EDMONTON | DECEMBER 2021

The last months have been rough on everyone because of the pandemic, but VISSIA has managed to make the best out of it by staying active and keeping moving forward, even though online was suddenly the only way to connect with people. Luckily, she already had her new album With Pleasure in the bag, so it just seemed right for her to start doing weekly live stream concerts and releasing a live video of a different song each week on her YouTube channel, until the official release in April 2021. As she says: “Everybody copes with grief and loss in their own way and keeping busy has always been my way.”

She first started piano lessons at the age of five, then picked up guitar when she was eleven and started writing songs as a kind of self-therapy. “I was a sensitive kid with a lot of feelings, and I needed an outlet. Songwriting was a refuge. I have two younger sisters and we started up a band together that lasted for eight or so years. We released our last project and disbanded a couple years before I put out my first solo record.” Even though she worked on multiple musical projects over the years, her 2017 release, Place Holder, is what officially marked her debut as VISSIA. “I grew up in folk and country music, and those roots are very present in my early work. By the time I was ready to write for With Pleasure, I had been listening to a lot of pop music and RnB, which influenced the stylistic directions I took. Pop songwriting is a real craft – one my stubborn, know-it-all, younger selves didn’t understand – and that’s what I wanted to try with this album.”

With Pleasure is more of an explorational album. VISSIA experiments with a multitude of genre, which all end up blending very well together, producing a sense of cohesion bound by emotion. “I dug into emotion in a way I hadn’t before. I wrote songs that weren’t just about heartbreak. There are songs you can dance to. I focused on the “play” aspect of creating music. It was a freeing, fun and challenging experience. With this album I also wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone vocally, using my voice in new ways, finding new textures. It’s really about dropping into the emotion of the song and making choices that express that emotion.”
Another way to express those feelings has been by connecting more physically with her music, an aspect of her art she had not really explored before this album, which has an undeniable 80’s vibe. “Dance was my first love as a kid. When music started to take up more space in my life, I had to choose what I wanted to do because there is only so much time in a day. I just never imagined incorporating dance into the music I make until With Pleasure. It started with the track “On My Mind”. I wanted to write a fun, flirty, danceable song. I wanted it to feel good in every way. Ever since Robyn came out with her “Call Your Girlfriend” music video, I wanted to do something like that; a one-shot style video with choreography. I started working with Edmonton choreographer Rebecca Sadowski, and somehow pulled it off. Dropping into our bodies is something I think we could all benefit from doing more of, and dance is one of the ways to do that.”

This new route VISSIA took with her music comes from a desire to trust more and more her instincts and ideas instead of listening to her self-doubt. This is also what makes With Pleasure so personal yet so enjoyable. “I’ve always wanted to be the best version of myself I can be, and I still do, but I’ve had to learn not to be so hard on myself. The idea is to have more self-compassion so that I can move through discomfort with more grace and understanding. I had a really emotional year leading up to the writing of With Pleasure, and although I wouldn’t want to go back there for anything, I wouldn’t be the person I am now if I hadn’t gone through it. I try to remind myself to trust the timing of things. With Pleasure is an expression of accepting all of my dimensions.”

It is also an album where she embraces more her playfulness and her femininity, two dimensions of herself she was a little afraid to acknowledge beforehand. “Through my teenage years and early 20’s I thought I needed to “be one of the boys” to make it in this industry. I thought I needed to play down my femininity if I wanted to be taken seriously. I wanted so badly to have people pay attention to the music I was making instead of how I looked. I thought that confidence meant being tough and competitive, when in reality, that’s just insecurity putting on an armour. I was totally out of touch with my feminine energy. One marker for this unearthing was an evening a few years back with four other women. We got together to read poetry and tarot cards, share food and wine, and talk about pretty much everything and anything, no filters. We’ve stuck together ever since and shared a lot. We’ve been real with one another. That’s where the concept for the song “My Wom” comes from. It’s my tribute to these badass women in my life who are growing more into themselves every day. It’s a beautiful coven to behold.”

To know more about VISSIA, find her on Facebook, Instagram or her official website.