Lauren Mann Shares New Single, “Medicine” featuring Johnny Aitken
For National Indigenous People’s Day / Month, Lauren Mann released her new single, “Medicine”. Lauren co-wrote this song over five years with her friend Johnny Aitken. The song focuses on truth, healing, and reconciliation. Johnny is a First Nation 2spirit multi-disciplinary artist. This collaboration was intentional, it was an opportunity for a member of the Settler community to create a piece of art with an Indigenous community member with the hope of helping heal from past injustices and to heighten awareness of Indigenous issues throughout Canada.
Lauren and Johnny wrote the song by getting together on SḴŦAḴ (Mayne Island) and SDȺY¸ES (Pender Island), going for walks in different parts of the island and having lengthy conversations about reconciliation, truth, healing, and lived experiences. In the process of writing this song, a friendship was formed and strengthened, and trust was cultivated and nourished. Slowing down and taking their time permitted space for subtle nuances to appear within the lyrics. The song was produced by Adam Iredale-Gray (Aerialists, Fish and Bird) at Fiddlehead Studio on Mayne Island, BC, and Toronto, ON.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Lauren Mann, I’m a singer-songwriter living on the Gulf Islands in BC. I also work for a non-profit arts organization and can often be found in the garden, on the water, or exploring local trails. I wrote Medicine with Johnny Aitken, a friend and multidisciplinary Indigenous artist who uses art to create change and facilitate conversations about truth, healing, and reconciliation.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Johnny approached me five years ago to see if I wanted to co-write a song about reconciliation. It was a beautiful and slow process where we got to know each other while talking about Indigenous issues and what reconciliation means and looks like in our lives and in the broader community. We took a very organic approach that culminated in recording the song with Adam Iredale at Fiddlehead Studio on Mayne Island.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
Writing has always been a way for me to process different life experiences. Writing Medicine took me out of my familiar pattern of writing and challenged me to think outside myself to other stories and lived experiences, and my role in reconciliation with indigenous communities. Johnny and I looked at some of the issues facing Indigenous people today and tried to capture the need and urgency for healing and working together.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
I’ll be at two local festivals this summer: Mosaic Fest on Pender Island on August 2. Johnny will also be facilitating a circle discussion about Fumbling Towards Reconciliation at Mosaic Fest.
What’s your goal for 2024?
I am working on another song to release this fall and would like to continue embracing the organic creative process in all of my endeavours this year. Sometimes it’s a slow process, but I always learn so much in the process.