Jam Space Confidential: Michaela Slinger
The Vancouver singer-songwriter invites us into the cozy, instrument-filled home where Green and Trying took shape.
By Izzy Kaz
- Published on
The Vancouver-based artist has just announced her new full-length album, Green and Trying, set for release on September 25 through independent label Chatty Cathy Records. Slinger introduced the album with “Dreaming,” a slower, folky tune that finds her reflecting on life, chasing passions and looking back on the choices we make without regret.
In her recording space upstairs, Slinger keeps things simple, her tools chosen to support her writing above all: a microphone, MacBook, small portable keyboard, whichever guitar she’s brought upstairs and a Volt 476P audio interface. There’s also a unique, low-slung swivel chair passed down from her grandparents and photos of loved ones scattered across the desk.
The tracks on Green and Trying came together slowly, like a diary of Slinger’s 20s thus far. The songs were written across a period of big life moments and self-discovery: frequent songwriting trips to creative hubs in Nashville and Los Angeles, getting married, touring and balancing a collection of part-time jobs. Her track “Eldest Daughter,” for example, was recorded in a shed-style studio in Nashville.
“It was one of the ones that just was woosh,” she recalls. “The vocals from that track are actually from that session in his studio. I didn’t even write the second verse. I was in a complete flow state.”
Some of Slinger’s gear has moved with her through these different stages of life, including the antique piano in her living room.
“I had two rules,” she explains. “It had to be free, and it had to be small enough for our old apartment… and it was both!” she adds proudly.
When she’s feeling stuck, Slinger also likes experimenting with an unusual piece of gear or plugin. “My producer David Vertesi has a Tenori-On that randomizes sounds in different patterns and loops.”
That spirit of experimentation led Vertesi and Slinger to one of her favourite songs on the album: the title track, “Green and Trying.”
“It’s like we captured joy in a bottle,” she says with a smile. “I think it was one of the last ones we recorded. Every time we listen to it, we are both like, ‘We have to do this again!’ I think it really captures where I’m at in life.”
Slinger has curated a space that incubates that creativity. The garden, ’70s-style living room couch, colourful artwork adorning the walls and the family, friends and collaborators who come and go all find their way into her songwriting. Much like Green and Trying itself, her home feels like a reflection of a life still being assembled — one song, instrument and memory at a time.
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