An Interview with Dana Gavanski

Words by Sarah Morrison

Photo by Tess Roby

After spending a summer working along-side her father, Dana Gavanski had saved enough money to fund an entire year of songwriting. Out of this came ‘Yesterday Is Gone,’ Gavanski’s debut LP out via Flemish Eye Records; an album conceptualized around the idea of ‘learn to say what I feel and feel what I say.’ With troubling times causing touring to be put aside, Gavanski finds herself in isolation in London, UK.

We caught up with Gavanski to discuss the methods that led to the creation of ‘Yesterday Is Gone,’ public filming, and releasing an album in a troubling time.

What sort of Serbian music traditions were you surrounded by as a child? Were you raised listening to music sung in Serbian?

Nothing notable really. My parents would listen to mostly Serbian pop music but I don’t remember it being played often in the house. My mother always had a classical station on. It was usually a battle between my mainstream pop and r&b and her symphonies and operas. I only got into Serbian traditional music recently.

Your father works in film and your mother works as a painter, did you ever consider getting into either of those professions as a child? Did their artistic avenues influence you to pursue a less traditional job option?

I definitely considered working in the film business for a while, in my late teens and early twenties... I guess just through my experiences, seeing my two parents work unconventional hours and jobs, this way of living felt normal to me. It was our way of living. I didn’t have a particularly disciplined childhood either and could generally do what I liked, within reasonable limits of course...

When you made the move from Vancouver to Montreal, what were things that you noticed were different about the music communities? At what point did you become more involved with the musical side of them?

Well at that time I wasn’t making music and I didn’t listen to much contemporary music either so I can’t say much about my experience… However, I became more involved in the Montreal music scene over time, mostly in the last few years that I lived there, especially through Resonance, a live music cafe that catered mostly to jazz at the time. The moment I became more comfortable with playing in front of people, the more I became involved in the music scene and events, etc, which I experienced more when I moved to Toronto. Toronto has a lovely music scene.

After your studies were over, you left your partner and started to re-learn the guitar. What gave you the courage to sort of start over and layout a new path?

Well, I was dating someone else at the time who was a Jazz musician and was surrounded by lots of amazing musicians at the cafe I worked at. I guess I began to get jealous of them and through that realized that I also wanted to play music! I didn’t know at the time that I would write any songs or pursue music at all. It took some time to warm up to the idea that I could pursue music

At that point, you were also working along-side your father as a producer assistant and spent the rest of your time working out of a hotel. Was it difficult to find a balance to write with all that going on?

Yeah, there wasn’t any balance for about five-six months. Ten-fourteen hours days and sometimes working on weekends, mostly staring into a computer screen with a phone to my ear. It was a bizarrely idyllic but also creepy place to be. We were surrounded by a huge forest, a golf course and a man-made lake. I couldn’t drive at the time so I was literally stuck there. My partner at the time would visit me on the weekends and bring me food from the city that I asked him to find.

It was hard to play music because after working for long hours you just wanna hang with people or relax and watch a film, but I was so scared of losing my connection with music that I mostly didn’t socialize but would go back to my room and play for another hour or so until I fell asleep. But once the job was over, I had enough money to live on for about half a year so that’s when I taught myself to write songs and play guitar a bit better.

You managed to save enough money to take a year off and focus on writing. What were you hoping to learn from the writing retreats you went on? What was one of the biggest lessons you learned while doing so?

The biggest thing for me was learning not to get impatient, and judgemental. Just sitting with myself or with a song and writing it and not giving up.

You ended up living in Toronto, although, wasn’t able to make it feel like home. Why do you believe that was?

It just takes time to settle down in a new city. I generally got along pretty well there, I think I just needed more time!

At what point did you meet Sam Gleason (Musician) and Mike Lindsay (Tunng / LUMP)?

I had met Sam a year earlier in Montreal at a house show, and Mike I met last November through Full Time Hobby, to record my 7” One by One.

Mike’s input was a bit of the starting point at which you felt your ideas in your head were able to come to life. What did Mike bring that allowed your vision to truly come to life?

Yeah, he’s amazing. He’s got this mix of intensity and peacefulness. He’s totally wacky but very grounded and curious. I just felt comfortable with him from the start. I never felt judged or like his ideas were better than mine. We also just got along really well, so that helps!

David Bowie and Aldous Harding, who inhabit different personalities on stage, are musicians that resonated with you when it came time to express yourself on stage. What characteristics have you taken away by watching them? Do you feel you’ve come to a place where you truly let your entire self lay bare on stage?

Nothing yet - I’m still pretty introverted on stage. But I’m beginning to feel this feeling of, say, wanting to use my hands in a more gestural way, or wanting to extend my neck a little or tilt my head in a certain way. So far it’s all pretty subtle but it’s something I’m beginning to consider, especially for the next things I do...

At what point did your labels get involved: Ba Da Bing (US) / Full Time Hobby (UK/EU) / Flemish Eye (CAN)? What’s the experience of working with three been like?

I first began working with Full Time Hobby early last year, after recording One by One. Once I finished the LP, I began working with Ba Da Bing and Flemish Eye. It’s been good working with them! I love my team. Everyone is considerate and down to earth with their hearts in it.

The title track and first single ‘Yesterday Is Gone,’ is a little more obvious lyrically than others. Was this one of the first tracks you worked on?

Actually, I wrote it more towards the end, around the same time I wrote One by One and Trouble. And Catch and What We Had were written maybe a few weeks before recording. Writing more obvious poppy lyrics was actually hard for me at first. I’d always felt uncomfortable writing more obviously, but the songs beckoned it so I tried to just loosen up a bit and get to it.

The video is quite obviously filmed in the Montreal metro system. Was it at times weird at all to be filming in such a public space?

Oh yeah, very much so! But it had to be done and there was no time to worry about appearances! Also, working with Nina Vroemen was great because she was so focused, inspired and fun. But yeah, I was making some pretty funny moves while people stared and walked around me. It was good practice. I saw it as an exercise in letting go.

It’s a shame the album was released during a very weird transition period for the world. Have you found any difficulty with this?

Yeah, it's generally quite a bummer! I was really excited to tour the album in April with my band and to play in France and Germany for the first time. And it’s starting to feel like my September dates are becoming more and more unlikely. It just doesn’t seem feasible given the situation… Regardless, I’ve been finding other ways of connecting to people, especially through these live streams, which I had never done before…

What has your isolation set-up been like? You’re overseas at the moment, yes?

Yup, I’m living with my partner in London. We have a smallish apartment, with the company of our plants, a few guitars, and vinyl. I’m hoping to start going to our music studio soon and begin working on the next album.

During this period, what are you hoping to get done while sort of having a small gap between release and downtime?

I mean, I want to be super productive and write my next album, maybe my next three albums, but in reality, at the moment it’s hard to feel super inspired while stuck at home. I do go out daily for a walk or run, and we have access to our neighbour’s backyard, but I’m missing the occasional social connection.

I’m getting used to it though... It was hard for the first few weeks, but now I’m beginning to feel more focused. Both me and my partner lost work so time is even more unconstricted. I’ve been trying to create some kind of habits, a daily schedule of exercise and music. I’ve been cooking lots of course. I was talking to my friend yesterday and asked her what she’s been doing. She said she’s been thinking about food, cooking food, and eating food and that’s mostly it. Basically feeling the same way here (laughs).