Talented Lindsay Knight has no Eekwol
- Dawn Dumont | December 16, 2013
Singer/Songwriter, Lindsay Knight or Eekwol, from the Muskoday First Nation, has received numerous awards and accolades including Best Hip Hop Album at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. In November, she was one of two artists chosen by SaskMusic to attend the world music festival - Mundial Montreal 2013. Each week, Knight shares her talents with the Saskatoon community at the Student Wellness Initiative Towards Community Health (SWITCH) located at the Westside Community Clinic as well as via her busy schedule of performances and workshops.
DAWN: As a performer, what is your soul's manifesto, your raison d'etre, and now in Cree your reason for making raisin bannock?
LINDSAY: It's a passion. I do this for the next generation. I didn't know that until I had my own kids. And having them has made it important and intense for me.
DAWN: What CD are you working on right now? Are you doing a video? Do you need a backup dancer? Before you answer, I own hot-pants in every colour.
LINDSAY: I'm working on fifth album and looking at early spring 2014 for release. Right now I am in the studio, writing and creating.
DAWN: Will you be performing any of these songs along the way?
LINDSAY: I've learned that sharing songs with audiences is the best way to write. I can gauge the response and see if people are into it.
The theme of the new album is coming from a place of what it means to be humble in this day and age and it's based on ego and what that means and how it affects people and how it works against people in success. I see a lot of rises and falls based on ego.
DAWN: I see that on Facebook every day.
LINDSAY: Exactly. Ego is based on self-esteem and where it gets out of control, it shows a void inside of you. I'm also writing about how being born Indigenous means you are born political and how you deal with that. I'm asking questions like how can you live without letting the stereotypes and racism bring you down. Then when you do get some accolades and recognition, some people can't handle the success.
DAWN: Speaking of ego, have you ever googled yourself? Because I did and there's a Lindsay Knight who lives in a bikini and has an interview titled "Lindsay Knight on Sexy Body Paint" is that an alter ego of yours?
LINDSAY: No, that is definitely not my night job. No body paint for this girl!
DAWN: I'm not going to ask the stereotypical question about how has motherhood changed your art. But have there been any changes in your life - now that you have two tiny humans living in your house who share your DNA?
LINDSAY: Everything. It's completely changed my life. I still get my creative work done but now it's really intense. There's no sitting around making a coffee and doing some stretches. When I get an hour, I throw out a beat and start writing. It's like multi-tasking but I call it multi-thinking. Like I'm doing this interview, watching my two kids, thinking of what I'm making for supper for tonight and I have to use the bathroom.
DAWN: I'm only doing two things this interview and I also need to pee. So in the interest of moving things along, which artist do you look forward to hearing from?
LINDSAY: I love underground hip hop from the west coast. I like the way the beats and lyrics come together. I relate to a lot of the conscious stuff that comes out that area. There are a lot of similar issues like addiction, and it's not glorified. They are standing up for equality and rights. When I heard that kind of stuff for the first time, it blew my mind and I knew that's what I wanted to do.
As far as poetry goes, the stuff close to home hits me hard. Like Louise Halfe and Gregory Scofield. I relate to the locals because they are talented, because they're from this area and they speak to identity. I get it because that's how I feel too.
DAWN: If you could give advice to young Lindsay, what would that be?
LINDSAY: Not to let other people get in the way of your success. To always come at it from your own perspective and to be an original. Your work has to be something youve never seen or heard before. Doing something else that no one else has done can be scary but if you do it with confidence, it will be dope.