Image copyright respected holders taken from there FB Page
The Pairs are great Canadian act that won me over with there music and knew I had to interview them. This is what they had to say.
1. How did the band come about?
You could say that the band started all the way back in 1990 in London Ontario when two best friends both gave birth to sets of twins two months and two days apart from each other. Enter identical twins Renee and Noelle, and fraternal twin Hillary. We had a musical upbringing involving choirs, orchestras, classical voice training, musical theatre, and countless sing-a-longs around the piano or campfire. Fast forward to the year 2016, all three of us friends found ourselves back in our hometown of London each with a need to heal. Music became the thing that brought us back together to find the support and purpose that we were all searching for. What started out as living room jams eventually turned into live performances and our first EP was released in 2018.
2. How does a song start for the band?
All three of us are songwriters! So as of now, we each individually write the melody, lyrics, and guitar part to a song and then bring them to the band to add harmonies and often help with the arrangement. It is absolutely a combined effort however the song is formulated first by one of us. Recently, we’ve been trying our hand at cowriting and we’re excited to share some of the new material in the new year!
3. Where does your inspiration come from?
Each of us draws our inspiration from different places. That’s what’s so cool about being in a collaborative project! We all bring parts of what we think is cool and we bring that to the table to create something unique that is greater than the sum of its parts. Renee and Noelle grew up with a lot of women singers and songwriters being played around the house. They draw their inspiration from people like the Indigo Girls, Alanis Morissette, The Chicks, and Lynn Miles. Hillary grew up with a lot of folk and rock, inspired by musicians like Crosby Stills and Nash, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and Bob Dylan. And now, we listen to such a wide range of music which all lend themselves to our evolving songwriting styles. We constantly send each other Spotify links or Instagram videos of new inspirations.
4. What is the song “Annie’s Daughter” about?
This song is an ode to the resilience of children, and a plea to grown-ups to pay close attention to the ways in which young people push against the confines of our rigid systems and structures. Annie’s Daughter was written in celebration of the tenacious, outspoken, restlessly curious, and innovative nature that often accompanies those labeled as trouble-makers or hard to work with. These are the voices we need. The ones who squirm in their seats, step out of line or speak out of turn. They are the ones who won’t settle for being squished into a box that was never made to hold their marvelous existence. They are the ones who will pave the way for change because they refuse to be funneled into a system of conformity. Their rejection of social norms that were meant to tame and train them into compliance empowers all of us to take up life differently.
Annie’s Daughter is a reminder that children who struggle within the confines of institutions such as education, are often not the ones in need of “fixing.” It is the institution, run by adults, that needs the adjustment. It’s a reminder for us as adults to celebrate who these children are by opening our hearts, slowing down, and adapting our infrastructure to be reflective of a more vibrant way of being human within a diverse community.
5. Do you set time to write or when you get inspired?
We would probably all answer that differently at different times. It’s an ever evolving process. However, as we move towards writing collaboratively, we’re starting to set up designated times for writing sessions. So stay tuned for more co-written adventures!
6. What was the inspiration for the video recorded in the studio?
We were so lucky to get to work with such incredible artists on this recent album that we wanted to capture the specialness on video! After we wrapped up recording the album, we all came back to the studio for a day with the wonderful video team at Half and Half Agency to film a live studio version of each song on the album!
7. Do you think social media helps in this day in age where music is so accessible?
We believe that social media gives back what you put into it. It can be such a wonderful tool to discover new music, stay connected with musicians that you love, and find out about events that you may have missed otherwise! We love connecting with other musicians and music industry folks through social media. We feel really lucky whenever our music reaches new people through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok. The world is huge! But we have this ability to be so connected. Sure, it has its challenges and there’s certainly a dark side to social media, it’s a reflection of humanity with all of its beauty and pain.
8. What has been your favorite live show to date?
Oof that’s tough… And we’d probably all have a different answer. If you’re asking about our performances, the first thing that comes to mind is this past August performing at the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest in Lyons Colorado. We got to perform on the mainstage looking out at a field of over 3000 folk music-loving faces with rocky cliffs and mountains surrounding us and a beautiful creek running right beside the stage. We talked after about what we had all felt on stage looking out and tearing up just thinking about how unbelievable of an experience this was. The weekend was full of other phenomenal performances by artists that we love. That festival is pretty high up there on the list!
9. With things like Bandcamp having turmoil behind the scenes, Do you think it will affect making music accessible if things go wrong for people who don’t use streaming services?
It’s a really complicated subject. There’s the frustration with streaming services and those that choose not to participate out of a desire to better support artists and there are also many benefits that come with apps like Spotify and Apple Music. Wherever people’s beliefs or preferences lie, music distribution is and always will be evolving. We hope that we’re moving towards more and more accessibility as well as better ways of compensating those that work so hard to create the music that we enjoy.
10. What do you hope 2024 has in store for you?
We are already so excited for 2024! This coming winter and spring are shaping up to be quite the touring season for us! We’re headed back to Michigan and Colorado, we’re touring Northern Alberta, and hitting some closer to home Ontario venues. We’re also looking forward to a summer of festivals. Stay tuned for more info soon. Other than that, we’re excited to experiment with some new sounds, instruments, and collaboration!
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