Savannah Leigh Wellman’s voice is a powerful thing. Simultaneously sultry and haunting, it’s the driving force behind the ethereal indie rock sound of her band SAVVIE. Oozing with swagger and rhythm, SAVVIE’s debut album Night Eyes represents a marked departure from her previous folk project Redbird. Produced by Matt Rogers (The Harpoonist And The Axe Murderer) and released on Tiny Kingdom Records, Night Eyes helped propel SAVVIE to CBC Searchlight’s final 25.
Westender caught up with Wellman ahead of her performance at the VCBW Beer Festival CFOX Stage this Sunday, June 5.
What has the process been like creating and producing the Night Eyes album? What does the album mean to you?
Night Eyes was an opportunity for me to make an album that sounded like the music I love listening to. No restrictions, no overthinking, just writing songs that excited me. It was the first time I had taken a more collaborative approach to writing, which allowed me to push my own musical boundaries and ideas to new places.
How important is musical collaboration to you? What was it like working with Matt Rogers?
It was fantastic to work with someone who really valued and embraced my influences and what I wanted to achieve. We had the same vision in mind, which made sharing and critiquing each other’s ideas an act of respect rather than judgment.
For you, what's the creation process like? How do you deal with writers block?
There’s two sides of the writers block debate that most people argue – one is that you can’t force the muse, and the other is that you have to go to work on it, like anything else. I think I sit somewhere in between – you absolutely have to make time for yourself to be creative. Without the time and space dedicated, you’ll never get anything done. That said, just because you’re sitting there ready to write, doesn’t mean something great will come out. Truly, I find the best ideas come when I’m not trying – when I’m walking down the street, and realize I’m whistling a tune I don’t recognize.
As a Vancouverite is there anything about the city that you draw influences from?
I love the fact that I can walk down to the water and for a moment, forget that I’m in the city. It allows you to escape the day to day without having to drive to a remote cottage somewhere – it’s like a shortcut to getting in touch with yourself. I think that’s incredibly important when you’re trying to write.
• SAVVIE performs at the VCBW Beer Festival this Sunday, June 5. Tickets at VCBW.ca.
