Lindi Ortega, the roots/folk/country Canadian singer/songwriter affectionately nicknamed ‘Indie Lindi’ for her fierce commitment to artistic integrity, is in the process of writing a new album after several years’ break from the industry.
Ortega is set to appear in Moose Jaw on Sep. 9 for Homestand ’23 — the homegrown River Street Promotions concert supporting youth mental wellness in southern Saskatchewan. Ortega will take the stage alongside Corb Lund, the Mike Plume Band, and Jordyn Pollard.
Tickets to Homestand ’23 are available through the River Street Promotions (RSP) website at www.riverstreetpromotions.com.
“I just kind of went away from music for a bit, and it was scary because my whole being, my whole identity was wrapped up in being a musician,” Ortega said in an interview with MooseJawToday.com. “I took a break for, I guess, the last three years. I was burnt out, I’d been working really hard and constant touring, and then I developed vocal issues, then anxiety because of the vocal issues, and it all became a cartwheel effect.”
Ortega is from Toronto, of Mexican-Irish descent. She spent nearly a decade in the Toronto music scene, earning the nickname Indie Lindi for her refusal to conform to major studio requirements for how her music should sound. She also lived and worked in Nashville, Tennessee for several years following the release of her critically acclaimed album Little Red Boots, before moving back to western Canada in 2017.
“I think when you’re young and you’re getting started in music, you’re so eager and you just want to say ‘yes’ to everything all the time, and you think that’s what’s best for you,” Ortega said. “I got to a point where I felt a little bit like a robot, and things were always on a schedule that isn’t conducive to creativity. It was like, ‘Oh, you have a two-week break from touring, so you can write an album.’ There’s a constant push to put out content, and no time for a lull, ever.”
Despite career highlights including touring with The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, Noah & The Whale, and Kevin Costner’s band, festival appearances including Coachella and Oxygen, live television appearances including Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, seven studio albums and five EPs, the struggles of the business side of music caused Ortega to question whether it was for her.
To make the most money, she pointed out, an artist’s music needs airtime. Studio executives give airtime to songs that sound like what people are listening to — there’s a formula. She is not against making money, Ortega noted, but some of her favourite music is unconventional and doesn’t have a radio-optimized song structure, and she doesn’t want her music to be forced through that filter.
“I just want to write songs that are more like poems that become music. I mean, I have some ‘properly structured’ songs, too, but I don’t want to give up anything on the creative side of making an album. … I have stories to tell.”
For the last few years, she has earned her living as painter, in a small mountain town where she isn’t famous. She proved to herself that she did, in fact, have an existence, important and real, outside of music, and could survive on her other talents. Ortega said the stability also helped her make close friendships and gave her time to explore other interests — something the touring life makes difficult. Eventually, perhaps ironically, perhaps naturally, probably inevitably, she began to feel there were songs ready for her to write.
“A lot happened in my life, I don’t know if I need to go into crazy detail about it … but there were a lot of trials and tribulations that I had to push through … and out of all that struggle, because I got depressed with everything and I was feeling really down, but out of that I started to find my way back, because my way of coping with things in life is to write songs.
“At first, I was so frustrated and upset because of all the things and my voice wasn’t working the way it always had. I never struggled with anything vocally before, I could always just sing what I wanted. It was devastating. But after a while, I thought, No. This won’t be the thing that stops me. … And I was like, Oh wow, here I am, coming full circle.”
The Homestand concert will be her first since semi-retiring, and Ortega said she’s excited to step back onto the stage. She has crossed paths many times with Mike Plume and Corb Lund and considers them friends.
“Coming back to doing music and especially to playing a show after not doing shows for a long time, I mean, one of the reasons I wanted to do this one in particular is that I know these people. They are supportive, lovely, amazing people, and I feel comfortable with them.”
Lindi Ortega fans can look forward to a new album from her soon, she said. She has more than enough material and hopes to record in 2023 and release in 2024.
Her nickname still applies, and it’s a moniker she feels more comfortable with than ever.
“When I first got called that back in Toronto, it was like, yeah, ok, I am independent and it rhymes, so it’s pretty cute,” she laughed. “But it really resonates now, because I am living the solo life and I feel very independent — proudly so.
“It’s not that I’m unwilling to listen to people whose opinions I value. I’m open to communicating with a producer who has ideas and can make suggestions, as well. … Yeah, I don’t really know yet in terms of a team to help me put this record out, or maybe it will be a label. It’s still up in the air. But I think I am, and I will always be, proudly, Indie Lindi.”
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