The Music Series: Michelle Lee-Klaassen

On this episode I chat with singer songwriter from Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Canada MICHELLE LEE KLAASSEN about the latest single RABBIT HOLE.

Follow the show

www.instagram.com/thesundaynightarmy

www.twitter.com/sundaynightarmy

www.facebook.com/thesundaynightarmy

linktr.ee/thesundaynightarmy

Looking for fresh music and insightful interviews? Join JAKUB, an aspiring journalist, podcaster, and artist, every week as he brings you the best of music discovery. From up-and-coming indie artists to legendary music icons, each episode features stories about their journeys and creative process.But that's not all! JAKUB also dives into current events, entertainment news, media, and politics, offering his unique take on what's happening in the world today. Plus, enjoy exciting interviews with special guests from all walks of life. Tune in to the ultimate podcast for music lovers.

.....

The Sunday Night Army is an entertainment podcast that features Billboard and Grammy nominated, top 10 artists with in depth interviews within the music series episodes. The show also delivers interviews with celebrities, actors, and artists with extra entertainment news episodes focused on celebrity stories, gossip, hot take opinions and rumors. Covering Grammy, Oscars, MTV awards and The Eurovision music contest are just some of the special music episodes available.

In the Music Series episodes you will find top country, hip hop, indie, pop, r&b, rap, dance and electronic artists from all over the world. The show prides itself on being a music discovery tool that showcases indie artists straight to your Spotify playlist and if you want them all in one spot follow the Top Indie Playlist on Spotify for all the top artists songs that have been featured on the show for free.

Follow the show and download the mp3 to listen later. Check out the YouTube channel for music and entertainment extras. Sometimes I discuss Kanye, Joe Rogan and Kim Kardashian and sometimes I talk life experiences and arts and entertainment and Queen. Depends of what is happening in the world.

Support top indie artists and podcast by liking and sharing. I'm not Zane Lowe but I do interview amazing artist. Let the music play.

Episode Transcript

(00:26):
Back to the music series we go. It's time.
It's been so long since I had a music series episode and I'm
excited. There is quite a few of these
coming up very, very soon and today is the first one.
A long time. Well, there is going to be

(00:46):
commentary at some point from meabout a lot of different things,
a lot of other things, from music to entertainment to the
usual stuff to turning a page onhow I handle information with
the show. Last four or five episodes where
it's been commentary, I've done fantastic job conveying the

(01:10):
message I wanted to and they have been received in number.
So I am very, very happy about that.
But I'm also extremely happy to add songs to the playlist and
also extremely happy to have talked to so many fantastic
artists once again. And you'll see with today's
episode, with all the upcoming episodes, I find some really

(01:33):
amazing artists and they're ableto come on the show and share
their stuff. And it brings back the the music
aspect and the passion and the discovery of music that this
show. And I'm excited about sharing it
with all of you guys listening worldwide, all around the world
on every podcast and music streaming platform, over 100 and

(01:55):
26789 owners number of countriesworldwide are streaming this
show. Thank you.
And if you haven't checked out the merch store yet, I have the
updated it with quite a few morelogos as my dog is coming over
here to check out what I'm doing.
She's also excited to say there will be few more logos coming

(02:16):
up, but the ones that are out there now are fantastic few
inspirations behind them. Go check it out.
Go support their show because that's what keeps me recording
and having a good time. You know, sharing all this
awesome music as those guys who wear my merch all the time help
spread the word, help get the listens out and help get the

(02:39):
ears to the playlist to get all this awesome independent music
out there. So thank you for listening.
Let's get to today's interview. The funny thing is about both of
us being in Canada. For that my audience, majority
of it is not from Canada, which is crazy.

(03:00):
Oh, really? Yeah, it it's, it's a crazy
thing because for anybody listening in 130 countries
worldwide, they listen to this show.
Michelle Lee Clawson is joining me today and she's in Saskatoon,
SK. And for those who know, I am in
Windsor, ON, that might seem close on the map, but in reality

(03:21):
we're like 2000 kilometers away and we're both literally in the
middle of the country. So that just tells you how big
Canada is. It's very far.
It is extremely far. I'm Michelle.
Welcome to the show. Hello.
I was like scaring people with the size of the country.
Right. It's massive.
It's crazy, but it's also fun because you and I can talk at
different time zones and still have a good time talking about

(03:44):
music. And that's how we're here today.
So and supporting an independentartist, especially Canadian
music, I'm here for. But let's get to know you today,
because you brought a song called Rabbit Hole to the show,
which we're gonna get to. As intriguing as the name of the
song is, I wanna get to know youfirst.
So let's talk about how you got into the music industry

(04:04):
yourself. Well, I've been playing music
since I was a kid. I grew up in a small city in
Saskatchewan called Swift Current and I got started
playing the saxophone in high school.
Before that I was just loved singing and dancing and all that
kind of stuff, but got really into playing saxophone and high
school concert and jazz band andgot pretty into that.

(04:27):
And then through university, my husband, now husband and I were
in a band with some friends for many, many years and played in a
band together. I played saxophone and he played
guitar. And then once we started having
a a family and then the pandemichappened.
Are we slowed down with our bandquite a bit?

(04:48):
And we all lived in different cities, so even in Saskatchewan,
cities are 2 1/2 or three hours apart.
So it was hard to always get together to play all the time.
So once my two boys were old enough that I could kind of
start to do my own thing again, there are about 3:00 and 5:00.
Then I started to venture out and start to play my own music.

(05:12):
So I started going to open mics and connecting with the music
community in Saskatoon and kind of putting starting to put my
own solo music out there. And then simultaneously they
also joined another band. I'm in a Latin ska reggae band
called Scare Evan and we're a a really fun kind of party band in

(05:32):
the city. So I play with them, but then I
also do my own thing. We're just slowly starting to
record some of my my own singles.
And so now that I've been doing that for the last couple of
years, I've been really able to meet a lot of people in the
music industry in Saskatoon and start to feel like get myself

(05:52):
out there a little bit and connect with the community,
playing lots of live gigs and just kind of getting my feet
under me as a solo artist a little bit more.
So between playing in a band because you're a saxophone
player, yeah, and singer-songwriter for your own
stuff, you do blend that a little bit, I'm assuming.

(06:13):
But what? What other influences do you
pull from for writing your own music?
Yeah, I mean, starting off when I first started to write, a lot
of my stuff was a lot more folky, almost bluegrassy, and
that was a lot of the kind of music that I was listening to at
the time. But I really had always wanted
to go in a more pop kind of neo soul direction.

(06:36):
And so I'm starting to move someof my music a little bit more
into that kind of a feel where Iwant people to be able to move
with the music and kind of feel feel good about it and have fun
playing it as well. So I'm moving more into kind of
a poppy fun genre, but with having jazz and saxophone
background. I'd like to try to blend some of
that influence in there as well as I'm playing.

(06:58):
But I don't right now want to kind of stick myself to a
certain genre. So I try to blend some of my
different influences and and things like that as I'm writing.
Does that hinder creativity at some at at different points or
actually help your creativity because you can draw from so

(07:18):
many different angles? Yeah, I think, I think that it
helps. I mean, I, I think especially
coming from a jazz background, jazz borrows from so many
different genres and areas and people are always kind of
borrowing from each other. And so I feel like that's a
natural segue to do with other genres of music too.

(07:41):
So I mean, I grew up in Saskatchewan, so I grew up
listening to a lot of country and a lot of folk country and
things like that. So that was that's always kind
of been stuck in my brain. So I feel like that will always
be kind of like a foundational influence for me.
But yeah, I think having some different genres to jump back

(08:01):
and forth on as I think is always a good thing, makes you
versatile. I have a, I have a hidden love
for Scar music because there's alot of really small bands in
Canada that I appreciate and it's gone away from mainstream,
so far away that I, I miss it. So it's really track one day,
yeah. It's pretty fun, yeah.

(08:22):
We get some real like skull lovers coming out too shows in
the audience and stuff and it's always fun to see the people who
like really love it and and always come to all of our shows.
Even wherever we are, there is people that travel from all over
the place to come in and see us.So that's pretty cool.
That's awesome. Yeah.
Let's talk about today's track. I'm really intrigued about it.

(08:42):
Let's talk about rabbit hole. Tell me about the idea behind it
and what the writing process was.
The idea of rabbit hole kind of came out in a funny way, but I
think that there's, you know, like a bigger idea behind it.
But my, my twin sister and I always like at Christmas time
and holidays and things like that, we get together and we

(09:04):
always love to watch like a documentary about something,
whether it's like about a cult or like a true crime something.
And we always would say like, oh, we're going to go down the
rabbit hole. And both of us would be
researching this topic for ever afterwards until we were experts
on whatever it was that we just watched.
And so whenever we would watch some kind of a documentary, we

(09:26):
would always talk about how we were, we would go down the
rabbit hole and then all of a sudden we were, you know,
forensic experts on whatever thing that we had just hushed.
And so I kind of was thinking about that as I was writing it,
but also applying it to kind of the bigger, the bigger idea of
people, you know, going down therabbit hole on different things,

(09:46):
whether it's like, you know, conspiracy theories or politics
or whatever it might be in theirlife where we get really wrapped
up into something and we want toknow all about it until we
become experts, especially now we can kind of with the Internet
become experts on or feel like we can become experts on
anything. So it's it's kind of about that

(10:07):
in the bigger picture, but in the in the moment, I was just
writing it about this funny relationship that my sister and
I have where we just like to deep dive things and and talk
about it all holiday. Until then, we can find the next
one to watch. Yeah, that's that's very
relatable. That's really.
Cool. Yeah, Yeah, very nice.
I think we. Should but there.

(10:27):
Oh, sorry, go ahead. No, no.
Go ahead. Oh, I was gonna say the writing
process just started off with the chorus.
Really. I kind of came to my into my
head one day and I just sang it into my voice notes on my phone.
And then I kind of discovered ita little while later.
I kind of forgot about it for a little bit, and then I
discovered it a little while later and started just to build
the song around it, and it had alittle bit more of a bluesy,

(10:50):
folky kind of feel when I started playing it solo.
And then when I brought it into the studio, we kind of added a
little bit more of a soil type fuel and added the saxophone and
some different things in there. So give it a little bit more of
a feel on the recording. And then live it's a little bit
more stripped down when I just played acoustic.
So it's a it's a fun tune to play.

(11:13):
Awesome. I like that.
I like how you use the voice record because that that is a
lifesaver for artists to remember a certain melodies and
lyrics and love, love using that.
And even if you forget about something, it's saved.
You can come back to it. Yeah, absolutely.
I have hundreds on my phone I think.
That's awesome, but rabbit hole let's let's have everybody here

(11:36):
because I think is a good way tointro everybody to this song.
So let's play it for everybody right now.
Here is rabbit hole Michelle LeeClawson.

(12:15):
So many questions and my mind beall these things.
I'm trying to find it and I've gotta figure out, figure out,
figure out what's going on. Oh, fact of fiction.
I don't mind, baby. So many hours I can cry.

(12:36):
And I've gotta figure out and figure out, figure out what's
going on. Ohm don't deep down the rabbit
hole and I guess I'm trying to and a little piece of mind what
I'm looking for. Going down deep, deep down the

(13:03):
rabbit and I guess I'm trying tofind a little piece of mind what
I'm looking for. Oh.
I don't wanna wait until I die, baby.

(13:33):
Through questions in my mind. And I've gotta figure out,
figure out, figure out what's going on.
Oh, I know. You think I'm crazy now, don't
you? They been thinking about it
every night and every day I figure out, figure out, figure

(13:54):
out what's going on on because I'm going down deep down the
rabbit hole. And I guess I'm trying to and a
little piece of mind what I'm looking for because I'm going
down deep, deep down the rabbit.And I guess I'm trying to find a

(14:22):
little Peace of Mind with what I'm looking for and maybe I'm
falling down. Hello.
They say that good things come around indeed deep down the

(14:47):
rabbit hole and I guess I'm trying to find a little piece of
mind for what I'm 4 come down down the rabbit hole and I guess
I'm trying to find a little piece of mind what I'm looking

(15:09):
for. Oh.

(15:32):
No, I guess I'm trying to find alittle piece of oh.
There you go that was rabbit hole.
It will be available in the Spotify playlist for you guys
listening already know go followlike subscribe, add it to your

(15:54):
own playlist. You have my playlist go listen
support independent artists. That's what we do on this show.
Michelle, 2025 isn't over yet. What else the F plan for this
year? Well, 2025 feels like it been an
amazing year for me for music and I'm hoping that there will

(16:14):
be some more momentum with a newsong that I have coming out
called Crimson Red this coming Friday in in Saskatchewan.
I'm playing a music festival that supports a nonprofit of a
friend of mine. She runs it, so I'm going to be
playing that. I am playing saxophone with
another band called The Studies and I'm playing at another music

(16:36):
festival there. Sometimes I pick up session horn
gigs will all play succulent forother bands and I'm hoping to do
a release concert in the winter for some of my music that's come
out. So I'm hoping to get a backing
band together of some women thatI know when's Saskatoon who are
amazing musicians and get a couple openers going and put on

(16:59):
a a show to just celebrate the music that's come out and
promote some of my tunes this winter.
And yeah, just hoping to, I'm going to play some more kind of
coffee shop, lounge, restaurant gigs and things like that and
hopefully write a couple more tunes.
That's awesome. Now for anybody listening that
wants to follow your journey andkind of see where you are and
follow you along all your performances, where should they

(17:21):
go? My Instagram page is the main
place where I post it's at Michelle dot Lee dot music on
Instagram and then in my link tree.
Then you can check out my website that has some of my
upcoming dates and then all the links to my songs and I'm and
this slowly be releasing them asthey come out and I've got

(17:43):
another one coming out in the next couple of weeks.
So that's pretty excited about that one.
Terrific and and for my audiencehas been listening for almost 6
years now. They might not know all of this,
but I'm I have much respect for saxophone players because it's
not in, just like Scott music, it's not in the mainstream as
much as it probably should be. Well, we need to bring some of

(18:07):
that back. Yes, it is a skill, it is a
sound and it's gone away and we need to bring some of that back.
So much respect for for doing that.
Thank you. So Michelle Lee Clausen, thank
you for coming the show and share your music with me.
Thanks so much for having me, I appreciate it.