts, we thought about what kind of sound would work for this particular collection of songs. And the rockier, soul side of things, combined with my roots of folk and country, bought the songs to life.
On your website, mention is made of your songs that often serve as “often-extraordinary tales of emotional dislocation, leaving and homecoming, and, mostly, love”. Having explored these phenomena in your writing for some time, do you understand them any better?
No, not really! There is no reaching a plateau when it comes to the big stuff of the heart. There is only the knowledge that it all comes around again and again – the leaving, the homecoming, the regret, the longing, the hope. All you can do in song is capture a moment; a fleeting thought. I feel like I can capture, but never quite grasp, any truths, as they are all momentary. Which is, I suppose, why I can tackle a variation of the same thing in many different songs.
For a songwriter of your distinction, is it better for the creative juices to be satisfied satisfied or lost in these elements, or better to have found some sort of contentedness from where a certain perspective is gained?
I would imagine that most songwriters experience both at various stages. There has to be some level of contentment – a sense of satisfaction that you are able to express something in its essence. If you don’t have that satisfaction, then there is no reason to keep on trying. But the dissatisfaction also plays an important role – the continual striving and stretching and burning desire to get it right. Not right, but close to where the truth lies. If you don’t have that, then you might not want it enough.
You’ve been making music professionally for more than seven years – what frustrations have you picked up in the local industry? Conversely, what makes it worth soldiering on?
Industry is the key word here. When making music becomes a business you have to shift your focus to think about sales, marketing, YouTube hits, etc. And sometimes your creativity and your love for music get drowned out by your right brain speaking to you in numbers. This has always been a personal struggle for me. Locally we have specific challenges and issues – the lack of venues in various parts of the country, radio stations not supporting enough local music, and hence audiences not being exposed to a diverse range of genres. Then there is the issue of pirating and the changes that have come about in the past few years that have definitely impacted the local industry. On the plus side, artists now have more control over their careers. It’s much easier to reach to fans and vice versa. And this is really what makes it all worth it. Sharing your music.
In your long career, you’ve obviously done a lot of touring. Any particular anecdotes you’d like to share that fans might not know of yet? Any places you won’t be visiting again anytime soon?
Touring has many strange, surreal, often unglamorous and funny moments. A recent experience that I won’t forget anytime soon is my overnight stay in Bristol. I was booked for 10 dates in the UK and had to source accommodation for some of them. I found the cheapest accommodation in Bristol, and had read reports on TripAdvisor that this particular establishment sometimes double-books rooms. Lo and behold, I stepped into my room, using some ancient code system, and walked in on an Englishman smoking his cigarette on the bed. The room was filled with smoke and no one knew quite what to say. It was one of those movie moments as our eyes met … Now what? Always listen to TripAdvisor! There’s nowhere that’s been that bad that I won’t visit again. You can always find something redeeming in a place or the people that frequent a place, at least in retrospect.
What is the meaning of life?
Tea and scones, the first summer storm in Joburg, sleeping late, long walks, stepping on stage, old photographs, books, love letters, confessions, secrets, myths, midnight snacks, lace, boots, breezes, dogs.
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