MARIE DAVIDSON discusses sound and silence and the worlds need for hope.

When I was 5 or 6, I was taken to a beach for the day by my father. There, I made a friend with whom I spent the day catching and releasing frogs. No words were spoken, no names exchanged, no common ground established beyond our fascinations for frogs. When the day ended and I had to go home, I was suddenly filled with such complete and profound sadness as it dawned on me that I would never see this friend again. I cried deep, funeral worthy, sobs the whole ride home. In some subtle way this is the nature of the friendship I found, one night at Silver Door, when I met Marie Davidson. Anyone that knows her will understand this I am sure, but for those who don't, I hope this interview will shed a little light on the spirit of this mage. 

Welcome home! How has traveling abroad changed the way Montreal fits?

Hi, it’s good to be back home. Traveling a lot made me appreciate Montreal more, I missed the kindness and warmth of people in my everyday interactions.
 
 Describe your relationship with sound.
 My relationship with sound is vital. I make music to heal and I heal to make more music. I love working with sound, it’s a form of therapy for me. It can also be poisoning if I dislike the sounds around me and I can’t control them. I get very sensitive around aggressive noises or annoying voices. I wish it was somehow possible to organize sounds, it’s a lifelong learning to accept the soundscape info of each environment and situation. For example, nobody likes to be sitting next to a screaming baby but without screaming babies, there would be no future for humankind.
 
 How different is the soundtrack of every day life in foreign lands, the traffic? the birds? the trees, are these all geographically unique?
 I haven't had the chance to travel much outside of big cities, airport and clubs so I can’t really blow your mind about my experience with foreign lands and birds but I can tell you that it’s very enjoyable to walk around cities where you don’t understand the language. For instance, when I lived in Berlin, I would take the train and hear most people talk in German or Turkish, it sounded pleasant to my ears and it made me happy to not understand the small talk of everyday life. I could make up my own suppositions of what they were talking about or just not mind them.
 
 Is there a place with background soundtrack that you love or that sticks out as particularly unpleasant? how do these soundtracks effect you as a person, as a musician?

Airports. I hate airports, they will bring the worst out of anyone. The relentless soundscape made of almost all declination of agressive and unpleasant noises really affects people’s attitudes. I’ve noticed it in myself, as soon as I enter an airport, I feel tense and irritable.
 
 What language barriers have music removed for you?

Inhibitions, anxiety, being too self-conscious. Music allowed me to become more confident about myself and dare to speak my mind, first in my songs and eventually in everyday life. It’s a fact that music is a great tool to free your mind and body and music is also fun, I like to joke around when I’m in studio. If there ain’t an once of humour in a concept or a work of art, it’s often quite boring.
 
 Were you born a musician or did you make yourself one?

I made myself one, that’s for sure. I had to work hard.
 
 What came first - music or musician?

Don’t ask me that, it’s not for me to tell as I was not there.
 
 What is silence to you?

Essential.
 
 What role will music play in saving the world.

Since The Internet era, music is accessible for free and music is a vector of knowledge, you can transmit any idea you want with a song or just the title of a song itself. So I don’t know about saving the world. . . music can be beneficial or harmful depending on who’s making it and what it’s promoting. In fact, I don’t know about “saving the world”, I’m not sure it’s possible. We can only hope for a better future. 
 
 What would you choose as your final song, your "outro" so to speak ?

Depends on the mood I’m in when I die.

What travels faster, light or love?
 Light. Love is definitely a slow thing, it needs to build up, otherwise it’s just infatuation.