The music world can definitely be a glowing pool of narcissism, as the musician’s job is a relentless showcasing of their own voices and faces on a nightly basis.
Feathery voiced, Waterloo, Ont. native Craig Cardiff is definitely wired in a different way, as he gets his kicks from having conversations with others, asking interview-esque questions to strangers, and even passing around a ‘book of truths’ for people to write their unleashed thoughts within.
Since 2011, The Juno-nominated Cardiff has been passing around a journal-style book during his live performances, asking fans and show-goers to anonymously write something daringly truthful in the pages.
The book was an outlet and a creative engine for Cardiff, allowing him to read things that his audience members might be too afraid to say aloud.
Through the project, the vigilant singer-songwriter accumulated a wealth of lyrical material and out of the pages of the exploratory book, his latest record Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part 1&2 was born.
Obsessed with the constant study of the people around him, Cardiff has been called a musical sociologist by his peers and “a songwriter who must be heard” by legendary Gordon Lightfoot.
“I guess it’s a mix of both (music and sociology), really,” he said. “In terms of people, it’s crazy how we can be in a room and have all of these assumptions about each other, and they are all wrong. I think it feels safe, and I know that life is very messy and crazy, but then when you start asking other people to share, and only if they want to … and there’s a moment where you get a big sigh, and I realize that I don’t have to be so hard on myself or the others around me.”
Kicking off a few shows in Alberta before returning to Ontario, including an intimate stop at Communitea Café on Friday (Oct. 24), Cardiff spends most of his time as a house-managing father in the Ottawa valley.
“I learned early on, during a cross-Canada tour, that I don’t have what it takes to be the road-weary musician,” said Cardiff, laughing. “I feel like my time is better used where all the boxes get checked, in terms of finances, and so on … but I have respect for people who have that in them – they are nomads and that’s awesome.”
With a colourful cornucopia of releases under his belt that date back to 1997, the unique and innovative performer definitely gets his fix from connecting with, and performing for, people at his shows, and pulls no punches about his love for the limelight.
“I love performing,” he added.
“There is a mix of ego, because it’s pretty gratifying to have people clap for you every four minutes, and I don’t think many people admit that. But I also get really excited about words, because to me, music has an ability to open minds and cure and help people relax.”
With a deep love from traveling across the many rugged roads of Canada, Cardiff considers it a gift to see unique fragments of the country.
“I feel lucky when I’m able to go and play and drive through the mountains,” he said.
“There are good pockets within the community side of Canmore, and other places in the West. I love that there are really intense and intimate venues that can do 200 shows a year with only 100 people at each show, and Ontario has that to a certain degree, but it’s not the same.”
All about uncovering truths and exposing them to his listeners, the entrepreneurial songwriter is never afraid to admit his own shortcomings and struggles.
“I think I have the best job and that if I succeed or fail, it’s really my own fault. I feel like the thing that I have to deal with the most is ego. Obviously, there are always feelings or questions of, Should I be further ahead? or, What is my place in all of this? – or I have those nights where I get fussy and closed up, but your job as a musician is to go and bring a room of people together – however that looks – and to make that work somehow.”
Cardiff is a hard working music maker, but he is also a true family man and has seen the joy of blending that lifestyle into his art.
“I criticize friends who are musicians if they are ‘cardboard-castle makers’… and at the end of the day, they can’t make a living and because they pursue arts, they don’t feel like they can have kids or own property, and I feel like that is such a silly thought, because you really can.”
With many new songs on the go, but no current plans for a brand new album, the songster is seeing some of the merits of letting his latest and most unique record make its rounds into the world.
“I’m always working on different projects, and my new album has been out a year, but I feel like it has legs,” Cardiff noted.
“And I mean, who am I to say that, really, but performing those songs and having people request different songs seems like a good thing. It’s interesting how people are stumbling onto my old music (online), and for them it’s all new. I realize that maybe it would have been better to have more time between older albums – to let the songs sink in and digest for the listener, and to not rush ahead to the next thing.”
