A Chat with Genevieve Sovereign (22.10.23)
Exploring various genres and styles, singer-songwriter Genevieve Sovereign is not to be pigeonholed. Finding and fusing electronic and organic sounds, the Australia-based musician has a penchant for intriguing tunes. We speak with Sovereign about her single ‘Midday Blue’, retrospective advice, theme songs and future plans.
OSR: What drew you to music? Why did you choose to become a musician?
Sovereign: I’m not sure there’s an answer to those questions really! For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved music of all kinds. When I first started learning basic music skills and theory in school, it just added more layers of intrigue and ways to explore. Everything has evolved organically from that space of initial love and enquiry, I think.
In terms of my background, I was born and raised amid the rolling forest expanses of northwestern Ontario (Canada), which itself has profoundly influenced my life and worldviews I suspect. I learned to play flute and piccolo in high school and became an avid participant in both my school’s concert band and also the closest city’s youth orchestra. When I moved away to university, my flute and interest in music went with me. I performed in the pit orchestra for a musical comedy production on campus, while simultaneously studying engineering full-time and working a part-time admin job to support myself.
It all started getting a bit much to handle though, and I actually dropped music out of my life for a number of years – until the rolling pandemic lockdowns of 2020, in my new home of Melbourne (Australia). That’s when my passion for music reignited and I began to explore composition and songwriting – as well as started learning guitar, keyboard and singing. I’m still very much a learner in all of the above, of course!
OSR: You recently released your single ‘Midday Blue’. What can you tell us about it?
Sovereign: I can tell you heaps, and with great enthusiasm! My new electronic-acoustic hybrid single ‘Midday Blue’ offers a significant departure stylistically from my other recent releases. Inspired by growing up amid those majestic rolling forests in Canada and subsequently moving southward to the dusty open expansiveness of Australia, it juxtaposes that soul-soothing brilliance of endless skies which exist anywhere in the world should we choose to seek it.
Instrumentally paring back from the complex musical arrangements of my other recent work, ‘Midday Blue’ instead underscores the innate expressiveness of voice and lyrics whilst also highlighting the remarkable nuance that accomplished musicians are able to convey through their chosen instruments of expression. Beyond my own presence in it, ‘Midday Blue’ showcases beautiful guest performances from Paul Wyer / Ventry on acoustic guitar and Emily Saaen on piano, with finishing mix and mastering polish applied by returning audio engineer Deece at Omni-hieroglyphic (following vox recording FTW with Joel Taylor at The Black Lodge Studios). I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with all of them, on this and other projects!
OSR: What does ‘Midday Blue’ mean to you?
Sovereign: At its core, ‘Midday Blue’ for me is a song about both gratitude and seeking. It’s a journey of questioning, growth and being thankful for where it all brings us. That’s part of the reason I released it on Em’s birthday actually, September 1st. Not only is she the amazing pianist on this recording, but she’s also been my vocal coach and dear friend since I first started learning to sing in late 2020. Neither the song nor I would be the same without her, and so releasing it in honour of her birthday just seemed like a perfect expression of how grateful I’ve been for her company throughout this adventure!
OSR: If you could change one thing about the single, what would it be?
Sovereign: Well considering I began writing ‘Midday Blue’ on acoustic guitar back when I first started learning to play guitar, I’d say almost everything about it has been a learning curve! It’s been in development for a period of years, surfacing into and out of my consciousness and taking shape slowly… Arrangement, melody-writing, chord progression… My growth in learning about all those elements of composition (and more!) can be catalogued through the development of ‘Midday Blue’, I reckon. All that said though, I wouldn’t change a darn thing. The adventure is the prize and learning is the most important goal I hear. 😄
OSR: How would you describe your music to a person who had never heard of you before?
Sovereign: Poetic lyrics with continually questing, questioning and/or philosophical messages embedded across experimental electronic soundscapes that flirt with a variety of different styles simultaneously. 😄
OSR: What makes you unique as a musician?
Sovereign: Probably the same thing that makes me unique as a human! I just am really, LOL. But I suppose some of the more practical elements of my approach to general life help get me by – particularly persistence, passion and pragmatism (to get alliterative). That’s not just with music of course, but with everything I pursue. Whenever I find something I truly believe in, something that brings me incandescently alive, then I throw myself into it and persist until my goals are achieved but also with an understanding that things usually work most smoothly when well-aligned to the time/space/resourcing I have readily available. It’s sometimes a fine balance to strike, but that in itself makes the journey more enriching!
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
OSR: If you could head back and speak to young Genevieve, what advice would you give her?
Sovereign: You’re gonna LOVE this, kiddo. 😄
OSR: What song would make the best theme music for you? It doesn’t have to be one of your songs.
Sovereign: Kenny Rogers’ ‘The Gambler’ 100%. Beyond my answer to the previous question, I reckon that song embodies some of the next-best life advice ever offered.
OSR: Do you have future plans as a musician?
Sovereign: Everything as it unfolds – in beauty, grace and joy. More specifically though, I do have several other songs in various stages of completion currently. I’d especially like to explore spoken word possibilities next… So many shiny things to play with though, haha!
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Sovereign: Love always. ❤️ And if anyone’s interested to join in on this adventure with me, I warmly invite folks to check out my website and/or socials.
Many thanks to Genevieve Sovereign for speaking with us. For more from Genevieve Sovereign check out her official website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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