SHARON CORR: TAKING HER OWN JOURNEY
We are all one, under the same sun. That’s a core message of Sharon Corr’s radiant new album, “The Same Sun.” The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-violinist seamlessly melds diverse musical influences to complement heartfelt lyrics. Corr has drawn from her life experience for inspiration, including her 2012 trek to Tanzania as Oxfam Ireland’s ambassador for “Ending Poverty Starts With Women” campaign. The moving tracks include “We Could Be Lovers,” the international hit single, “Take A Minute” and the title tune. Already embraced worldwide for her resonant Celtic folk-rock-pop with The Corrs, whose album sales have topped 45 million, Sharon Corr continues to make gorgeous, meaningful music as a distinctive solo artist. Pop Culture Classics was pleased to have an opportunity to chat with her. POP CULTURE CLASSICS: Was this a particularly personal album for you? SHARON CORR: Oh, yeah. I think an album should always be very personal. Otherwise, you’re not really speaking from the heart. And I think that’s what music’s all about. I think that’s why people listen and they need it, because it’s kind of like the ultimate therapy. So, yeah, it’s very personal throughout. PCC: This record has a wonderfully intimate feel to it. Was that something you went into the studio trying to capture? CORR: Very much so. I don’t put much discipline on an album before I start it, because then you sort of inhibit the creative process, if you make too many decisions. But the only decision I really wanted to make was, well, first of all to write the best songs I possibly could, to be as vulnerable as I could, because I believe that’s the spot where people can really relate. And then I think you can do something that’s quite magical, when people can relate, when they can listen to a song and feel nurtured by it or feel like it’s a big hug or feel understood by it. It’s kind of, I think, why we turn to art, why we turn to literature, why we turn to music, because we find ourselves in it. PCC: So that vulnerability, is that a matter of opening yourself up emotionally as you’re writing and breaking down any protective barriers? CORR: I think sometimes in this world, because it’s such an industry and it’s driven very much by money, people forget that actually the fundamental and the basic catalyst is the art and the emotion and the need to express. So, for me, when I go to write a song, what I do is, I try to follow what’s happening to me, naturally, rather than try to formulize this into something that works, rather than something that could conceivably be commercial. I think you want to start with the instinct. You want to start with why you’re driven to write this, what’s compelling you to do it, where it’s taking you, and then make it into something that you can put on an album. PCC: So what were the elements in your life at this point that led to this particular album? CORR: Well, I’m at a particularly good place in my life right now, as far as understanding me goes. And I think that’s very positive for any person, if they get to a point where they kind of understand what they need, what they love, what they should be doing, what makes them happy, not necessarily driven by the self, but just understanding that, if I do this... like, for me, if I make music, if I sing on stage, if I perform, if I tour, I know that I feel happy... or as happy as I can. And I also feel incredibly fulfilled. So that’s really the basis of it. Each song really has its own little journey. Like “The Edge of Nowhere,” for example. It’s completely stripped back. It’s just me on piano, me on violin and my vocal. And it’s because the song is lonely. And I think that the production of the song reflects the lyrics and the feeling of the song. And the song’s basically about being an artist and being on the outside of life. You know, an artist goes through phases in life, where they go, “Am I on the outside and this is wrong? Should I be in those warm, cozy houses with the families that I’m passing on my tour bus?” Do you know what I mean? Because you’re constantly at truck stops, you’re constantly a stranger in a new place. And you’re wondering if you’re getting it right. I mean, I know, to me, I am getting it right, because me being on the outside is my inside. It’s my normal place. It’s where I feel comfortable. It’s where I feel at home. But sometimes there’s a darkness and you wonder, “Gosh, are you getting it right? Are you supposed to be on the outside of what is considered normal?” But I know that it certainly makes me happier to be outside of what I consider normal. PCC: With you having a clear vision of what you wanted for the record, what was the process like, working with [producer] Mitchell Froom and having him help you bring that to fruition? CORR: Well, that is why I wanted him. I have always loved Mitchell’s work. The first time I ever thought about or wanted to know who produced a record was Crowded House’s “Woodface.” It was so emotionally and intellectually and musically stimulating, on every level. It kept turning corners. That, to me, perfectly mimics life, because life is not a straight line. It’s constant corners that we have to navigate and survive. And, to me, that’s what his production is. It’s very sort of in keeping with human nature and it shows all the light and the shade and the grey areas. And it’s very, very organic. For me, being in The Corrs and being part of a huge band and being one part of a thing that was four people, it was a beautiful thing, but in one way, you’re diluting yourself, by being in it, because you can’t be the complete you, which is fine, because it serves that purpose. But when I do my own albums, I want to take the journey that only I can go on. And I knew that, with Mitchell, he only takes songs on a journey that feels like the right journeys for the songs. The guy never forces in like the key change to make it lift on the last chorus. He doesn’t do those little tricks that some people use to make it commercial. He just kind of serves the song. And I love that. I love that about him. PCC: Your work as a solo artist, that has really expanded your creative palette? CORR: Yeah, very much. I always had a huge breadth of influences. What I did with The Corrs is also part of the reason why I’m here. So I greatly appreciate it. I just feel that, when, let’s say I wrote a song in The Corrs and then we brought it into the studio, then it went a certain way, as a Corrs song. And it didn’t necessarily go a way that I would have taken it myself, which is neither good nor bad. But it’s ultimately way more fulfilling to complete the journey by yourself. PCC: Is there more Corrs music ahead, do you know? CORR: I don’t know. There’s certainly nothing in the cards at the moment. My sister Andrea has had her second baby about three months ago. So she’s super busy with that. So we don’t have any plans. I’m constantly touring and promoting my solo stuff. But I never say never. We’ll see. PCC: In addition to your songwriting expanding through your solo work, do you find that your vocalizing has had an opportunity to develop further, as well? CORR: Yes, very much. I was always a singer And I was a violin player from the age of six. And I played piano, as well. And in The Corrs, I mostly used my violin and and I used my voice for backing vocals, which is a completely different technique than to be out front singing lead or taking a song on its own. So I almost had to relearn how to do that, coming out of The Corrs, because I was so used to my sister Caroline providing the beautiful bedrock for Andrea to push forward from. And that’s what we did. And it was really, really gorgeous. But, for me, I almost went on a journey of discovering what my voice would have been, had I not been doing backing vocals for years. But I think it was also quite a good thing, because it protected my voice, too. I didn’t overuse it, for a hell of a long time. Now I’ve been finding depth in it that I didn’t know for the last six years in my solo career. PCC: With the great vocals on this album, there’s kind of the feel of classic pop, the records of the 60s and 70s. Was that era an influence or inspiration to you on this project? CORR: Very much. My goal as a singer-songwriter is to try and get as close as I can, as I am capable of, to the great singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell or Carly Simon, Carole King, Neil Young, all those people who came out of that sort of Californian era where it just kind of exploded. And it exploded for so many different reasons and mostly because of the political climate at the time. And before then. And it seems to be a great sort of catalyst for creativity. For me, I thought that shouldn’t be exclusive to that era. It doesn’t necessarily need to be. And the world’s going through so many changes and constantly recycles itself, that there has to be room for great art. But I do look to then, because that’s where I find the purity of the songs. You can literally pick out the songwriting. You can pick through it. It’s beautiful. It’s nurtured. It’s written to perfection, because there weren’t the same production gimmicks to cover up stuff then. You couldn’t cover up a bad song, giving it one great chorus and then then having it be accepted as a great song. So for me, it’s kind of the barometer of what I aspire to. PCC: Do you think playing the violin colored your singing stylistically? Was there interplay between the two?
That’s a very interesting question. I’ve never been asked that before. I don’t know. It must have, because, in a way, I did start out in the classical world, playing violin. So I do know that, not necessarily, vocally, but when I go to write on the piano, when I go to write at all, there is always a classical influence in what I’m doing. I feel that coming out all the time. But I don’t know if the sound of the violin or how I play the violin has a direct influence vocally. It must have. They must rub off on each other, I’m sure. PCC: For you, music must seem more like a way of life than just a career. CORR: For me, I just feel so right, when I’m playing, when I’m singing, when I’m writing. When I’m on stage, I couldn’t feel more right. So, to me, it’s not really a choice of, “Oh, this is my career and I do it.” This is me. It’s who I am. It identifies me. And I don’t feel like me unless I’m doing it. And often, because the success of The Corrs was so big and so global, people would ask the question, “Well, why are you still doing this?” And my answer would be, “Well, why do you get up in the morning?” This is what I do. Just because you’ve had success doesn’t mean you no longer want to do something. I didn’t go after it for success. I went after it, because I could and I loved it and it made me feel good. PCC: I guess your parents must have been very encouraging of you following your musical dreams. CORR: Yeah, my parents were unusual. And they taught us that great thing of never being afraid of being on the outside - to actually run at it. Never be afraid of being different. That’s how the world gets changed and reinvented and how we correct the wrongs in the world, is by thinking outside of the box. Because, if we continue to do what we’re doing, the same way, then we continue to make the same mistakes. So that’s the thing that our parents passed on to us was, “Don’t be afraid to be outside of the box. Don’t be afraid to think differently or to be different or to stand out from everybody else.” And, not to be arrogant about it either, but just to follow who you are. It’s kind of risky for parents. In the island that we grew up in, there wasn’t a lot of money. It was a pretty poor country. If you got a job teaching, it was like you’d won the lottery. If you got a job in the bank, it was fabulous. So our parents really believed in following your dreams. And I, as a consequence, do as well. I kind of feel, you dream of what you dream, because you have the potential to be what you dream. Otherwise, you wouldn’t dream it. Do you know what I mean? It’s just about following and getting back up, when you fall down, and you keep going and getting better at what you do. Even if it doesn’t work, you can only feel good about having tried. PCC: And that’s something that you try to impart to your own children, as well? CORR: Yeah, absolutely. I always want them to embrace what’s different about them. I also want them to feel like they fit in, so that they’re not ostracized in any way. But I would like my children to see that I’m a woman who goes after what she wants. Because it’s taken a long time for the world to change. And it still needs an awful lot of change in respect to equality for women. We in the Western world experience a lot more equality, but I’ve seen a lot in other countries, where it’s quite appalling. It means so much for me for my daughter to see me doing what I want, being an employer of people, me taking tours on the road, me writing my own music. It means a lot to me for her to see that, because I never want her to dilute herself or hold herself back in any way, when she has the potential to be something. PCC: You have two children? CORR: Yes, I do, girl and boy, six and eight. PCC: Is it important to you that music becomes a big part in their lives, even if they never become performers? CORR: Yeah, next door, right now, they’re having a piano lesson [laughs]. It’s also really important, for me, for music not to be too much of a discipline. I want them to come at it from a love point of view. And then also know that they should learn and they should practice, but never feel like it’s a chore. When I was growing up, violin, it’s a beautiful instrument, but it’s one of the hardest instruments in the world to learn. When you’re six years old, you want to be in the garden, playing, not practicing your violin. So there’s a lot of structure around it that kind of turned me a little bit off. And, as a consequence, I loved the piano more, because I taught myself. And I would go myself and practice without being asked. So I want to create an environment where they see me playing music, they see how much I love it and therefore, they want to do it. PCC: Is there still something magical and mystical to you about music? CORR: Always. It’s the most amazing thing, because, where words leave off, music takes over. When we try to describe what we’re feeling, we can only do it so well. It’s like a movie with a great soundtrack. If there’s a movie that’s really, really well written and it also has a superb soundtrack, then they have a much better chance of transporting the script and it being understood by the people who are watching the movie. It describes and creates all the emotions that we have inside that we can’t do through words alone. So, to me, it’s like the ultimate language. PCC: Earlier, you touched on the idea of correcting wrongs. You’ve used your celebrity to help a lot of important causes. The work you’ve done with Oxfam and the travels with them, how did that change your perspective and maybe even affect your artistic work? CORR: Yeah, the title track off the album, “The Same Sun,” was written after I came home from Tanzania. That trip was profound in every way. It was like I had every sort of possible emotional feeling, when I was out there. I met the most amazing women - and men - who live in dire poverty, who live in the most awful condition and still are able to express happiness and joy and to dance and have fun and laugh and then also to express huge sadness. For me, it was a great honor to speak to these people. I went out there as an ambassador for Oxfam, to talk to these women, to interview them on camera and then to take all of that back home, basically, so people would donate to Oxfam, to make these women’s lives better. And the stories they told me were absolutely horrifying, on so many levels. Just on the level of sexual violence, it’s quite beyond belief. And it’s just normal in Tanzania, towards women. I felt equipped to be in that situation. Being a woman, I’m very empathetic. I love meeting people and I love challenging myself and doing new things. And I did feel, if the lovely things that have happened to me, in my life, through music, can help other people, well then, that’s fantastic. That’s even better. So “The Same Sun,” I was writing as we were traveling between these villages and we would get stuck on dirt roads and I saw this little shepherd boy and he was standing underneath an acacia tree. He must have been about six years old. And he was a shepherd on his own in the middle of nowhere. And he smiled at me. And I say that in the song. And the song, for me, was very much not to be a judgment song, not to be a speech, not a song to be about how unfair is the world, because I don’t want to speak for other people. I think there’s something arrogant about that, in a way. But I wanted to recreate the atmosphere of what I experienced out there and the color and the warmth and the people and almost transmit the message through that instead - that we’re all under the same sun, but we experience such vastly different lives. And yet the sun connects us, so really we should be together. PCC: You’ve had such a positive effect, through your music, in so many ways, over the course of the career. What has been the most rewarding aspect for you? CORR: There are so many, a million different things. We played for Nelson Mandela so many times. But on a small scale, it’s the smaller moments that are the most tender, I think. And that’s what I tried to put on my album. Some of the moments that are most significant in life pass by in a second. And there’s a feeling and there are no words. And there’s something that happens between two people that’s so intensely profound that it affects them for the rest of their life. And it’s those moments, the ones that are unsaid, that are so powerful. I remember I was doing a signing, with The Corrs, in HMV Records, in Dublin. And this man handed me a letter and he said, “I hope you read this.” And I read the letter outside and he had told me how they had lost their child and that “Runaway” had gotten them through, that that song, The Corrs’ song, had gotten them through their grief. I thought, “Wow, if music, if our music can do that, how amazing is that? If it can nurture people and give them something, when they’re going through the most awful experience of their life... So that’s the stuff that really means a lot to me, when people tell me something like that. PCC: So as far as the goals, what you still want to achieve, is it a continuation of that sort of connection? CORR: It’s always about the connection. It’s that the connection gets stronger. It’s that, when you stand in front of an audience, there’s like this perfect communion between you, because you’re speaking a language that we all understand. Music transcends all languages. I can go to Japan and be perfectly understood, singing and playing music. Right across the States, there are so many cultures, so many different types of people, the States are like different countries. And yet, the music went right across, the whole time, no matter where we were. So, to me, it’s really about communication. It’s really about talking to each other and helping each other. I just want to become better at that, always. That’s my thing. For concert dates, news and videos, visit www.sharoncorr.com. |
