Catching up with Jully Black, Hedley and Faber Drive

As the Canadian recording industry continues to thrive and attract world-wide acclaim, I had the chance to chat with some of this country’s top-selling artists, as they passed through Vancouver in recent days.

Jully Black
The reigning Canadian Queen of R&B is back on the charts with The Black Book and its incredibly catchy lead track, "Running." Black’s latest CD also demonstrates a much more rock-oriented element to the Toronto singer - who won a Juno for 2007’s Revival.

Her newest release is garnering praise for paving a new path in the genre. While flattered by the artistic appreciation her work has generated thus far, she expressed to me that no artist ever wants to be pigeon-holed in any particular area.

“When you write a song, you’re not writing a song for some box; you’re writing a song because there’s a message; you’re writing a song because you’re in a place of vulnerability and honesty, and it’s not genre-specific,” Black tells me.

“Let’s take Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston, because it’s an obvious example. 'I Will Always Love You' – the same song; two different women; two different genres – just a wonderful song. That’s what’s important."

While generally categorized in the R&B field, she adds that it’s important for performers to be constantly evolving with their subsequent musical works.

“It’s important because we’re trying to inspire people to grow, so if we’re not being an example of growth, then why? It’s almost a contradiction in my opinion. So often though, because of my style or even, the colour of my skin, I’m considered R&B. My question has been, okay – if Nelly Furtado sang 'Running,' would it be R&B? I’m not being controversial; it’s just a simple question”

Having first hit the airwaves with 1998’s "Rally’n," Black can finally take comfort in the fact that after multiple Juno nominations, she finally secured the sought-after trophy last year for the single, "Seven Day Fool."

“I’m going to be very honest with you – in the moment, it was incomparable,” Black tells me. “Then a moment after that, it was time to dream a new dream”.

Hedley
Having achieved multi-platinum album status among their numerous Juno nominations over the past few years, Hedley appear poised for even greater heights, with the release of their third and most adventurous record yet, The Show Must Go.

“It’s important for us not to stagnate, especially creatively, even business-wise,” lead singer Jacob Hoggard informs me.

“Of course, we want to be able to expand our market and our demographic and be able to tour more places and for longer and be able to put out more records, so there’s so many different elements that you need to be able to factor in to just the creative process that unfortunately adds an element of pressure that can be taken either way. I think it’s important to try and channel that pressure and use it to drive you.”

With massive radio airplay across the country and countless downloads amid heavy video rotation, on the strength of the album’s first singles, it would appear Hedley indeed have another hit album on their hands.

“We’re really happy with the direction that we took with this record,” says Hoggard. “As far as songs like ‘Cha-Ching’ and ‘Don’t Talk to Strangers’ - which are our first two singles – they’re a lot different than what we’ve normally been writing and it was so fun to finally step into that realm and that style of music and actually try our hand at it. It’s always important for us to keep changing and keep growing."

With Hoggard, fellow band member and guitarist Dave Rosin and colleagues now being mentioned in the same sentence alongside many of this country’s best rock acts, Rosin was quick to point out that despite the travails of the constant touring and promotion that’s incumbent upon bands in order to gain brand loyalty and fan support, it’s important to remember one very key piece of advice.

“Enjoy the little things,” says Rosin. “I laugh constantly. I could be having the worst day ever and seeing these three guys, we’re always laughing about dumb things. You can’t take yourself too seriously.”

Faber Drive
Meantime, another West Coast rock success story are also enjoying the fruits of their labors as Mission’s Faber Drive continue their ascent as one of Canada’s most-popular emerging rock bands. Lead vocalist Dave Faber, quick to point out that they too looked to spread their musical wings with their latest release, Can’t Keep a Secret, and its infectious hook-laden single "G-Get Up and Dance."

“We definitely do try to break new ground; especially with the new CD and the first single; G-Get up and Dance,” Faber tells me. “We wanted to go for a different sound and try something new, and at the same time we just had two band members leave, so we were like, “What are we going to do that we know how to do best”? And we just sat down in my barn and worked on G-Get up and Dance.

We put a lot of time and a lot of hard work into it; we probably almost spent three months just on recording it, and making that song the best that we could.”

With Faber and Co. similarly enjoying a rash of radio play and subsequent video music stardom, he tells me that the real validation of success comes from the fans showing their appreciation from the crowd by singing along.

“Definitely, that is a rush,” he tells me. “You get on the stage and hear the crowd sing it back to you – that just gives you chills”.

They may be three entirely different musical acts by their very nature, but one thing remains constant among them; music is ever-evolving and it’s important to always be spreading your musical wings.

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