Exclusive Interview with ROBYN FROESE

Robyn Froese’s debut EP, Wasp Woman and the Haunting of Heatley, was just released. Robyn is an independent singer who composed this album based on her experience living and working on the notorious Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver, Canada, which is notorious for its opioid issue and extreme levels of poverty.

It is a five-song concept CD addressing mental health, addiction, and socioeconomic systemic issues. On the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people, Cole Friesen from Half Light Records created the eerie soundscapes for four out of five of the songs on this album. Robyn desires to produce artwork that challenges her worldview and power structures, and she is devoted to identifying and combating the ongoing system of settler colonialism.

The debut EP “Wasp Woman and the Haunting of Heatley” is stunning and unusual. Attracting notice from beyond her reach. Robyn hopes that her music can foster intelligent discussions regarding mental health, addiction, and societal issues. Lovers of alternative music and social justice will not want to miss this EP. Check out the EP and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

ROBYN FROESE: Totally, I grew up in a giant family in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Both my parents are very musical (it’s pretty cute, my mom even plays trumpet in 2 songs on this EP). So me and my siblings all grew up playing and singing together. From there I kept at it, writing music as free therapy and playing in different bands with varying success. When I moved out to Vancouver BC, I decided it was time to start pursuing music more intentionally which has predominantly looked like playing live. Last year alone I played over 50 gigs across the west coast.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

ROBYN FROESE: Because of my family’s background, music was just always around me. My grandma was actually the one who taught me piano, but it wasn’t until late high school that I took any real training, and it still wasn’t very serious. I taught myself guitar from watching Taylor swift tutorials at 15 on YouTube.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘ROBYN FROESE’?

ROBYN FROESE: I distinctly remember listening to my parents old records. CD’s were the big thing when I was first conscious to pick my own music but my parents had this really random record collection mostly full of gospel folk, musical soundtracks, RnB, and classic rock. I feel like my sound is somehow a wacky mix of that record collection. The name Robyn Froese is merely my given name. Nothing fancy there.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

ROBYN FROESE: I write about whatever is going on in my life from what im thinking about to an interesting book I read. I hope what resonates with listeners is the realness. Specifically, this project is a lot of the heavier topics racing through my mind. From mental illness and addiction to societal systemic issues like gentrification and loneliness. I hope it gives people space to sit in those heavier topics and opens dialogue for the listeners.

My sound is like if you mush folk, soul, rock, and throw in some sad girl queen vibes. Something like that. This EP has a lot of work put into the Soundscapes of each song. We wanted it to sound haunting and melancholic.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as INDIE?

ROBYN FROESE:

I think we are all just a mixture of everyone and everything we have encountered. So we are entirely copy cats but because of each of our own unique journeys we are entirely our own at the same time. I could list endless artists who I have tried to be at different points of my career; Regina Spektor, Dolores O’Riordan (The cranberries), Janis Joplin… The list goes on. But as an artist you have to come to a point where the emulating actually gives way for you to be you. It’s a jumping off point not the pool. I still use amazing artists as inspiration and forever will, but instead of trying to merely copy I have learnt that no one can do what I am doing. I am bringing Robyn Froese and that is unique. I need to focus on figuring out who that is. I feel like I have a groove with that now. I know what sound I am after and instead of feeling intimidated by so many other amazing artists out there I now can celebrate what they are doing and what I am doing and know we are not the same. What we make might be for some crossover people but its going to resonate to different people too and that’s great. There are billions of people on this planet.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

ROBYN FROESE:

Oh yes. As Bob Dylan said, “If it’s worth talking about, it’s worth singing about”. I write about literally all of those topics. There is no topic that is off limits and I think as an artist is actually our job to talk sing and write about the topics that feel taboo. An artist gets to point to something that say look, and people look. When ever I play my songs live, I try to make space for people to engage with the topics at hand, I think music is a gateway for dialogue and human connection and we need more of that in this world.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

ROBYN FROESE:

It’s so easy to get caught up in praying to the algorithm gods and looking at numbers, but when I actually take a step back and look at what I am doing with music, I am so content. I create music because I want to connect with people. And I get that regularly. For my actually album release I held a listening party where I invited people to sit on the floor while we listen through the EP and we have discussion around the themes in the songs and the songs themselves. It was amazing. So many people showed up and joined in the dialogue. It was literally the dream.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

ROBYN FROESE:

It’s generally that I have a thought or feeling that I just need to process. I am such an internal processor that if I don’t write it out it will stew in there and become mush. So I’ll start collecting lyric ideas, writing them down slowly and then one day when I have some time Ill grab an instrument and just start writing. Sometimes its just a mess of ideas but I get the feelings out and I leave it, other times it’s like chiseling out a statue from rock. Uncovering the masterpiece hidden in the mess. No matter if it’s a song I use or one I leave, its all about the process of writing for me. Its good for the soul.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

ROBYN FROESE:

In my music career changing cities was a big one. Navigating new systems, a new industry, new contacts, even just finding people I can play music with has been a shift and I am still finding my footing here in Vancouver.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

ROBYN FROESE: Releasing this EP feels like free falling. I put in so much time and money and heart into this project. It’s one of those things that you will probably never get back what you put into it but you just have to do it anyway. Because you have to! I’m very proud of how it turned out and how I went for it facing every fear along the way.

11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

ROBYN FROESE: I’m honestly not big enough to have any haters yet. I hope if I ever get any I treat them with grace or brush em off like the dirt on jay z’s shoulder.

12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

ROBYN FROESE: Oh they are so so so so different. There is no way to pick. My first love for sure is writing. Its where I feel the most me. Getting to create and get lost in the flow and then all of a sudden you have this piece in front of you that perfectly expresses the deepest thoughts in your hearts. There’s nothing like it. But, then getting to share that with an audience and they connect with it is life changing. If songwriting is where I feel the most home, performing is where I feel the most alive. During a set I always have some moment where I see someone’s face in the crowd and think, this is why I am alive. To connect with that person. To be here right now singing to them.

13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

ROBYN FROESE: I love knowing the background of songs because it gives insight to the lyrics for me, but its funny because as a songwriter I would rather people come up with there own meanings. I want them to make it their own!