Ember Swift

Ember Swift – Wouldn’t That Be Nice

By Sue Barrett

Photo by Suzy Malik

Ember Swift is Canadian. And Ember Swift is folk meets classical meets jazz meets punk. And Ember Swift is both an individual and a band…

“My name is EMBER SWIFT. It’s also the name of the band [consisting of Michelle Josef (drums), Lyndell Montgomery (electric violin, bass, bowed guitar, vocals) and Ember Swift (vocals, guitar, piano, percussion)].

“I began this career as a solo artist (three years) and the name has just remained the same, despite the regular band dynamic. Lyndell and I run the business, but we’re a trio, musically. I’m the songwriter and lyricist and only occasionally co-write with Lyndell (although I enjoy it!). (There are three songs that we do that Lyndell and I wrote together…which means that we’re not the most prolific writing duo after six albums! But, we continue to share creatively.)”

Swift’s songs focus on activism, political commentary and social insight. And the trio’s performances are energetic, dramatic and, not infrequently, humorous.

Swift has been writing songs since she was nine year of age; performing for nearly as long; and “pursuing a professional career for the past nearly nine years of being an adult”. Brought up in Burlington and Woodstock, Ontario, she attended university in Ottawa and Toronto (where she graduated with a degree in East Asian studies). Swift, who still lives in Toronto, recorded her first album (a self-titled cassette-only release) in her first year in that city.

“It was always just something I had to do, perhaps something that ‘chose me’, rather than a conscious decision to ‘become a professional musician’. My family has been incredibly supportive and continues to be. I think the support of your family, (whether it’s your blood relatives or your family of friends), is vital!! I’m speaking about moral support here – having a crew who BELIEVES in the creation and stands behind you.”

In 1996, Swift met and joined forces with Royal Conservatory trained musician, Lyndell Montgomery. Prior to moving from Vancouver to Toronto, Montgomery had been part of the performance group, Taste This (with Anna Camilleri, Ivan E Coyote and Zoë Eakle). The group’s work was “transformed into narrative fiction” for the 1998 book, Boys Like Her – Transfictions, published by Press Gang, an imprint of Raincoast Books (www.raincoast.com).

[Another Raincoast Books imprint is Polestar, the publisher of Ellen Schwartz’ book, Born A Woman – Seven Canadian Women Singer-Songwriters, which profiles Heather Bishop, Ferron, Marie-Lynn Hammond, Connie Kaldor, Rita MacNeil, Lucie Blue Tremblay and Sylvia Tyson.]

Although Montgomery has composed music for film, including the soundtrack for No Such Thing (as bad girls), at this stage she has “no plans” for a solo recording.

“I don’t consider myself a songwriter. I’m a composer of music but don’t intend to embark on my own solo career anytime soon.”

In 1998, they began working as a trio with drummer, Cheryl Reid. And since 2000, the Ember Swift trio has consisted of Montgomery, Swift and drummer, Michelle Josef.

Josef is a veteran of the Canadian music industry, being a former member of Prairie Oyster, the Good Brothers, the Rhythm Rockets and the Edmonton Folk Festival house band and having performed and/or recorded with Jann Arden, Long John Baldry, Willie P Bennett, Amos Garrett, Etta James, Penny Lang, Ellen McIlwaine, Geoff Muldaur, Otis Rush, Doug Sahm, Sylvia Tyson and David Wilcox.

According to Swift, “We occasionally work with guests for local Toronto shows (backing vocalists or horn players) but usually travel as a trio. Even more rarely, we will travel as a duo and perhaps once or twice a year, I will do a solo acoustic show. We are very comfortable in the trio setting…[and] Cheryl still (occasionally) fills in for Michelle as a substitute. We have a great balance with three on the stage – we really love the trio sound.”

But life as a touring band has its pressures, with Ember Swift being on the road for more than 200 days a year. And Swift acknowledges the work that has to go into maintaining and nurturing the group.

“Communication is very important. You have to separate and spend time apart, especially when you’ve been spending time together so much (i.e. in a vehicle/on a stage/eating meals). We are careful to communicate honestly and we are really conscious of our physical needs like: eating well, sleeping well and comfortably, taking vitamins… i.e. looking after each other.

“It’s hard to be away from home and to be constantly changing your environment from day to day. But, that’s also the joy of this job! We have the opportunity to see so many beautiful landscapes, meet such incredible people, experience different scenes and cultures and political climates. Really, I love my job and the stresses and strains are definitely outnumbered by the joys and pleasures!”

Throughout much of 2002, Ember Swift will be on the road (including performing at the National Women’s Music Festival and the Clearwater Revival Festival in June and at the Edge of the World Festival and the Ness Creek Music Festival in July).

In terms of building a public profile, Swift feels that “the strongest way is to get OUT THERE – tour and perform for as many *live* people as possible. Radio airplay and CD reviews are helpful, but live performance is the real transfer of energy and message. Festivals are wonderful since they are an opportunity to connect with people for longer than a few hours or a single night (as they usually last a weekend) as well as the opportunity to connect with so many people from diverse backgrounds.”

A forthcoming highlight in 2002 is the release of the seventh Ember Swift recording.

Swift says, “The new album will be out in July, if all goes according to plan! When we arrive home from this tour, we will be going back into the studio to put the finishing touches on it. I am so happy to be releasing a new record, especially one that features Michelle Josef on the drums. She’s incredible and it’s high-time that we put out another recording. We’re used to releasing a record each year and this recording will have been released a year and a half after the last recording.

“It’s a really diverse record and it has some powerful and daring politics. I am enjoying a fetish with loops and various rhythms. I have been loving the opportunity to play with sounds and spend some relaxed studio time seeking the magic. This will be a thoughtful record with colourful energy and much honesty.”

And over the next two years, Swift is expecting “more travelling [following on from recent tours of Australia and the US], with the UK in our future. More comprehensive work on the website to enable artists to use the site as a resource center direct from their homes, rather than having to visit our offices or make direct requests. We’re planning to finally make a video…Wow, so much to do and so little time!”

Being Canadian is a thing of importance to all of the members of Ember Swift.

Lyndell Montgomery feels that “[a]ll over the world, we are respected (politically) for our peaceful platform”.

While Michelle Josef values “the privilege of being raised in a society like Canada. I think the Canadian temperament is one of being reasonable and open-minded. The Canadian tradition of diplomacy is something that I am very proud of. Even more specifically, living in Toronto is a tremendous privilege because of the exposure we have to many cultures. This connects with our lives professionally since Toronto is a city of an amazing amount of musical cultures, not just from various ethnic backgrounds. It is a cosmopolitan place filled with a scene for every type of music.”

And for Swift, “We are unique and from a country that is always fighting for recognition outside of the American influence. We respect the American identity as being its own but want very much to be recognized as uniquely Canadian, with differently cultural and political influences that have made us who we are. There are too many to list but our peacekeeping political platforms and multicultural policies are two of the major differences between Canada and the US. We are proud of these (and the many other differences) and we proclaim our Canadian identity when we travel both in the US and overseas!”

Given their views about being Canadian, one wonders how Montgomery, Swift and Josef reacted in February when the Canadian women’s ice hockey team beat the US 3-2 to win the gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics (thus breaking a 50 year Olympic hockey gold medal drought for Canada).

“We cheered and we were very proud of them!!”

And Montgomery says, “We’re proud of them for winning regardless of who they beat to win the gold. It was especially pleasing to see their high level of sportsmanship.”

The business equivalent of sportsmanship may well be honesty, integrity and ethical behaviour. And those attributes seem to apply to Few’ll Ignite Sound, the record label that Swift established in 1997 and which she now runs with Lyndell Montgomery.

“The motto for the business reads: ‘May the Few Who Ignite Sound Fuel A Change in the Night. May the Few Who Fuel Change Ignite Sound Into Light.’ This is a business that believes that music can be a strong vehicle for social change.

“We act as a virtual resource center for other artists and believe that it’s very important for artists to learn how to DIY their careers (do-it-yourself). We provide direction, advice and contacts and instruct bands on how to book their own tours, promote their own shows, set-up offices etc. Without the tools, artists are often confused and overwhelmed by the music business and they often find themselves turning a blind eye to the ‘industry’ and, thus, getting taken for a ride by the industry. It’s important to us to always OWN our own Art and to encourage other artists to own THEIR own Art. For this reason, Few’ll Ignite Sound is not intending to ‘sign’ other artists. We believe that Art should belong to the creators. We especially work with artists who combine Art and activism – artists who are approaching their art with a similar ethos/ethic as we are.”

LIVING LEGENDS, ADEQUATE FUNDS, SAFE STREETS, NO GUNS, FREE PARKING, REGULAR CHEQUES, NO NEED FOR SAFE SEX – Wouldn’t that be nice? We just gotta find it Quickly. Wouldn’t that be nice?

WEBSITE
emberswift.com

SELECT DISCOGRAPHY
Ember Swift (cassette) (1996)
InsectInside (1997)
Can’t Corner Me (1998)
Permanent Marker (1999)
The Wage is the Stage (live) (2000)
Snapshots (EP) (live) (2000)

MORE ABOUT THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND

EMBER SWIFT (vocals, guitar, piano, percussion)

Birth
Burlington, Ontario, Canada (1974)

Star sign
Cancer

Music education
Classical piano lessons. Self-taught guitarist. And “mother-taught” vocalist (“my Mother is a wonderful singer who had a brief stint performing with a lounge band in her twenties and has performed regularly in church choirs for decades”).

MICHELLE JOSEF (drums)

Born
1953, the child of immigrants from Ukraine

Music education
Had drum lessons as a teenager. Has studied privately with Jimmy Norman, Jim Blackley, Peter Magadini and Memo Acevedo. Has studied jazz (with Don Vickery) and orchestral percussion (with Roger Flock) at Humber College.

Awards
1989 – Juno Award – for Doug Sahm, Amos Garrett, Gene Taylor – The Return of the Formerly Brothers
1997 – Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) All Star Band – drums

LYNDELL MONTGOMERY (electric violin, bass, bowed guitar, vocals)

Born
Smithers, British Columbia, Canada (1974), into a very religious home

Music education
Violin and piano lessons, plus Royal Conservatory training.

Music/performance history
Has composed music for film, performed live music for dance, recorded with other musicians and been a member of the performance group, Taste This.

Sue Barrett is an Australian music writer, whose previous interviews with Canadian performers include Shari Ulrich (Pied Pumkin), Heather Bishop, Lucie Blue Tremblay and Deborah Romeyn. She has also interviewed producer/engineer Karen Kane, who worked on Ember Swift’s third and fourth recordings.

Copyright: Sue Barrett, 2002