Freddie Mojallal: The Autumn Portrait

Gone are the days of depressing country music that drives listeners crazy.

Freddie Mojallal from the West Coast, known as The Autumn Portrait is making waves on the radio. He and his heartfelt and well-crafted lyrics are capturing the ears of listeners throughout Toronto, and around Canada. He and his three piece band has travelled the country and performed at NxNE, one of Toronto’s largest musical festivals.

Mojallal grew up in Vancouver; since he was a teenager he has always been involved in music.

“I’ve been playing guitar since I was in high school. I’m self-taught, and I just started playing with my friends that I’d always be the guy whipping out the guitar and writing songs; we’d write silly songs together on weekends when everyone else is going out.”

After travelling throughout Canada many times, Mojallal felt that living in Toronto was an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. Especially considering that he is a musician.

“I just thought there was more of a hub in Toronto and more going on, more opportunities and, in every aspect – the music. Now everything I do is related to music here whereas in when I was in Vancouver, music was kinda half of what I was doing – to kinda do the regular job stuff – as well. I still do that here but it’s all related to music – music venues or recording artists and stuff like that.”

Despite his love for Vancouver’s scenery, the every-day life as a musician and the music community is why Mojallal stays in Toronto.

“Vancouver’s really pretty – a beautiful place but, Toronto’s just so vibrant and everyone’s so awesome. I think it’s kinda cool just to walk down the street and see well known artists, doing their thing, living their day-to-day lives. You don’t see that as much in Vancouver.”

Mojallal explains the meaning behind The Autumn Portrait.

“I was born in autumn, I was born in September and all the songs that I write are a portrait of my experiences, especially my current album, Tired Love. The whole thing’s kinda based on my personal experiences and I had moved cities for someone, and it’s based off of a relationship that didn’t work out, and hence I came to Toronto. And I think it has a good ring to it.” Mojallal says, “kinda like a City and Colour thing,” referring to the recording alias used by Dallas Green.

Mojallal describes his music as “heartfelt folk music.

“I just put everything out there; all my lyrics are kind of open and raw and heartfelt. It’s just honest and sincere, and I know there’s a lot of people doing that, and I think that’s great. I think that’s what music should be about; it should be about sincerity and opening up because there really shouldn’t be any kinda barrier between the artist and the listener.”

Mojallal prefers to be “open and honest” with his lyrics rather than writing something he doesn’t believe in.
“I’ve written songs like that and it just didn’t come across as sincere, so I’m sure there are lots of artists that are kinda being open and honest with their songwriting and I think that’s great. So, there should be more of that – that’s the stuff I love listening to.”

Mojallal’s influences stem from The Lumineers and Glen Hansard. He also likes famous artists from the past including Leonard Cohen and The Beatles. His musical tastes also ranges to today’s hits. “I have a weakness for pop so I love anything with a good hook essentially, so I don’t listen to a lot of radio besides CBC but, if I catch something you know, Top 40 – that’s good too. I’m open to it, a good song is a good song, doesn’t really matter.”

The Autumn Portrait’s latest album is about heart break and a lost love. Mojallal says that he “basically wrote it about one person.” The album was written, mixed and produced by Mojallal in his own home. ”I just started everything on the guitar and my voice, and built on top of that. And I just put lyrics first this time, says Mojallal. “Tired Love in particular is it’s just kind of a break up album for lack of better terms.”

Help Me See the Light which is accompanied by a music video is the only “happy song” on the record says Mojallal. “That song’s just about kind of finding that companionship within a relationship, and having someone there for you that you can kinda count on, kinda your better half.”

The video, directed by Ryan Nolan features Philip Tetro from MTV’s hit show 1 Girl 5 Gays. Mojallal reached out to his friends in the Toronto music community and he was able to recruit “twenty or so people” to take part. It was a “fun concept” says Mojallal.

“I always wanted to have kind of a fan video or fan/friend video where everyone kinda sings a line in it. And so it’s more focused on them and not me so much. I think Ryan came up with the idea of, ‘Let’s add to that and throw some paint in there.’ So yeah, we got a bunch of house paint and a bunch of canvases; each person in the video painted their own canvas. And that canvas became their own backdrop. So whenever you see a scene with someone singing, that’s their own painting in the background. So it’s something that they can be proud of and share with their friends.”

One of Mojallal’s most memorable experiences was when he booked a tour to go from “Vancouver to Halifax and back.” He performed in a whopping forty shows during a span of six weeks. “I booked it all myself, I was really proud of doing that.”

While touring through Canada a second time, The Autumn Portrait who were coming from Calgary, made a stop in Thunder Bay only to find out that a show they were to perform had been cancelled.

”We showed up to the venue and the venue had no idea about the show, which tends to happen. Shit happens sometimes. So I just made the best of that and turn that bad circumstance in to an opportunity, and The Trews were in town the next day and then, with some perseverance – ended up opening for The Trews the following night. And this was in Thunder Bay. So they’re a bunch of great guys and their whole team is amazing. So having no show – to opening for The Trews turned out to be a career highlight for sure.”

Unfortunately, The Autumn Portrait was unable to hangout much after the show due to having to drive eighteen hours overnight to Peterborough.

Despite a cancelled show and having to rush to the next city, Mojallal had nothing but good things to say about the experience in Thunder Bay. The Trews were “really humble and a good bunch of guys” says Mojallal.
“I guess their song Hope and Ruin became like a theme for that whole tour. I’m a big fan of those guys anyways so that was just a privilege and honour to play. When you get to play – not just only with talented people, but when they’re down to earth and really nice it just makes a huge, huge difference too.”

The Autumn Portrait is currently in the process of writing the next album. Mojallal still has yet to decide whether to record it himself or in a studio. ”If I can find a happy medium, that would be good. I like the idea of doing it live and doing it in a house, and instead of going in to a studio – spending a bunch of money and losing that feel, because I think the reason I like the current album is because it has so much feel – it’s not a compressed sound where you might get in a studio sometime and you lose that feeling.”

The Autumn Portrait also plans on making “lots of more videos.” Mojallal thinks it’s really important to “have a visual with your songs.”

The Autumn Portrait plans to tour Europe next summer.

”I was gonna do it this summer but it just didn’t work out this summer. So that’s what I’ll be working on and hopefully I don’t have to go through a big break up to write another album. It’s a lot easier to write a sad song than a happy song.”

The Autumn Portrait links:
http://www.theautumnportrait.com
https://www.facebook.com/theautumnportrait
https://twitter.com/AutumnPortrait
http://www.youtube.com/theautumnportrait

In Depth with Brittney Grabill

Brittney Grabill is a singer/songwriter born in Edmonton, Alberta. She recently finished a campaign to fund her upcoming album that will be launching in January 2014.

“So I am recording my first original album and it is funded by, I have some help with a radio station in Edmonton, with the funding. And so, me being an independent solo artist – it’s just usually me and my guitar when it comes to performing. So when I go in to the recording studio, I pay all these professional musicians to come in and play, so that’s where the bills do add up.”

Grabill says she loves the aspect of both the modeling and having the artwork in regards to the images and the marketing.

“So that’s where I was like, you know what, if I could have a little bit more help financially, I believe that the overall product is going to be just that much better.Better marketed, better better look, better everything. Just being able to have that little bit of extra funds coming in.”

Grabill decided to use Indiegogo has her campaign to help fund her album.

“I looked at a couple of different campaigns and I loved this – the Indiegogos’ layout for an artist when it comes to crowd funding. And the fact is, is that when someone donates money to help make the album, they’re getting something in return; they’re the ones getting the first signed album. I’ll write a custom song for you or for a friend, and I’ve had some people give it to a gift for their sister for her birthday, me writing her a song. I try to be really creative with what I was able to offer people to find value in return, and only other thing I can add – just the importance of the campaign is for me to stay an independent artist because the money that I make, I reinvest in to my art.”

Grabill is trying to stay an independent artist so she won’t have to be “held down by a label” in regards to being loaned money. “I take pride in trying to be independent in that sense, so that’s why I’m trying to go these outlets.”

Grabill describes the campaign as “super successful.” Since starting the campaign, Grabill began to notice a trend of other artists and film makers starting their own as well.

“The crowd funding and if you ask for help, people as just human nature – they wanna help you. So I kinda had to get past the aspect of ‘Are people gonna be thinking I am begging them for money or will they think negative of me because of this,’ and I was like, ‘No, you know what,’ like people understand this is a product and they’re buying it. I’m just so excited about this new album.”

Despite feeling uncomfortable about the campaign at first, it has since been very beneficial for Grabill. The campaign is now half-way towards reaching its goal. “Having it where it is right now is going to be a huge help – such a huge help so I’m really happy about it and I thank my producer and my boyfriend as well for pushing me to do it. It’s been awesome.”

When Grabill was young, she was introduced to singing by her sister. Despite not becoming involved in music until years later, she still found a unique way to practice. “So my sister was a signer and I remember her coming home for hours and hours and practicing just signing, and so she’s seven years older than me so I would stand outside of her door for like hours while she was practicing, and there was a mirror there and I would just lip sync to her.”

Grabill was also in to sports when she was younger; however, a future in sports was derailed due to a medical procedure. “I had scoliosis; it’s a curvature of the spine, so I had a bad case that I had to get surgery for.”

Despite being unable to play sports, it allowed her to put her focus in to the entertainment industry. She first got started with modeling and acting, and then then music. “My grandpa bought me my first guitar so I started learning from there; I have such a supporting family and group of friends so that’s been a really, really huge help in this industry that’s for sure.”

Grabill says her influences growing up were her sister, her parents, and legendary musicians including Jon Bon Jovi and Ray Charles.

“I’ve had so many people, again when you ask for help, people are willing to help, and even with the campaign, if they don’t have the money to help me out – at least even them sharing it on their page – that’s a huge help too you know, getting that music out there. So I find the people on like social media – that’s awesome and I’ve had some of my dad’s friends or mom’s friends or just adults that I’ve met along the way that have helped a lot financially too, because I just have a vision of where I’m going and it’s just like any business, you do need a little bit of a capital to begin with and obviously I believe that my product is growing so I think it is a great thing to invest in which is why I’m okay with the campaign being there and being like, ‘Hey you guys, you know I just need this help right now,’ and keep building it; my mom and my dad though have been huge, huge supporters.”

Grabill has been a big supporter of The Stollery Childrens Hospital. All proceeds from her song, ‘Autumn’s Song’ are donated to the Hospital’s Foundation.

“That’s where I had surgery – at the Stollery Childrens Hospital when I was thirteen for scoliosis, and they had a specific machine actually that they used during my surgery that was only available in Edmonton at the Stollery and in a hospital in Toronto at the time. And it saved my quality of lifestyle in a huge way because I had some complications in the surgery. So because of that machine, the Stollery had – and that’s where like, because I know the people at the Stollery – all the money that’s donated there goes, well I’m not sure 100%, but from my understanding, the reason they do fundraisers is to fund new equipment, so that people can get the proper help they need, again the complications in my surgery, they found it because of that machine. And that has been a huge help, so just a way for me to give back.

All proceeds that are donated are matched by the World Financial Group Charitable Trust. “They’re gonna double what I raise,” says Grabill. “And they’ve always kept all their promises; I think that that’s an incredible company that gives back to communities. And they’ve always doubled everything we’ve raised for the Stollery – crazy.”

In 2011, Grabill and her dad went to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. She got to meet and learn from several musicians and bands. “So a guy from Ireland – Andy White, The David Wax Museum, that band I got to learn from. I got to learn from just incredible musicians. So that was just a young performers project that they had, and then you do that for the day and then the next day, you’re actually on one of the stages at the Winnipeg Folk Festival performing there. The whole weekend, I brought my dad, so me and my Dad had just an incredible time watching these artists and I remember being so inspired by watching k.d. lang – was one of the end performers – and unreal, it’s so cool.”

Grabill is heavily influences by female icons from the fifties and sixties such as: Ann Peebles, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Connie Francis. “I think the collaboration of, it’s just fun, I find that that the music at that time was was a revolutionary time with a lot of things going on, and people just wanted to have that escape and that fun. Even like the horns and stuff – like trumpet and trombone in to the new album too. Holy man, is it ever an experience. I really love listening to that music and how they recorded it back then is inspiring, and there’s just a texture to it like I don’t know how to explain the sound that I just really connect to. I just found that they were really fun and like really unique when it comes to the instruments and the harmonies. I love listening and I just love the harmonies too from the bunch of different ladies back in the fifties and sixties. So I think that the women had a lot of guts for what they were singing about in some cases in what they were doing. So I just found that it was pretty inspirational – the women back then in music.”

Earlier this year, Grabill released an EP titled Dreams are all you Know. The EP features original songs that she has written during the last couple years. “I found that recording it, instead of having like a goal for the end project, we kinda just recorded one song, one by one, so when we brought it all together, it’s five songs. When we brought it together, it was just like a huge genre mix which I thought was really fun but I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta think like a businesswoman too, like who am I targeting? And, ‘Who am I speaking to?’ Because of this, I could be like in this one song, I could be talking more so to country fans, and this song I’d be talking more to the pop, and this song I’d be talking to more of the rock fans. Like it was an interesting little mix. So, it was an incredible learning experience, so I think that for me right now, with this new album I have transitioned in to the folk/pop element that I see myself long-term, and what kind of music that I write that really speaks to me and vocally that I feel comfortable, but also still challenging myself the same. I’ve just had so much fun with this new album, I think that I’ve found the genre that right now fits for where I am in my life time. Like, this new album too, I’ve been doing so much personal development this year and finding out what speaks to me and so it’s always going to be changing – that’s if you’re not living, your dying. So that’s where this music is going to keep on evolving. I’m just kind of finding my niche, more so than anything.”

When Grabill was in the studio, she did some “wacky weird stuff” with the guys she recorded with. With her music, she wants to stand out by being “honest, really honest and not apologize.”
“We’re all comfortable together because we worked on the EP together and we worked on a single before that of mine. So we worked together quite a bit. So I found that like one of the songs for example, there was a guy – my drummer – he just like, is funny with the different accents, so he was like, ‘Hit that play button! Just hit that!’ And he just said it in this funny accent and we ended up taking that and keeping it so you’re hearing all these things in this new album of little intimacies that happened in the recording studio. And I want people to take the ride on with me.”

Grabill describes some songs has feeling like “you’re in a circus.” She wants to take listeners through an experience by not thinking about vocal technique, but by just telling a story. “I just want people to know the story and connect to it. Maybe I’m not on pitch every single little second but you know what, this is me, this is the truth. And hopefully if they can connect to that, if it helps them get through something they’re going through in their life right now, that makes a big difference.”

Grabill has aspirations of touring outside of Canada and getting her music aired on radio stations around the world.”I want to be in the U.S, and performing, and marketing the album through like the Western Canada and the States. So and then in three years from now, I would like to get another original album out as well, and also with this new album, I want to push some of the singles out on the radio throughout Canada and the U.S as well.

Grabill also plans on collaborating with others. ” I think right now, my biggest thing that I have to focus on is having a team of people, for example, working with yourself, like getting this out there, that’s part of my team – getting that out. I can only get so far on my own; having a team of people makes that so much more powerful. So I’m working on the team. Getting the team together, finding those people.”

As of right now, Grabill’s upcoming album is titled Candy. “That’s the single that will be coming out but the EP, Dreams are all you Know, I picked that album title because it was a lyric in one of my songs. So, it might change, but right now it is Candy because that’s the single.

Dreams are all you Know is currently available on iTunes.

All the proceeds from ‘Autumn’s Song’ will be donated to the Stollery Childrens Hospital and matched by the World Financial Group Charitable Fund.

Here is a link to Brittney’s website:

http://www.brittneygrabill.com/