[vc_row el_class=”interview”][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”intro-text”]This week we caught up with Lisa Canny; the Irish harp playing singing extraordinaire – best known for her captivating covers and sold out global performances. Hailing from County Mayo, Ireland, Lisa Canny incorporates mesmerising harp accompaniments with soulful vocals, technically blending them into heartwarming songs. Now living in London, Lisa is focussing all of her energy into songwriting. With many new and exciting projects in the works, she’s barely scratched the surface of what’s to come. Prior to her performance on The Late Late Show, we lent her our ears to discover the exciting story behind the harp, life on the road and what pushed her to become an award-winning singer-songwriter.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
- Hey Lisa, what’s been going on over this last year? How was 2016 for you?
- 2016 was amazing. It was the year that I moved to London and made the focused decision to put all of my energy into my solo projects. Up until 2016, I was singing with a lot of groups and at the end of 2015, in fact, I left the last group I was working with to pursue my personal work.I knew I didn’t want to come to London and spend all of my time working, so I spent some time contacting function bands who were looking for a singer. I ended up getting a job with one which meant I was playing two gigs a week.
- So how long have you been singing and playing the harp? Which one came first?
- I come from a very large family with 60 or so cousins. I’m the youngest of three and neither my brother or sister played music, so it looked like I wouldn’t either. Everyone in my family can hold a tune so it has always been in us, but I believe it was my sister who said to our mum – she’s really got something – so they got me a keyboard. When I went to school I had a principal who I owe almost everything to. He came in one day and listened to me playing the tin whistle and thought I was good. When I was five he gifted me a banjo and said, “take this – go, do what you can with this”. This, along with my very competitive streak, made me completely obsessed with music. I got a harp for Christmas at the age of ten and this is where it all began. Funny story – the reason I actually chose the harp is because of a roundabout on the way to Limerick City, which had a beautiful harp created by flowers. My teacher’s daughter played too and I thought she was amazing. I fell in love with it.
- We noticed that you’ve incorporated a loop pedal into your compositions and performances. Is this a recent addition to your setup?
- The whole idea with the loop pedal actually started last year when I got it for Christmas. The first thought that came into my head was that I’m not going to be able to afford for my band to fly out every time, and they’re a huge part of my live performances. I was a bit nervous about not having them with me so I thought, how can I perform and make the music I want when they aren’t around? Hence the loop-pedal. I like to be able to show off a little bit and it’s good fun to use.
- Have you ever considered using any other electronic equipment?
- I’m very interested in exploring all the possibilities with the harp so I’m even looking into doing a package for Pro Tools of harp sounds. There are so many possibilities – I’m really keen to play around with more equipment but keep it organic at the same time. I’ve barely scratched the surface of what can be done with the harp so far.
- What is your songwriting process like? Do certain things come first or do you just go with the flow?
- I find there’s a huge difference between practising songs and creating them. It totally depends on my mood. I don’t necessarily have a structure when writing new material but I do like to write all of the parts myself as it gives me more control over the sound.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class=”large-quote”]I met Miles Copland – who managed the police. He was at a gig in LA and came up to me afterwards and said “you need to be a solo artist, baby. I’m going to bring you to France.” He did – he brought me to France…[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
- So, what kind of stuff inspires you? Are there any artists you want to mention – is there anyone you’re really feeling at the moment?
- I really love Laura Mvula, she is a huge inspiration to me. She changed the whole game for me last year. She has a Masters in composition and you can really hear that in her sound. Also, her producer, Troy Miller, is really amazing too. You hear a lot of people saying ‘don’t overcomplicate stuff with your writing’, which I understand but she’s showed me that you can involve more complexities within the process. I can pull inspiration from anyone – once I have that hat on. I listen to Laura Mvula, Hoosiers, Childish Gambino – I loved the new Childish Gambino album Awaken, My Love!.
- We see you’re a teacher now – what inspired you to start sharing your gift with the younger audience?
- When I did my music degree I was nearly at a 50/50 split in my mind about whether to go down the performance root or the academic root. I absolutely love academia when it comes to music. I had a lecturer I really looked up to and this is why I did a Masters Degree in ethnomusicology as I wanted to do her job. My degree was very focussed on more traditional stuff and I knew that if I wanted to do a PHD and lecture I had to broaden my horizons. I met with my course supervisor and asked if he would take me on, to which he replied, “let’s make a deal – if you come in this day next year and you’ve proven you’ve given it one good shot for me, I’ll take you on.” I have loads of people to thank for not letting me lose sight of what’s most important.
- How was life on the road? I know you’ve toured the States, Europe and wealth of other places…
- I went back on tour with a group I previously worked with and that was the curve ball that changed the things for me completely. I met Miles Copland – who managed the police. He was at a gig in LA and came up to me afterwards and said “you need to be a solo artist, baby. I’m going to bring you to France.” He did – he brought me to France to the annual ASCAP event and it changed my life. As much as I love touring and performing I just wanted to focus more on making music; it can be hard to work on new material when you’re on the road. Touring and playing lots of shows built my confidence up massively – standing up in front of 3,000 people a night doesn’t really faze me at all anymore.
- We saw you’re going to appear on The Late Late Show on the 13th of January. How did this come about?
- It’s a right of passage in Ireland, it seems. People ask you if you’ve been on The Late Late Show and if you have you get taken more seriously as an artist. I’m doing a gig with Temple Bar Tradfest at the end of January; they want me to do a ladies night and they got the slot on The Late Late Show to promote the festival. The show said they would take one of their acts and they picked me.
- So at the moment you’re recording your album?
- I’m still writing and demoing at the moment. The right answer would be that I’m ready to. I’m ready to start working on the album more seriously as soon as I possibly can.
- So, finally, what does 2017 hold for you? Any upcoming projects you’d like to mention?
- Releasing an EP or an album is top priority for me this year. I’ve managed to do two tours of Ireland, both nearly sold out without any releases, so getting a release and building my fan base are the two most important things for this year. This time next year, I want to be playing at much bigger venues and selling them out. I’m not looking for world domination this year but maybe next year. If I had more time and funding there are hundreds of things I’d love to do. An Irish traditional album, I want to do variations of other people’s albums solely on the harp – like an entire Coldplay album on harp I think that would be amazing. There are so many things, I want to finish off the sample packs and much more – the list is endless.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Socials
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Official
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
