IN CONCERT
What: Stephen Fearing with Oh Susanna
Where: University Centre Farquhar Auditorium (3800 Finnerty Rd.), University of Victoria
When: Sunday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $38 ($28 student/alumni) at the University Centre box office, by phone at 250-721-8480, or online at tickets.uvic.ca
Suzie Ungerleider has made great use of characters in her songs 鈥� it鈥檚 become something of a trademark in the past 20 years. But after much prompting, the two-time Juno Award nominee took a different approach on her latest album, A Girl in Teen City.
Ungerleider, who performs under the name Oh Susanna, has always kept the personal information she reveals to the public at a minimum, avoiding writing folk-rock songs from a first-person perspective.
She dove in headfirst for A Girl in Teen City, however, writing songs about her 1980s upbringing in Vancouver.
She wrote the album from the point of view of her teenaged self, writing about places that are now long forgotten. 鈥淚 see the city from a middle-aged person鈥檚 perspective now,鈥� said Ungerleider, 48.
鈥淢y teenage self would probably think I am so soft now, and too emotional and nice for my own good. When I was a teenager, I would have rejected that. We were from the West Side and we were pretty soft and privileged, and yet we wanted to go to the East Side and experience that groggy, dangerous place.鈥�
The childhood she writes about on A Girl in Teen City was an idyllic one, Ungerleider said. Born in Massachusetts, she arrived in Vancouver at 14 鈥� a delicate age for most teenagers. She hit school at full speed, and found a group of friends who loved music as much as she did.
Ungerleider is always in the mix, but she is often portrayed as a casual observer. 鈥淚鈥檓 just a girl in the corner who knows she can sing circles around him,鈥� she sings on My Boyfriend. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 just a girl in the corner, so I don鈥檛 say anything to them.鈥�
The idea for an album of teenaged hopes and dreams sprung from conversations with her friend Jim Bryson, who produced the album. 鈥淚 was a little bit tired of the vibe that I was writing in,鈥� Ungerleider said.
鈥淚 had never been blatantly autobiographical, but Jim is all about write-what-you-know. He said: 鈥楽uzy, you鈥檝e got to write about your punk-rock you. It鈥檚 really interesting, and it鈥檚 something people don鈥檛 really know about you.鈥� 鈥�
The songs are set in a variety of Vancouver locations, from the photography darkroom of her high school to the Cambie Street Bridge. Tickets on the Weekend is set at a punk gig by Vancouver鈥檚 D.O.A. at the Odd Fellows Hall.
It took a while to bring it all back. Prior to writing the album, Toronto-based Ungerleider had been spending less time on the West Coast.
She made a concerted effort to visit her parents during the summer, with her young son in tow. A few trips home gave her all the motivation she needed.
鈥淲alking around the city and noticing what鈥檚 changed and what hasn鈥檛 really helped me. When I would go back and visit my parents, who have lived in the same place since I was a teenager, it was very nostalgic. I walk around the city, and there鈥檚 all these memories, right under the sidewalk.鈥�
Ungerleider鈥檚 tour, with Stephen Fearing of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings fame, comes to the University of Victoria on Sunday. She hasn鈥檛 performed in Victoria 鈥� a place she once knew intimately 鈥� since 2009, a gap that was due to a variety of reasons, one being her 2013 battle with breast cancer (after treatment, she was given a clean bill of health).
She also made a concerted effort to be off the road when it wasn鈥檛 entirely necessary, so she could be around for her now 12-year-old son, with drummer Cam Giroux, during his formative years.
鈥淚 love being on tour, but sometimes it makes you a little crazy,鈥� she said.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have a band around you, a lot of your social interaction has to do with fans, and convincing them to buy your stuff. If you don鈥檛 feel like you鈥檙e getting enough affirmation, it puts you in this weird position.鈥�
Trips home are always nostalgic for Ungerleider. Though she left Vancouver at the outset of her career, she can look back on her catalogue and recognize the influence of the West Coast, particularly the ocean imagery of 2001鈥檚 Sleepy Little Sailor.
鈥淚 spent my time in Vancouver, always thinking: 鈥榃hat am I doing here? I need to go somewhere else.鈥� Now that I鈥檓 somewhere else, I long for Vancouver.鈥�
Her trip down memory lane has given Ungerleider a new perspective on her upbringing. Being hounded by campus security for underage drinking, trying unsuccessfully to sneak into downtown rock clubs and long drives with no destination seemed boring at the time. Nowadays, she smiles at the memories.
鈥淲e were forced to get into trouble, to make our own fun. But out of boredom comes interesting art.鈥�
