Lindi Ortega

Lindi Ortega is a Canadian singer-songwriter/musician of Mexican-Irish background. Her arresting voice - described as a blend of Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris – turns her unique brand of alt-country/roots rock into a feast for the ears, while her exotic looks turn her appearances into a feast for the eyes. Lindi describes her music as “a roadside motel love affair between old school outlaws and country darlings”.

She toured extensively as a backup singer for Brandon Flowers, the lead singer of The Killers, and furthermore has toured with UK bands Keane and Noah & The Whale. Next, she’ll be hitting the road with US punk band Social Distortion.

Her latest album is ‘Little Red Boots’, released on Last Gang Records in June 2011. On February 7, 2012, Ortega was nominated for two Juno Awards – ‘New Artist of the Year’ and ‘Roots & ‘Traditional Album: Solo’.

Music-News Claudia A. caught up with the lovely and very talented Lindi at London’s Borderline, where she will be playing later on that evening.

Music-News:
Lindi, welcome back to London! It’s been a hectic 2011 for you and 2012 is bound to be even busier. How do you feel about it?

Lindi Ortega:
Great! It’s already gotten to a real busy start and I’m just wrapping up my UK tour today. I spent about a month in France with some shows in between; we did a festival there called ‘Le nuit de L’alligator’. We were touring with Kitty Daisy and Lewis, which is a great rockabilly/old-style kind of band. We went to quite a few places. All I’ve ever been to before was Paris, so it was really amazing to see the countryside and all the different little cities that exist and I never knew anything about. I took a particular liking to Metz and Rouen, and we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral there. I was blown away by all the old architecture, and of course, the Palace of Versailles. It was incredible to see all those things!

MN:
How’s the reaction been so far to your debut album ‘Little Red Boots’, and the UK in particular?

LO:
Oh, it has been going very well for me. I really didn’t know that the UK would be a market for me, but we brought it here and thought we give it a try. I’m astounded that people come to see my shows. On my first tour – which was a solo tour – I really wasn’t expecting anybody to come, as I didn’t think that anybody knew who I was. Literally, the rooms were full and I couldn’t figure out how they knew about me. I suppose the Internet has a lot to do with it and yes, I also have a wonderful marketing team. Also, the venues have all been doing great promotion for my gigs. So yeah, the response has been really wonderful, for sure!

MN:
Does the audience expect you to wear your famous red boots now, whenever you play a show?

LO:
I don’t know but yeah, I guess they do because they see that I wear them all the time. But whether they do expect it or not, I probably would wear them anyway because I love red boots! I love the colour red, it’s my favourite colour… so I just want to wear them all the time.

MN:
Lindi, you have toured and continue touring with acts that are all very different musically, for example you toured with Kevin Costner’s band The Modern West while next, you will be touring with US punk outfit Social Distortion. Obviously, such different acts also attract a very different fan base – how do you fit in musically and also in terms of your own artistic identity?

OG:
Well, that’s the interesting thing about what I do, because although it’s labelled as alternative country music there are many different influences to it. There’s a little bit of rockabilly, a little bit of folk-roots, there’s a little bit of country, a little bit of bluegrass and of course also a bit of rock. It all plays into stuff that I do. I think that I can perform with all these different styles and different artists just speaks to the fact that my music is quite accessible to all areas and different kind of audiences, which is great. I think that people just appreciate good songs and I always try put on a fun show and I have a lot of joy and pleasure from getting on stage. I love meeting new people and all of this is my favourite thing to do. People, no matter what kind of music they listen to, can see that from my performances and it resonates with them somehow.

Also, the whole Social Distortion thing is very interesting. They’re big fans of Johnny Cash and they actually cover some of his songs. I think a lot of punk musicians and punk fans understand that kind of country music because both have an outlaw mentality. It’s kind of a little bit what I try to do as well, you know, I dress in black as well and a lot of the stuff I write about is very similar in content. I don’t really fit in with the new country music scene in that respect. I think that a lot of people are more open-minded then they’re given credit for and even if their tastes are varied, they can be accepting.

MN:
What makes you tick when you write your lyrics?

LO:
Most of my music, well, the bulk of what I do, comes from my own experiences. For this particular record (‘Little Red Boots’), a lot of it was drawn from my heartbreak. It’s a blessing and a curse being a person with so much heartbreak. It’s a curse because you have to endure the heartbreak in order to get to write about it in the song, or get to write a song about it. And it’s a blessing because you do write a song that can make other people feel better. I write a lot about that, also, I still have not been able to be successful in the love department… so it’s a continuous theme in what I do and write about. Loneliness is another theme. I’m the only child of immigrant parents and growing up in Toronto; I didn’t have that many friends. So I felt quite lonely and alienated my whole life, which I compounded by also growing up with anxiety problems. It made me feel like I’m not the same as everybody else. So I put a lot from this loneliness into my songs and I think that is what made me connected to country music. I like listening to a lot of old country music like Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and of course Johnny Cash, who is a huge influence and my hero in many ways. Leonard Cohen is another huge influence and inspiration.

MN:
I love your video for ‘Black Fly’ – was it your concept?

LO:
Thank you. The thing about the video is that people can see whatever they want to see in it; it’s open to individual interpretation. I play a girl staying in a hut in the swamps, where I try to get my no-good boyfriend to come to a New Orleans ball with me, so I start shaving him and stuff. Instead, he just gets very drunk and falls asleep. Again, the scene in the end in which I’m wearing the mask is open to interpretations. I could be making my way to the ball on my own, while some think I have killed my boyfriend and I’m running away. I don’t want to analyze the content of my material too much; people should make up their own ideas and stories about it.

MN:
Many thanks for the interview, Lindi, and catch you at the gig.

(Please read my review of Lindi’s gig at The Borderline in the ‘Live Reviews’ section)