Debbie Christ Shares Full-Length Debut Album, Tower
No one would ever mistake singer-songwriter/guitarist Clara O’Page as the shy type. As the mastermind and frontwoman behind the genre-bending Montreal mavericks Debbie Christ, O’Page rifles through an array of musical styles, topics, moods, and perspectives like a stage actor going through costume changes. Now, with their thrilling full-length debut Tower, O’Page and her bandmates stand poised to topple our collective inhibitions around shame, sexuality, and trauma with a theatricality and fashion sense that hits hard while also making the subject matter more palatable.
“I’m the youngest of six,” O’Page explains, “so I was encouraged to be funny and outgoing — I love to be goofy and make people laugh — but vulnerability was foreign to me. I grew up in an Evangelical household where you just don’t talk about the icky bits. You save those for God. On top of that, my dad’s side is English. It’s a very repressed cultural mindset. So, where I’m typically a clown day to day, music is my place where I can be more serious. Getting into punk music, I gradually got more comfortable disclosing my feelings. I learned that it can be revolutionary just to simply say what you’re actually feeling. That’s very profound for someone like me. Like I’m not someone who cries very easily, so music is how I do my crying. And it evolved to the point where there’s now a definite shock-value element.”
An explosive mix of surf, garage, psychedelia, shoegaze, glam, punk, folk, and spoken-word, Tower jolts the “confessional music” stereotype into an all-new, decidedly assertive artform, even as O’Page’s songs reveal softness and unguarded disclosure as a superpower. At times, Tower echoes the stylish minimalism of The Velvet Underground. At other times, Debbie Christ channeled an avant-glam sensibility that would’ve made the likes of David Bowie and The New York Dolls proud. Elsewhere, serrating bursts of naked emotion split the difference between Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, and contemporary art-pop experimentalists like Sasami.
Indeed, Tower allows us to imagine what it would be like if pop mavens like, say, Debbie Harry or Pat Benatar had been born a generation later and fronted the Canadian folk-punk trio And The Kids. Or, for instance, if Angel Olsen had been born a generation earlier and joined Alice Cooper at the height of their druggy eccentrism.
Speaking in a prayer-like cadence at the beginning of Tower, we hear O’Page incant the words Elixir of life, I ask for light… I am given sound.
For O’Page, one form of expression can always swap places with another.
“For me,” she explains, “the act of making music is more like mixed media. My journals are very tactile, and I see slow fashion almost as like a new punk movement. I almost can’t help but see all of these things as going hand in hand — melodies, phrases, visuals, and fabric are always sloshing around in my head. When people listen to the album, that’s the sense I want them to get.”
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Well, saying hello from Montreal Quebec, my name is Clara but when I’m onstage I’m Debbie Christ — an alter ego I created to help navigate a time in my life when I felt small. Debbie Christ is a fierce firecracker who loves shock value, yet she’s still able to be soft and vulnerable. To me, she’s the more fearless and self-actualized version of myself that I aspire to be like. In a way, it’s not just a musical persona, but also a vehicle for performance art. Debbie Christ is where I can take my big uncomfortable feelings and transform them into something more beautiful. I still don’t really know how to categorize the music. I see it as a singer-songwriter’s attempt at punk music but with lots of theatricality thrown in for good measure.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
Well first of all it’s my debut album, and it’s titled Tower. I began writing the album when I’d first moved to Montreal, starting over again after a tumultuous end to a relationship that was quite significant. I wouldn’t call it a breakup album at all, though. Yes, there’s an element of having to rebuild after a loss, with all the setbacks, victories, and overall feeling of being thrown for a loop that comes after a relationship dissolves. But, to me, the album is more generally about being a young person having to navigate how to be in this world. For all the Tarot girlies out there, yes the title was inspired by my love of tarot, which I’ve been practicing for as long as I’ve been playing guitar. The Tower in the major arcana of Tarot represents crisis, sudden change, destruction, higher learning, and liberation — all of which heavily correlate with the meaning of the individual songs.
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
I try to keep things pretty loose and relaxed. I typically like to write in my living room with the windows open and the right amount of sunlight. I never go in with an exact expectation for the song, I just kind of fiddle around until I find something that strikes me, and then I just kind of sit with whatever I’m feeling and try to let it come to me, following whatever words come to my head. After that I just kind of rework things and mold things again and again until I’m happy with what I’ve written. It’s a very meditative process, but I always feel a big release at the end, which is always good. I’m not someone who shows my true emotions very easily. I’ve been conditioned to wear the mask of a clown, so music is where I can get out my big uncomfortable feelings without them consuming me.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
I’ve just done a mini-tour with my friend Booster Fawn on Victoria Day weekend. Then in July I’m doing a little West Coast tour hitting up Nanaimo, Vancouver, and Victoria. Other than that, there are some potential festivals in the fall, but we’ll have to wait and see! Another music video would be so fun to do, but honestly, I feel pretty ready to dive into the next album so that might be the more likely direction to expect next.
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
I think that for me a turning point was when I released the music video for my song “Lust!”. It took me almost 7 years to finally get the music video together, thanks to the help of some great friends. The process of creating that video really boosted my confidence, not just as a musician and songwriter, but as an artist and storyteller as well. I’m someone with really big ideas, but I struggle bringing those ideas to light, mostly because of self-doubt. When the music video was released, it was one of the first times when I actually started to believe in myself and didn’t feel plagued by imposter syndrome. I think it was also the moment when I was convinced that this was what I needed to be doing and where my focus needs to be held. I want to be married to my art and to create as much as I can in this life.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
Hmmm, I definitely have a few… I’m really fortunate to be surrounded by musicians and creative people. First would be my brother Scott Hardware, who is one of my biggest inspirations. Next would be my roommate’s project Teenage Witch. As far as the Montreal scene goes, I would also recommend Antenna 93, Birds of Prrrey, Laura Krieg, Fake Friends, Nooji, and Pool Girl! As far as what I’ve been listening to on repeat though, the winner is the Montreal act Fruit Snack. Again, I’m blessed to be surrounded by such talented musicians. Montreal rules as far as music scenes go.
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