The Music of Leonard Mynx – Interview

Recently YATM met up with singer/songwriter Leonard Mynx to do an short interview for our blog:

"Vesper" Cover Art

Ghost Records [CD, 2009]

1. Valley Of Sickness And Death
2. Northwest Passage
3. Mary
4. House On The Hill
5. Horse
6. The Wine
7. Robert
8. Many Hours
9. The Reins
10. You Asked

Leonard Mynx is a singer-songwriter who’s also a story teller of a rare breed. Based in Portland, Oregon, Mynx has a talent to enchant and captivate his listeners as he leads them through some dark and half familiar paths.

Recently I have been listening to his debut LP, Vesper, on my iPod as I commute to work. Mynx’s stark but powerful folk vocal delivery is a rare find. It is a very refreshing change to the usual factory pop music smorgasboard one would find on the radio. Mnyx has a voice that has been described as, “low and calm, like an alt-country Leonard Cohen” moreover his delivery “hypnotically distant”. He sings sad tales that hook you in but don’t leave you in despair but, in some strange way, offer a strange comfort in acceptance of life’s tragedic nature. Perhaps its Mynx’s delivery, its raw honesty comes across as a welcome matt to your deepest wounds. IN Vesper, he sings compelling and sad tales of a woman called Mary to a brother called Robert lost to the war. In the song, “Horse”, he starts out with the line “I don’t care about girls cause I’ve got heroin”.

In any case, Vesper, is a great album, which we highly recommnend here at YATM.

Leonard Mynx @ Doug Fir Lounge, Portland Oregon

YATM: Now that you are here are you finding Portland a supportive of your work, in networking etc?

LM: Yes, I have. For example, in comparison, to say Nashville where I have become familiar with the music community, the Portland artists and the community here have been genuinely supportive. It’s like in Portland, you are friends first and then you do music together. It’s not so elite in Portland and allows you a creative outlet for the music you want to create without the pressure of having to win over the most fans or gear your product to meet a particular, more popular, segment of the market.

YATM: Today’s artist’s are appear to be reaching out in a more personal space to their fans through Myspace and online services and tools such as Twitter, Do you agree.

LM: Yes, I need to get my tweet on more, I can see there are artists that are using it locally and supporting these types of grass roots movements

YATM:
As much as you are a folk singer and tell stories are your stories fictions or non-fiction based in your debut album Vesper?

LM: This album was meant to be a collection of stories. For example,”Mary” is a story that was inspired from a tragedy in the news. It is a bulb. A seed. The story is not exact. It leaves room for the listener to interpret. It is interactive. It hurts me to play this song. I know it is about somebody’s sister or daughter. I wish that the story of Mary didn’t exist, but it unfortunately does. Somebody needs to tell that story. She cannot remain unsung. We don’t know her very well, but we can have sympathy for her. Her suffering makes our own seem like less of a burden. That’s how a sad song can lift your spirits. They are not autobiographical in any way but come from experiences of others and in that sense part of real life experiences.

YATM: How long did you spend composing the songs in Vesper?

LM: I write all the time, these songs span a long, long stretch of time in the making. I am currently writing a double length LP as well.

YATM: One of your strengths I feel as an artist is in your delivery. Your songs are powerful, in a sense from the silences and how you emphasize your music in the way you deliver it.

LM: yes, without that its nothing, it’s the spaces in between that make the notes better… It’s like phrasing. A powerful speaker has rhythm but can also suck you in with the silences, like Martin Luther King, Jr, when he speaks he had something that captivated you beyond just the message?

YATM: So you are touring this summer?

LM: Yes, a small Southwest tour with Audie Darling. We play similar instruments. She provided the vocals along with Alia Farah on the Vesper album. We will also be doing a lot of west coast shows, including a trip from Victoria to Astoria on a boat, visiting port towns and islands.

YATM: Do you sing any covers? If you chose to do a cover song who would you cover?

LM: I used to play a lot of John Prine and Bob Dylan. These are my biggest influences. I used to also play a lot of jazz, (jazz guitar) I loved Joe Pass, a jazz guitarist, and his work. A cover needs to be tested. The material needs to be strong. A great song can make a mediocre performer sound great. Songs have a lot of power. I hope people don’t forget to pay attention to that fact. Nowadays, the radio is a trash heap. Its factory farmed music that has no soul. Real songwriters are out there, they just don’t get exposure. They aren’t profitable enough to get big money support. Great songs make people think. People are afraid to think. Thinking can be scary sometimes. The listener has to seek out great songs when they are ready for them. A song can start or end a revolution. I take pity on the poor souls who go through their days without really hearing strong music. I curse the modern music industry machine and welcome its demise. We must put music back into the hands, hearts and ears of the people. Then we can call ourselves holy.

-YouAreTheMusic

Leonard Mynx – Northwest Passage