Ian Edwards
“A lot of our day is spent playing various roles and being caught up in the day-to-day activities that become our lives. There isn’t a lot of time to reflect and connect with ourselves. I hope my music will provide people an avenue to do just that," explains Ian.
"Somebody Sometimes," the opening track of Ian's debut album “In the Picture” embodies this idea and sets the tone for the album. This song isn’t just about leaning on your friends in troubled times. It is also about empowerment: voicing your thoughts and emotions; freeing and forgiving yourself; and moving on.
“If There’s a Way” profiles the gut wrenching push and pull that sometimes takes over a relationship. “The song is really a post-breakup song when you can clearly see how things went wrong but still haven’t accepted that it’s over. Haven’t we all been there before?” asks Ian. The track’s haunting cello grabs at your emotions right from the beginning and doesn’t let up through the building arrangement of guitars, drums, bass, vocals, and strings.
Similarly, “Look Back” is a bittersweet song about the regret you feel when you realize you have taken the people in your life for granted. “We all catch ourselves going through the motions and forget to be grateful for what we have, especially for the people we have in our lives. Life slips by so quickly," he observes.
Currently calling Vancouver home, Ian was born in South America and lived there until he moved to Canada at the age of 12. “I feel fortunate: I had an amazing childhood living in some pretty exotic and beautiful places,” he explains. Moving frequently helped to form Ian’s creative identity.
“Each time I moved, I had to start over, going to new schools and making new friends. So there were always periods when I spent a lot of time on my own. It was during those times that I started appreciating music and began playing guitar and experimenting with recording. I wrote my first song when I was about 14. It was an instrumental and I think I used garbage can lids as percussion!” laughs Ian.
His background also pulled him toward the study of anthropology in university. “I have always been obsessed with the big questions: What is the meaning of life? Who are we? How did we get here?” explains Ian. After university, he embarked on a career in information technology. “I know that it sounds disjointed, but to me it isn’t. I am very inquisitive and analytical. This shows in pretty much all my interests, including music.”
However, music has always been a sideline. “I’ve played casually in groups and have performed occasionally as a solo artist. Now feel I want to pay more attention to my creative side, which is why I recorded this album," he explains.
Ian single-handedly wrote almost all the songs on the album. And if that wasn’t enough, with exception of the cello, Ian played all the instruments and sang all the vocal parts on the album. “I have always been impressed by artists like Ben Folds, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney, who have made albums entirely by themselves playing all the instruments. I have always said to myself that one day I would do that. Now I have!”
Near the top of Ian’s most influential artists are Peter Gabriel, Ben Folds, Coldplay, Tori Amos, Five for Fighting, and Paul McCartney. “Listening to the music of these artists gets me to a place within myself that I sometimes forget exists: my core, true self. The music is timeless and inspiring.” And you will find this common thread in Ian’s music too. “In the Picture” producer, Michael Nowak, describes Ian this way: "Ian is that rare combination of substance and listenability. Melodies you can't get out of your head sung with heartfelt vocals over musically engaging tracks...a truly talented artist."
