Everything is Expensive is only Esthero’s third album —
“In 400 years,” she interrupts.
Well, almost. It’s actually only been 14 years since her debut album, Breath From Another. While the seven-year gaps between albums are curious, they don’t refer to some elaborate, Seven Up-style plan.
“I say things when I have something to say,” explains the Canadian singer, on the phone from her home in Los Angeles. “It’s funny because it ended up being seven years between records but this album was actually probably the quickest album I’ve ever made. It probably was only like three or four months of real work, of collective hours.”
Everything is Expensive was recorded in a shared studio, so Esthero had limited opportunities to work on it. She also had her hands full working on other projects, including Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak, for which she was flown to Hawaii and co-wrote three songs with West.
“It was a dream. It was an absolute fantasy experience from start to finish," she says, of her time in Hawaii. "One thing about Kanye is that he’s rather generous. It’s not like he would stay in a five-star hotel and everybody else stayed in a crappy motel. Everybody stayed in the same hotel as him. He footed the bill for everything.”
Everything is Expensive features Esthero’s first foray as a solo producer, and West’s influence can be heard in her efforts behind the board.
“I’m of the old school idea that a real producer is sort of like a babysitter, and also the person who figures out who the best people for the job are. Kanye doesn’t just make beats. He assembles entire groups of people that will work really well together and make magic, and he’s overseeing everything.”
Timbaland's influence can also be felt on the new album. Esthero provided vocals for two songs on the producer's 2009 album, Shock Value II.
“He left me alone quite often but if I needed him, he was there in a flash,” she says. “I really learned from that because I have a hard time letting go as a producer. I’m kind of breathing down everybody’s necks and telling everyone exactly what to play. And there’s a balance. I think you get the best out of your musicians when you do allow them to play. And your job as a producer is to figure out how to rein them in just the right amount.”
In addition to taking on the role of producer, Esthero also had to fund much of the album herself. She used the site PledgeMusic to raise money for the album’s release, offering personalized pledge rewards like private Skype chats for $100, Korean barbecue dinners for $500 and karaoke parties for $800.
“I saw what other artists were doing on there and, not to dis them, but I’m gonna dis them real quick," she says. "I saw a lot of artists that were doing things like, ‘CD, 15 dollars. Signed CD, 25 dollars. CD and poster, 30 dollars.’ And I know as a fan, I’m a 33-year-old woman. I don’t want a f--king poster. Are you kidding me? If I buy a poster, it’s gonna stay rolled up and go in my storage room next to all my other posters that are worth money but are not on display in my house. I’m not 16. It’s not going in my bedroom.”
Esthero seems to get as much enjoyment out of the project as her fans do. She recounts details from hikes she went on with Andrea, Brad and John, or a Skype chat with a woman and her newborn baby, Violet. How many artists are on a first-name basis with their fans?
“I just approached it from a fan perspective, and I put items up there that I would want," she explains. "Things that I would want to experience with the people whose music I dig. If I could pay $150 to go hiking with Bjork, are you f--king kidding me? If I could get Sade to sing me a lullaby on the phone, are you kidding me? Screw a poster! That’s what I would wanna do.”
Who knows how she'll be interacting with fans when her next album comes out, in 400 years?
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