Suzanne Little

Formerly of the now defunct group Lava Hay, Suzanne Little has released her debut Be Here Now under the label Nettwerk . Produced after a four year absence from the music industry, Little' s used the time and space to devote herself to create the brilliant introspective lyrics and harmony evident on Be Here Now. Her insights and observations are available for perusal below:

What was the concept behind Be Here Now?

Well, after dropping out of the music business for a couple years after Lava Hay I moved to Salt Spring island, an area removed and isolated from Vancouver. There I met and dealt with a lot of interesting people who had different perspectives and ideas about living. During this break from the music industry I was able to focus on writing the music for this record.

"Tragic Flaw " is one of my favourite songs from the album; what was the inspiration for that song?

"Tragic Flaw" is about the cultural and media influences that shape our perspectives about the female image. It originally came from the prescribed reading in high school and how all the characters I read was about male characters and their flaws, while almost the female characters were secondary to the male characters. It seemed that all the female character traits were only about being beautiful and nurturing while the male characters were the heroes with a woman as the prize. And I thought about all these subversive messages and how woman are taught that their power lies in the way they look, an image not only present in literature but also reinforced by television.

Your music has been compared to Suzanne Vega, Sarah McLaughlin and Sinead O'Conner-that is very impressive company-how do you view such a comparison?

I'm honoured , its great that when people think of my music they are reminded of these wonderful artists; it doesn't bother me at all. I think when people are trying to describe a new artist that want to try to give their review a hook that will give readers an idea of what the music sounds like. Although I don't think the associations are close, they are necessary to get peoples' interest.

You had several well-respected artists involved with Be Here Now (Bruce Kaphan from the American Music Club and Joe Skyward from The Posies, for example). How important was their imput?

Fortunately I'm not in a band, so there is not a set sound that we have to get. The music was mainly about how I can flush out an individual song and create a special sound for each. So I could pick and choose for who I would want for a certain song. "Swept Away" is a good example. Bruce Kaphan from the American Music Club played a really big role in that song. He has developed this phenomenal technique with the pedal steel guitar, which produces the swooping, haunting melodic sound on "Swept Away." His is a talent you don't find in just anyone, so it was really important for me to be able to bring in these musicians; they were really important while I was working in the studio in San Francisco. I did quite a lot of experimentation in the studio, I basically lived there. People would go home and I would still be there playing around with the equipment, experimenting with many aspects of the music. I was never locked into one direction as I tried to make everything as original as possible.

Are you concentrating on touring to promote the album?

Yes, but I also have a son, he's almost one year old, and I want to spend time with him while he's so young. I feel it is important to spend time with him.

Does he like your music?

Oh yeah. I was pregnant with him while I was producing the album. He loves the music. He reacts so well, it's hilarious. He will sit there and slap his arms around to the music. My music is like a heartbeat to him, it excites him so much!

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