Musician Chantal Acda on transition, rebellion and ugly shoes
The Dutch singer-songwriter moved to Belgium 16 years ago and has just begun a collaboration with one of the business’s big names
Life in motion
Acda, from the Netherlands, moved to Brussels 16 years ago. Here, she first made music with a band, Chacda, later in different duos (sleepingdog, True Bypass).
It was 2013 before she released her first album under her own name. Let Your Hands Be My Guide was followed last year by The Sparkle in Our Flaws, and now Live in Münster, which she’s currently supporting with a tour.
The 38-year-old says she learned a lot from being one half of those duos. “And it was comfortable: I could shelter behind the strong backs of my musical partners. I didn’t have to stand in the spotlights on my own. At the time, though, I never thought of it that way. It only dawned on me afterwards.”
It’s no coincidence that her solo debut came out in 2013. “The years before that album were an extremely dark period for me,” she says. “I hope I’ll never have such a rough time again.”
She found herself at a crossroads. “I decided to change my life completely. It was a good decision; I feel much better now.”
Identity crisis
Acda isn’t a jazz musician, but she has some jazz cats in her band. You can hear it on the new live album: Songs aren’t recreated, they are reinterpreted, with room for improvisation. And she’d love to play at jazz festivals more often.
“Pop music nowadays is heavily formatted,” she says. “The recordings are the result of lots of cutting and pasting, because everything has to sound perfect. That really feels oppressive.”
She went to Berlin to record her first album, to Portland, Oregon, in the US for her second. “I need to be somewhere else when I’m recording an album,” she explains. “If I stay in Belgium, my life outside the music continues: the children, practical things, you name it. When I go away, music is the only focus.”
In the Netherlands, from a young age you’re encouraged to carry out your plans and not expect to get ‘no’ for an answer
This week, Acda is in another north-west American city – Seattle – where the great Bill Frisell is recording guitars for her new album, to be released next year. Frisell is an eclectic guitar player who has worked with the likes of Elvis Costello and Suzanne Vega.
“I emailed his manager, and he told me they had just bought my last album and loved it,” she says. “Then Bill wrote to me directly saying that he had no free time, but that he would make some anyway. I couldn’t believe it.”
People told her she didn’t stand a chance of working with him, but that didn’t stop her from trying. “On that level, I’m very Dutch: In the Netherlands, from a young age you’re encouraged to carry out your plans and not expect to get ‘no’ for an answer. In Flanders, this mentality is completely different.”
A few years ago she said in an interview that she would never go back to the Netherlands because she didn’t like the mentality there. If you’re waiting for a bus, she gives as an example, a stranger might well come up and tell you: “You’re wearing ugly shoes.”
“Over the past six months, my mind has slowly been changing. I wouldn’t go up to Holland, but in the south of the country, like Zeeland because I’m in a…” She hesitates. “Identity crisis is too strong a word, but a transitional period.”
A stranger in both countries
At times, she says, she finds the climate in Flanders heavy. “In the Netherlands, contact is easier. Here you can go into a shop and by the time you leave you’ve made no eye-contact, not even with the cashier. On the other hand, the Dutch lack depth, they can be superficial.”
Acda left her homeland 16 years ago and these new feelings surprise her. “I never thought I would feel like this,” she says. “As a matter of fact, I feel like a stranger in both countries. The only place where I really feel at home is Iceland.”
But she can’t really say why and certainly has no plans to move there. After living in Brussels and Hoegaarden, she moved to Antwerp three years ago to form a new family with her partner. “We have children who go to school here: They are the priority.” And for a musician, Antwerp is an ideal place to live, she says.
“Everyone is very supportive, going to each other’s shows. I never felt that in another town.”
Chantal Acda is on tour around Flanders until 10 December, and again from 1 February
Photo: Terry Magson
