Born and raised near Vancouver, British Columbia, Jen Lewin is an accomplished pianist and vocalist whose vocal style has been compared to that of Chet Baker.
She identifies singers Ani Defranco, Bjork and Esthero as a few of her main musical influences.

In her first ever interview with THE HUQ, Ms. Lewin speaks exclusively as she discusses her role and experiences in the music industry, why having an online presence is ideal and much more.

Enjoy!

THE HUQ : Please tell me a little about yourself. What is your musical background?


Jen Lewin : Wow. Um, started doing the beginner/classical piano thing when I was four. Kept taking lessons but always felt dissatisfied by the standard curriculum that exams demand, and finally, at the threat of my departure, my piano teacher saved the day by turning me onto some ragtime (Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton, that sort of thing). At this time I'd also started to do some singing in a community children's choir. In high school, I sang with the vocal jazz group and got the chance to play in the rhythm section and I was HOOKED. Playing with other musicians is pretty much unheard of as a pianist and I loved it. Went on to major in jazz piano performance at Vancouver Community College and completed their two year diploma program with a minor in contemporary voice. Did a bunch of duo gigs at that time with a bassist I was playing with. Went out and did the cruise ship thing, playing in bands, for about five years off and .. finally deciding I needed to stay in one place if I was going to progress with my own thing. Came back to Vancouver and now I'm teaching full time and playing more and more, which is what I'm really excited about.


THE HUQ: Does anyone in your family have a musical background?


Jen Lewin: My grandmother plays banjo!!! She was always (and still is) involved in the entertainment industry, with 20s style shows and the like. She has a very theatrical personality and likes to dress up and stuff. My mother took piano lessons until she was a teenager also but she always had terrible stage fright and could never understand what was wrong with me: I liked performing!


THE HUQ: Do you have any part in the writing and arranging of the your songs?


Jen Lewin: Absolutely! It's one of the most rewarding things, having this process right from the beginning to the end. From the tiny seed of the idea and cultivating that and crafting it until it becomes a thing in its own right, and then bringing it to the guys in the band and having it change form yet again. I write my own stuff, and have, as with the majority of this EP, written or re-written music around a lyric. Also, whenever I do covers (I do some Radiohead, The Cure, Bob Dylan, stuff like that) I really try to make sure I'm leaving my own stamp on that particular piece of music. Why do the tune like Dylan or Radiohead? That's already been done. I want to do something different with it, and maybe make people hear the tune or see the lyric presented in a different way, to make them think about it differently and maybe bring a different or deeper meaning, somehow, to that tune.


THE HUQ: What gives you inspiration for your songs (eg real life experiences) How do the songs come together?


Jen Lewin: I think I'm really inspired by yes, real life experiences, but not only mine. I really am inspired by the common experiences we all share and love to imagine myself in another place and what things might be like for them, because while we're all a product of our experiences, there are a lot of things we, collectively, desire and also would rather not have. I've always enjoyed songs, myself, where the singer's going on about something and I'm shouting, YES! I KNOW EXACTLY!!! That can also be frustrating; they've already said it perfectly; how can I write a song about that thing now?! The songs coming together? Well, every song is different. Some start with a little riff or idea I'll come up with on the keyboard. Others, a melody will come first and the words will just arrive to fit the melody. Other times, I've got the lyric and then the melody comes. So it really depends. One thing I've noticed lately is that I'm getting to the keys later and later in the process, spending much more time at the paper and singing stuff before I ever try to figure out what the harmonies are I'm hearing in my head; I guess just being less chained to the keyboard. It's pretty freeing; I can compose while walking or cycling or driving or whatever and I love not feeling that dependence on the instrument.


THE HUQ: When did you write your first song?


Jen Lewin: Not sure if it was my first one, but I had this funny little Casio-esque keyboard when I was a kid and one year I made up this song for my dad's birthday with a drum beat and all that stuff. I was probably nine or something.


THE HUQ: Has music been your whole life or did you have another career before this?


Jen Lewin: Like almost anybody, I think, I've had lots of other jobs, reception jobs and office jobs and data entry jobs and phone answering and all that stuff, including a brief stint at a greenhouse but music was always the thing I wanted to be doing full-time. Even as a teenager trying to figure out what I was going to do after graduation, it was either journalism or music, or psychology or music, but music was always the constant in all my indecision so here I am.


THE HUQ: Who have been your main musical influences and who are your all time favourite artists/albums? Who are the female singer-songwriters you most admire?


Jen Lewin : I am crazy about Ani DiFranco. She's just such an amazing lyricist and everything fits together and is just so clever without being cute or corny. I also really love Radiohead (I think almost everything they do is amazing), Bjork, The Cure, The Smiths, Beady Belle, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Esthero. Coming from the jazz background I've also gone through my McCoy Tyner phase and my Miles Davis phase and I still am smitten with John Coltrane. I'm going to stop there before I never do!!!


THE HUQ: What have been the highlight (s) and lowpoints (s) of your career to date?


Jen Lewin: Highlights: Hard to narrow them down; there have been so many. I've gotten to do a lot of traveling, met lots of great musicians, made tons of great friends. Been lucky enough to have some really amazing experiences that I never would've been able to have otherwise (in regards to people I've studied with, that sort of thing). A lot of the people I've met have really helped me to see how much I'm capable of, and have helped me to believe in what I can do. Lowpoints: Hmm.. While I've worked with some really great people, I've also worked with a few that have been difficult to be around due to their negativity. Doing the ship thing, playing the same exact stuff night after night was often really challenging and not overly stimulating all the time. Getting a lot of no's when putting yourself out there is always a hard thing to overcome.


THE HUQ: What are your views on the current state of the music business?


Jen Lewin : It's disheartening when the audience is fed (and seems to want) substandard stuff that insults their collective intelligence. The fact that more emphasis is placed on image and marketing than on original ideas and good music and on actual talent can be a challenging thing to deal with as somebody trying to break onto the scene. I think things are changing, much more rapidly than we can see, and it'll be interesting to see how marketing and distribution and all that end up in an age where a band like Radiohead can single-handedly invite their fans to pay whatever they want to download their brand-new album, not available (at that point) in stores, and to cut out the middleman. If only we all had that clout!


THE HUQ: What are you views on illegal internet downloading?


Jen Lewin : That's a tough one. I think the intent behind it is what the big deal is about. If people are downloading music because they can't be bothered to buy the CDs or just because its free or whatever, that kind of bugs me. But as a teacher and as a one-time student, I have to say that buying all the CDs you need; to buy to learn whatever it is you're studying can really break the bank, especially when you're already poor and living off Ichiban! So I guess if it's an educational thing, there has to be some kind of forgiveness there. But if you like the album and the artist, for God's sake, just buy the CD and support them. Chances are you'll get some great liner notes/art, as well as, often, the correct lyrics that you sometimes can't hear (Radiohead's bad for that).


THE HUQ: What have you found to be the benefits of having an online presence?


Jen Lewin : The music has been heard by more people than if I didn't have the MySpace thing or the Sonicbids thing going. Theres been a lot of word of mouth stuff online and people that otherwise would never have heard of me or the tunes have been able to check them out.


THE HUQ : What can we expect to hear when we purchase your album, Learn to Crawl?


Jen Lewin : The tunes are a blend of jazz, pop, rock, and RnB/funk. Lyrics for four of the tunes were written by a friend, Jeff Thompson, and his lyrics are often thoughtful and very poetic.


THE HUQ : What can we expect from the album as far as production and emotional content?


Jen Lewin: It's got a pretty sparse sound as it's just piano, bass, drums, and vocals but there are also some backgrounds on three of the tunes, which fills the sound out a bit. The feeling on the tunes ranges from joyful (Pure Gold) to angry (Me, Post-You) to serene (Out of Time, Freedom Flight). I think the songs are all quite different in mood and I think there's something that everyone can relate to just on this 5-track EP.


THE HUQ : When were the sessions for this album originally done?


Jen Lewin: The very first session for Learn to Crawl was on February 11th, 2007. We recorded the bed tracks for four of the tracks that day, and then I worked sporadically on the vocal stuff over the next few months (scheduling was often an issue). Eventually we decided to bring one more track into the mix, "Me, Post-You", so brought the band in once more in June or July, I think. I did the vocal stuff on that and then we did the mixing and mastering over the next couple months. I think I had the very first copy of the disc in my hand in mid-September, 2007.


THE HUQ: What were the recording sessions like?


Jen Lewin: A TON of fun. The guys in the band, Mike and Derek, are absolutely hilarious and we always have a blast together. The first session was a bit rough; we'd been up all night rehearsing the previous evening, and Mike (the drummer) and I spent an extra couple hours into the early morning working out some programmed drum stuff for a tune we never ended up recording so by the time the session came around it was 9:00 in the morning and we were pretty rough. But the guys are really professional about stuff and none of us wanted to leave until we were all satisfied with what we'd gotten. I'm really lucky to play with such dedicated musicians who can also bring it no matter how tired they are on the gig or on the session.


THE HUQ : What sort of reaction are you getting to the album and what plans have you for it? (eg promotion)


Jen Lewin: I've been getting great feedback. Almost everybody has had really wonderful, positive things to say, and for people that don't generally listen to original music or jazz-inspired music or whatever, I think they get a better idea of what's going on when they come to the gig and see it all come together.
To this point, I've got the EP up for sale at www.cdbaby.com, and have been sending it out to tons of festivals and a few labels in the hopes of gaining some attention. I find I sell the most CDs at gigs so am working really hard at getting some playing situations and building a fan base who will tell their friends about it and have it spread from there. I really think that the best bands are built on a good foundation of people who have seen them and really believe in the music and will go out of their way to make the gig whenever they can.


THE HUQ: What was the best part about making this album?


Jen Lewin: I think the dedication of the guys to push through what were sometimes difficult days in order to get a really good sound and to make it the best it could be. I also loved watching it come to life over the months; having the songs grow over that time.


THE HUQ: And what was the worst?


Jen Lewin: Honestly, having the process be over and there being no more tinkering with the sound or no more songs to record. It was just such a great experience from the beginning to the end, and a great and generous gift.


THE HUQ: What are your own personal favourites on the album?


Jen Lewin: This is going to sound kind of lame but I love all the songs for their own reason. 'Pure Gold' is the first kind of funky, RnB-ish tune I'd ever attempted and I had a blast playing with that (and I was absolutely smitten by the bass line Derek came up with at the beginning). I love the spaciness in 'Out of Time', the openness of the sound. I think 'Freedom Flight' is just a beautiful song, and I love the backgrounds on both 'Learn to Crawl' and 'Pure Gold'; I think both those tunes are really uplifting, fun, lighthearted songs. But if I had to pick anything I think 'Me, Post-You' is the one I always come back to and get even more excited about. It was written about a really personal event (everybody needs to have the angry breakup song, I think), and I love the crazy, angry distortion in the middle section, and I really like the way the song changes throughout, from despairing to angry to accepting and forward-looking.


THE HUQ: What are your plans and aspirations for the future?

Jen Lewin: I'd love to do a full-length album one day soon. I've written a ton of stuff since "Learn to Crawl" was completed, and we've also added a wonderful guitarist, Gavin Youngash, to the band. I'd love to tour like crazy.


THE HUQ: When you're not touring or recording, what are you doing?

Jen Lewin: I currently teach privately full time. I've got about 30 private voice, piano, and composition students and they're really supportive! I make as much time as possible for regular writing and practice time.


THE HUQ: What is important to you besides music?


Jen Lewin: Being connected to nature is important to me; I love hiking and cycling and walking and doing all manner of things outside. My connections with other people are important to me. I love reading and learning stuff and finding out how other people think and feel. Being fit and using my body for stuff other than sitting around is really important too. I find I think better if I've moved around and *done* something. I'm a little into extreme goals; cycling really far or hiking really high or whatever. Stuff that changes my life and how I view my capabilities and what I can handle.


THE HUQ : Is there anything else you would like to say to your fans?


Jen Lewin: I'm always so humbled when people take time out of their busy lives to come to the gigs and buy tickets or buy coffee or buy a CD. Me singing or playing for them, Tha's not about me, it's about what I can do for them. I guess just a really sincere thank you; is all I can say! And if you see that I'm passing through your town, or if you're curious or want to hear something a little different, I really hope you'll check out the disc or come to the gig! I want to meet all of you!!!

You can check Jen Lewin out at:

http://www.myspace.com/jenlewinmusic


You can purchase Jen's music from:

www.jenlewin.com