Chantal Kreviazuk is No Plain Jane

Throughout her musical life, Chantal Kreviazuk has come to be known as one of Canada’s most successful singer/songwriters; having composed a number of songs for a litany of artists, in addition to releasing five albums worth of her own recorded material.

Among those that can lay claim to one of her compositions are Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani and Mandy Moore, in addition to a number of past American Idol winners and runner-ups including Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and David Cook.

I asked the multiple Juno Award nominee and two-time winner if she knows at the time of composition whether the song is inclined to be suitable for someone other than herself to record.

“Everything happens,” she tells me. “Sometimes I’m writing a song pretending to be someone else to still write the song for me; I’m emulating someone. Sometimes I write a song for someone else and then I go, “Shoot – I need this one so this is for me.” And then other times, I’ll have written a song thinking it’s for me and all of a sudden we’re battling it out for that song or something cute happens. ‘Plain Jane’ - which is the name of my album - that song originally started out for my friend, an amazing jazz singer named Jessie. You never know what’s going to happen.”

So, why call the album ‘Plain Jane’?

“Because…….Lady Gaga; Katy Perry, Madonna – I’m a plain Jane. I consider myself to be a struggling organic artist and I don’t do cartwheel naked! It’s hard and yet I’m stubborn as hell and I refuse to put the costume on; I refuse to be anything except who I am; I refuse to fool the public, or do Botox and get my boobs done. I’m not that person and I’m not saying it’s wrong to do that; that’s a different career and a different approach but it’s not the approach for me, and it’s sometimes hard to reconcile with that and it makes me feel a little bit like an underachiever and very average and I think that a lot of people feel like that; they’re not standing out – they’re just blending in”.

In addition to numerous musical commitments, the Winnipeg-born classically-trained musician juggles a hectic family life, replete with three young boys with husband, Our Lady Peace lead singer Raine Maida. Chantal tells me that there is already an undeniable musical gene springing forth in the pair’s progeny.

“They’re all really already showing either a genetic predisposition or a circumstantial, like an influence that is undeniable; they’re singing; one’s a great drum player and has great rhythm and is a cool dancer; he’s my five year old, almost six. And then the singing on my four year old makes me cry and already my one year old is way into singing. It’s exciting to watch that flower blossom but I’m also really respectful of how all the things that are happening to us when we’re a child, while they may seem quite clear and tangible, what they’re going to do on an abstract level later, that’s what I’m more interested in. I think that language and music and exposing those things to the kids is only going to make a better person out of them later; someone who perhaps displays traits of tolerance or openness. This is what I’m more interested in – the influence of art.”

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