11 Questions With Amanda Rheaume

With radio no longer relevant, and music labels preoccupied with shedding talent instead of finding it -- how do up and coming music makers adapt to today's maddeningly complex music industry?  To Ottawa-based singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume, it means going it alone, doing press, promotion, and booking, alongside traditional tasks like writing, recording, and performing songs.

Getting her start a few short years ago on the Ottawa open mic scene, Rheaume has gone on to play 170 shows in the past year alone.  Her music has taken her to far flung locals such as Afghanistan, Central America, and the Faroe Islands.  Last spring, with her winnings from 2008's Live 88.5 Big Money Shot, Amanda flew out to Vancouver to record her latest EP, Kiss Me Back, which was released last May.

(Cult)ure sat down with the homegrown chanteuse on the eve of her cross-Canada "Babes for Breasts" benefit tour.

(Cult)ure: You had what could be described as an unusual Canada Day...

AR: I was hired by the Canadian embassy to travel to Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to play three shows from June 28 to July 4. They were bringing me in a day early because of political unrest and they didn't know what was going to happen.  About five hours after I got there, the President was arrested, and dragged out of his house in his pajamas.

I woke up the next day, and I didn't know this had happened.  I ran into someone at breakfast who told me the President's been arrested, and I was like, "Oh, that's a big deal," not quite cluing into the severity of the situation. And as soon as I went back to my room ,the Ambassador, who I had been traveling with, called me to say the show had been cancelled.  So I spent the next 24 hours in my hotel, and from there I could see the protesters, people throwing rocks, people being gassed... it was crazy. I didn't know when I'd be leaving.

San Jose was the next show, it was actually on Canada Day, and we had a little Barbeque that day and someone came in and said, "I'm not sure if you heard, your gig in Nicaragua is cancelled too."  And I was like "Okay... funny joke", and he goes, "No really, the Mayor of Managua committed suicide, so celebrations have been called off."

And this had no connection to what was happening in Honduras?

Not at all.  I guess I'm just super bad luck.  I ended up being in Central America for almost a week, in the rainy season, and mainly just hung out in my hotel.  It wasn't a great trip.

Now you're off to Newfoundland.  Can you explain the concept behind Babes for Breasts?

Babes for Breasts was started by Anna Miura (singer-songwriter from Ottawa), as a way to give back to the community.  She had a friend whose mother had breast cancer.  It began as one show in Ottawa, then there was a bit of a hiatus, she had a kid, and then started it again, and we turned it into more of a tour.  We're in our third year, starting tomorrow in St. John's, Newfoundland, coming through Ontario and the Prairies and then out West and up to the Northwest Territories.  I'm on every date.  It's an amazing thing, and we get a really good response.  I can't wait to go to Yellowknife.

Let's talk about your EP.  It certainly seems to have two distinct personalities to it.

I made the decision to go with a more well known producer - Jeff Dawson out of Vancouver - because he has this pop sound that I really like.  I had just come out of this radio competition, and I was still looking to define my sound.  I would try something acoustic, and then I'd do something electric, but I kind of felt like I hadn't really found what was me.  So I decided to use a portion of the money that I'd won from the Big Money Shot to use Jeff in Vancouver.  My hopes were then to put together sort of on the back end an acoustic side two.  I do play a lot of band shows, and I play a lot on my own. I get 50/50 people saying they love the full band sound, and then the other half saying they love the acoustic, so it actually worked out pretty well for me.

I particularly like "Care a Little Less".

Yes, me too.  That's one of my favorite ones.  I wrote that with Holly McNarland.

Several of the songs on Kiss Me Back are co-written.  Do you find it difficult to open up in that context, especially in the presence of such accomplished artists?

I was nervous to meet Holly because I had like no connection to her before that.  I had grown up listening to her, so there was this element of "Wow...".

You lose the ability to self-edit.  When you're in a room with another person, you're first idea is going to be exposed.

It is definitely a different way of writing, and it actually helps me be less critical of myself.  When I'm on my own, I will write something and be like "Aw, this sucks", and I'll crumple it up and throw it away.  Whereas I find with co-writing someone will say "No, no, that's cool.  Let's just keep it for now and see what happens."  It's encouraging, because I have a really bad habit of never finishing anything.

With Holly, we just sat down, I brought a 1.5 litre bottle of wine, which we drank out of the bottle, and just got to know each other.  Before I went into it, I told myself, "There will be no benefit to holding back, so I'm just gonna go for it."

If you could pick one artist to collaborate with, who would it be?

I don't know... I would actually like to work with Alanis.  I don't know how that would work.  I loved the production on her own work, and as a songwriter I think she's absolutely amazing.

Rock has traditionally been a male-dominated industry.  How do you feel being a female artist today differs from being male, based on your observation of the treatment of both sexes?

There's definitely still way more guys.  Say for instance, the 1000 Islands music festival, there was maybe four female artists to like 20 guy artists.  I do find I'm treated very well, but that could be because I've done sound for people, and I know what I like.

Your song "Don't Wanna Be Your Girl" seemed to outline the frustration of being female and attempting to be taken seriously as a musician.

If you're attractive at all, you're playing music, and you're a woman, there's this whole other thing that goes through your head when guys are watching you.  There's the fear of being looked at as a sex symbol first, instead of a musician.

I think that women still have to be sexier than men, or at least try to be sexier.  I was thinking about this the other day when I saw a photo of Chris Martin on a bus, and he just looked like he got out of bed.  I mean, I love him, but then you see Madonna, with her arms over her head, big coif... I still feel the women have to try harder.  For instance, Eric Eggleson isn't out there wearing short-shorts.

I guess that's the paradox, because as you said, women have to try harder to look good, but then at the same time, if you look good, you risk not being taken seriously.

Yeah, but I think once people realize that you can play the guitar, and you're not just like kicking your heels around and belting out a few notes... But, I would say that people make excuses for musicians that are beautiful, but not necessarily that good.

You have managed to grow your fan base without the aid of any traditional support systems, i.e., a manager or label.  Would you ever consider signing with a major label?

That's a hard question because it's so deal dependent.  No one is making very much money right now in the music business at all, unless you're like a mega star, which in itself is dying anyway.  As far as majors... I wouldn't not sign a major deal, but it would just have to be the right one.

There is something to be said about having a good manager and agent.  I don't necessarily like being in control of everything all the time.  Sometimes it's too much work and it get's in the way of being an artist.  But I'm not chasing after a deal because I don't think it's that important these days.  That's something I realized through the Big Money Shot -  do your own thing, create your own buzz, and people will find you.  It's not always about pining after these people that you think can do everything for you, and can't necessarily.

You participated in CBC's Canadian Divas.  Do you consider the term 'diva' to be a positive label?  And would you consider yourself one?

I would say no, not positive.  I don't think it was originally coined to be negative.  I mean, Aretha Franklin is a diva, and she's awesome.  I don't think I'm a diva.  I can be demanding, for sure.  People call me "Demanda"... (laughs).  But I don't think I'm a diva.

John Lennon said that the only people that make it in the music business are bastards.  Is there room for nice people in the industry?

There is room, but it's hard to find them.  It's hard to know whom to trust.  I mean, the business is just everybody trying to make money off everybody else.  It's turned into "Let's get the hook in there in a minute."  I still think there's people in the industry doing good things, like Arts and Crafts, they do amazing work.  There are good people, but you have to filter through a lot of crap.  But assholes and people with bad attitudes don't last long.

There's just a lot of them.

Yeah, but the longer you do it, you can snip them out a lot sooner.

I think there needs to be a change, where musicians start standing up for themselves, because we've turned to this lowly role of "Ooohh, I need everyone's help to do anything," and it needs to be more of "Well, what can you do for us?"  I don't mean that in a bitchy way, but well, we're creating the music, we don't have to say 'yes' to every single thing, and we don't have to play for free.

What is your definition of success and have you attained it?

I would say the bottom line definition of success is being able to do your art, make a living, and not be starving.  I used to think "Oh, I'll be successful when my songs are on the radio," but that dream changes after a while when you really start doing it.  I just want to be creating music that I love, and hope that people like it, and live comfortably.  I have some ways to go, but I'm taking the steps.

What advice do you have for people starting out that want to be in your position?

Play in front of as many people as many times as possible.  Don't write or try to be something that you think other people will want to hear or see.  Trust your instincts and push yourself all the time.

Last question: Beatles or Rolling Stones?

Beatles for sure.  The Rolling Stones are great, but I love the Beatles.

Babes for Breasts - 2009 Cross Canada Tour

Sept 19 - St. John's NL - Holly Heart Theatre

Sept 25 -- Ottawa ON - Library and Archives Canada

Sept 26 - Pembroke ON - Café Ole

Oct 1 - Kingston ON - Wellington Street Theatre

Oct 2 - Toronto ON - The Hard Rock Café (Younge-Dundas)

Oct 16 - Saskatoon SK - Amigos

Oct 19 - Winnipeg MB - Park Theatre

Oct 21 - Vancouver BC - The Railway Club

Oct 22 - Edmonton AB - The Haven

Oct 23 - Banff AB - Wild Bill's Saloon

Oct 24 - Calgary AB - Ironwood Stage & Grill

Oct 29 - Yellowknife NT - Northern Arts and Culture Centre

Oct 30 - Yellowknife NT - Northern Arts and Culture Centre

Performers for Ottawa show: Anna Miura, Amanda Rheaume, Tara Holloway, Jill Zmud,

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