Purveyors of: Jazz/R&B lullabies
File next to: Joni Mitchell, Deep Dark United, Portishead, Isla Craig
Playing #WL13 Saturday, February 16th @ The Great Hall Upstairs

Bernice is a nap in a meadow, a sip of lemon-ginger tea, a morning embrace beneath the sheets. Robin Dann’s liquid lilts curl around stirring electronic splashes and tight rhythm & blues grooves made real by Thom Gill, Nico Dann and Dan Fortin; a jazz spirit swathed up in shimmering melody and potent lyricism. Wavelength’s Adam Bradley talked to Robin about living in the UK, how an ocean’s divide affects collaboration, and her influences.

You were based in London, UK for a good while recently but you'll be in town for the show. Do you get back to Toronto often? I can imagine it's an interesting challenge to keep Bernice flowing when you’re separated by the ocean.

Yes, I’ve just landed in Toronto for an undefined chunk of time, so from here on out Bernice will flow from this side of the Atlantic! While I was living in the UK, it was definitely an interesting challenge to keep Bernice alive, but we made it work. The boys came over and I came back, and we treated the year as a kind of dream-pause, time to gather our thoughts and plans and do lots of writing. In any case, geography is just lines. I’m always aiming towards a life that straddles the continents, constantly dreaming of teleportation technology.

How do you find the music scene different in London as compared to Toronto? Do you perform or see many shows while there?

I felt immediately at home in London, honestly. I think the scenes are comparable, only London is way, way, way bigger, so more people equals more shows all the time. I really hate comparing cities though, as I feel any comparison will never do justice to the cities’ true spirits, which are way too multi-dimensional to define. What I would say is that both cities embrace and support local musicians, and the DIY, proactive, creative lifestyle thrives. If Toronto is an ambling raccoon just trying to feed her family with Greektown scraps, then London is a mangy fox stealing chickens from my back garden. Those are the music scenes.

I was a bit of a recluse at times while studying (at Goldsmiths), but did make it out to lots of amazing shows and did a bit of performing and collaborating. One beautiful show that sticks out in my mind was in the second floor of a car park in Peckham. Loads of beautiful hipsters sitting politely cross-legged watching the group coo some Moondog. That was, to me, a perfect London music moment.

The record is really gorgeous. It’s pretty easy to hear Thom Gill's bloop-groovy R&B contributions floating over the songs, but how do they come together usually? 

Thank you! Yes, Thom surrounds and inhabits that record. It’s hard to remember exactly how it all came together! Most of the songs were pretty much written when I brought them to the band, although as a group we made all the arrangements and Thom put his beautiful cents in while we were finalizing forms and harmonies. I don’t like to tell the people I play with what to do. They’re so good at it, I just want them to feel free, with a strong idea of the sound in mind. (Producer) Leon Taheny was also hugely instrumental in getting that sound to come alive in the mixes.

When Bernice performed at The Music Gallery last June, it was part of a Tropicalia-inspired evening, and you sang a beautiful, acoustic version of a Gilberto Gil song. In Portuguese! Are you a fan of Brazilian music, or Tropicalia more specifically?

Yes, that was Gilberto Gil’s “Drão,” such a beautiful song. Being exposed to bossa nova in jazz school lead to an intense love for Tropicalia and all those artists breaking rules in Brazil back in those days. I’m deeply in love with Gal Costa, with João Gilberto, and so many other Brazilian musicians. I’ll eventually learn to speak Portuguese. A couple of summers ago, while camping in Portugal, I could actually communicate a bit by singing the few songs I’ve memorized phonetically with some sweet local families by the edge of a lake while we waited for our car to be dragged out of a sand bank by a local fisherman...definitely a life-affirming memory!

Are there any other musical or artistic movements or schools that you're particularly interested in, current or otherwise? 

Well, currently I’m interested in skating, in learning to skate backwards, which is proving to be a real challenge for me. I’ve got some fear to deal with. I’m also interested in this lock-jaw singing technique that’s in a lot of old country music. Check out any George Jones video and you’ll see what I mean. Listen to his tone!

There's so much music that exists now, a truth that's in no small way due to digital technology and the Internet. Do you suppose that the value of creativity has diminished or become more disposable as a result?

No. I mean, in my small world I value it all the more because of the sheer amount of music available. When I find a new musical love, it’s like finding a diamond in the rough. And thanks to this wonderful technology, there are diamonds everywhere if you have the patience to wade through all the sand and stay positive.

Robin, if Bernice was a fancy meal, what would it be?

Ooh. I asked Thom what he thought about this. He thought we’d probably either be an entire sea bass, eaten in chunks with the hands, or a face plant in a field of saffron. I agree, but I’d add that there would also most definitely be dessert, probably a big bowl of whipped cream and berries with spoons for everyone.

*photo by Claire Harvie