SAVVIE Only Has Eyes For The Night

Photo by Leigh Righton

“There always seemed to be something missing before,” explains Vancouver-based singer, SAVVIE—born Savannah Leigh Wellman—over Jameson-soda’s in a lavish and crimson-lit Morrissey Pub. “A different sort of something that wasn’t fitting with me or my audience.” After years of producers pressuring Wellman and her serenely cool voice into the inoffensive and airy genre of folky singer-songwriter tunes, SAVVIE finally has total control over her music.

From the very beginning of her music career as a kid in Coquitlam, Wellman noticed the gap in communicating with producers and writers. Wanting to broaden her understanding of the music industry, the young songstress enrolled at Vancouver Community College before going to study music at Concordia in Montreal.“There was always a progression that needed to happen for me,” Wellman says. “I needed to find my way through working with different people and figuring out what kind of sound I wanted.”While all of the tracks on Night Eyes were co-written by Matthew Rogers of the Juno-nominated duo The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer (he also produced the album), Wellman notes that she never felt as though she had much freedom with her sound before. However, with Rogers talents on guitar he was able to fully breathe life into fragments of songs that had been standing still in the corners of Wellman’s mind.“I felt like these songs were more my vision than ever before,” Wellman says, in comparison with how her songs were written before. “We both had a really clear goal and a vision that we wanted to carve out.” With her debut, Night Eyes being released on Wellman’s own label it has only increased her ability to have full creative control.“People can so easily assume that you’re just a girl with a guitar and it’s exciting to show that it doesn’t need to be that way,” Wellman says. “It was so frustrating in the past which is why it feels so nice to say ‘fuck it, I’m going to make the music I want to make and not apologize for it’.”

Released on Wellman’s own Tiny Kingdom Records, Night Eyes - set to be available in Canada on February 10 - is a beautifully bruised collection of whiskey-driven grooves which are already beginning to summon quite a following. SAVVIE’s first single, “Without You”, is a strong statement on Wellman’s burgeoning independence both creatively and personally. With the path lit by burning bouquets of roses, Night Eyes is a beautiful growl towards Wellman’s freedom and strength as an artist and a woman.

Noisey: You mention that your work on Night Eyes makes you happy in a way that none of your previous artistic endeavours did. Why do you think this is?
Savannah Leigh Wellman: People won’t pick up on an album if it feels uncertain and they might not even realize why it feels uncertain, it just does. It’s such a funny thing noticing what strikes people and what takes off. It’s something I’ve been watching my whole time in the industry and it’s not super predictable. But I do think people can sense any sort of uncertainty and a lot of that comes down to confidence and the artist knowing what they’re doing and doing it unapologetically. This record is pretty personal and you’re going to have some people say ‘no thank you’ and some will say ‘fuck yeah’. But that’s okay with me because it’s not going to be for everybody and without that response everything would just simmer in mediocrity.

You’ve been known to categorize your music as “Sex Rock”. What is Sex Rock? Shouldn’t all rock be sexy?
I jokingly started calling it that and now I always have to mention it ‘cause it’s too funny and ‘cause it could be taken a million different ways. Now I’m not talking about misogynist Nickelback ‘you look cute with your pants around your knees or something in your mouth’, I’m not talking about that kind of garbage. You have to understand that it’s coming from me and if you listen to the lyrics it’s all quite empowering. It was coming from a time when I was single and decided to write about this stuff, why the hell not. I shouldn’t be ashamed and there’s no need to be shy at this point in my life, fuck it! Sex is the essence of rock. That’s nothing new. Look at Jimi Hendrix and Robert Plant, they are just oozing sex! That’s what I appreciate and what I like and what I respond to. But it’s not all crunchy guitar. There’s definitely some moody atmospheric dreamy kind of stuff going on too.

Night Eyes is the first release for your label Tiny Kingdom. Where do you hope to go with it?
I love the idea that I could take the label places. I think it would be a natural progression from the work I do now with Music BC which is basically assisting other bands with getting their act together. So even if I’m not focusing on my own music anymore I’d love to be focusing on someone else’s and helping them get somewhere. I’m laying the groundwork for that possibility to turn entrepreneurial, even if it’s 10 years from now.

I see you have a little crystal pouch! What do you keep in it?
It’s my lucky pouch. I know it’s kind of a hippie thing. I keep a little pebble in here and some sage leaves and a little silver trinket that a friend gave me. It’s like a talisman. I’m at a point in my life where I feel I could use all the good luck I can get. If you want things shifting in your direction you can! I’m cursed with quartz though. I have this weird thing where any time I’ve owned it it will fall off or I’ll watch it break or I will straight up lose it the next day. Apparently it’s not my thing so I’ve stopped wearing the pretty crystals.

What are you most excited about for your live show?
There’s a number of songs where I’m just a front woman and I get to just lay it down and I’m really stoked for that. I get to go a little crazy on stage, play the tambourine and let out my inner Stevie Nicks. I’m going to be wearing a lot of fringe.

Photo by Leigh Righton

With you just entering your 30’s now, what do you think are the benefits of being classified as a “mature” musician?
It’s funny in this industry, I don’t necessarily want to focus on it ‘cause people can be so fickle. But to answer your question I feel like I’m only just now figuring out who the fuck I really am. It takes your 20’s, man, and you go crazy just figuring out what the hell is going on in your life and now that I’ve got it figured out I’m way less uncertain about myself. I now know what I’m good at and who I want to be. This is not the end, it’s only the beginning.

Jillian Groening is a writer based in Winnipeg who looks forward to figuring her shit out. @jill_groening