Rae Spoon is already an author and musician and their latest album, My Prairie Home -a profound, expansive but always engaging collection of fourteen mesmerizing songs- is also the soundtrack to the National Film Board documentary of the same name about their life and unique relationship with the prairies. Rae took the time to sit down and answer a few questions in the present tense.
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Rae Spoon is…
- Rae Spoon: …a transgender musician, originally from Calgary and currently living in Montreal. They have released seven solo albums, the most recent of which, My Prairie Home, serves also as the score and soundtrack to the NFB documentary of the same name. Rae is also an author: their first book, First Spring Grass Fire, was published in September 2012, and their second book, a collaboration with Ivan E. Coyote, will be published in the spring of 2014.
The most played song on my iPod is…
- Rae Spoon: …”L.A. Calling” by Crystal Fighters.
The first concert I ever performed was…
- Rae Spoon: …at Weeds Café in Calgary in 1998.
Canada is…
- Rae Spoon: …a country that, like most countries, is difficult to define in a succinct way. It’s very large, and the differences between regions, especially those which are quite distant from each other, make it hard to talk about Canada in a generalized way. I do think that one of the important things to talk about when we talk about Canada is its history as a colony, as well as the ongoing colonialism still present.
My perfect day is…
- Rae Spoon: …some sort of combination of making music, hanging out at home in Montreal, performing, touring, and eating good food. I don’t know if it’s really possible to do all of those things at once, but that’s what I’m aiming for.
The prairies are…
- Rae Spoon: …very large.
The most underrated album of all time is…
- Rae Spoon: …Veda Hille’s Spine.
My favourite TV show is…
- Rae Spoon: …Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Gender is…
- Rae Spoon: …a human construct and I don’t find it particularly useful for my own life.
The greatest social upheaval that I have seen in my life is…
- Rae Spoon: …the Quebec student strike.
The best way to travel is…
- Rae Spoon: …calmly. Remembering to eat and sleep make travelling all of the time a lot more sustainable, which is important if travelling is a big part of your job.
Over the years the greatest change to my music has been…
- Rae Spoon: …creating more electronic music. I started doing that while I was living in Germany several years ago. Being more flexible with genre in my music has opened up more possibilities.
My Prairie Home –my new album and the companion National Film Board documentary- is…
- Rae Spoon: …a musical documentary about my relationship with Alberta.
Making music is…
- Rae Spoon: …pretty great.
My Prairie Home -the album- is available on iTunes. You can learn more about Rae Spoon and My Prairie Home -the album and film- by visiting raespoon.com.
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Theodore Wiebe is a writer living in Calgary. You can follow more of his important nonsense on Twitter (@TheodoreWiebe) or Tumblr (writingafterdark.tumblr.com).
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