Canada's Unknown Indie Princess
The ‘90s were a grand decade for Canadian women. Shania Twain sold millions, as did Alanis Morissette and Celine Dion. So when Emm Gryner emerged onto the music scene in 1995 things seemed to be going her way. After releasing two albums independently under her own label Dead Daisy Records she signed on to major label Mercury in 1997, releasing Public a year later.
After a merger between Mercury and Universal, Emm was dropped and left to fend for her herself. Looking back, Emm says, “I never took it personally and I got a lot of experience working with people who I normally wouldn’t get a chance to. That gave me fuel to kind of do the independent thing.”
And ‘do the independent thing’ she has. Seven years and four albums later, Emm released her recent album The Summer Of High Hopes to rave reviews. The first track, “Almighty Love,” was even picked by Bono (yes, THAT Bono) as one of six songs he wished he had written in the past twenty years in an interview with Q Magazine. “To be mentioned is just amazing. I didn’t expect it, and it’s kind of like a dream come true really. I told my parents right away,” said Emm, of Bono’s praise.
However, respect from big stars isn’t something new for the songstress. Through the years, she’s won over and toured with the likes of The Cardigans, Def Leppard and David Bowie, experiences which all had an impact on the making of her recent album.
“When you learn someone’s songs, you learn about their songwriting, especially with Bowie. A lot of his songs, like “Ashes to Ashes” and “China Girl,” they might sound like simple pop songs, but they’re really complex. And with Def Leppard, it just makes me want to add more pyro.”
What SOHH lacks in pyro it certainly makes up for in complexity, as it walks the fine line between indie-rock, pop and heart-on-sleeve balladry. The result is a deeply personal journey through the love, loss and anguish of a young woman on her own. No wonder Bono’s so impressed.
Bowie and U2 influences aside, another artist that has played a role in shaping the way Emm writes, as well as runs her label, is Bright Eyes.
“The fact that they’ve been pretty fiercely independent is really inspiring, especially as they get more popular. And you always start thinking in this day and age that everyone buckles under the pressure at some point and does something that would not be normally what they would do in order to make money or something, and so far I haven’t seen that with this band. So I think that they’re one of the few that are inspiring to me that way.”
Much like Bright Eyes frontman Connor Oberst, and his label Saddle Creek, Emm’s label Dead Daisy is continually growing, with artists like Royal Wood, Andrew Spice and In Flight Safety. When it comes to signing new talent though, Emm says, “It’s all been stumbling on people, I don’t really go looking for artists.”
When it comes to the success of Dead Daisy, the praise from Bono combined with In Flight Safety’s recent heavy rotation on MuchMusic, things are looking up. With Emm’s side glam-punk act Hot One tearing up the scene, the future looks exciting for Emm Gryner and Co.
On SOHH she sings “Girls are Murder.” When asked about boys, she laughs and says, “That’s the sequel.” Something I’m sure everyone has high hopes for.
- Ryan O’Shaughnessy
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