Last week I posted my interview with Mandy Nolan.  This week I've decided to switch things around and post her interview with me which appeared in last week's Echo.  I feel it's relevant to the topic because it speaks to my intention to balance family life with my own creative passions. I'm achieving this balance by stepping outside of the box and doing things in my own way.  My upcoming tour in the States is all about grassroots music, service and reaching out to new loyal audiences in ways and at a pace that is comfortable for me.  Hope you enjoy it!

CARMAN IS IN THE HOUSE

In a few weeks from now local singer songwriter Susanna Carman heads back to the U.S. for a series of house concerts. Carman has developed her own signature style, reflected in her debut release Holy some 12 months back. 

Returning to play her homeland is easy for Carman as she has a ready made fan base.

"I have family in the States and they have distributed my music to their communities and some of them are network hubs. This tour is like the last push to support the album before I go back into the studio to do the next one. I am concentrating on finding little niche markets in an effort to build a grassroots audience."

Carman's three week tour of the west coast takes in Seattle, Ashland and San Francisco in a series of low key house concerts.

"House concerts are the best way to connect with people - it hasn't really happened too much here, the album is so intimate and the way I perform the songs is so exposing - it doesn't work to do that at a pub.

Not everyone wants to drink alcohol and smoke cigarette - they might want to sit and have a cup of tea or a glass of wine. People want to be moved not just entertained. There is more opportunity to achieve that in an intimate setting, when people feel touched they end up buying more albums."

As an artist Carman see's herself as a storyteller.

"It's a big part of what I do - storytelling - and it takes me back to roots music which is storytelling."

Susanna is donating some of the proceeds of her house concerts to the communities where she performs.

"The house concerts to me are part of the grass roots movement to have organic and authentic music in a home and community building so I can support those communities that are coming to see me."

A mother of a two year old, her three week trip overseas is the first time she's been childless since the birth. 

"Going for three weeks without my baby and husband, is scary and exciting."

Carman credits the birth of her child as uncapping her creativity and allowing her to focus her energy on her talents.

"I had a very slow development, and then my husband died when I turned 30, that's when I dropped everything, I just threw in the towel, life stopped for four years. When my daughter was born, I had a surge of energy, I recorded and released the album, I suppose you could say I am a late bloomer."

Having a child changes everything about being a musician.

"When you have a child you can't be living out of your car and touring, it has to be about where the child is with the creative passion focused right along side that. I am selective about where I play."

Susanna Carman also plays the Mullumbimby Music Festival, 26-29th November as one of the many talented local acts gracing the bill this year. For more information and early bird ticket sales and local line up go to the web on www.mullumfestival.com

Mandy Nolan, The Byron Shire Echo, Volume 24 #14, pg. 19

I would like to add that Mandy Nolan will be appearing in a doco about women next Wednesday, Sep. 23rd on SBS. She will be talking about balancing motherhood with a career in the arts. Definitely check it out.

Until next week...

Cheers!

http://documents.scribd.com/docs/21udnf8y5ljfe0b1enu2.pdf

While I was filling in Mandy on my upcoming House Concert & Fundraiser Tour in America, Mandy was filling me in on how she manages to do it all: motherhood, writing, comedy, teaching, painting, etc.  Here is Mandy Nolan on Mandy Nolan...

So Mandy, mother of five, journalist, comedian, teacher ... how do you fit it all in?

The secret is to go with it, eventually it all gets done.  Children give me the imperative, I don't have the luxury of time.

What do you think about the question: Can women have it all?

I think to a certain degree, you can. It depends on expectations.  I think you can have a full life, as long as you aren't expecting a fairytale existence.  You may not be living in an enormous, brand new, perfectly clean house, and you may not be that brilliant high achiever always reaching every goal. But, you can, "have it all," if your expectations about your career, home-life and family relationships are realistic. It's enough for me to be part of a beautiful community, and to be able to perform and do my thing in a regional setting.

What gets sacrificed in your life?

What gets sacrificed is my health and my fitness. I have a pattern of going so hard that I don't pick up on the signs of fatigue.  Basically, I keep going until I drop. I have to learn to exercise and relax - picking up on those signals to know when to stop. Now I have to schedule my walk every day, and focus on what I'm eating. For me, It's not about weight, asthetic issues, or measuring up to those kinds of standards.  It's about wellness.

You have five children in your life now, how has that choice impacted on your career?

I've never seen my career and mothering as separate things. They are always connected. I use my mothering and my life as my inspiration for my creativity. It's all part of my journey. I see it like that because if I don't, I'll have a nervous breakdown. Also, it reflects the reality of what is. Why should women have to justify not having kids as a way to advance their career? I'm creating a life where I can be a mum and be 'out there,' and not only be defined as a mother.

Does motherhood get easier the more children you have?

In some ways it gets easier, but it's a lot more work: the house cleaning, the homework, the dishes the fights with the kids. Parts of it are easier because you become more selfless, you become capable of doing more. You're efficient, you don't procrastinate, there are no opportunities for endless stretches of time and the imperative to achieve is greater. Basically, you do what you have to do. 

What motivates you to manifest so much in life?

Productivity drives me.  It gives me a sense of achievement and fulfills my need for personal gratification. At the end of the day, I've achieved something. If I don't have something else to do, I get irritated. If I'm not channeling my energy doing creative things, I start focusing it in obsessive/compulsive ways, like hanging up the wash perfectly, everything straight, pegs matching.  

I also define myself through my work. I've always believed that I should have the same opportunities as a man. I've never felt that having children robbed me of those opportunities.

Thanks to Mandy for answering my questions.  I feel she spoke for so many of us who are driven to have full, rich and passionate lives as parents, and as much, much more...

Until next week, best wishes!

Susanna

I thought I'd take a moment in between interviews to let the growing WAM - BAD community know about an interesting grassroots music movement that is taking off in America, but has yet to penetrate the indie music culture here in Oz.  I am talking about House Concert touring circuits that can take an independent artist across the United States, one living room at a time.

There is an increasingly growing, organized community of artists, hosts, managers, booking agents, etc. who are coming together to spread independent music in an organic, intimate way.  Personal experience has taught me that house concerts can be both artistically rewarding and lucrative. As a result I've independently organized my own tour in cities along the west coast of the U.S. (see U.S. concerts on upper right of screen and select cities for event details). However, until recently, I wasn't aware of just how organized these networks have become in the States.  The way I see it, house concert touring is now a viable alternative for indie artists wishing to penetrate the U.S. market, and make some fun connections with a unique community of acoustic loving fans along the way.

Although I'm sure there are many, I've come across a website that acts as a networking resource for artists who wish to book their own U.S. tour. I discovered a host in the San Francisco Bay area through mutual friends. The host is called Fifth Street Farms House Concerts and is located in the Berkeley Hills. Fifth Street Farms advertises itself as a host at concertsinyourhome.com. For an annual membership fee of around $45, artists can find out the contact details of hosts in most cities across the States, plus other touring artists on the circuit and managers booking on behalf of their clients.  Their motto is, "Living rooms were made for live music!"

Next week I will return to posting more interviews.  It's been extremely affirming for me to hear how other artists/parents manage to maintain a healthy balance between family life and creative expression.  I've just had an interesting chat with writer, comedian, painter, mother and Byron Bay icon, Mandy Nolan.  I look forward to sharing her pearls of wisdom with you all next time.

Until then...

After posting WAM's first article, I received the following email from my dear friend, Steve Berry:

"You could make the father's version called BAD  (Blokes Artists Dads) or perhaps  BAD ASS (Blokes Artists Dads Always Shit Stirring)..."

So, I decided to contact this local, well-respected shit stirrer, to ask him a few questions about fatherhood, being a musician and life after the kids leave home.  Here's what he had to say...

"You were a musician before you became a father, how did fatherhood impact on your creative life?"

"Becoming a parent is incredibly creative in itself, but is certainly a change in lifestyle.  My creative life continued on after my son was born, but the reality is that it definitely slowed down.  It's taken second priority over the last seventeen years. In life before parenthood, young musicians can pick up and travel at any time, rarely having to say no to opportunities.  It's all about the lifestyle - living on the road, and the freedom... But once I became a dad I was determined not to be a musician who never spent time with my kid.  Now that my son is seventeen (and my stepdaughter 19), I'm getting back into the position to be able to move at will and take up new opportunities."

"With parenthood comes new financial responsibilities.  In what ways did these responsibilities affect your career choices as a musician?"

"In the end, there aren't many pathways for musicians to make money. Making money either happens or it doesn't, and fortunately, Australia is a place where artists can survive, even if they do feel the pinch.  We are lucky to live in a society that places some value on the arts, and one that looks after its low income earners to some extent.

Aside from that, I also knew from early on that for my sense of self, I needed to create music that artistically inspired me. This shows up in the musically oriented work that I do that is creative and inspirational in its own way, even though it might be something beyond music itself. Music Outback does that for me, it also supports me financially.  I've found that with enough time and commitment, as long as I'm valuing my work, I usually earn enough to get by."

"As an artist and a father, how do you feel when women suggest that it's easier for men to have it all?"

"Men who become fathers have to make major changes just like mothers, or else they will miss out on something really important... being a parent. It's not a gender thing.  It has to do with how much you recognize the importance of your relationship with your children."

"Do you have any regrets about the choices you've made?"

"I regret that I haven't yet stood up on a surf board, and that I'm getting older, but I can't do much about that, at least the getting older part. The very public side of music is a young person's game. You have to be tolerant and capable of doing things like living on people's living room floors as you make your way through a very competitive world. I often think I haven't done enough gigs or played enough tours, but then there are certain qualities and capacities that only come to you when you're in your fifties. Approaching that time now, I do recognize that, musically at least, my decisions are much more reliable, even if my back hurts."

"I find that balancing parenthood with creative passion requires drive. Where does your motivation come from?"

"I get motivated from playing exciting music with others. It's the joy I feel that makes me want to do it.  There's nothing like it, especially on stage with an audience, when all the pieces come together to make it happen. It's a special feeling and experience that you can't get any other way, and it's why I'm dedicated to only playing the music that moves me."

Thanks to Steve for sharing his thoughts.  BAD is a GOOD idea, and I hope more men contribute in future.

Until next week...