Indiana's Indie Music Source
“Amanda and Sheila of Dala were born to sing together. Darlings of the Canadian music scene, they are poised to bring their harmonies and fresh brand of acoustic pop to the world.”
Zack Daggy: Where are you from? How does living there affect your songwriting?
Dala: We were both born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. Canada has a long history of singer-songwriters, and Toronto is especially culturally vibrant. When we first started writing and performing, we had loads of small venues around the city where we could play our stuff. As young artists, we definitely felt nurtured by the city. Over the years, we’ve started to go further north to do our writing. We are both really influenced by the wide open spaces that dominate the Canadian landscape, and you can hear the scenery in the new album. Especially on tracks like “Alive”, “Northern Lights” and “Stand In Awe”
ZD: How did the two of you meet?
D: Amanda and I met in our high school band class. I was in grade nine at the time, and Amanda was a transfer student in grade eleven. She played the bass clarinet and I played the trumpet. We were also both singers in the school jazz band.
ZD: When did Dala officially form?
D: We officially formed Dala in 2003. That was the year that we met our current manager and producer Mike Roth. He encouraged us to pursue songwriting and performing as a career.
ZD: Where does the name Dala come from?
D: Dala is a combination of letters from each of our first names: AmanDa and SheiLa.
ZD: Did you consider any other names?
D: We briefly flirted with some pretty bad names like “Glove Box” and “The Rose Hips”. When I say briefly, I mean REALLY briefly.
ZD: What’s the song you’re most proud of writing and why?
D: I’m really proud of the song ‘Horses’, which is on the new album. It was inspired by a young man that we met last year, who was in a serious accident that left him confined to a wheelchair. His story and his strength really moved us, and when we play that song live the response is truly overwhelming. I’m proud of how we stepped out of our heads in order to write it. But ultimately it is a song about the private battles that we all fight every day.
ZD: Have you played any great live shows lately?
D: We recently played a sold-out show in Toronto to about 300 people. It was our cd-release concert. Not only were there loads of familiar faces in the audience, we also had some special guests show up. Tom Cochrane, who wrote the classic “Life Is A Highway”, came out and did a song with us in the second half. We toured with Tom back in 2007, and he has remained a great friend and supporter ever since. Our fans were blown away to see a legend like that up close and personal.
ZD: If you could work with anyone in the music industry, who would it be?
D: Besides all of our heroes like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell, we would love to work with the Fleet Foxes. They are such an exciting band, and their harmonies and lyrics are just stunning. They are leading the charge in the resurgence of acoustic music that matters, and we are grateful!
ZD: If you didn’t have a career in music, what would you be doing right now?
D: I’m a big nerd and love being in class. I’d probably be in University studying English. I love words!
ZD: If you’re life was a song, what song would it be?
D: I really love the lyrics in “All I Want” by Joni Mitchell, especially the opening line:
“I am on a lonely road, and I am travelling, travelling, travelling
Looking for something, what can it be?…”
Mothpod 139 – Who Ya Gonna Call
Mothpod 141 – There Will Be Music
Mothpod 144 (Available July 6th, 2009 at Mothpod.com)
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