Profile: Snowblink

Changing Scenery
Snowblink prove how amazing change can be.

Photographer / Riley Stewart + Grooming / Katie Locke

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As the heart and the mind behind Snowblink, Daniela Gesundheit makes music that brings listeners through a diverse and unique musical landscape, largely reflective of her own physical ones. Originally from Los Angeles, Gesundheit moved to Toronto in 2008 and, in her short time here, has already garnered a reputation as one of the city’s most inspired and inspiring musicians. But it’s more than just location that’s changed for her band. What was once a five piece back in sunny California, became a two piece when Gesundheit made the move north to Toronto to work with Dan Goldman (Luxury Pond). To sum it up: now Snowblink is a duo, they’ve played and worked with with a ton of big names like Feist, Jeff Tweedy, Owen Pallett, Timber Timbre and Great Lake Swimmers, and they just recently released their highly anticipated sophomore album Inner Classics which was produced by Chris Stringer (Ohbijou) and mixed by Mark Lawson (Arcade Fire). We caught up with Gesundheit to talk about the current state of Snowblink and how all these changes have affected her music.

Amanda Cuda: How do you feel you and your music have changed since you’ve been living in Toronto?

Daniela Gesundheit: Lyrically, I have added longing for natural landscapes and settings that I miss to my repertoire, as opposed to just focusing my longing-lens on the people and relationships that have changed. “Where’re my hills at? I want my hill-legs back!” I love Toronto and the people I have met here, but I do miss the excess of sunshine and glut of natural beauty that California offers so effortlessly. Musically, Toronto has enlivened something that was previously shy and sleepy in me – now my music is much more of a nude dip in a glacial lake – crisp, exposed, and clear.

AC: You also went from having a whole group of boys working with you to a duo. Why that change?

DG: First off, it was logistically impossible to convince four artists to pick up and move with me from San Francisco to Toronto. Dan and I quickly settled into a duo format that had such a lush full sound that it did not want for much. I do very much enjoy the occasional special Snowblink Big Band.

AC: Your first record, Long Live, was recorded in a few different cities. Did you do the same thing with your Inner Classics?

DG: Inner Classics was a bit more centralized than Long Live, but we still managed to record it in Toronto, Montreal, and Los Angeles. I have very strong bonds with people whom I connect with musically, and I am willing to tackle the frustrations of sorting out the logistics of having them involved on recordings, even if they are on the other side of another country.

AC: Can you tell us a bit about Inner Classics?

DG: I would suggest listening with the lyrics in front of you like an opera libretto. I have been told I don’t enunciate when I sing.

AC: The list of artists you’ve worked with is pretty long and some of them sound quite different from Snowblink. Is there one collaboration that really stands out as being really challenging or just plain amazing?

DG: The National Parks Project was one of the more exciting collaborations I have been a part of. I worked with Chris Leudecke and Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers) in the Cape Breton Highlands of Nova Scotia writing, arranging, and recording songs, and scoring a short film by Keith Behrman, all while camping in a national park and being filmed for a documentary TV series on Discovery HD. That pressure cooker sort of environment was beautifully tempered by being in stunning natural settings, and it enabled some inspired new friendships and music.

AC: What three artists or bands you dream of collaborating with?

DG: Brian Eno. Bill Callahan. Leonard Cohen.