Interview with singer-songwriter Anna Cordell

Photography by Kristoffer Paulsen


               
             Melbourne singer-songwriter Anna Cordell says that when she picks up the guitar, it's a symbolic thing. Searching for the in-between moments, the sudden pauses and gaps in the flow of living, her music a type of sight leading one toward the hidden. "The cracks in the walls are where the magic happens," Cordell writes. "But they are hard to see sometimes- easy to bypass, easy to skirt over." Anna's last record, These Walls, which was met with much critical praise upon its release, is soon to be joined by another, no doubt equally praise worthy album this fall. Here Anna talks with AHC about her inspirations, fitting music into fashion and vice versa, making art for the right reasons and about all those who do what they do "because they have to. Because it is human. "



​AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way? 

Anna: That's a big question! It has certainly had some ups and downs but definitely no regrets. I am so thankful to have been able to do it, the only reason I was able was because I had so much encouragement around me. The EP was basically funded by friends and family, since I crowd funded, but at that stage my pool was very small - not many people had heard my music yet, so it was really the good faith of people close to me that got me going. 

In a way that has made me feel a certain responsibility to make it 'work' - although even as I say that I'm not sure how to measure that in such a weird industry.

I did try to make it 'work' financially... and I guess I made enough to keep my costs covered, but certainly not anything to live off. It was tricky because most musicians at my level have a second job, but my second job was another thing done for 'the love' instead of the money... Staying home with my 4 daughters when they were little. 

I think the biggest lesson I have learnt is that our society has really learnt to value things based on what they are worth financially- the things that sit outside of the economy are belittled and seen as something less important or serious. I am sure subconsciously I fell into the trap of thinking that way, but now I feel like fighting for all those members contributing to society outside of the norm (Artists, musicians, carers, parents, volunteer workers) Who do it not because it's a fun hobby or a lifestyle choice but because they have to. Because it is human. 

AHC: You've remarked that your music tends to straddle a place between light and dark, is it this in-between place where you feel the songs coming through, like cracks in the wall? 

Anna: Yes! The cracks in the walls are where the magic happens. But they are hard to see sometimes- easy to bypass, easy to skirt over. 

AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Anna: I come from a family of musicians and music appreciators but strangely, my early childhood was quite monastic. My Mother had me young so I grew up with my grandparents at a stage of their lives that I guess for them was quite mediative. They were strong Catholics and had recently entered retirement. 

The story is that my uncle left home as a teenager during his 70s hippy phase and took his guitar, the record player and all the records along with him... so there was nothing to play music on. 

Don't ask me why they didn't just go out and buy another one, but what was left was a very quiet house, a small bush block and an old piano. 

It meant my early musical experiences were based around church music. But the moment I was floored... was the birthday I was bought a tape player and mum took me to choose my first tape. I had no idea what to get, so I just said to the guy in the music store, "I like what's playing in here now, can I have that?" It was Paul Simons 'Graceland' it was a good start! 

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper? 

Anna: I wrote a tune on the piano. It was an eastern sounding melody... I was fascinated by that kind of thing because I knew my father was Persian but had never met him. It was a musical way of seeking out my roots I guess. 

AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, teachers/mentors etc? 

Anna: That is almost too hard to choose... but at the moment I think it might be Cat Stevens. There is an honesty to his music... he seems to be seeking something beyond himself... and I guess has since proven that with the spiritual path he has followed. I want to stay honest and be fearless with my writing. 

AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? 

Anna: I don't know what the magical ingredient is... I feel like most the time I'm pretty confused about life, and I know I have a song when it reveals a little moment of clarity. That's the thing that keeps me writing, I feel like I have the most clarity when I get a song right. It doesn't mean I write when I'm feeling clear headed... that's the beauty of it- the clarity comes out of the chaos. It feels like quite a spiritual thing really. 

AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, even if only partially, an imperfect vehicle through which to translate the taste of a particular feeling, a state of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener?

Anna: YES YES and YES! That's where I find the motivation to continue... searching for those moments- opening myself up and letting them in. I began playing again when I was trying to meditate but I just couldn't sit still. I'm an incredibly anxious person... when I pick up the guitar, it's a symbolic thing. I give myself permission to think/ meditate. And good always comes from that. I'm going to risk saying you open yourself up to some kind of spirit when you're doing it though- so you can be lead in a few different directions, not always positive, you have to want something good to come out of it. 

AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road?

Anna: When I was at uni you were allowed to take choir as a subject, even though I was studying arts... it was the most beautiful experience. 100 voices! in harmony! Possibly nothing better. Think I'll take that up as my old lady activity some day. 

AHC: When you set out to write a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Anna: If it does, it's not very conscious. But I am a member of the world right now in it's current moment... so it's all floating around, it's bound to get tied up there somehow. 

AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks?

Anna: Put it first. That's the thing I'm trying to teach myself right now... you need energy for creativity- I went through a long time of thinking, I'll do this, this, and this and THEN I'll get to it. 

Have faith in it's value. If you're doing it for the right reasons, If you're trying to be a musician to impress someone else or be a sceney hipster, I don't know, go get some cool gear from the opshop instead, it doesn't really matter.

But if you have a genuine desire to create- you need to listen to that. You do have to keep checking yourself to see if the motivations are coming from the right place though!

Also, get out of your bedroom. The scariest moment is taking that handful of songs down to the local open mic and trying them out. I really recommend doing that alone- taking the plunge without bringing your friends along. You're friends know you too well and you can't play as freely around them as you would otherwise.

AHC: Your last album was 2015's These Walls, recorded after 8 years away from music and working full on in the fashion design industry, which, you've written, you ultimately found unfulfilling on a deeper level, when did that light bulb go off of I need music in my life again, and did the songs begin to come almost immediately to you from there or did it take a while to find your footing and inspiration for that record? Do you have any new projects moving forward or ideas that are percolating for the future?

Anna: Right now I'm dipping my feet back into the world of fashion, because I don't feel I can make a living with music, it's kind of driven me back there because it's what I know. But this time I'm doing it differently. I am really hoping the fashion side of things will be informed by the music- this time round I refuse to give music up, that's never happening again! 

I'm recording an Album in September with NZ producer Ben Edwards ( Marlon Williams, Julia Jacklin) and trying to fund it with fashion! My attitude to fashion has changed a bit too. It's like music, There is a lot of junk out there, but it can be art. It should be. 

The lightbulb went off when I dared to stop for a moment- and this flood of songs came out. And it made me so happy. Maybe that is actually the happiest moment I've had in music. That week that I found it again. 


These Walls available  @ annacordellmusic.bandcamp.com/

Website annacordellmusic.com/
Instagram: @annacordellmusic
@annacordellclothing