Apryll Aileen is a classically trained pianist with a touch of science and spirituality; an alt-pop soulful vocalist, guitarist and songwriter from Atlantic Canada. Sultry vocals and an alluring stage presence make Apryll a fan favourite at music festivals worldwide. She transcends genres, creating her own undefinable sound with influences coming from pop, rock, electronic, folk and R&B. She doesn’t imitate – she creates.

Her new song, “Wicked Ways,” is a reflection about human nature and our propensity to act out and get angry at others. It’s an introspective examination about why she gets angry and says hurtful things sometimes, as well as how we judge and perceive the actions of others. Through this, we may be creating our own narratives (which are often untrue) and it’s only through walking in someone else’s shoes that we truly understand what caused their actions and words.

We caught up with Apryll for an exclusive interview below!

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically?

 I was in Los Angeles when I started writing “Wicked Ways”. At that time, I was working on film scripts with some pretty heavy subject matter around addictions and violence. Too often, we condemn people and turn them into monsters which makes it hard for them to become better if we don’t give them a chance to believe they can behave differently. Forgiveness is truly an act of grace for it is one of the most difficult things we can do.

All of us are capable of wicked things: all of us get angry, yell, say things we don’t mean and even wish ill will on others. But with that darkness, we also have so much light, love and peace within us. The song is meant to expose the vulnerabilities of the shadow and put them on full display.

2. What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)?

Benjamin Edwards filmed and edited the music video during our trip to SXSW in Austin, Texas. We wanted to highlight artistic areas in the city, with cool street art and feature lots of night time shots with the city and traffic lights, creating the juxtaposition of being alone in one’s inner contemplation, and yet surrounded by millions of people at the same time. We also filmed in iconic locations like castles and The Driskill Hotel on 6th street. We would film during the day en route to different conference events, and try to film in between shows – the week went by in a whirlwind but was one of the best trips I’ve ever had and I can’t wait to visit and play in Austin, Texas!

3. What was the process of making this video?

Like most of my artistic collaborations, it all started over a meeting on the Halifax waterfront, discussing ways to showcase the themes of wickedness, forgiveness and hope with a backdrop of a city that was new to both of us. When I was on tour to California a few years ago, from Atlantic Canada, I stopped in Austin, Texas but only for one night. I visited the Driskill Hotel and was in awe of the architecture and beauty of the hotel. I knew I wanted to feature that as a primary location.

A business colleague and friend of mine, hosted a concert at his castle and graciously allowed us to film some scenes there as well. It was spectacular really because the timing couldn’t have worked out any better: upon arrival at the gate, the skies were filled with lightening so we actually filmed the opening shots to the music video right then and there before going inside. The lightening is all real – no special effects!

Hilariously enough, the other shot we really wanted but didn’t get, would’ve been the bats flying out from under the bridge. We had a hard time working around our SXSW conference schedule to get to the bridge and finally on the last day, while in an Uber en route to a concert, we found out that the bats aren’t even around in March – they fly down south and sip on margaritas (apparently according to Mr. Driver). HA!

Either way, it was a magical process without a lot of planning. A lot of the nighttime city shots were filmed off the cuff and usually involved us walking around the city pointing at different artistic murals and buildings saying “let’s grab a shot here – that’s so beautiful”. I would love for you to watch it, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel if you enjoy the video because more is on the way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJcmuIzjGNo

All of us are capable of wicked things – all of us get angry, yell, say things we don’t mean and even wish ill will on others. But with that darkness, we also have so much light, love and peace within us. The song is meant to expose the vulnerabilities of the shadow and put them on full display.