Interview by: Natalia Buia
When a budding music journalist heads to a prestigious venue like the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to chat with the always dapper Royal Wood, one has to look the part. Unfortunately for this budding music journalist, I was looking like I should be auditioning for a role in Chucky upon meeting Royal, who continually looks like he’s fresh off a scene from Mad Men.
But, in all seriousness, it’s not all about exteriors upon getting to know Royal. His style of writing, not his style of dress, remains the focal point. With 4 other albums under his belt, this year’s release of The Waiting is his most personal to date.
Royal tells me, as we sit in the empty bar of the Theatre, he wasn’t apprehensive to be so open and honest this time around.
“I’m far more introspective and confident in who I am,” he says. “I didn’t hide behind words [this time]. I didn’t dress it up.”
To a conversation with a stranger to a recently viewed film, Royal says anything can inspire him to pen a heartfelt tune. On The Waiting, he took on the challenge to record almost all instruments himself, rather than with a band, perhaps to prove just how versatile he truly is. With Royal, there are no limits. He tells me he’s learned the do-it-yourself approach can close himself off at times.
It’s hard to believe the man sitting in front of me went from being a foreign exchange trader to a musician playing 1,200 seat venues. Royal informs me he studies business at McGill University, but the temp job on Bay Street was more for financial stability than anything. Eventually, he traded his suitcase for a guitar case and “the rest is history,” as he puts it.
“There’s still some beautiful people that work on Bay Street though,” he says.
One of the perks of being a musician is the travelling, of course. Recently, Royal headed to Iceland to film the music video for “Do You Recall”. It appears to be a trend, for a lot of Canadian musicians have been flying to the northern country for artistic endeavors – Jay Malinowki’s “There’s a Light” is equally stunning, visually.
“Well, I didn’t know it was a trend!” he insists, telling me he was captivated to explore Iceland from all those Bjork and Sigur Ros videos.
Now, don’t expect Royal to brag about the other luxuries in life. He updated me on the work he’s done with World Vision. He says it was at a Kingston show when a World Vision rep came up to him in regards to sponsoring a child, something he truly thought about but never put into action. Fortunately, this time around, he committed to this selfless act and now gets others at his shows involved as well.
“I’m not trying to be preachy here,” he says. “Don’t worry, I’m not trying to be Bono,” he says.
I respond by saying just one Bono is more than enough. Come to think of it, actually, the world could use a few more Royals.
