Clara Engel is an independent Toronto-based singer-songwriter and her songs are filled with gothic poetry and beautifully accomplished vocal performances.
This is my debut as an interviewer so I hope you like it. Any feedback is welcome.
Clara, it was a pleasure to chat with you. Thank you for your time and
your insightful responses. Looking forward to listen to your upcoming album.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Everything is useless: How would you introduce yourself as an artist to someone you've just met?
Clara Engel: Someone once called my music "minimalist holy blues from another galaxy," and that's quite nice. I'd be happiest if I never had to describe my work, or spend time convincing anyone of its value ever again, and just focus on the actual work-making part.
EIU: I must say I was quite impressed by your powerful lyrics which somehow evoke Edgar Allan Poe's dark atmospheres. Is he an influence? What are your literary influences?
CE: That's a lovely compliment, thank you. I love Edgar Allan Poe, and his poetry was some of the first I ever read. I read a lot of poetry and some poetically-inclined literature. I love Paul Celan, Vasko Popa, Essex Hemphill, Rainer Maria Rilke, Helene Cixous, Virginia Woolf, Theodore Roethke, Anne Carson. Right now I'm reading Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson, and it's wonderful.
