Is Shirley Gnome a Comedian, or a Silly Musician?

The 50th Annual JUNO Awards will take place June 6, with various celebrations, online performances, and ceremonies throughout Juno Week. In its 50 year history, the Juno’s Comedy Album of the Year award has been presented only seven times. We caught up with the nominees for 2021 Comedy Album of the Year category, including Shirley Gnome for her album Decoxification.

Congratulations on your Juno nomination. What does this recognition mean to you?

It’s been a process to figure out what it means to me, because there’s so much to be said about what a Juno means in general. I never really paid much attention to mainstream awards before this, because, well, I wasn’t driven by or expecting to ever be in this particular echelon. I know that the Junos hold a lot of clout here in Canada, and so I felt quite clouted initially. Super clouty. Clouty with a chance of gain. I felt like perhaps the twelve years I put into being a singing clown were showing in the quality of what I was making. That the risks I took with this album, which is unlike all my previous work, paid off. However, the process by which certain Juno awards are adjudicated are really mysterious. A shadowy board of anonymous figures chooses the nominees and winner in my category. So it’s hard to tell how fair or unfair the process is, and how I made it through a gauntlet I never thought I’d even have a chance to break through. Clout is like currency - we all have to agree it has value in order for it to have value. So I guess what it means to me is… whether it’s a reflection of the merit of what I’ve done, or a dump truck’s worth of good luck, or someone’s personal bias, or something else entirely out of my perspective, or some/all/none of that, I’m gonna take this recognition and slap it on every grant application I write from now on and be supremely grateful for the boost. 

When and where was your album recorded?

I collect ideas all throughout space and time. However, I only really sat down to work on those ideas in the summer of 2019. I had two or three in the bag already from being inspired on the road (inspired means “oh god I don’t want to sing my old songs anymore oh god make it stop”), but the rest did not exist. It was the fastest turn-around I’ve ever done for an album - written, recorded, mixed in about four months. Kevvy (who produced it) worked really hard with me to get it done. Normally I’d be touring more in the summer, but I was so burnt out that I was turning down gigs. Focusing on the album was therapeutic in that sense. I think that processing is in the subject material. I had a lot of pals who listened to demos and gave me feedback throughout the process, thankfully, as my typical audience test method was just too far out of reach for me physically and mentally at that point. 

What was your most memorable experience from recording and releasing this album?

Easy. One of the tracks has me doing an absolutely terrible impression of Chad Kroeger, who is one of the owners of Comedy Here Often / 604 Records. It was so bad that Kevvy and I thought it was in our own best interests to see if he wanted to hear it before we sent it out into the wide world - after all, we’re poking the boss bear a bit. I mean, what I say as Chad in the song is really nice - but the WAY I sing it is just terrible. One day an email came down the pipe and he said he thought it was “kinda stupid” which is absolutely correct. However, he gave us his blessing and we put every ounce of our authenticity into making it the best Nickelback song we could. Bless Chaddy Kroeges. Bless Chadillac Thunderkroeges. 

What advice do you have for other comedians who want to release a comedy album? 

Work the fuck out of your material before you record it. I lament several of my older tracks that I didn’t really try and test properly before setting to digital stone. Now they are there forever and I shudder shudder shudder. Make sure your tracks are longer than 3 minutes or else you won’t get played on satellite radio, where the real fucking scratch is at. Commit to what you’re doing 100% - take your dumb jokes seriously. If you’re doing it live, get an audience that isn’t too hot or too cold. Like, don’t fill it with entirely with friends or entirely with people who hate you on an intrinsic level. The laugh track has to read as authentic as much as your jokes have to read as funny. If your friends are killing themselves at every set up, you sound like a dink. If people aren’t having a good time with your jokes, that’s a night of recording you can’t use. Also, am I a comedian? I think I’m just a silly musician. What do I know? 

Which fellow Juno nominee, in the comedy or music categories, would you like to go on tour with and why?

Duh, Celine Dion. By all accounts, she is the coolest and nicest person. I would ask her annoying questions constantly and her audience would hate me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I would drive all night to get to her. Is that alright?

How would you describe your style or genre of comedy?

Singing clown ding dong femme weirdo novelty music. 

Did you, or do you, have any mentors in the Canadian comedy scene?

I have learned a lot from a lot of different performers, but the only person I would say has fit the role of a mentor is Wes Borg. He is one of the founding members of Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, who wrote “The Toronto Song” and “The War of 1812” (often misattributed to the also fantastic Canadian comedy band The Arrogant Worms). I loved those songs as a teenager, but I knew Wes for about a year and a half before I found out he wrote them. My brain exploded out of my ass. He has always been a guiding light creatively, and for helping me navigate how to be a silly songster in a country where live comedy is primarily standup, improv and sketch. 

How have you been navigating the comedy scene since most shows moved online? Has your comedy changed as a result?

Oh, sweet baby Jeez. It’s been a roller coaster. I kept the hustling vibe up for the first three months. I didn’t want to lose my mojo, thinking perhaps I’d be back on the road in summer 2020. Chuckles, guffaws, etc. One day, when my 2011 MacBook Pro exploded on me twenty minutes before a livestream concert for seventy people was about to start, I… broke. I lay on the floor, facedown, and the severity of the situation finally hit me. It was delayed - I delayed it. I had been hyper focusing on continuing to work to avoid feeling the disappoint of all the lost gigs, the lost connection, the lost contact, the lost livelihood, and the overwhelming heaviness of how much suffering was being exacerbated in the world. The burnout I’d been pushing away hit me like a sack of bricks. I spent about the next three months on the couch. My spirit healed and my boobs looked fantastic. Since then I have taken up a much healthier pace. I wrote an EP of pandemic love songs, I still do the occasional online show, and I even snuck in an appearance on The Debaters in that sweet spot when we could do shows in fall 2020. I don’t know that it had an affect on how I write and create music, more than how I share it. I got into Tiktok and had a few viral videos, which was cool. I made more fans last year than I did in 2019 touring constantly. Chuckles, guffaws, etc. 

Which Canadian comedy album, besides yours, should readers check out? 

Ladyfinger by Katie-Ellen Humphries. Honestly, I was surprised it didn’t get nominated for a Juno. She’s a star, and it’s a tour de force. I love her style of standup, and I broke into solo applause breaks many times while getting through the pandemic. Smart, femme, insightful, honest, queer and devastatingly funny. LISTEN TO IT. NOW. Maybe the word ’NOW’ can be a link to her album. And maybe when I said ’NOW’ to explain that, that should ALSO be a link. Ok and also the last time I said it could be a third link, just saying. Make the click undeniable, just like Katie-Ellen.  

Any upcoming shows or projects you want to promote?

Check out my EP Quantity Time full of pandemic love songs. Get ‘em while they’re still relevant! Follow me on all the social media things and see the dumb things I post from my living room. Then stay tuned for all the post pandemic insanity that will likely follow. Make sure to get out there and go see live, local shows when it is safe. There are so many beleaguered performers of all creeds and styles just waiting to give you some serotonin (and get some from you in the process).