Over her 15-plus-year career, Montreal-based singer-songwriter Basia Bulat has earned four JUNO nominations and released five albums, three of which have landed on Polaris Music Prize short lists. Latest release The Garden, out February 25 via Secret City Records, features 16 rerecorded and reworked tracks from Bulat's back catalogue affixed with string quartet arrangements composed by Owen Pallett, Paul Frith and Zou Zou Robidoux. Within these versions, moods and perspectives have shifted and Bulat's confidence has blossomed. When she chats with Exclaim!, the conversation is punctuated with laughter and, just like what fills each of Bulat's records, warmth.
What are you up to?
I am currently promoting my new record, which is called The Garden. When I'm not doing that, I'm working on new songs and practicing guitar a lot. I'm also hanging out with my little baby girl, who is 10 months old.
What are your current fixations?
I had never really been a big TV person, and then after having a baby you have a lot of downtime and you have the opportunity to watch a lot of TV if you want. So I am very grateful that there are about 14 or 15 seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race that I've caught up on in the past nine months. I've seen episodes on and off, and obviously I'm a Trixie Mattel fan, but I never really got to watch Drag Race, plus Untucked, plus all of the extra stuff. It's just the best. I love watching these people who are so talented and so passionate about their art form. I feel like it has changed my perspective on my own work. Going through and watching the evolution of this show and watching people come back — because I watched all of the All Stars seasons as well — and watching these beautiful queens, they are very inspiring people.
Why do you live where you do?
I live in Montreal because it's the city that gave me a lot of songs and a lot of inspiration. It's where I met the love of my life and where my daughter was born. It's a beautiful, complicated city and I love it a lot.
What's the last book or movie that blew your mind?
I just finished [Japanese Breakfast's] Crying in H Mart, tears falling on every page. I loved it so much. I saw a lot of elements of my own experience in some of the book as well, also being first generation. It's a wonderful book.
What has been your most memorable or inspirational concert and why?
One that I really loved was Seu Jorge at Montreal's Théâtre St-Denis in 2017. He's from Brazil and he did all of the David Bowie covers for The Life Aquatic's soundtrack. It was just him and a guitar, and it was a very inspirational show. There have also been a lot of POP Montreal concerts that have been very inspirational and so memorable. Seeing Jeremy Dutcher for the first time at POP Montreal, upstairs at the Rialto, was life-changing.
What's been the greatest moment of your career so far?
The two that come to mind are getting to share the stage at Massey Hall with my brother, who played drums for me at the show. That was a very special thing to be able to do together for the Live at Massey Hall series. The other that's really fun was I played a show in Los Angeles at a great venue called Largo and the MC for the night was Bob Odenkirk, who is my hero. He actually wrote a comedy sketch for us to do together, where he was a singing instructor and I was the student. That was one of my favourite moments of my career.
Who's a Canadian musician that should be more famous?
I'm going to be very biased and say my husband, who is going to put out a record under the name Wood Andrews — his name is Andrew Woods. It's a country album that he's just finishing now, so you'll have to look out for it. I'm on the record, and [bassist] Ben Whiteley, who plays with me and the Weather Station and Julia Jacklin.
What advice should you have taken, but did not?
I feel like I'm fairly open to advice, to the point that I made a record called Good Advice. I don't take advice if I don't ask for it, and so usually if I don't take it, it's because it's bad advice or I didn't ask for it. But I usually I try to keep myself open to stuff like that.
What was the first song you ever wrote?
I tried to audition for a TV show called Popstars, it was kind of like Making the Band. I was in Grade 9 and I was in line, and I had written this song that I was going to audition with, and I was singing it to the other people who were also going to audition. Just before it was my turn, they cut the line. I think my song was called "Reason to Breathe." It was really great to have the camaraderie of everybody in line, and then we all had our hearts broken.
What do you think of when you think of Canada?
I think about how it's so lucky that I get to be here. I have a lot of gratitude for my family being able to come here and to rebuild after everything they had been through in the Second World War. Now that I have a daughter, I also feel and think about how important it is to teach her everything that I never learned about Canada when I was growing up, and for our family to grow into a new meaning of what it means to be Canadian.
What's the meanest thing anyone has ever said about your art?
I don't think anybody can be meaner than me. I'm definitely my own worst critic.
What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?
The two CDs that come to mind are a CD single of "Ex-Factor" by Lauryn Hill and Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt. I played that until it was scratched in a million places.
What was your most memorable day job?
In high school, I was a snowboarding instructor in the wintertime at a hill in Ontario just north of Toronto, called Mount St. Louis Moonstone.
If you weren't playing music, what would you be doing instead?
I would be doing something collaborative for sure. That's what I love about music. I love being able to work with other people and collaborate in different ways. So anything that gives you that feeling, I think.
How do you spoil yourself?
My favourite way to spoil myself, at least since March of 2020, has been ordering Indian food for delivery.
What traits do you most like and most dislike about yourself?
The thing that I like about myself is that I try to make everyone feel welcome and that's really important to me. The thing I dislike about myself is my chronic lateness. I hate being late and I hate that I am late. It's usually because I think that I can accomplish too many things before I'm supposed to be somewhere, and I never learn my lesson.
What's the best way to listen to music?
Listening with other people live. I love listening to people playing.
What do you fear most?
If something happened to my baby girl. That's my worst nightmare now.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
I'd probably have a big party and then donate a lot of money to charity. I actually don't want to have to worry about it that much. I would want to do something good with it.
What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
I was in the line ordering a sandwich in Los Angeles and the person behind me was getting angry at me and scolded me for taking too long to order, and it was Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
I'm going to cheat with this one and say it's my baby girl. I serve her a lot of mashed items right now and it's very entertaining — there's so much stuff everywhere and it's so glorious.
What is the greatest song of all-time?
"I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. But she's the master songwriter of a bunch of greatest songs of all-time. She's written "Jolene," also the greatest song of all-time, "9 to 5," also the greatest song of all-time, "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That," another greatest song of all-time. There's quite a few. She's written all the greatest songs of all-time, basically.
What are you up to?
I am currently promoting my new record, which is called The Garden. When I'm not doing that, I'm working on new songs and practicing guitar a lot. I'm also hanging out with my little baby girl, who is 10 months old.
What are your current fixations?
I had never really been a big TV person, and then after having a baby you have a lot of downtime and you have the opportunity to watch a lot of TV if you want. So I am very grateful that there are about 14 or 15 seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race that I've caught up on in the past nine months. I've seen episodes on and off, and obviously I'm a Trixie Mattel fan, but I never really got to watch Drag Race, plus Untucked, plus all of the extra stuff. It's just the best. I love watching these people who are so talented and so passionate about their art form. I feel like it has changed my perspective on my own work. Going through and watching the evolution of this show and watching people come back — because I watched all of the All Stars seasons as well — and watching these beautiful queens, they are very inspiring people.
Why do you live where you do?
I live in Montreal because it's the city that gave me a lot of songs and a lot of inspiration. It's where I met the love of my life and where my daughter was born. It's a beautiful, complicated city and I love it a lot.
What's the last book or movie that blew your mind?
I just finished [Japanese Breakfast's] Crying in H Mart, tears falling on every page. I loved it so much. I saw a lot of elements of my own experience in some of the book as well, also being first generation. It's a wonderful book.
What has been your most memorable or inspirational concert and why?
One that I really loved was Seu Jorge at Montreal's Théâtre St-Denis in 2017. He's from Brazil and he did all of the David Bowie covers for The Life Aquatic's soundtrack. It was just him and a guitar, and it was a very inspirational show. There have also been a lot of POP Montreal concerts that have been very inspirational and so memorable. Seeing Jeremy Dutcher for the first time at POP Montreal, upstairs at the Rialto, was life-changing.
What's been the greatest moment of your career so far?
The two that come to mind are getting to share the stage at Massey Hall with my brother, who played drums for me at the show. That was a very special thing to be able to do together for the Live at Massey Hall series. The other that's really fun was I played a show in Los Angeles at a great venue called Largo and the MC for the night was Bob Odenkirk, who is my hero. He actually wrote a comedy sketch for us to do together, where he was a singing instructor and I was the student. That was one of my favourite moments of my career.
Who's a Canadian musician that should be more famous?
I'm going to be very biased and say my husband, who is going to put out a record under the name Wood Andrews — his name is Andrew Woods. It's a country album that he's just finishing now, so you'll have to look out for it. I'm on the record, and [bassist] Ben Whiteley, who plays with me and the Weather Station and Julia Jacklin.
What advice should you have taken, but did not?
I feel like I'm fairly open to advice, to the point that I made a record called Good Advice. I don't take advice if I don't ask for it, and so usually if I don't take it, it's because it's bad advice or I didn't ask for it. But I usually I try to keep myself open to stuff like that.
What was the first song you ever wrote?
I tried to audition for a TV show called Popstars, it was kind of like Making the Band. I was in Grade 9 and I was in line, and I had written this song that I was going to audition with, and I was singing it to the other people who were also going to audition. Just before it was my turn, they cut the line. I think my song was called "Reason to Breathe." It was really great to have the camaraderie of everybody in line, and then we all had our hearts broken.
What do you think of when you think of Canada?
I think about how it's so lucky that I get to be here. I have a lot of gratitude for my family being able to come here and to rebuild after everything they had been through in the Second World War. Now that I have a daughter, I also feel and think about how important it is to teach her everything that I never learned about Canada when I was growing up, and for our family to grow into a new meaning of what it means to be Canadian.
What's the meanest thing anyone has ever said about your art?
I don't think anybody can be meaner than me. I'm definitely my own worst critic.
What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?
The two CDs that come to mind are a CD single of "Ex-Factor" by Lauryn Hill and Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt. I played that until it was scratched in a million places.
What was your most memorable day job?
In high school, I was a snowboarding instructor in the wintertime at a hill in Ontario just north of Toronto, called Mount St. Louis Moonstone.
If you weren't playing music, what would you be doing instead?
I would be doing something collaborative for sure. That's what I love about music. I love being able to work with other people and collaborate in different ways. So anything that gives you that feeling, I think.
How do you spoil yourself?
My favourite way to spoil myself, at least since March of 2020, has been ordering Indian food for delivery.
What traits do you most like and most dislike about yourself?
The thing that I like about myself is that I try to make everyone feel welcome and that's really important to me. The thing I dislike about myself is my chronic lateness. I hate being late and I hate that I am late. It's usually because I think that I can accomplish too many things before I'm supposed to be somewhere, and I never learn my lesson.
What's the best way to listen to music?
Listening with other people live. I love listening to people playing.
What do you fear most?
If something happened to my baby girl. That's my worst nightmare now.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
I'd probably have a big party and then donate a lot of money to charity. I actually don't want to have to worry about it that much. I would want to do something good with it.
What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
I was in the line ordering a sandwich in Los Angeles and the person behind me was getting angry at me and scolded me for taking too long to order, and it was Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
I'm going to cheat with this one and say it's my baby girl. I serve her a lot of mashed items right now and it's very entertaining — there's so much stuff everywhere and it's so glorious.
What is the greatest song of all-time?
"I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton. But she's the master songwriter of a bunch of greatest songs of all-time. She's written "Jolene," also the greatest song of all-time, "9 to 5," also the greatest song of all-time, "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That," another greatest song of all-time. There's quite a few. She's written all the greatest songs of all-time, basically.
