Kim Stockwood

By Alex Teitz

Kim Stockwood is juxtaposition. On her latest CD, 12 Years Old, she is introspective and melancholy. In our interview she is outspoken and ready for the world. In 1996 Stockwood earned a Juno nomination for Best New Artist. Her smash song “Jerk” propelled her into the world spotlight. Now that she is there, she won’t be leaving soon. Kim Stockwood

FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?

KS: Chaos. How about that?

FEMMUSIC: Controlled or otherwise?

KS: Controlled chaos. Thank you. How about that?  I don’t understand songwriting. I don’t know how to do it, but they call me a songwriter. I sit down, and I usually co-write my stuff. I usually sit down with someone I like (laughing) preferably. I’ll just start a melody…usually with me the melodies come first. I really don’t know how it goes from there except I may sing some words and then we’ll come up with a chorus and then okay…what’s the song about? Every song is a story. You get a little hint at the beginning what the story is going to be about, and then you have to fill in all the little bits. Other than that it is controlled chaos with me. All I know is if it feels right, I’m going to do it.

FEMMUSIC: You and Naoise Sheridan wrote a number of the songs tracks on 12 Years Old together. Have you been writing more with Sheridan since 12 Years Old?

KS: Actually I’m going to Nashville. He lives in Nashville now. I’m going to write with him in a couple of weeks. When you find somebody who feel completely comfortable with you have to keep doing it. And the whole key, I think,  to successful co-writing partnerships is not being afraid to say really stupid things.

Did you hear Bonavista? Well I had a huge hit called “Jerk”, “You Jerk.” It’s probably the biggest song I’ve had. It’s one of those songs in a rehearsal one day that I just start singing these words (singing) “You jerk. You jerk. You are such a jerk. There are o-ther words but they just don’t work.” (laughing) It was kind of really stupid and I’m looking around and I go, “That is so lame.” Everyone’s going, “No. That is really great!” Naosie is like, “That’s brilliant!” and I’m like, “Yeah, right.” It turned out to be probably one of the biggest songs of my career. And it was with him, and it’s because I’m not afraid of embarrassing myself with him.  He a really, really talented guy.

He knows me as a person. We have a rhythm. Our songwriting technique we’ve kind of got it figured out. He’ll noodle and noodle, then I’ll noodle and then he’ll go, “Do you like this? “ and I’ll go, “No.” And I’m not afraid to say “no” now cause sometimes when you start writing with somebody you’re afraid to hurt their feelings. In order to get the really good stuff sometimes you’ve got to dismiss stuff you don’t like right away so you don’t spend time working on something you don’t like. And that’s the whole key with me and him.

FEMMUSIC: How did you find Michael Philip Wojewoda and how was it working with him?

KS: He’s a big Canadian producer. He’s worked with a whole bunch of great Canadian acts: The Barenaked Ladies…. He’s worked with a whole bunch of people and I’ve always liked his work, and I finally got to use him. It was very simple. I asked him to do my record and he said, “yes.” So he’s a great guy and a real musical guy. I was really happy to be working with him.

FEMMUSIC: How do you think your music has changed over time?

KS: I wish you could have heard the first record. You could helped me. I think I’ve figured out a bit more about who I am as a songwriter and as an artist. I mean hopefully the more you do something the better you get at it. If not maybe you should switch to something else. I just think I’ve figured out a little bit more about songwriting and what I do and don’t like. And hopefully I’ve gotten a little better at it. Who knows? I think I have.

FEMMUSIC: So what do you DO and DO NOT like?

KS: That’s a hard question. The only thing I can say is back to whole “gut” thing. I know when something’s working for me and when it isn’t now. I have a little more faith in my abilities to know what’s right for me. I think in the beginning I would go along with a lot of stuff because I wasn’t sure, and now I kind of know. If a melody’s not right for me, or a lyric isn’t right I just know of it quicker now.

FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making 12 Years Old?

KS: I think probably finding out exactly what it is was I wanted to do. I’ve got a lot of different influences from Hank Williams to Sinead O’Connor. It’s the one thing with me, I’ve always tried to focus a bit more so it won’t confuse people as much. So I think that’s what I tried to do on this record. It’s still a little bit of stuff all over the place but I think that was the hardest. Just trying to focus in, and trying to make a cohesive record.

FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to see changed about the music industry?

KS: I wish there were no labels. This is “pop” and this is “country.” I know music has to be labeled but it affects radio airplay so much and that’s probably my biggest complaint. I mean radio is great. They’ve been great to me but it seems like so many radio stations are playing things that are just like everyone else and it’s very hard sometimes. Like there’s so many great artists that never get airplay. Like I’m a big fan of Patty Griffin. Huge fan of her and I don’t think I’ve ever heard her on the radio. Ever. I think it’s fairly accessible. A lot of times if music doesn’t fit into a certain category people get really confused, especially radio. And they’re very unwilling sometimes to try something new. I just think good music is good music. Like in the states you’ve got AAA Stations…We don’t have that in Canada. I just wish we had radio stations that could play Patsy Cline, and Sinead and possibly Nine Inch Nails. Maybe I’m dreaming. I just think good music is good music and difficult sometimes for good artists to get exposure because people don’t know what to do with it.

FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?

KS: I haven’t because I don’t let people. I don’t let people discriminate me. If I sense it I’m going to go right up to them and say, “What’s your problem?” I haven’t really noticed anything. No. I’m sure some artists have but I’m a pretty in your face female artist so I kind of don’t take “no” easily. I can accept things that I can’t change but I’m certainly going to push it to the limit.

I haven’t really found anything. No.

FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

KS: To believe in yourself. To work really hard. It is not easy. It is definitely not easy, but anything work having in your life isn’t easy. It supposed to be work. Believe in yourself but also listen to people who are trying to help you with very good criticism. You don’t know everything. You may know what’s right for you, but be open. And just work hard. Write a lot. Sing a lot. Just keep going. Sometimes it gets really harsh, and sometimes it’s like, “What am I doing with my life?” but it’s like every career. It’s a lot of up and downs. And the reason so few people make it is because it’s so tough. It really is tough. You have to really, really work hard. You really do. It’s the harsh reality of it. Nothing is given easily. Maybe to some people, but I don’t think that they truly get the full grasp of what an incredible thing it is they do if things have been handed to them. I think it’s very healthy if you have to work hard to get something that you want.

FEMMUSIC: What are your plans for the future?

KS:  I’m planning a new record. It’s probably going to be completely different. I started singing because of Patsy Cline. I was singing a lot of Elvis, so I got nicknamed “Kelvis” in the beginning. And as I started songwriting I started to figure out who I was as a songwriter. I think my next record is going to be just music that I love to sing, and I want to make a singing record. I don’t know exactly what that means but I know that I’m not as worried as I was before about  radio or whether or not it’s going to “fit” into music today. I want to make a record that I love to sing, and then we’ll figure out what to do with it after. My record company’s going to love hearing that.