For Ivy's members, the path is 'Clear'
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
May 5, 2005
'English is the language of pop music."
So says Ivy lead singer Dominique Durand in her exquisite French accent. The Paris-born vocalist grew up listening to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones even before she understood what they were saying.
Fifteen years ago she moved to New York City to study English, figuring to stay only a year. But an unexpected music career and her relationship with musician Andy Chase has kept her there. Durand came to learn English; now, she sings in English for a living.
Durand continues to make music with her husband Chase and Adam Schlesinger in their band Ivy. Durand and Chase met in the early 1990s. Sharing a passion for music, the two hit it off and started writing songs together. Durand had never sung professionally before hooking up with Ivy. Within a year, the band had signed a record deal with indie label Seed, even though the French-born singer had never performed live.
"So many great bands struggle for years and still have trouble getting signed," says Durand, who still sounds amazed that Ivy was able to pen a record deal in such a short time. "But we have to remember it was '94. It was a different time. It was an indie underground scene where being not so professional was actually a good thing."
The trio released a five-song EP – basically the band's demo tape – titled "Lately." The album lacks slick production, but captures the band's trademark breathy vocals and airy, guitar-driven compositions. With the full-length release "Realistic," the trio began learning the craft of record production and live performance.
" 'Realistic' came out and for the first time we had to start being a real band, going out on tour for long periods of time," says Durand. "That's when we started learning to become better musicians and for me, (I became) a better singer."
Ivy's breakthrough album was 1997's "Apartment Life," capturing the endearing qualities of the band's early recordings paired with a more mature approach to recording and production. Says Durand: "And for every album since then, we've gotten better at the touring and recording just by learning. We've been learning how to feel comfortable in the studio and learning how to produce yourself and arrange your songs."
The latest evidence of Ivy's maturation process is 2005's "In the Clear," a breezy collection of 10 gorgeous tunes. The beautifully layered work presents the problem of reproducing the album's tracks live. For the current tour – which stops by the Casbah Monday night – the trio enlists a little help. Guitarist Josh Lattanzi, drummer Ethan Eubanks and keyboardist Bruce Driscoll joins vocalist Durand, guitarist Chase and bassist Schlesinger.
"Live, it's a big challenge for us to reproduce the sound of our records because there are so many layers and so many textures," says Durand. "But I think we manage to do it. Live, Ivy is actually six people. That's the beauty of playing live: You're capturing what's on the record, but in a way it's more visceral."
Ivy's three members are able to break away from the band to pursue side projects, which gives the group's music new life when they reunite. Schlesinger is a member of the highly successful rock band Fountains of Wayne, while Chase produces bands and participates with Durand with the trip-hop project Paco.
"The three of us are very independent people," says Durand. "We need to be able to do other things creatively to feel good about working together and feeling fresh again. When we were ready to make 'In the Clear' it had been three years since the last record. It was just such a great feeling to be back in the studio together and starting to make music again. The main thing about creativity is to feel inspired and excited and feel like it's the first time."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
