A self-described “very sensitive 21-year-old,” quinnie went from writing songs as a kid to releasing independent projects such as a gold star in 2019 and touch tank in 2022, which found her a huge new fanbase. She is bitingly funny, brutally honest, loves the underwater world and sea creatures, and will help you escape if you let her. Her debut album, Flounder, embodies many folk elements, unapologetic lyrics, emotive compositions and dreamy production to create a soundscape signature.
On the song and record, quinnie notes: “flounder is a song that contrasts the beauty and mystery of nature and history with the modern world. This song expresses a want to devolve back into a fish, a flounder to be exact, and enjoy life from a simpler perspective – the bottom of the ocean. flounder is the title track off of my debut album, encapsulating the album’s peaks and valleys of trying to be a trusting person in a world that often feels heavy.”
We caught up with quinnie at home with her cat, Blueberry Muffin, to chat about the album, journaling, trust, connecting with her audience and reading YouTube comments. The interview, conducted over Zoom, coincided with the ice storm in Quebec, and the power outage that affected over a million homes for the next few days!
Watch or read the full interview below. Thanks to quinnie for being so patient with our power outages!
So how’s life?
It’s good. I was out of town for a couple weeks cuz I was in London and I was in New York and I was just playing a few shows, but I’m just happy to be back now. I got back and then I immediately went to Mexico for a little trip. So now I’m back, and it feels good.
So, was Mexico work or relaxation?
That was just, for vacation. I was there for like three days. It was great.
Okay. I feel like you might deserve that.
Yeah, it felt like that.
And I’m from the UK even though I’m in Montreal. So how was London?
It was great. It was a little gloomy, but I was expecting that you know, that’s what everyone does when they go. But I’d never been before. I was only there for like three or four days, so I didn’t really get to do a ton, but it was still pretty cool. And I know I’ll be back sometime soon.
So how’s it been having this album out in the world and knowing that so many people are listening to it and falling in love with it?
It feels a lot more, I think, neutral than I thought. I think I thought that putting out my first album would be this like, great moment of like epiphany and explosion. And I think I realized when I put it out that like the most accomplished I felt was when I finished the album, not when I put it out, you know, because to me it’s been done. And so it’s been weird cuz it’s this weird thing where I have to, like, I check in like every like day or so and I’m like, oh, I forgot that that’s out right now.
And it definitely makes me feel a little, like naked, for lack of a better word. Just cause it’s a really vulnerable feeling, obviously. But I’m not super phased by it, I think, which is kind of cool.
Well, putting, putting music out into the world for any artist is, is gonna be vulnerable as you say. But for you, because your lyrics are so intimate, it’s like next-level vulnerable. Have you ever had a song where you’re like, no, that’s too much? I’m gonna hold that one back because it’s too personal.
I mean, to be honest, like not every song on the album I was super keen on putting out in the first place, and after some time I kind of warmed up to the idea. But even touch tank, I was kind of like, I kind of made it as a joke, but I wasn’t like, this is a hit song I’m gonna put out. You know what I mean? I felt that way about get what you get. I really didn’t wanna put that song out, and I’d had it privately written for like two years before we had recorded it.
But yeah, I mean, a lot of the time, I feel that way about certain songs, and then I kind of am like, what? You know, what good is this song doing if it’s just stewing away alone in the vaults, I guess. And then it kind of makes more sense for me, and especially with touch tank, because it is such an intimate song.
Do you read the comments? I just started reading some of the comments on YouTube to that song, and so many people seem so grateful that you put this song out. Have you paid attention to any of that and got the feedback?
So I used to read all comments and then I realized it wasn’t exactly amazing for my brain. So I stopped reading everything. I no longer scroll to the bottom of a comment section cuz that’s where things get a little gnarly. But definitely on YouTube, I read a lot of the top comments. I read the top comments on TikTok and stuff like that. And that’s where I see really positive feedback and the stuff that I think I should be, you know.
It’s just all people saying thank you for making this song. And it’s so rare that somebody has these kinds of feelings to share, especially in this day and age.
At first, I was very shocked because I feel like I get specifically that song, a lot of very earnest feedback and a lot of personal stories and anecdotes. And it’s very sweet to see, for sure. And it’s really touching, obviously, because I never really thought it would have any sort of impact like that on anybody.
So were you the kind of kid that kept a diary? I’m guessing you were?
Yeah, I have probably upwards of like 10 or 11 journals. Ever since I was a kid and I just, you know, keep stacking on top of them every time I finish one. So that’s been a thing for me since I was really small.
Does keeping a diary lead directly to the songs, or is that just how your brain works?
Honestly, no. I don’t start a song in my journal, you know what I mean? Like, I kind of start my songs in my day-to-day and I’m constantly kind of jotting things down on paper in my Notes app or whatever throughout the day, and that’s kind of how the seed is usually planted for my songs.
I definitely have gotten a lot of good stuff from my journals, but weirdly the journals are just for me, and I can like a lot of the time kind of cross-reference a lot of stuff in there if I need a more specific detail or something like that for a song.
Are you still journaling?
Yes, for sure. All the time.
So I’m guessing your journals must have changed quite a lot since this time last year.
Yeah, for sure. Definitely. It’s been a big year. There’s been a lot of changes in all areas of my life. So weird. I was just thinking about it this week and kind of thinking about where I was at a year ago and it’s always very confusing, especially after a big year.
So where did music start for you? What was the time that you remember falling in love with music?
I was really little. My uncle gave me a CD of Sergeant Peppers and that was one of the first albums I really loved. He also gave me this like Hits of the Sixties, like compilation CD. I used to listen to those two religiously when I was like probably five or six on my Hello Kitty CD player. And that was probably like, the conception of me being like, I love music. And then I did musical theatre all throughout my childhood and all throughout high school.
And I started writing my own songs probably around when I was six or so, too. Stopped for a bit, picked it up again in middle school, stopped, picked it up again in high school, and then I started recording myself in high school as well.
So what kind of songs does the six-year-old quinnie writing?
I have a tattoo that my sister designed for me, it says “Joy is Happy” because that was the first song I ever wrote when I was six years old and I had a little construction paper booklet and I had a song called, Joy is Happy, you know, very profound stuff. So that’s what my songs looked like, I guess you could say. And then in middle school, they were weirdly cynical. And I look back and I chuckle every time I read them. It’s very funny to look at.
Did you get to perform any of those songs?
Actually, no I didn’t really, like, I was really shy as a kid, so I didn’t start performing at all until I was in high school. And even in high school, it was kind of, few and far between. I did not like being the centre of attention in that way when I was super young. So no, maybe one.
Are you starting to get used to being the centre of attention now?
For sure. Yeah. I started getting used to it more when I was like probably 17, 18, cuz my sister used to have like a DIY venue in her basement and I would perform there. And then I did a little bit in college cause I went to college for a year. But all that warming up kind of came to a halt during Covid cuz I didn’t get to play for like two-ish years. I played like one one-off show in like three years up until this month. But yeah, I’m just getting back into the swing of things in regard to playing live, and I feel normal about it again.
So you’ve had some shows recently, right? I know you’ve got some more coming up.
Yep.
How has it been playing the songs now that the album’s out and people know the words? How has it been playing those in front of people?
It’s been, I think a lot of people who play live would probably describe it as pretty like reinvigorating because you kind of live with this music for a really long time and then you don’t really get to see in the flesh how people relate to it until you play it live, you know? And so it’s very exciting, for lack of a better word to hear people singing my songs, it’s like a feeling I’ve never felt before. So overall, very positive.
And with these lyrics especially, I’m betting that a lot of people are singing these lyrics back to you as you’re performing. So t must be like really nice, but a bit weird to see that connection.
It’s super weird. I mean, I anticipated it on like touch tank, but when I hear it on other songs specifically, some of the more like slower sadder songs, it’s kind of shocking to me, but also really exciting, and there’s like, I don’t know, it doesn’t feel like anything else, you know?
With the album, Flounder, I would think if anything connects most of the songs it would be the subject of trust. Would that be a fair comment?
For sure.
Why do you think that is something that flows through your music?
It was never intentional, you know, you go into this project being like, I wanna make a great project, but the meaning is gonna have to kind of reveal itself to me. And that’s how I felt from the get-go. And then I think at the end of this period of my life, I realized in writing all these songs that the topic that I was really grappling with throughout all of it was trust.
And so, I don’t know. I think it kind of makes sense in that it was paired with me entering my young adulthood and having to learn how to function on my own in the real world and take care of myself and all that good stuff. And you know, those things don’t always go amazingly when you’re 18, 19, 20, and you’re just kind of trying to figure out what’s going on and the world is scary, you know? And I think that was sort of where a lot of the subject matter was centred. But I also experienced, I think in that time of my life, a lot of extreme pain and violation of trust paired with like a great light that I was carrying with myself.
And I was often very confused with this concept of how can people be so cruel and horrible when I want to go outside every day and trust that things are gonna be okay and trust that the world is a good place for me. And have an open heart and have an open mind, you know? And I think that really where most of the music came from was just this sort of dissonance in my brain.
On the subject of trust, I know that you have been directing videos, and you’ve also taken care of all the artwork, which is fantastic. But is that because you don’t trust anybody else to do it?
In the artwork department? Yes. Not in the video department. In the artwork department. Yeah. Cuz I know exactly what I want it to look like, and I’m just like, I just have to get it done, you know? I know I can do it and I don’t feel the need to put it in someone else’s hands and that definitely is the control freak in me.
The music video thing: Less so, cuz I do those with my best friend, Jake. And we’ve brought in some other people too, and that’s kind of a space where I’m more comfortable delegating cuz it’s really not my wheelhouse at all. I just have ideas, you know?
If it’s okay, I’m gonna ask you a few quick-fire questions about your actual listening habits. So what’s an album that really reminds you of your childhood?
Ooh, the first thing that comes to mind is the soundtrack to the Godspell musical. It was just a musical that my sister and I loved as kids.
What’s a record that changed your life?
My answer is, probably Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens.
Which artist would you most want to be a fan of your music?
Probably Beach House. That’s one of my favourites.
What’s an album you absolutely love that most people have never heard of?
The Invention of The Human by Dylan Henner. It’s one of my favourite albums ever. No lyrics or anything like that, but it’s really special.
Which artist have you discovered recently that you’ve been excited about?
That’s hard cause I don’t listen to a lot of new music. But there’s this band called The Millennium. It’s an older band, but they put out this record in, I think 1968 or 1967 or something like that, and it’s called Begin. And it’s this like, honestly, pretty groundbreaking psychedelic rock that I don’t think a lot of people have heard.
They have like very few monthly listeners and I was pretty shocked to find it. All the songs have like these incredible transitions in between them. And you listen to it and you’re kind of like, I can’t really believe this was made in the sixties, but okay.
Which of your songs would you want someone to listen to first?
Flounder and Better cuz those are my favourite two songs off of the album. Also probably Gold Star cuz that’s always gonna be a favourite of mine, I think.
And what album should we listen to after listening to Flounder?
Probably Sun On the Square by the Innocence Mission. That’s also one of my favourite albums ever, and I would be honoured to have my music listened to in the same breath as theirs.
Flounder is out now
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