CHELSEY GREEN DISCUSSES HER UNWAVORING PASSION FOR THE VIOLIN AND MUSIC
After the success of her first album “Still Green: The EP” Violinist Chelsey Green sits down with us to discuss her love for music, amazing accomplishments she made at a young age, and her upcoming album. The musician explains the story behind the instrumentals and how she’s able to appeal to all audiences.
// Magazine: What makes you exclusive?
Green: Being me! Being Chelsey makes me exclusive and I thank God for that. I think having your own ideas and concepts of what you want something to be makes you exclusive, so I am happy to be a musician and an artist and be able to share my voice in that way.
// Magazine: Give us a little background about yourself and what intrigued you about the industry and playing the violin?
Green: When I was very young my mother introduced me to the violin. It wasn’t something that my parents forced me to do or made me practice every day, but it was something I took a liking to early. I had private instruction as well as public school instruction growing up. I started to see how it evolved and played out in my life and I always appreciated how the violin made me feel. It’s something that develops passion and it happened very early. I’m very fortunate that it did. It was something I latched on to and continue to develop even now with my performance ensemble, The Green Project.
// Magazine: How does the violin make you feel?
Green: I could be having the worst day in the world and as soon as I pick up my instrument, it doesn’t even matter anymore. It’s something about allowing it to speak for you. A lot of people view my music as instrumental, which it is to some extent, but I like to view it as story music. Just because it doesn’t have lyrics doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a story. I hope to use my violin as a vessel in which it speaks by story. It is a personal moment when I get to play it so I am absolutely grateful to God every single second that he allows me to be on that instrument.
//Magazine: At the young age of 16 you played at Carnegie Hall which is a big accomplishment especially for someone so young. How did it feel knowing that you were playing on the same stage that many legends played on as well?
Green: You always hear people talk about it and you know classical legends have been in that hall, but I honestly did not get it until I was on that stage. I felt it immediately as soon as I got on the stage. It was something about the way the hall just makes you feel. Having that perspective… Being on the stage is incredible. The icing on the cake for me was to play a solo with the orchestra on stage! Even that young I knew it was a major accomplishment and something that I would be able to carry with me for the rest of my life.
//Magazine: Most artist only stick to one genre of music or when they try to do more than one it doesn’t work out. What do you do differently that makes you able to successfully play different genres of music?
Green: I have only been classically trained my whole life. My ear has been trained by gospel, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Rock, R&B, Pop and more. I love all genres of music and I think that the love of the other genres mixed with the training in the classical tradition has allowed me to be able to translate through genres using the vessel of classical music. Classical is so disciplined that you have to be able to have certain techniques to pull it off so being able to manipulate that in a way that can make other genres speak is how I’m able to carry an idea from one genre to the next.
//Magazine: What’s your favorite genre and do you incorporate elements from that genre?
Green: I love all genres. That’s such a cliché answer, but I do! I try to incorporate a lot of things into one song. We do an arrangement of Rihanna “Diamonds” mixed with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and kids love it because they recognize “Twinkle” immediately and the older kids recognize Rihanna immediately and they’re always like “oh that’s so cool how you crossed that over!” I’ll throw classical tunes from composers including Beethoven, Pachelbel and other familiar classical composers with things on the radio now to allow their ear to appreciate it in a different way.
// Magazine: That’s a great concept.
Green: Thank you. Yes, critics ask me why do I do covers instead of only playing my original music. I feel that a cover song is like a handshake or a greeting to someone coming to see you for the first time. It’s something familiar before you give them all of you. It’s like a, “Hi, thank you for coming.”
// Magazine: How did you and the members of The Green Project get together?
Green: I started The Green Project after doing an open mic in Baltimore. A couple of the members were a part of the house band, so we stayed connected through that performance and they introduced me to the other people who have now been a part of The Green Project too.
// Magazine: How do you make sure that you stay true to yourself and your music and not fall victim of commercialism?
Green: I try to compose, arrange and perform music that inspires me and is fun to me. In the classical tradition, with technology as advanced as it is, a lot of instructors encourage you to do a lot of listening. They’ll say, “go listen to Elgar Symphony #2 and listen to how your part fits into the score and then practice it after that with that in mind.” I think listening can be great and an extremely informative and educational tool. I also think there comes a time when you have to turn the tape off as it can have a tendency to sway your personal artistic interpretation on something. I like to listen and transcribe to understand the original performer’s point of view and then take my own interpretation and put my personal spin on it.
// Magazine: Who is your musical idol?
Green: There is so many people I look up to musically, but my first musical “idol” was my Dad. He’s a drummer and percussionist. I would come home hearing him practice and listening to Chicago, Weather Report, Stevie, and Bill Weathers and he would encourage me to get my violin and just play with him. It opened up my mind in a way that I could hear things that resonated acoustically in my violin that I didn’t get from classical performances.
//Magazine: If you could do a song with any singer or musician who would it be?
Green: I’m going to cheat and say that I would do a Michael Jackson “We Are The World” situation so I can work with everybody and have them each say one line. Ha! It’s just so many different people. Stevie Wonder, Prince, Pat Metheny, my Dad, Yo-Yo Ma and the list goes on.
//Magazine: What image do you think your new album will convey?
Green: I hope that the new album illustrates maturity and authenticity in my music. That’s what music is. It all comes from a very authentic and organic place.
//Magazine: When is your album being released and what can we expect?
Green: The album will be released this Summer. You can expect to experience a range of emotions. Almost every genre is represented and we even have spoken comedic interludes. You might shed some tears, smile, laugh… I hope it can be a soundtrack of sorts to help you identify that personal moment that you are going through and have your emotions played out through the song.
//Magazine: Do you have a favorite track on your new album?
Green: A toss-up between “Road Trip” and” Pizzicato Part III”. I love our new arrangement of “Pizzicato Part III” (a song first released on my EP, “Still Green”). Every time I hear it I start crying because I lost a close family member last year and there’s a part in the song where you hear harmonics that sound like a porch door swinging and it happens 3 times to represent 3 family members lost. It’s in that moment that it’s so emotionally raw that I really connect with this new arrangement very deeply.
//Magazine: Have you decided on a single release and if so, what was the thought process?
Green: We haven’t decided yet, but it’s going to either be “Road Trip” or “Dr. Funk”. We want to release a single that’s upbeat and fun for lovers of all genres of music.
Chelsey Green is a force to be reckoned with as she effortlessly transitions from one genre to the next. She is the prime example that you can do anything you put your mind to. As long as you have the passion and drive your talents will take you wherever you need to go. To find out more about Chelsey Green and The Green Project visit www.chelseygreen.com
