Less is Mohr with Theresa Michelle

Singer-songwriter, artist, audio engineer and producer, Theresa makes and shares songs that reflect her experiences of family and motherhood, raising a child with a disability, and reclaiming her authentic self from trauma and chronic illness. 

Her mission is to encourage and inspire people who are going through tough times to have courage and be creative.

Former artist name: Theresa Michelle Mohr. 

Listen to Theresa's music here: https://theresamichellemusic.bandcamp.com/track/trail-of-glitter

Transcript

Theresa Michelle - I Dig Ep 127

Pam Haasen: [00:00:00] Okay. And we're live ish. Thanks everybody for tuning in to I believe episode 128 of I digress, and I'm very happy to be here with Theresa Michelle. Hi Theresa. Hello. 

Theresa Michelle: How are you? I'm well, 

PH: thank you. Good. We did have a little bit of technical difficulties, so, um, Theresa and I are doing this. Live in the studio, quote unquote.

Um, but this will air, uh, I guess in my first, no, my last episode of May. So if you're listening, this did take place a week ago, but still we're, um, we're having a great time here so far, even though 

TM: it's cold. Yeah. Got my two gun. Yeah, I know. I almost 

PH: put a, I've still got, I've got a half winter jacket on.

So Theresa, I guess. Can we start maybe just by introducing yourself, telling us just a little bit about yourself? 

TM: Sure. Um, I'm a singer songwriter and I am a [00:01:00] producer and I live in Telco, BII, and I've been releasing and performing music for a few years now, and I just started self-producing. Music. Yeah.

PH: Mm-hmm. That's exciting. And I wanna talk about that. Uh, and I'd like to nerd out with you a little bit too, if that's okay. Yeah. Um, but before that, I guess just kind of, could you tell me what, when did, when did you start playing music? Cause you said a few years ago. And so because I moved here in 2020, I figured you were like, you've been doing this since like in utero, but when did you start playing music?

Well, yeah, I 

TM: started playing and singing when I was a kid. And I started playing guitar when I was 10. But then I didn't really do it seriously until 2006, and then I just started going for it like crazy. 

PH: Yeah. What was it in 2006? Like, did you feel like you had been waiting for the moment or for something to make you feel like you wanted to start doing it?

Or did you just take it into your control, like just wanna [00:02:00] take things, um, into control and just start making music? 

TM: I think my kids were at a good age to start doing it. Finally, my, my daughter was six, six, and. My son was 13, I dunno, he was older. Yeah. Yeah. 11. And um, my husband Dave and I got married that year as well.

So we just got both really into it and he was very supportive and yeah. Did it 

PH: start as a solo career or was tree bomb first? 

TM: Uh, started out myself as a folk kind of singer. Yep. Singer songwriter. Then we quickly decided to start tree bomb, a little garage rock punk band. Mm-hmm. Yep. Which is very 

PH: fun.

Thank you. When I, when I started playing in town here, people were like, have you seen tree bomb? Oh, awesome. You probably, you guys probably love them, so Yeah. Yes. Um, okay. Yeah. So kind of like, so I guess then you have like kind of time freed up a little bit. Mm-hmm. And you wanted to spend your time making music.

So do you feel like you are [00:03:00] a songwriter first or a music maker? Like what's the, what's the process for, especially when you just started out, what did that process look like for writing your own songs or were you doing mostly covers? 

TM: I started by singing a couple of covers. Mm-hmm. Yes. Once I could get through a song on stage.

Right. And then I, yeah, I, I started, started out with covers mainly, and it took me a few years to kind of gather up some, some songs I had written myself. It's wild back now, though. It's hard to even remember all bit. Yeah. But yeah. But yeah, definitely. Yeah. I was always writing songs since I was in my childhood and teens jamming with my friends and, yeah.

Jamming was different than, it was more like sing jamming than with instruments. Right. But yeah. Was that, did you grow up a little bit? I was here for five years when I was a kid. And then where'd you move to? We moved, um, [00:04:00] to Ontario and then we moved to New Brunswick and I graduated from high school in New Brunswick and then there was like this giant magnet in the bulky valley and I came back to the Bulky Valley for a couple years and then I moved away to Terrace.

Which is where I was born. And then I moved back to the BC to TO, to Smithers. Yeah. And I've been here since 98. Okay. Yeah. 

PH: So what was the magnet to bring you back after New Brunswick? 

TM: I guess it was just, I don't know. It's just an amazing place. It's beautiful mountains. I really. Always wanted to just spend time in the mountains, live in a log cabin in the woods kind of thing.

PH: And you um, and did you wanna start a family too? Is that something that you, and you wanted to do that here as well? Like did that kind of play a role in it or were you not thinking about that when you moved back? 

TM: I wasn't thinking about it, but it happened very quickly and easily. Yeah. Just was something that happened and I'm great.

I'm grateful for my children. Yeah. And this is a good place to raise children. So when you were writing 

PH: songs for yourself for the first [00:05:00] time too, like do you remember wanting to sound like people that you were listening to, or what kind of songwriter were you hoping to be when you started out? 

TM: I think I've always been exploring what's important to me through songwriting.

Yeah. So, yeah, tends to be. I don't know. There's, I do some silly stuff too, just because life is fun. Silly too, but yeah. Yeah. So there's some heavy duty emotions in life. Yeah. And they get processed through my songs for sure. And I was always, also, I was a social worker for 18 years and I always wanted to, um, I got a lot of train training when I was a social worker, pro professional development that I felt really grateful for, and it really improved my ability in my life to live the way I wanted to, and I always wanted to share that with the community in a way through my music too.

So that's definitely underlying some of the writing. Yeah. [00:06:00] Yeah, 

PH: I can see that. Um, do you have a early, um, impactful musical memory or something that maybe from your childhood or in your formative years or teen years that just kind of really informed and kind of let you believe that it was something that this was something attainable that you wanted to do as well?

TM: Um, I don't know if there's a single memory. My, my, my dad always played the guitar and he played the drums, and I always just really loved putting words together and singing really funny, silly little rhymes and just laughing the guts off of myself. Yeah. And I had a friend that we, we would record ourselves.

Rapp 

PH: naturally. Where's that release?

TM: The tapes are long gone. Yeah, that's 

PH: right. 

TM: Yeah. [00:07:00] Yeah. I don't know. My parents, there was a period where my parents had some friends that came and jammed in the living room while we were in bed kids, and that was a special, that's a special feeling, that memory. Oh, 

PH: yeah. Yeah. I, um, I was just, oh, well, I was camping on the weekend, on the long weekend and, um, a friend of ours went into his tent really early.

And people were sort of trying to talk about waking him up, and I was like, no, this is like one of the best feelings in the world is to be asleep when a party is happening. Like to just let yourself drift off to the sound of people's voices. So I can see the sound of people singing and laughing and having fun being kind.

Even a better version of that too. 

TM: Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Just let the music wash over you. Mm-hmm. 

PH: Yeah. So you are known as a singer and songwriter. Mm-hmm. And also kind of a wild woman on stage if the Jam Fest is right. I've seen you, I don't know if it was like a lamb impression that you were doing, but like you went up there, [00:08:00] once you took the mic, I thought it was so good.

You took the mic and you were doing this like, almost like, um, yeah, it's kinda like a ble, like a bleeding sort of stuff. And it, I. Dying laughing. I was like, I have to meet this person. And this was like one of, I think the first parties I ever went to when I moved here. So you're pretty wild too. Wow. I don't remember that.

It was who I think it was Dan was playing. I think Dave, I don't, Dave was on stage. No, I think Dave was watching with, he was like, Dan, I'm like, I don't know Zack or something. They were like just doing their music and you just like took the mic cuz no one was singing and then you were just Yeah. It was so wild.

It was so good. Nice. Um, but now you're focused on production and, and you even said in your intro as well just that you're a producer as well, but maybe what people don't know is how deep into production you're getting, so mm-hmm. When did that start for you that you wanted to be more of a producer and focus on the audio engineering side of making music?

I've, 

I've 

TM: wanted to for quite a few years. I actually did recorded an album in 2009, but. That [00:09:00] album will never be heard. Gosh. Why? Why, why, 

PH: why? 

TM: Cause I did it on this old Roland 88 87 or something. I don't know. It was one of those old recording units. It was just for tape? Um, no, it was a digital recording unit that just was a unit in of, in of Cell, and I don't even remember all the processes.

I just remember crying a lot. Mm-hmm. And so I've wanted to for a long time, and then I kind of put it aside thinking it was too hard. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And too expensive, right? And so I started hiring people. I've hired a couple of producers to work on my stuff, and then I just felt like the whole time I was working with them, enjoying their skills and grateful that I wanted to be developing those skills.

So finally I got, last year I got a couple grants and took some training and got really into it. And I've been working on it full-time since last March. Yeah. 2022. And yeah, 

PH: I mean, I think that, that's what I'm like, [00:10:00] that's what it seemed like this switch, uh, even on your social media, right? Was that there was a mm-hmm.

There was a switch from. Singing some, which you still do too. You know, you still present your songs on social media as well, but also just the process of being an engineer. So was that, uh, so I guess what you're saying was by seeing it, you realized that that was something that you wanted as well. Mm-hmm.

What was something that you learned when you started doing it that, um, you would want a new engineer to know? I guess. 

TM: Oh, just to keep working on it. Yeah. Just to keep working on it cuz there, there's so much to learn, so much to learn and one, but once you learn, like now that I've, I've gotten through some like intensive like growth, I feel like I'm my, um, you start to, um, feel more capable of solving.

Complex problems. And I think once you get through [00:11:00] the early beginnings of the painful memorizing so many things and it's very, there's, it's such a nitpicky process. Yeah. Once, once you get through some nitpicking than it, it becomes easier and it becomes more fun to troubleshoot those issues. 

PH: Yeah. Yeah.

When it's not like, oh, it's another thing piled on. It's like, oh, this is a new one. 

TM: I have a pretty small setup so far. Um, I'm singer songwriter. I have a two input interface. Yep. But I am producing for another singer songwriter as well. Nice. I've done, and I've done work for another person as well. Yeah. So, yeah, I've learning the process of supporting other people's music to get out there too.

Yeah. Which is great. I love it. Mm-hmm. 

PH: Um, okay, so I wanna take a break here. Mm-hmm. And I wanted to play. Trail of grit, glitter, which I wanna speak about after. Um, so we're gonna take a break right now. We're going to hear Theresa Michelle's latest single Trail of Glitter. [00:12:00] Mm-hmm.

Okay. Uh, you want more? How you Sure. I know I, um, volunteer the Salvation Army. We are giving. When asked for an herbal tea, we always had,

TM: is it called?

PH: Great wholesale and um, cold. Like it's actually great. Cold as well.

Yeah. It's funny how you 

TM: get just a noise.

PH: Okay, we're back. So your song, trail of Glitter, is it going [00:13:00] to be released? Is there an album mm-hmm. That this is going to be a part of? Or what's, um, where's Trail of Glitter kind of in your, in your next 

TM: steps? Sure. Yeah. It's, um, I'm on a long journey to pro producing an album. Mm-hmm. Um, I wrote Trail of Glitter in November, 2020, but it's gonna be part of a, an eight song album that I'm hoping to release either in the fall or the spring.

Is, is the plan. Okay. Yeah. Of this year or next year? Either this fall or next spring. Yeah. Yeah. I've got most of, I've got most of the parts recorded. Um, but I need to do a bunch of editing and mixing. Yeah. And that's, I'm pretty slow at it, so it'll take me some time. Sure. Yeah. But, um, yeah, I did a bunch of recording with Colin Massel in August, 2021.

We, um, we went to Prince George and we recorded at the Vault studio with. Justin Jen on drums and Melissa Walker on bass. Yep. Which was amazing. I'm so [00:14:00] thrilled to have them playing on my music. Yeah. So they're on Trail of Glitter and that, there's another song that I released, um, life Sustained that I released last March, and that will be on the album too.

I don't know. It's taken a bunch of different morphing ideas of how I wanted to present it, but because of life, it's taking me longer than I thought it would. 

PH: It's. It is kind of funny what time does to songs mm-hmm. Or, or what time does to sort of any artistic process where Totally. It seems like the more time you have with something or like, do you feel like that's true or is that just me thinking that?

TM: Yeah, yeah, definitely. Things mature and, yeah. 

PH: Um, so what, um, oh yeah. What performances do you have coming up this year? Um, 

TM: Okay. Um, playing at Midsummer Festival and at Kipi Festival and I'm sorry, that's, is 

PH: that with the band that you just mentioned or are you solo 

TM: for? I'm doing solo this [00:15:00] year. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. 

PH: Yeah. Sorry I interrupted you. No worries. I also worries. Just saw you perform at the Baco Valley Brewery. Yep. Which is great. It was on Mother's Day. It was a beautiful day too, eh? Yeah. It was a really nice Scorcher. Yeah. And that was a special show too. That was really fun to see you up there. Thanks.

Um, but yeah, so Midsummer and Kipi. Okay. Yeah. So you're doing like the festivals here? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um, and then as you're releasing more singles, like do you wanna try to have live shows? Have more live shows too in the year, just kind of spread out. Not even just in Smithers, but 

TM: around, I haven't done too much planning further afield.

I've been doing childcare on the weekends up until now. I, I'm scaling back on that, taking care of, um, grandkids. Yeah. Yeah. So I would like to do a bit of touring, but my health hasn't been good either, so I'm just starting to feel like my health is improving. Right. So now I can maybe. Look at how it goes over the summer and [00:16:00] then we'll see.

Yeah. See no pre, no pressure. Yeah, totally. It's been an, I had to kind of put it on the back burner of learning producing too. Yeah. 

PH: So yeah, it's, yeah. Um, but something that I learned by trying to, uh, help myself and then also my colleague in the news to figure out ways to record, was that like so much of your time is.

Like you read something that tells you how to do it, then you try to do it, you find some new and experimental way to fuck it up and not know how the hell you got there. And then you're like watching all these YouTube video, I'm like, this is like, this doesn't sound like work, but this is the work that I found I had to do to learn to use.

Mm-hmm. The programs that I was working with. Did you, do you feel like it's like a similar, similar situation? 

TM: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I was, um, I was really, really grateful to take some, the training that I did, I took produce like a boss a [00:17:00] few courses from, they're like an online training program. Oh, tell me about it.

Um, I found them because, uh, a fellow that I really admire who runs songwriting programs, Michael avr, he is in Cam Loops or Colonna Colonna. He writes, he runs a songwriting group on Facebook, and I just, I got connected that way. And then he was taking a produce, like a pause course. Cool. And I was like, if he'll do it, then it must be good.

So, so I got a grant from the BV Arts Council, community Arts Council. And um, yeah, I took that, I took some courses through them and so it kind of more organized my learning and mm-hmm. Just showed me how I could streamline the process a little bit more. Okay. And still there was stuff I still had to look up on YouTube, but I was much more focused about how I did that, and it saved me a lot of time, which I'm still take way more time than it probably needs to take, but, 

PH: I mean, but who, you know what, that's, that's the thing that was like, that's like [00:18:00] being fast takes time.

Yeah. 

TM: Yeah. You gotta just build the 

PH: skills. Yeah. And you want it to be done well. Mm-hmm. So you're not gonna rush it then either. Yeah. Um, so how do you feel about, I guess, maybe the scene in like Telco Smiths, the Bulky Valley sort of thing? Like, do you feel, um, Do you feel the love, cuz you get a lot, seems like you get quite a bit of online love as well.

So do you feel like that's reciprocated in, uh, in the shows here or people coming out here or even just fellow musicians? How do you 

TM: feel about that? When I'm able to be present with people, it is, it's wonderful. Like it's been a tough year health-wise. So that's one of the reasons I've been developing online so heavily.

Oh. Because I wasn't feeling capable of being amongst people. Yeah. So I stopped doing a lot of shows, had to cancel a lot of gigs and stuff. But definitely pe I feel the love when I'm around people when I'm, [00:19:00] now that I'm suddenly just really feeling way better. Like, it's amazing. The show I waited did last, I did last week was Bill Croson played too, and it was so lovely.

Yeah. And. I just, it was amazing. Yeah. Felt like so connected to the people who were there. That's 

PH: what I felt in that room too, was just that there was no one there on accident. It was everyone was there because they knew that they wanted to see you and see you perform and you just seemed luminous up there.

Mm-hmm. It was just so nice. Like it was just nice to see you. And also too, like I just, maybe it's as a woman who, like, I don't have the balls, so like write music and I don't play the guitar, but it's just like, just love seeing a woman up there on her own. Just like just doing it. Right. And I think that that's something that.

People like it wouldn't, it doesn't just inspire women, it inspires everybody. Mm-hmm. Just to see you doing it. And it's just like, it's just very cool to see that, because I guess, yeah, when I moved here, it was covid, so I didn't, wasn't able to actually kind of see a lot of people in their elements. So [00:20:00] I feel like I'm finally able to see you in your element like this, and it's just really great.

TM: Cool. Thanks. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I, I love playing with other people and being in a band and. Playing with Justin Ro and, and with my husband Dave. And, but, um, I had a friend a few years ago tell me that I really shine. I mean, I'm on my own. Mm-hmm. And I've definitely been needing to do it. 

PH: Um, that's a nice segue into my next question, which was if there's any collaborations, like you're mentioning other musicians that, um, that are on your album as well, and people that you're playing with and that you have played with, um, do you have any collaborations coming up 

TM: that you can share?

Um, no, I don't have anything in the works except for working with Eddie Young. I'm working on her, I'm producing her music. Cool. So I've been playing on her music. Yeah. So we, we haven't talked about performing together, but we're. 

PH: Yeah. What's her music sound like? Cuz you mentioned her, but I don't know. I, I don't think I know her, but what's her music sound like?

TM: Um, mean [00:21:00] she's a beautiful singer songwriter. She writes really encouraging, mellow stuff. Mm-hmm. She plays beautiful finger picked guitar and does all these different tunings and That's cool. She's got a weather theme temperatures theme going on right now. 

PH: Like she like, this is her like, like she's a cold front and it sounds like 

TM: that's what her song is.

Cold. Cold front. 

PH: I. That was not planned. That's so weird. Yeah. Okay, well I think I'm gonna like her music. Yeah, I think so. Okay. So these are kind of just some oddball questions, but. What's a great piece of advice that you've been given that you'd want to share with, uh, the listeners of the show? 

TM: A great piece of advice.

Mm-hmm. Well, that's pretty open. 

PH: Yeah. And about anything can be about making music or can be, but anything else, but I digress goes everywhere, 

TM: so. Okay. Well, the best piece of advice that I've been given recently that. [00:22:00] Um, really the, the person was somebody that I really, um, I value their input greatly and they said, Theresa, you need to be your own ally.

And I think that's good advice for anybody. Just like be your own ally. You need to learn how to be selfish. If you're a caregiver, you need to learn how to be selfish. And so that's what I'm working on. Yeah. 

PH: That is great advice. Yeah, because like you mentioned too, as a caregiver and you know, social worker, that it's just like so much of your time would be dedicated to, to the health and wellbeing of, you know, clients, but also people around you, which then you'd bring home and that really just sounds exhausting.

We were just talking before the microphones were on the boat. You know, if you're a people pleaser, how exhausting it is to Yeah. Be around people. Yeah. Yep. And Yeah. Being selfish. I never, I mean, I think probably from my twenties on, I've never considered [00:23:00] selfish a pejorative term because it's like, no, I have to take care of me.

Like I'm okay taking care of me. Sometimes it's like, mm-hmm. Might seem selfish for me to not wanna go to a party or something like that. But what would feel great is like a bubble bath. Mm-hmm. And like, you know, Going to bedroom or something like that, but it's like mm-hmm. You gotta find it cuz mm-hmm.

Unless you have like a fairy godmother, no one's gonna be like Theresa. It's um, all fresh linens on the bed. It's Egyptian cotton. Um, these are blackout blinds if you want them. The laptop is charged up. All your favorite movies are here. Like, you know what I mean? It's like you can care for yourself that way because it's so rare that someone else actually will.

So that is good advice. 

TM: Yeah. We need to do it for ourselves. Yes. Mm-hmm. 

PH: Now, more specific advice about being a performer. Um, again, I'm asking for people who are listening who maybe are new at performing or they're starting or they're getting ready to start it. What's something about being on stage that you would want someone to, uh, maybe keep in the back of their mind?

TM: Um, [00:24:00] I think that you need to enjoy the process no matter where you're at. Like, I had actually a really cool experience in the spring with, um, a fellow who at the open mic that kind of exemplifies the, um, example, like I, it took me, it's taken me so long to get one song out into the world. It's like you don't just do it overnight.

Yeah, yeah. You have to be patient and you go, just start where you are and just do it. And this is what the guy that night at the. Brewery said, I saw you talk about that. And then I wanna sing my song now that is not ready. Yeah. But when is it gonna be ready? Yeah. And he got up and he sang this incredible hiphop rap stuff, which he wouldn't have done if he hadn't heard me talk about just, you know, just do This took me forever to do.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's not even completely ready yet, right? Yeah. [00:25:00] Yeah. You. Not really. I don't know. I just kind of feel like when it's, there's a point when it's ready to share. Right. If, if you're inclined to share it. Yeah. Yeah. But it's never done. Yeah. Tree Trail of glitter is way different sounding than when I first played it.

So for 

PH: people who, um, wanna find you, wanna listen to you, um, follow you or interact with you, what's the best way for people to get in touch with you? 

TM: I'm on, on social media a lot, so, um, yeah, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok and Bandcamp. Theresa Michelle. I, but if you wanna listen to my old stuff, look at Theresa Michelle Moore.

M o HHR is my last name, but I decided to drop my last name that's here as a performer. Yeah. So everything new is going forward. Theresa Michelle. 

PH: Theresa Michelle. Period. Yeah. Um, why did you lose the more, could I ask? 

TM: Because I hate the patriarchy. I love my dad. Yeah, 

PH: yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:26:00] No, that's great.

Oh, that's so good. Yeah, it's when I got married, I didn't take my husband's last name and it was funny cuz my friend, he asked me, so, so are you gonna smash the patriarchy and not take his name? I was like, I have my dad's last name. Name. Yeah, exactly. I've got no, I have no turn until I make up my own name.

It's always gonna be some dude's name. Yeah. Well, I will definitely share some ways too. Find and follow you as well. Now that's good. Um, I'd like to finish up this interview with, with you picking a song, but what's a song of yours that you would like to share? Hmm. 

TM: Well how about Close the Distance That's on, that's on my Burnt Toast album.

Okay, 

PH: great. This is Close The Distance by Theresa Michelle. And thank you everybody so much for listening and uh, Theresa. Thank you very, very, very much for coming on. I digress today. Thank you 

TM: for having me.