Gina Burgess Multi-Style Violinist Transcript

This is the transcript of my first episode with Gina in 2021.

Podcasts and Videos for both this episode and the newly released Catch-Up episode are here: Podcast and Video

Gina Burgess:

Hi, you're listening to Conversations with Musicians with Leah Roseman. In Episode 18, Season One, I really enjoyed my conversation with the inspiring, multi-style violinist, Gina Burgess. During the episode, she plays a couple of her original tunes, and at the end we did an improv back and forth across our Zoom call. Gina is a founding member of the Iqaluit-based Arctic rock band, The Jerry Cans, is a four-time East Coast Music Award winner with the band Gypsophilia, she fronts her own Klezmer band Der Heisser, and is a regular collaborator in Flamenco and Arabic music ensembles.

Gina has toured Europe twice over with Tim Crabtree's atmospheric ensemble Paper Beat Scissors, and with folk pop artist Gabrielle Papillon. Along with The Jerry Cans, Gina has performed and conducted youth workshops in Canada, Australia, Greenland, New Zealand, and Europe.

In this conversation, we talked about Gina's path from her identity as a classical violinist through overcoming an overuse playing injury, to finding her voice as an improviser and composer. We discussed music education quite a bit, and some of the ways she's led youth workshops. Gina has a wonderful energy to her, and I hope you'll discover more of these conversations with a wide range of musicians by following this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. All these episodes are also available as videos. The link is in the description.Good morning, Gina Burgess. Thanks for joining me.

Thank you for having me.

Leah Roseman:

Thanks for agreeing to play at the beginning of this.

Gina Burgess:

I'll play a tune called Green Grass. I wrote this tune after I sat in with The Bluegrass, a real bluegrass band, and I realized that I do not know how to play bluegrass. So this little tune came to me the day after. And it was also the same week that Canada legalized marijuana, so I thought Green Grass was a very appropriate name for this song. It's just a little fun, folky tune. And I also do this one with a lot of my students, actually. Because I'll just very briefly show you. That's the first part. Very basic. So little kids can play the open E. The other ones can play... So there's lots that you can do with it. But then I show them the full meal deal, and I think it's exciting for them. It's exciting to play. With the whole band, it's even more exciting. But I'll give you a little taste.

(violin music)

Leah Roseman:

Thanks. That's such a great tune, and so well-played.

Gina Burgess:

Isn't that fun?

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. As we're speaking now in August, this will come out a bit later, you've just started performing in person more for people. You just came back from a tour after this long pandemic hiatus. How does it feel to be doing that again?

Gina Burgess:

It felt amazing, and scary too, just to be honest. It's been a year-and-a-half and so certain social things have become normal, like wearing masks. In Nova Scotia, I wouldn't even imagine leaving my house without a mask. In other parts of Canada, that's not the case. It just was a little different, and kind of coming out of the shell again. But it was super awesome to see people who love music so much, that they're at these first concerts, just right up front, dancing, loving life, loving music. It felt really good.

Leah Roseman:

So, you have a really interesting career. You've been a full-time touring musician for, I think, over 15 years, and you came from a classical background. I would describe you as... that you're a multi-style player and singer, would you say?

Gina Burgess:

Mm-hmm.

Leah Roseman:

So, do you want to start more at the beginning, or more your projects right now?

Gina Burgess:

Doesn't matter. Where would you like to start? I'm easy.

Leah Roseman:

How about when Gina was a kid?

Gina Burgess:

Okay. I like to share this story, because it's true, and it's the reason I started playing music. So, my dad's folks are both classical musicians. My granddad is a conductor, double bass player, organ player. And my grandmother is a cellist. So, when I was three years old, I went to go see nanny and granddad and a woman, named Gina, playing Beethoven Trios. So granddad was on piano, nanny was on cello, and this girl, Gina, was on violin. And I thought, "My name's Gina. I'm going to do that. I want to do that." And I loved the music. But my parents... I'm three years old, right, so they didn't believe me. And it wasn't until I was five years old that they bought me my first violin, because I kept begging them and picking up little Kleenex boxes and playing with pencils and stuff. So, when I was five they bought me a violin and put me into lessons at the Maritime Conservatory in Halifax with Myonghae Joy Yoon, who is an incredible human. And I studied with her from when I was five until I was 16. Yeah, so that's how it all got started.

Leah Roseman:

And then did you think at that point when you were 16 that you would be following a path as an orchestral player or chamber musician? Or were you already doing some different folk styles?

Gina Burgess:

Yeah. Well, I was playing in the youth orchestra, and I loved playing orchestral music. Loved it. I also loved chamber music. I had a string quartet, we did gigs. I had a gigging string quartet and then I had a competition string quartet. So I always loved chamber music. And I was doing quite a bit of solo stuff. So I had my first... I played the Beethoven Romance actually with Symphony Nova Scotia. I think I was 17 or 16. So honestly, I actually kind of saw myself as going into more of a solo violin, classical violin career at that point.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. And what changed?

Gina Burgess:

Well, I got a repetitive strain injury from playing the violin and practicing a lot. So many hours of practice, my goodness. So then I had a choice to make when I was able to use my hands again. And I had to decide if I wanted to continue to study the violin again... Relearn it, I had to relearn it... or do something else. And I think just my love of music is so strong, and I also didn't do anything else in my life. I decided to relearn the violin, and that was extremely challenging. I have so much admiration for people who learn to walk again or learn to use their hands after a stroke. It's just so tedious, the work that you have to do. When you're a child, you don't know any different, so you learn how to write. But as an adult, learning how to write again, it just takes so much discipline.

So for the violin, it was exactly that. I would for weeks on end, pick up the violin and just put it there, hold it there for a few minutes, not even two minutes, put it down. That was my practice for that day. Pick up the bow, see if I could hold it. That would be my practice. Put it away. And then for months, I would do finger one, finger two all over again. And it was around that time that a friend came back from music school, and he also had a repetitive strain injury on guitar. And he was telling me about Django Reinhardt, actually. And he said, "Have you ever heard of this music, and Stephane Grappelli?" And I did not know about those guys. But as soon as I heard the first song, I was hooked, "Yep, this is what I want to do." And because that music is so based around scales and arpeggios, I was able to use that music as a way to relearn my instrument. So that's exactly what I did.

Leah Roseman:

So how long did you have to stop playing for, completely?

Gina Burgess:

About a year. And it was pretty brutal, because I was at Dal(housie) on a full scholarship for music. And for the first two months, I couldn't even use my hands at all. I couldn't cut my food, I couldn't wash my hair, put on my socks, any of those things that we just so take for granted. Yeah, let's not take those things for granted.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. Yeah. So you entered this jazz path, but you had been playing Celtic music before that?

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, so when I was nine, actually, my folks picked up a Cape Breton fiddle book on one of their trips to Cape Breton. And again, because I was reading music, I could just read the music in the book. And I really enjoyed the sound of that music. Of course, this is pre-internet, and I had never really heard a lot of Cape Breton fiddle. But after I started to play it, I started to look more into recordings and tapes and stuff from the library. And I heard fiddlers play it, and I thought, "Oh, that's how you play it. There's so much that's not on the page." So I started to kind of incorporate that. And that's exactly what I learned with the hot jazz as well. So much of it you can see on the page, and then the rest is all just your own. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

When a person looks at your website... And you've listed all your many collaborations. You've been a session musician for so many different artists, different styles, toured all over the world. What's it just being constantly on the road? And for very long tours, how do you manage that?

Gina Burgess:

It can be super exhausting. As we were just saying, this little dip back into tour life. There was only three gigs. And I thought after those three gigs, "I'm done. I don't know how I did this." But, certainly, there are tips for different things that have helped. I got into yoga. So there's quite a lot that you can do with just breathing techniques to wake you up or put you to sleep. And we have some things that we like to do on the road as well. Find swimming holes, that's very reinvigorating. And also, it just feels so good to be in nature and to be in water. Drink lots of water. So certainly my alcohol intake has gone down, my water intake has gone up. That helps a lot.

But also just the energy of the audiences. Sometimes, I think audiences feel that they're there and not participating, necessarily. But for me, they're more of the show than we are. Because we could be playing that stuff. We saw that, all of this online stuff. And it's great, but it's not the same. And you don't have that same energy exchange at all. So I think that's a big part of it, is you get energy from the humans and the life around you.

Leah Roseman:

And I've noticed your role in different bands. You play with this very often, very rhythmic as well as melodic.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, I love to play rhythm. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

So that gives you energy too. You're part of the rhythm section. You're driving.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

Driving the dance, essentially.

Gina Burgess:

Yes. I love to dance too. So I'm one of those people, you'll just see me. Even at a restaurant, if there's a tune on, I can't sit still. I just can't. And I think that's part of the energy exchange as well.

Leah Roseman:

I wanted to ask you about education. I know you've done a ton of youth outreach, different kinds of workshops. You've taught, obviously private, but a lot of group stuff both online and in person. I noticed you'd led workshops in Greenland and just all over New Zealand. So I'd love to hear about some of the ways you're working with kids and different kinds of techniques you use.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah. Well, I've been teaching and working with people younger than me since I was 15. It started in junior high. Actually, my string chamber teacher asked me to help out somebody that was a couple grades below. And I never even contemplated that. But I did. I had a session with her and I realized, "Oh, you came in and you couldn't play this, and now you can play this. So I guess there's something happening." And I loved it. I loved it. So that started my teaching, I guess, if you will, or coaching.

And then I'd say it really started on my very first trip to Iqaluit. Because I went up there. I thought I was going up there as a chaperone, which I was totally cool with. I taught the kids down in Halifax a tune, a non-classical tune, and I was going to go up there and watch them and play with them. And actually, we all were able to sign up for different workshops when we got to Iqaluit. And this was a youth exchange between the conservatory and the Iqaluit fiddle ensemble. And so I signed my name up for a throat singing workshop, because I've been also obsessed with throat singing since I first heard it.

I think I was 21 or something. And my boss basically said, "Well, oh, I noticed you're signed up for throat singing. Well, who do you think is giving the fiddle workshop?" And I said, "Oh, I don't know, some local person." And she's like, "No, you. You are doing the workshop." And I had no teaching materials whatsoever, no music, no sheet music, no books, nothing. Just me and my fiddle. So I thought, "Oh man, okay." And it was fine. It was totally great. We learned by rote. We played hot swing music, we played fiddle music, improvising games, whatever I could do without any materials. And it was great. Five days went by, boom, they learned a bunch of stuff. It was great. So I think that gave me the confidence to know, oh, it's actually me as a human being interacting with these people. The violin is a tool for that energy exchange, really.

And so it was that trip actually that I stayed with a woman, who recently passed. So I'm so thankful to her for many things. But her son actually was looking for a fiddle player to teach music camps in different, more remote parts of Nunavut, so she asked if she could give my name to him. And that started in a way the Jerry Can Band. So I started going up doing these music camps with Andrew. And we had some different people coming in at that time. Saila was doing hiphop dance for a little while. Kathleen and then Nancy were doing throat singing. Andrew was doing guitar. I was doing fiddle. Sometimes, we had accordion. And we did those camps in different communities for five, almost six years. And I did a lot of similar stuff, those games, the improv games, a lot of Murray Schafer listening games, which are super cool to do in the Arctic, because those kids have a completely different environment, completely different ears than we do, especially in big cities. So we did a lot of that stuff. As a touring band, some circuits, you have the choice if you want to do teaching, if you want to go play in elder facilities. So we would always sign up to do the youth workshops, because we loved working with kids and going to schools.

Leah Roseman:

And the schools wouldn't always have instruments. Presumably, it would be vocal or clapping or...?

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, often. Sometimes, they would. I was kind of surprised actually to see how many schools invest in music. It's heartwarming.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. So I had heard there was a bit of a fiddle tradition up north, because of the Scottish whalers that had come through, and the same with accordion.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, totally. They're actually considered traditional instruments now, a fiddle.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah, it's been a couple hundred years. And as someone who grew up in the classical world kind of glued to the page, and now most of your career's been playing more by ear and by memory, does it free you up?

Gina Burgess:

Yes, it does. It does, but sometimes I long for the page, especially when it comes to practice, at home practice. If I'm practicing improv, sometimes, depending on my mood, my project, whatever, I just sit there and I think, "I don't have anything to say right now. I don't know how to practice this right now." Whereas, if you give me a Mozart string quartet, "Okay, boom, I'm on it." So sometimes I long for that, just know what to do, correct it, execute it, next. With the improv, it's so ongoing and it's so forever. And depending on the genre that you're working within or the project that you're hired for, it's infinite really. I prefer to practice that kind of stuff with other people.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. Do you have a technical routine that's kind of your go-to for staying in shape?

Gina Burgess:

I would actually say yoga. So, not so much on my violin anymore. Again, growing up I did the whole one hour of scales, one hour of studies, one hour on one piece, another hour on another piece. I did that. And I'm glad I did, because I feel like now I don't have to do that for what I'm doing. So my practice for keeping in shape is actually yoga and keeping the core engaged and strong, so that when I go to play my instrument, it's ergonomic and it's not going to throw me back into an injury state.

Leah Roseman:

But if you were working with a young person who was very serious about violin, would you have them doing that kind of regime? Or would you have them exploring different styles and trying to reduce the number of hours they work, so they could be more sensitive to ergonomics as well?

Gina Burgess:

Definitely, yes. So as a teacher, if you're going to come study with me, I tell you right off the bat, "You are going to have to do classical music and you're going to have to choose something else. If you don't want to do that, fine, but you can't study with me." So that's my rule, my hard rule. "And classical is the basis, so that's what we're going to be doing. And then you can decide, do you want to do hip hop?" I've had kids who have only done hiphop. "Do you want to do Cape Breton fiddle? Do you want to do a swing or Klezmer stuff?" So they choose their other, but the foundation is going to be classical for the technique.

I certainly do not encourage hours and hours of practice every day. I encourage less time, consistently, throughout the week. And then also thinking about it, practicing without your instrument. So singing your songs, listening to your songs, moving while you listen to a song, that kind of stuff, so that you can internalize if you're trying to memorize a piece of music or something like that. So just kind of different techniques. And I do really, really like working one-on-one with the individual that's in front of me, so I can really see their likes and dislikes and what they're drawn to, how they prefer to work, and then kind of go with that route, rather than one size fits all. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. I've only done... I've taught master classes and stuff, and workshops, but I've never done class teaching. To me, that's so intimidating, especially with violin. I guess people have their ways of working. But it's so important to have music in schools and, at least in Ottawa, it's very rare that there's any string program. It's not a common thing. What are your thoughts about that?

Gina Burgess:

Well, the pandemic of course cut my touring career for that time, and I was just home. And so, actually, the Halifax Regional Arts, which is, I suppose, a partner with the Halifax School Board, they facilitate all of the violin lessons around HRM. So here, almost all of the schools inside Halifax, and just around Halifax, have violin. Yeah, it's awesome, because when I was growing up, only the schools in downtown Halifax had that. So I was actually shipped from my home for one hour on the bus to get to a school, so that I could play violin.

Leah Roseman:

From what age, Gina?

Gina Burgess:

I started that when I was 11.

Leah Roseman:

No, but the kids now in school. Is it elementary school?

Gina Burgess:

Grade four. So in grade three you register to start the program in grade four, so nine, around. And also, cello, and there are some violas as well, for kids who want to do that, which is great. But, yeah, so they asked me. And I had done a lot of workshops, like you, going into the school, doing a workshop or something, and then leaving. So that's fun and the end of it. I had never been... I never imagined that I would be a violin teacher in the school system, for a variety of reasons. But then Covid happened, and this call came, and I was so hurting for work. "I'll take it." And it's in my field, so I was actually super, super grateful to get that gig. And then I liked it. I liked it way more than I thought I would. There's a lot of bureaucratic stuff that I don't like about the school system, and it really is a system. And I can see a lot of similarities to other systems that I also don't support. But that's why I feel like it's even more important to get genuine, loving, caring people into that system.

And the kiddos that I was working with were awesome. They challenged me in a way that none of my private students ever could, and I liked that. I liked it. I really, really had to think in different ways. And it was super challenging, because we only had a half an hour a week with these groups. Now, normally the groups would be bigger, but with Covid, they had to be a smaller class size, thankfully. I don't know how I'm going to handle a bigger class size. But the smaller group was manageable. But half an hour a week was really challenging. So it was just about keeping their interest and trying to get them to play at home.

Leah Roseman:

And this was in person? You were able to be in person?

Gina Burgess:

At first, it was in person. Then we went into lockdown, it was online. Then we got lifted back into person. And then lockdown, online.

Leah Roseman:

So you can't play with people synchronously online?

Gina Burgess:

No.

Leah Roseman:

So with beginners, are you doing call and response? How are you managing that online?

Gina Burgess:

Yep, I will say, it benefited quite a bit, the students, most of the students, to be online. I was super surprised. And it's because they're all muted, right, so at least for that one half hour. Now they're playing for a whole half hour. Whereas before, they weren't necessarily playing for a half hour if we were taking turns or whatever. And then they can unmute and play their little thing, and I can give one-on-one instruction. And then they mute again and practice what I just said. So we actually had all of the people in the class playing different pieces. Some were cruising through and some were having struggles. So I could see the benefit of that. But we weren't playing together, like you said, so there was no feeling of ensemble, there was no feeling of togetherness and that kind of special way that you get when you're with one another, playing. So I feel, possibly in the future there will be a hybrid of some online stuff and in-person stuff, just as a keeper from Covid. So we'll see. But I'm about to go do an education degree to come back and to continue this work.

Leah Roseman:

And do you incorporate some improvisation games in your work in the classroom?

Gina Burgess:

Oh yeah, right away. That's one of the first things that we do.

Leah Roseman:

Can you tell us what kind of things you do with them?

Gina Burgess:

Well, even just right away, "ba da pa, ba da pa," just to get them some energy out. Because as a new person, there's all these funny energies in the room. So just yell a little bit, but controlled yelling. Certain things, even, "Yell as loud as you can." And then, "Now, whisper as soft as you can." So they're using dynamics and stuff. They're not even necessarily cognizant of that, but they're expelling energy. And then when you get them to be really quiet, now they're more present and paying attention.

So, then we can say, "Okay, get your violins." And then I usually do a call and response, like a hot jazz style call and response over a minor swing. So I'll play the chords on the piano and I'll say, "ba da, ba da, da da da da da da, da da da da da da," and just get them to use two notes, or even one note. A and E, usually we start with. And then they really feel like they're making music, they're making something that sounds good. They're making it up out of their head. It is a call and response, but they're still doing it. And it usually takes a few weeks to settle into this. But I try by the end of the year to have every person be the caller, at least once, so that they can all experience that. So that's kind of my go-to. Right off the bat, that's what we're doing.

Leah Roseman:

And can you talk about what it was like when you first started to improvise in public? I believe you have a story about that.

Gina Burgess:

(laughing) Absolutely terrible. It was so embarrassing. Oh man. Well, the very, very first time I was asked to improvise was actually even before a band I played with, called Gypsophilia. So before that, someone asked me to improvise on one of their songs, and it was in G Major. And they just said, "You know, it's G, just do whatever you want." And they played the track, and there was nothing. I wish I could enter this state in meditation. There was nothing in my head. And they stopped and they said, "Okay, we're going to try again. Okay, yep, pop it on." So they popped it on. Nothing. And I just burst into tears. I just cried in their recording studio. And I said, "I'm so sorry. I can't do this." I don't know what to do.

And so that was the first kernel which was still inside of me when Gypsophilia kind of started. And I had never improvised in front of other people. I had never really improvised ever in my life, even to just pick up my violin and play something. I would play Bach or something, so it was never mine. And then I started playing with this band, Gypsophilia, and we started to get really popular, really fast. Lots of gigs booked solid. And every single time we played... The style of the song is to play the head. Every person takes a solo and the head out, right? So we would play the head and every person would take a solo. And then it would come to me, and I would literally put my violin behind my back and just be like, "No, no," or just, "Nope, next," just point to the next person. And then finally, one of my band mates said, "We're all working really hard to play these concerts and you're cutting out of your solo every song, every night. So we're holding your cheque. Until you solo, we're going to keep your money, basically." So that was a really good incentive to start to play.

And my very first solos were just... I listened back. I have them all on CD. It's cute. I look back with such tenderness at that person who was completely out of their comfort zone, completely anxious in their mind. But the only thing coming out was, D, D, D, G, D, D, D, low D, D. That's the end. So it's been quite a learning curve since then.

Leah Roseman:

Is there advice you'd give the younger Gina, looking back?

Gina Burgess:

"Just relax. My goodness, just chill out a little bit." Yeah. Because the anxiety was coming from this place of, "I'm not good enough. I don't sound like these guys." Do you know what it was, actually? I will tell you. I wanted to sound like Stephane Grappelli. And there was this one magical day where I had the revelation of, "No, I don't want to sound like Stephane Grappelli, I want to sound like Gina Burgess." And then, boom, it was just that mind flip. Everything changed to me. Then, I wasn't trying, I was just doing, just being. And that was very helpful. And I started to enjoy the music more. So I started to move a little bit more. Even the first footage of me playing with Gypsophilia, my music stand was there, I was very serious. The band said, "Ditch the stand. My God, just get rid of that." I was like, "Okay." That was scary, but I did it. I started memorizing the tunes, memorizing the chord changes, and then feeling the chord changes, "Oh, these are all the same, they're just in different keys." So it was a process. But as soon as I stopped trying to sound like anyone else, that's where it all happened.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah. I heard through the grapevine that Stephane Groppelli was actually pretty insecure, and he had... I don't know if it was later in his career, but he had it in his contract, he would only place certain tunes in certain keys.

Gina Burgess:

Huh? Really?

Leah Roseman:

If you want to play with him. Yeah.

Gina Burgess:

Wow. I wish I could put that in my contract

Leah Roseman:

Really, though?

Gina Burgess:

Kind of. No, not necessarily. But, actually, I did have an experience last summer. It was in Covid. Holy... I hadn't improvised in the jazz style in a long time. Because, basically, I'm playing a lot of rock and roll right now, folk, rock. I don't even know what to call it, but not jazz. And I got hired to do this gig. And I'm not going to say who it was. She definitely knows. But I got the charts and I was a little bit cocky. I won't even lie to you. I thought, "Oh, I can do this." I listened to the tunes a couple of times. I didn't even look at the music. I just thought, "Yep, I got this." And then I went to the studio, I did not have it. Oh man, I did not have it at all. And the chords were out there chords with all of these extensions that I hadn't thought about in eight, nine years. And it was brutal.

I even said at one point to the engineer, "I can't do this. You're going to have to get someone else to do this. I'm quitting." He's like, "Gina, you can do this. You can. Let's stick with it." And he helped me a little bit. And honestly, God love him, he did some studio magic to make that album. But I learned so much from that. Those are the experiences... It's one thing to just sound great all the time and do your thing, right, but it's those experiences that level up you as a musician. So I'm thankful for that experience, but it was super uncomfortable. And that was only last summer.

Leah Roseman:

Yeah, because it's such a different language, to play any kind of jazz. But I think we all have to push outside our comfort levels all the time as musicians, or we will just kind of stagnate, right?

Gina Burgess:

Yep, totally.

Leah Roseman:

But I wonder about, especially the rock world. People play their anthems, they're expected. If they do a big stadium show, people want to hear that tune they've been loving for 10, 20 years. But maybe that artist just really wants to play new material only.

Gina Burgess:

Oh, totally. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

So there has to be a balance, I'm guessing, when you're touring.

Gina Burgess:

There does. I've experienced that with Gypsophilia and I've experienced that with the Jerry Cans. And hopefully I'll experience it with my solo album someday.

Leah Roseman:

Let's talk about this, too.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah. No, you do need a balance, because, of course, as I was saying earlier, the audience is part of the band. So if they're really longing to hear this song. Ukiuq, for example, is our big hit with the Jerry Cans. And I think to myself, every gig, "I'm so glad I love this song. I'm so glad," because we will be playing that song for the whole time we're a band. We'll never stop playing that song, because that's what people love. I think if it were something that I really disliked, that would be another story. But you need that balance, to play them some new stuff and some stuff that they love, and that they know and they can sing along to. Yeah. (violin playing "For D")

Leah Roseman:

Thank you, Gina. That was beautiful.

Gina Burgess:

You're welcome.

Leah Roseman:

So your new solo album, it's coming out soon?

Gina Burgess:

I don't know. I've been working on it for six years, so there's no rush. But I am feeling like it's soon. The chicken is ready to hatch.

Leah Roseman:

So have you recorded anything in the studio yet, or just working on tunes?

Gina Burgess:

Oh no, it's all done. It's mastered.

Leah Roseman:

Oh, okay.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah, actually, I recorded the whole thing in Dartmouth at New Scotland Yard. That's Joel Plaskett Studios, super beautiful space. So I was really thankful for that. I got a grant to do that. And then had it produced in Montreal at Breakglass Studios with Jace, who is the last Jerry Cans producer. And I wanted him in particular to do this album, because I had worked with him with the Jerry Cans, so I knew our vibe worked. But also he, through the Jerry Cans and through some other projects, has worked with throat singers, so I know he knows how to mix them, how to hear them properly and all of that. So I got another grant to do that, which was super. And it just got mastered a few weeks ago. Now I'm working with this buddy who's in Thailand right now, but for the album art. It's called, ISNOW. That's the name of the album, ISNOW. And it's maybe next summer, I'm thinking. Yeah, because I'm in school, so I don't really want to release it while I'm in school. Then I feel like it will be time.

Leah Roseman:

So what kind of music is on this album? Is it a mix of styles or...?

Gina Burgess:

Yep, I'd say. It's super eclectic, actually. So there's some pieces on there... One I wrote while I was doing my yoga teacher's training, and it's called Something New. And it's basically a piece of solo Bach, one of the sonatas or something, so it's very much in that style. And then that has a sister piece, called SOS, that I wrote when I was really needing help, but unable to ask for it, and then actually unable to receive it when it was offered. So just seeing this whole situation happening. So I wrote it, called SOS, and I actually took that tune. So it's on my solo album, but it's also on the last Jerry Cans album as well. And it's super fascinating to hear the two renditions, I guess, if you will. But that one is with a delay pedal. So I've been using some different pedals in all different situations. And this one's pretty heavy, so it uses a delay pedal, distortion pedal. And the SOS one is very melancholy. And I would actually recommend looking at the Jerry Cans video that we have right now. We had this dancer from Toronto moving in a way that almost looks like a boomerang, but it's to represent that she's stuck.

Leah Roseman:

I saw that. Really moving.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah. Isn't it amazing? Yeah, when I got that back, I was just... Actually, I cried. I cried and cried. And I watched it again, and cried more. And of course, we put it out in the pandemic. So we weren't planning for that at all, but of course, everyone was stuck, and it was just perfect timing. And with the whole social medias, I don't know if you noticed, there's some scenes where they're looking at their screen and it's just flashing in front of their face. Yeah, that's a big part of our lives, right, so we need to have balance with that. And that's a big part of that piece. So it was interesting to play it my way, I guess, or not even my way, but with the people on my solo project in that group versus the Jerry Cans.

Then there's some folky tunes, more so. Actually, someone labeled them KlezBreton, which I love. I love that term. So I'm using Klezmer scales, but the chord progression is a Cape Breton fiddle tune. So it does the whole classic go down a step, then come back up a step. So there's two songs on there like that, one of which we just finished a music video for. My very first music video, which I'm really excited for.

What else is on there? There's a dance tune, a very, very trancey... So I love this idea of classical trance. So it's very much like Philip Glass or Steve Reich. Those are my heroes, big heroes. Terry Riley, actually, is number one big hero. I just love that minimalist, repetitive trance stuff. So I do a lot of that. And of course, throat singing is that too, which is why I think I love throat singing so much, because you can get into that mystical state through repetition. So some of the pieces on there are like that too.

I remember developing some of these pieces. And I was crashing at my mom's place in between tours, and one piece I thought, "Oh, this is it. I've just nailed it. This is perfect." And my grandma comes into my room and she's like, "God, Gina, that's enough to drive you mad." I was like, "I did get it. Perfect, thanks granny." So it's not for everybody. But I feel like on this album, there is something for everybody. And it just happened that way. I wasn't trying to do anything, it just happened like that.

Leah Roseman:

So you mentioned pedals. So is that just part of your process too, with working on pieces ?

Gina Burgess:

The pedals actually came from playing with Gypsophilia and the guitar players in that band of course use pedals. And I've always been intrigued. And then I heard, well, Final Fantasy at the time, but Owen Pallett play. And I was looking at his pedal board and just totally amazed and intrigued. And again, going back to this whole trance idea, you can do that with loopers and different... I love delay for whatever reason. And so I started experimenting with Gypsophilia. That was the very first time actually that I used a pedal. And it was very minimal, but it was great. And then I brought those same pedals to the Jerry Cans and started playing with them. And I only have three pedals that I use at the moment. I'm not techy in any way, so they need to be super easy. But I can definitely see why people call it the rabbit hole, because once you get into it, you could really get into it. But then you have to carry them everywhere too, so I remind myself of that.

Leah Roseman:

Did you use a looper when you were in isolation this pandemic year for sort of the feeling of playing with people?

Gina Burgess:

I did. Yep. Yeah, I did. Actually, right now I have a different one rented from Long & McQuaid, an even easier one. It's one button. That's what I said, "I want one with one button," and they had one. So yeah, I've been playing with that a little bit and playing, actually... The only gigs that I really had fairly consistently through the pandemic was at this wine restaurant where I live, called WINEGRUNT. And they love wine and they love music, so we were always allowed to have one player through Covid. So I brought my looper. And that was kind of the first time that I used my looper in front of people, because I don't use it with the band. And it's nerve wracking to use it in front of people. But this was kind of background music, and honestly, we were only allowed having 12 people in the bar or something, and they were all my family and friends. So it was a safe space to try these things. It definitely doesn't have the feeling of playing with other people. No, but it was fun.

Leah Roseman:

Do you write at the keyboard a little bit too?

Gina Burgess:

No, I write when I'm walking around, and songs come into my head when I'm walking. So I just take my cell phone and I sing into my cell phone. And sometimes my band mates will get these really hilarious little voice memos. But usually those are the beginning of the songs. And actually I know quite a few other musicians who are inspired while they're walking.

Leah Roseman:

Sure. Yeah. And when you're improvising, do you tend to hear it right before you're playing it? Or as you're playing it, the next note's coming? Or do you surprise yourself?

Gina Burgess:

That's a really good question. I think I hear it. There's also... not cliches, kind of cliches, but little licks. I guess, the building blocks are Lego blocks. I say to students, "Instead of our bag of tricks, we have our bag of licks, and each one of those is how you make your new blocks." But that can get a little bit redundant, right? So yeah, there are ways to explore sound with less of a mind. Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

So Gina, thanks for agreeing to do a little improv with me.

Gina Burgess:

Yes, I'm happy to.

Leah Roseman:

Do you want to start?

Gina Burgess:

Sure.

Leah Roseman:

Okay. (violin playing)

Gina Burgess:

I think that's good.

Leah Roseman:

Okay. Thank you. That's fun.

Gina Burgess:

That was beautiful.

Leah Roseman:

Well, on that note, I want to thank you so much for this conversation.

Gina Burgess:

Oh, you're so welcome. I really appreciated you being interested in asking me. It means a lot.

Leah Roseman:

Oh, of course.

Gina Burgess:

Yeah.

Leah Roseman:

Season one of this podcast had 20 episodes, and season two continues with a really interesting mix of musicians talking about their lives and careers with perspectives on overcoming challenges, finding inspiration and connection through a life so enriched with music. Please follow this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts to be informed about each new episode.