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Ahead of her show at the Sala Rossa as part of the Taverne Tour, we enjoyed talking to singer-songwriter Alexandra Levy, better known as Ada Lea. Deeply rooted in the Montreal scene and its iconic venues such as La Rockette and Quai des Brumes, her music was a natural fit for this festival.
Following what we say in private (2019) and one hand on the sterling wheel the other sewing a garden (2021), in October the artist unveiled the EP notes, a collection of tracks left over from her last album. Following a long tour in 2022, Ada Lea has refocused on writing and creating her third album, due this year. To immerse yourself in the poetry of her lyrics and the sweetness of her voice, head to the Sala Rossa this Saturday, February 8, for an indie/folk evening also featuring Charlotte Cornfield. In the meantime, here’s our interview with Ada Lea.
PAN M 360: In your song come on, baby! be a good girl for the camera, taken from your latest EP notes, you explore the difficulties of life on tour, but also the expectations imposed on women. What do you think is the biggest challenge of being a woman in the music industry today?
Ada Lea: That’s a good question. Of course, I can’t speak for all women, but in my experience, I find travel physically and spiritually exhausting. Flying, driving, changing time zones… it’s all very taxing on my body. Driving is also scary. You don’t always feel safe, and when you have to drive more than six hours a day, the risk of an accident increases. The older I get, the more I realize how fragile we are. Accidents happen. My grandmother was hit and killed by a car on a normal day! What if something like that happened on tour? What if I was in charge of this tour, took my friends with me and we all died? For a few concerts? What’s the point?
Obviously, this is a somewhat exaggerated situation, but in the end, going on tour requires a lot of physical work, for very little reward, and with no real security. The only rewards are the human connections. So if my aim is to share moments with my friends, why not just go and see a film together on the street corner? Of course, playing in front of an audience, sharing a space and experiencing something together is an exhilarating experience, but I’m beginning to wonder: at what price?
PAN M 360: I loved your song “serait-il…? “and was wondering if your writing process differs between a song in French and one in English. Do you enjoy writing in both languages equally, or do you have a preference?
Ada Lea: I love writing in French. I co-wrote this song with Liberté-Anne Lymberiou. She speaks several languages fluently: English, French, Greek, Spanish, and another that escapes me. She even speaks a little Italian, which is funny because my mother is Italian. So we get into absurd discussions between nonna and yiayia, mixing Greek and Italian – “Why you no call me no more?” and things like that. I imagine one of us cleaning the sidewalk with a broom while the other shouts “Bonjour!” from the balcony.
PAN M 360: I’ve read that a third album is planned for 2025. How does it differ from your previous projects?
Ada Lea: It’s more pictorial. After 2022, I took a break from concerts and retired. I needed to reconnect with myself. The visual arts have always been an important part of my life. For this album, I went for it. I wrote songs that, for me, were like paintings. Which went beyond anything I imagined I could create in writing. It felt like a gift from the universe, and fortunately, I was there to seize it.
PAN M 360: When you develop a new project, do you have an established writing routine, or do you leave more room for spontaneous bursts of creativity?
Ada Lea : Moyra Davey dit qu’elle obtient une bonne photo pour cinq rouleaux de pellicule. Je pense que c’est pareil pour l’écriture de chansons et la peinture. J’essaie d’écrire et de peindre autant que possible physiquement. J’aimerais avoir une routine plus rigoureuse.
PAN M 360 : Quelles sont tes plus grandes inspirations musicales en ce moment ?
Ada Lea : Les autres auteurs-compositeurs qui partagent ma méthode. Chaque chanson est un cadeau.
PAN M 360 : Il y a quelques jours, tu as sorti une reprise de Out on the Weekend de Neil Young avec Alex Nicol. Qu’est-ce qui vous a poussé à collaborer ensemble pour cette chanson et comment cette idée de reprise est-elle née ?
Ada Lea : Alex m’a contactée pour me proposer de chanter une chanson ensemble. Je me suis dit que si on passait une journée en studio, autant essayer un classique de Neil Young. C’est l’une de mes préférées de Harvest.
PAN M 360: You’re also a visual artist. How do you juggle your music and your art?
Ada Lea: If I could, I’d do nothing but music and painting all day, every day. It’s such a pleasure. There’s nothing like it. I dream of mixing colors and letting my brush glide across the canvas.
Le plus difficile, c’est de jongler entre mes nombreux emplois, mes multiples casquettes. Travailler sur l’art, ça, c’est la partie facile.
PAN M 360: What can we expect from your show at the Sala Rossa?
Ada Lea: No idea. I’m looking forward to playing with my long-time friends and collaborators, Tasy Hudson and Chris Hauer. For the first time, Chrissy Lawson will be joining us. I’m also looking forward to seeing Charlotte Cornfield. I lived with her in New York, and played bass in her band for a few years, before writing my own songs. I learned a lot from her. Her bass player, Kate Palumbo, was one of my idols when I was studying music in CEGEP.
PAN M 360: Do you get stage fright before a concert? And if so, how do you manage it?
Ada Lea: I almost always get sick before a concert. Sometimes it’s covid, sometimes a stomach bug, sometimes the flu or some other illness. I once had bronchitis because of a persistent cough, and had to have an X-ray and take an inhaler the day before a tour. They thought my rib was broken from coughing so much. I’m so afraid of getting sick and not having the energy to play that I exhaust my body. For example, I’m running a fever at the moment.
PAN M 360: What can we wish you for the coming year?
Ada Lea : World peace. Good health, food, music, painting and love.
