Who are you and what do you do:
My name is Carleigh Aikins. I am an artist, a student, a lover, a friend, and in between all that stuff, I am a vocalist. For several years I sang in a band called Fox Jaws with a family of musicians that came together in my youth. Currently I can be seen singing with my friends in Amos the Transparent from time to time, as well as The Marquee Rose backing Brett Caswell. But my main job is singing with my lifelong friend Afie Jurvanen in Bahamas.
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Why do you do what you do:
There is nothing else I would or could do.
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Current obsessions:
Eating smoked meats or a good fish taco. I recently became fixated on watching live videos of the women in Mountain Man- they transcend time and space with their vocal arrangements and so little instrumentation. I cannot wait to hear them in a live room. But mainly my current obsession is to get out on the road as often as possible. I love travelling; seeing what this glorious world has to offer and sharing in experiences with this facsinating race we call human. And if I can do it whilst singing then sign me up.
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Story told to you when you were a child that you will never forget:
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. The part when the old mother crept into her grown son’s room never sat too well with me- kind of creeped me out. But by the time he held his dying mother in his arms I always got chills. My mother would read it to me while I took a bath every night.
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Song you wish you wrote:
That’s almost impossible to answer. Immediately many Joni Mitchell songs come to mind- she sounds so worldly and womanly with the lyrics in Carrie, and A Case of You is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. There are hundreds of songs written by female artists that I wish I had written. And hundreds of others by men that I wish I wrote as well- but it takes loving a woman to write those ones, and I have yet to have my heart broken by a lady.
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Most played track on your itunes:
No One But You by Doug Paisley and the entirety of Cloak and Cipher by Land of Talk.
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Most cherished musical object:
My kazoo- countless hours of fun and entertainment for a girl who can’t play many instruments half decently. But lest I forget my tambourine- I never step onstage without it. (Unless I forget it at home which has been known to happen once or twice.)
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Go-to album on a rainy day:
Glory Hope Mountain by the Acorn- it sounds like a fantastic rainstorm to me. That or anything by Iron and Wine. Sexy sleepy rainy tunes.
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Proudest moment:
Standing onstage with Afie and the band at Place Des’Artes in Montreal, opening for Robert Plant and the Band of Joy this past year. I also boast quite often that Fox Jaws opened for Fleet Foxes, right before they broke. They invited us onstage with Blitzen Trapper, which was so much fun. There were maybe forty people in the room.
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Most vulnerable moment:
This moment now. Writing all of this.
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Are you most influenced by your surroundings or your inner monologue:
My inner monologue is constantly going. I have read many books and practised many meditations to attempt to quiet my inner voice- I am very harsh on myself and my work and I want to learn to stop being that way. I think I am so hard on myself because my entire life I have been surrounded by gifted, creative people who have a great impact and influence upon me and my work. I am surrounded by people who take their craft very seriously and who work very hard, and so if I am producing work I always measure it up to that which I am surrounded by. I am learning to trust in what I do as an individual and to trust why I do it; to let it flow naturally instead of worrying about whether or not it measures up to anyone else’s standards but my own.
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Favourite venue to play in and why:
Although this last U.S tour afforded us the opportunity to play in some gorgeous historical theatres and incredible stages, it’s the intimate stuff that gets me going. I grew up on Big Bay Point, and my friends the Nicholson brothers had a small house that was once their home before their dad Jamie built a larger one on the property. We call it the Backhouse. It’s where they jammed and formed their first bands. It’s the coolest jam space ever, and we make a point to gather there and get back to the root of things. The Backhouse “stage” has played host to a pretty impressive roster of Canadian talent. All for the love of playing for each other. If not there, then I love singing most in a living room filled with my ridiculously talented and musically inclined friends. Preferably when we are all a little bit shit-canned and are really laying into the full score of Jesus Christ Superstar.
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Dream venue to play in and why:
Massey Hall. Anyone who has seen a performance there/played there need not ask why. I am a true sucker for a proscenium arch.
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Top album released this year:
The Paint Movement’s self titled release is just magical. And although it won’t be released until late September, Dan Mangan and his incredible band have put together a record, Oh Fortune, that is going to blow minds. I also listen to Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes quite often, even if I don’t truly understand why he mentions apples so often.
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First band t-shirt you ever purchased from a merch table:
Wow. It’s hard to remember. I have told Jason Tait, the drummer of Bahamas ( and the Weakerthans), that one of the first shows I went to without a parent was to see The Weakerthans play at the Reverb. I was 13. I purchased some merch that day and felt pretty proud of myself. Jason blushes when I tell him that. It’s pretty wild for me to be onstage with him now. They are one of my all-time favourite bands and Tait is such a brilliant percussionist. I laugh to myself sometimes and wonder what 13 year-old Carleigh would say if she knew she would be in a band with a member of the Weakerthans fifteen years later.
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Band you’d leave your bandmates for:
I often joke and tell Afie I would leave Bahamas to sing back-ups for Sarah Harmer or Kathleen Edwards, who are both buddies of his… So maybe it’s a little too close to home. But I would never leave Bahamas. They are my dream band. I could possibly be persuaded to leave them for Lucinda Williams’ band, but they would understand. I would love to be in Yukon Blonde because those guys are some of my all-time favourite people and we could travel together instead of only getting to hang two or three times a year. I dream of being in Zeus. As their tambourine player/ merch girl. Those guys are the biggest musical inspirations for me, and they have been since I first met them as a kid on Big Bay Point.
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Album you wish your parents exposed you to in the womb:
More Neil Young albums- I was a late bloomer in becoming deeply acquainted with Neil. I think it has to do with the fact that my parents played nothing but Billy Joel records while I was in the womb. Damn it!
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Album you want to expose your kin to whilst in the womb:
I cannot wait for my babies to dance to all their talented (pseudo) Uncle’s and Aunt’s music. Most of the music I listen to is made by my friends, and they are all starting to make other things now- babies! It’s amazing to watch all the little ones hanging out backstage, getting exposed to live music straight out of the womb. I am so excited for my kids to be around a world of incredible music made and performed by their loved ones. There is a backlog of mind-blowing stuff I want to make them familiar with and I can’t help but smile at the thought of how much more music will be made right before their eyes by their family members.
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Last record you purchased:
Lately I have felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of amazing music out there, that I tend to not purchase much because I just don’t know where to begin. I end up buying and listening to my friends music because it is around me and most accessible. I think the last record I bought was Peter Elkas’ newest one.
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If for some reason you lost the ability to make and play music, what would fill that gap:
After Fox Jaws disbanded a year ago, there was a huge looming sense of “What will I do now?! ” It was such a huge part of my life and I put a lot into it, and for it to be done felt like I had lost an arm or something. But after a while I became alright with it and realized how much I had learned from my experience with the band, and how it had propelled me onto a new path. I decided to focus on my paintings and my artwork by going back to school to train. I re-located and started a whole new chapter. And in doing that, so many arteries opened up for me and I found myself singing anyway, touring America with Bahamas. If I couldn’t sing, I would find other ways to share myself with the world- through my art or through theatre and design as I have in the past. But I always end up on stage singing again, because ultimately it is what feeds my soul the most. So, long story short…I would lay down and die if I couldn’t sing anymore.
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