Gillian Stone is a Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist who aims to reconcile tenderness and dark emotion in her work. Using vulnerability to create a safe space to explore the dichotomy of beauty and discomfort, her music is an exploration of inner and outer landscapes, turbulent feelings, recovery, and the juxtaposition of femininity and imperfection. We had the pleasure of meeting her to talk about music, her career, and more!
Gillian, thank you for agreeing to this interview with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. If you weren’t an artist, what would you be and why?
Thank you! If I wasn’t an artist, I would absolutely want to work with animals in some capacity. One of the reasons I didn’t choose that path is because I have terrible allergies, which is one of the great tragedies of my life. But in another life, I would have figured something out! I also would love to be an organic farmer. I’m originally from Vancouver Island and still yearn for a life of living off the land surrounded by critters. Toronto, where I live, is an incredible and vibrant city, but if I wasn’t in the arts I likely never would have moved away from the West Coast.
How did you get into music?
There was always music filling both the houses I grew up in. My mom and step-dad had a piano that I tinkered away on from as early as I can remember. They listened to Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, John Coltrane, Supertramp, and Henryk Górecki, amongst others. My older brother was super into Metallica and Megadeath and I thought that was the coolest thing in the whole world. My dad and step-mom listened to a lot of early jazz like Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong. My dad also blasted Spanish baroque fairly constantly. So I was surrounded by an eclectic sonic environment in my formative years.
The big shift for me was when I started taking classical voice lessons in my early teens. That’s when music became a passion and a safe space for expression. When I was 15 my mom bought me an acoustic guitar and I also discovered Tool’s Lateralus, the latter of which blew my musical world apart in the best way. When I was 16 I became inexplicably drawn to the bass and became obsessed with learning basslines by Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Colin Greenwood, and Paul Simonon. It was around that time I also started singing jazz, for which my voice was much better suited than classical singing. And then I just kept going from there.
Who have been your industry influences?
I believe that Joanna Newsom is one of the most important musicians of this generation. She has taken the masculinity of prog and triumphantly turned it on its head. I love her. I feel the same way about Tamara Lineman of The Weather Station. It’s so exciting to see an artist in the process of imprinting her legacy on the landscape of Canadian music. I’m also hugely influenced by PJ Harvey, whose interdisciplinary innovation, prolific catalog, and continuing relevance as an aging woman in the industry are incredibly inspiring. The same goes for Juana Molina and Kim Gordon. I love Icelandic post-rock – bands like Sigur Rós, Sólstafir, and Amiina. I have Icelandic heritage and studied Icelandic music for my master’s thesis in ethnomusicology. It’s a bit of an obsession.
I’m also drawn to music that epitomizes the Cascadian soundscape such as Earth, Mount Eerie, and C. Diab. Staying connected to the sonic landscape of the Pacific Northwest helps with my homesickness. My dear friends, fellow Toronto musicians Kira May and Tara Kannangara, have also been wonderful influences. They are both such singular and fearless artists and have taught me a lot about confidence. Finally, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, and Joni Mitchell were hugely influential during my previous life as a jazz singer.
Please tell us more about your latest project ‘Bridges’.
I wrote “Bridges” in 2009 after a summer of self-imposed turbulence due to concurrent mental health disorders. I don’t remember exactly when or how I wrote it, but it stayed with me and became predictive. For over a decade I’ve returned to it as a space to safely express dysregulation and shame.
By the time I approached Michael Peter Olsen to collaborate as a co-producer, I had a very clear idea of how I wanted it to sound. Olsen and I were acquaintances and I admired his work as a cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. We produced “Bridges” in his home studio, in Uncomfortable Silence, during the winter of 2018/19. Percussionist Spencer Cole and I did the drums and rhythm guitar live off the floor, then Olsen and I built up the song from there. Olsen pulled off the e-cello solo in about 15 minutes. In post-production I kept telling him to turn it up – I wanted it to evoke the feeling of someone losing their mind. Overall, soundscape was key in our work together.
The video for “Bridges” was conceived, directed, shot, and edited by visual artist Emily Harrison, who also did the track art. Harrison and I are old friends from Vancouver Island and I’m a huge fan of her work. We shot the video over two days in High Park, and the majority of the effects were produced in-camera. Harrison wanted the video to be a psychedelic dream inspired by French new-wave film. While she was editing, she was sending me messages like “I’m turning you into the archetypal witch in the woods!” and I had full trust in her vision.
What has been your biggest challenge as an artist and how do you overcome it?
Confidence and mental health have been my biggest challenges as an artist. I’ve had major depressive disorder since I was a child, and one of its manifestations is a constant voice that tells me I’m a failure. Another manifestation is alcohol use disorder, which was out of control throughout my twenties and early thirties. During this time, I was constantly doing damage control for my reputation, career, and finances. I subsequently did not have the energy or means to follow through on my creative work. I’ve now been sober from alcohol for the better part of three years, and have an amazing therapist and doctor who help to keep me on track. My community is also incredibly supportive. I’ve learned to never doubt the power of the people who love you. On this journey, I’ve found a new sense of self-love and self-respect, which I will need to work on for the rest of my life. This has enabled me to nurture myself as an artist and to see my creative projects through.
Who would you love to collaborate with and why?
I’m a big fan of Graham Walsh’s work as a producer, especially with Viet Cong/Preoccupations. There is an attention to grimy, ambient soundscapes that I really love. I’m also drawn to John Parish and Steve Albini as producers. Parish because of how he has collaborated with PJ Harvey and Aldous Harding, and Albini because of his propensity for lo-fi heavy grit. I also think a lot about drummers I would love to collaborate with, due to my extreme lack of skill on the kit. I love what shit gets smashy. Orri Páll Dýrason, Rob Ellis, and Elvin Jones (if I could figure out how to resurrect him from the dead) all blow my mind. And, if I could work with Jonny Greenwood in any capacity, I would die a happy woman.
Can you share any information on other projects in the pipeline?
Olsen and I produced a second single from the sessions “Bridges” was born out of. I wrote it after ending a relationship with a partner whose mortality and sanity were hanging in the balance. It’s a post-rock lullaby that features vocal drones and layers of vintage synths. I have a video concept for it that I’m very excited to get started on. It will be released in late winter/early spring 2021.
I also sing backup vocals for Allison Devenish, aka Alli Sunshine, who’s music is in the vein of vintage singer-songwriter pop. Alli has been one of my best friends for 15 years and her music is so much fun. She recently produced some tracks with Nathan Vanderwielen and Christopher Shannon of Bart, and will be releasing a single in the spring of 2021.
Where can our readers find out more about you and your projects? Note: please provide website and social media links.
Thanks for asking! My website, www.gillianstone.com, is a good place to start. I can be found on Instagram as @gillysto (https://www.instagram.com/gillysto/), on Twitter as @scapes_sound (https://twitter.com/scapes_sound), and on Facebook as Gillian Stone (https://www.facebook.com/gillianstonemusic/). I also have SoundCloud and Bandcamp pages, at https://soundcloud.com/gillianstone and https://gillianstone.bandcamp.com/, respectively. Thank you so much, it’s been a pleasure!
Photo Credit: Kira May
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Great article on an interesting artist.