The Coppertone’s Amanda Zelina June 22, 2011 06/22/2011
 The Coppertone Interview by: Allyson Cooper If you have a chance this Thursday, come down to the EBar to catch a performance by The Coppertone! Promoting the release of a four-song EP “Hymns for the Hollow”, The Coppertone is the perfect fit for blues and rock lovers alike. Led by King City musician Amanda Zelina, The Coppertone put on a powerful show, as can attest the crowds that just enjoyed performances at the El Mocambo and Dundas Square in Toronto for the NXNE Festival. This week Amanda took time to answer some questions, and even gave us a new Top Ten! Your sound is very blues oriented, was there a specific record or artist that got you into blues? I'd have to say John Lee Hooker was the first that really stung me deep. I grew up around the blues, so it's hard to pin point what got me into it. I've always sort of been there as far back as I can remember. However, I've studied John Lee Hooker and Junior Kimborough the most. Traditionally, the blues are about just that, the blues, sadness, loss, anger. Do you typically write from a place of pain, or do you bring other emotions into a bluesy sound? I mean the way I see it is the blues is a way to make the bad feel good. So I suppose I get a lot more out of writing from sadness and loss, pain, grief, anger etc. It's cathartic. On the other side of things if you can manage to write a "blues" song out of a celebratory or happy place and you pull it off.... meaning you have a hell of a lot of soul behind it... that's magic. A few years ago, you attended the Musicians Institute of Hollywood, how did you decide to come back to Canada when musicians are constantly heading south to catch that ‘big break’? I never went to catch a big break. I went because I was seduced by the guitar. [I] had never really played it and cheated the entrance exam to get accepted so I could challenge myself. I wanted to be surrounded by teachers. I chose to leave early because I got out of the program what I needed and I wasn't vibing the people that were looking for their " big break" To me, especially on tracks like ‘Last Goodbye’, you’re kind of the female answer to the Black Keys, with this raw, distorted, blues-rock sound, and accompanied by really strong vocals! Have you encountered comparisons to other artists, and have they been accurate comparisons? Thanks love that’s a huge compliment. I've gotten that one a couple times- The Dead Weather, White Stripes... It's hard to say what is accurate and not... Everyone has their own opinion; it's relative to them. I'm flattered by the comparisons I've got so far. You’ve just come off a string of shows for NXNE, a relatively large and well-established music festival. What was it like playing to hometown crowds at Dundas Square and the El Mocambo? It was a magic weekend. Truly. People responded. I feel so lucky right now because people are coming out more and more, the audience is growing and people are dancing, screaming, singing along... All I ever want is a connection with the audience, to raise their frequency and give them something, make them move, free them momentarily. This weekend it happened. Did you have a chance to catch any shows during the festival? Did you discover any new artists? You know I get really overwhelmed with the number of bands playing these types of festivals, and I've got so much on the go right now that I don't actually get a chance to go out and soak in the festival. Last year you and Dallas Green put together a tribute vid for Dan Achen [well known Canadian musician and producer, who passed away in early 2010] for the Wood & Wires Series. Tell me how this came about. Dal and I are good friends, have been for a while. Dan passed and we reconnected. And I just thought it would be incredibly special to Dan if Dal and I did something musically together. So I called him up and asked if he was into it. He said yes. You tweet a lot, and post awesome ‘Top Ten’ lists on your blog, so I figured I’d give you a new list to mull over. Name the top ten artists/bands no one would have ever thought you’d listen to. Ha! This is awesome. This is tough because I really listen to all the same stuff majority of the time. However these people are ones I throw on every now and than and LOVE. 1) Antony & the Jonsons 2) Nicki Minaj 3) Wiz Khalifa 4) Tina Turner 5) Jay Z 6) Miles Davis 7) Yann Tiersen 8) Merle Haggard 9) Band of Horses 10) Edith Piaf Connect: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter Add Comment |
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