Fill us in on your background—personally and in your creative practice.
I grew up mainly in Toronto, Canada, spending heaps of time up in northern Ontario out in the woods. My old man works in music, so my brothers & I would spend months on the road with him. It was incredible to have so much access to the world at such a young age, but the safe haven to return to, the place we all still hold sentimentally, was always in the woods, by a lake (that’s why I was ecstatic to oblige when Getaway reached out). I have been singing, playing guitar & piano since I was probably 10, writing songs, writing poems since not long after that. It was always a safe space for me, a place to retreat to when everything else felt off. I studied poetry & Indigenous studies in college, simultaneously falling into working in fashion in my late teens/early twenties, which I still balance with other creative practices. Fashion was stable for me at times when music wasn’t, the one million times as an artist that you’re encouraged to quit, or swallowed in self-doubt & have to talk yourself away from the ledge. This year I have my first book of poems slated for release, I recently debuted a small new fashion line called Besa, as well as being in the process of releasing my second full-length album, Dear Dear: Volumes 1-3. Honestly, I don’t ever remember a time in my life when music was not at the absolute centre of it.
How does your connection to nature influence you personally, and how does it influence your art?
It leaves room to breathe, to think. Living in the city, surrounded by people, it can be hard to gather thoughts—there are constantly interruptions. I find the quiet motion of nature ignites an ability to process, to humble, to clear the brain clutter. I was born eerily good at being alone & nature allows that on such an extended level. I find the city & countryside to provide the perfect balance for one another.
How was your Getaway? Did your time in your cabin influence your process or inspire any new ideas?
It was wonderful, the balance of modernity with the backdrop of the California mountains. I found it to be incredibly inspiring. So often we forget how accessible nature is to us in major cities, how little effort it takes to create a massive energy shift, which is a fantastic metaphor I have been returning to often in my writing, of late.
You can follow Chase’s journey on her Instagram and her website.
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