Your name:
Christine Leakey.
Where are you from?
Originally the 1000 Islands,
Gananoque, but live in Hamilton which is just outside of Toronto.
Name of band:
Christine Leakey… and
sometimes since the 90s, Christine Leakey & Her Extra Fancy Band.
Who else is in your band?
I usually ask friends to join
me in my recordings and live performances.
How would you describe yourselves?
A musical stew of my original
music… often mellow, dreamy, quirky, jazzy, melancholic at times, some hints of
world and pop and psych.
Who are your main influences musically?
I wouldn't say there is any
one particular influence. I love so many genres. I do listen a lot to older
music from previous eras. I feel we are inspired by everything we're exposed to
since birth… or even since the sperm met the egg. I know this doesn't entirely
help as it is so vague... I will say some key music that made impact on me over
time: Musicals when I was a child like Jesus Christ Superstar, Loved
grooving to Jimmy Castor Bunch when I was tiny. K-Tel Nutty Numbers, Dumb
Ditties and Goofy Greats plus the monumental Kiddie Au Go Go when I was tinier.
Duane Eddy too... Also anything symphonic on the radio which would spark
emotion like the Pink Panther album my mom had... I'm into so many different
bands and styles... Spacemen 3 and other shoe gaze bands, The Ramones and
ska during my teens. Also discovering Jazz ballads and standards sung by all
the greats in my teens were great... Then during my early 20s Soft Machine
Volume 1 and 2 was very important to me... Combustible Edison as well and so
much indie garage rock was really great in the 90s too. From Simon &
Garfunkel to Grandmaster Flash in my tweens... I have had some friends
introduce me to some stellar bands during my youth which have stuck like Stark
Reality or Ogden's Nut Gone Flake by Small Faces, Moody Blues In Search of the
Lost Chord, Aphrodite's Child, Jobim, the band LOVE... I love a lot British
music like old Pink Floyd or later stuff too, and Bowie and music from many
different ethnic backgrounds... And then there is my family who would play
music around the fire during summertime every night that would keep me awake.
All year round my mom would sing songs and she would often play her synth and
make my family play Name That Tune with her. Gosh I could go on and on and
on... I don't tend to answer questions like this very well as I tend to not
have favourites. I'm still discovering great music... It never ends... I was a
late comer to Leonard Cohen. If I were to make a thorough list, it would be
quite long...
What do you hope to achieve in music?
To record most of my music and
reach appreciative ears. To continue to be inspired to write more music and see
where it all leads. To always feel happy about it. I do this for the art of it…
Not for commercial success, though it would be neat to have my music get into
more film and television.
What has been the highlight of your career so far, and
why?
My music has been less of a
career and more of a hobby… It's a labour of love. I have had some pretty cool
things happen though where I got to open and share the stage with some very
prominent acts and in the end it only showed me that they are just people like
the rest of us, going on with their own lives by doing what they enjoy or know
best. It made me very happy to finally put out a full length solo album. I had
put out music by a garage rock band I formed in the 90s called The Double
Feature Creatures and never had done anything so in depth for my own art other
than being a Graphic Designer which is really about pleasing clients. So my solo
album projects feel so much more sentimental.
And what’s the moment you want to forget?
If I told you then it would
prevent me from the healing process to forget… I'll give you a hint though to
remind all artists a word of caution. Time and money got wasted by placing my
trust in the wrong hands.. I learned a tough lesson. No matter how kind someone
may seem, you can be open and kind but always professionally protect
yourself.
If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent
your music, what would it be and why?
Hmmm… Miss Betty Grable
because I play each instrument on that tune and produced it. This recording was
done before the rest of the album except for Tipsy. Though I could recommend
others for their own special reasons dependent on the mood I'm in. My album on
a whole is me in sound form, I wrote the music except for Quand Tu Dors and I
play a few different instruments throughout, I chose friends to join me, I
produced it and so there I am revealing my heart and soul, yet many of the songs
I had written during the 90s and so these are all time capsule pieces which I
have been revealing. My current single release entitled, My Heart Has Been
Broken By One Unfit To Name was more of a commission piece and so my heart is
not really revealed there but my artistic exploration is.
Where can we listen to it?
You
can listen to Tapping Trees in a Trinket Box of Treasure, The Double Feature
Creatures and My Heart Has Been Broken By One Unfit To Name at
Where can we find out more about your music?
Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music
that I forgot to ask?
I'm excited to be recording my
second LP now and hopefully people will listen and if they enjoy then please
support independent music and say hello sometime!
great work here Christine
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