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JACLYN WHITTAL'S BIO
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On Jaclyn Whittal's debut CD Screwtiny, you'll learn about hookers, infidelity and heartbreak, but you won't learn much about her. The singer songwriter is sexy and thought-provoking, but prefers to keep her personal life away from her lyrics.
"There are only a few songs on Screwtiny that are in direct reference to my personal life," Jaclyn confesses. "I like detaching myself because of my musical theatre background. Certainly being onstage, that's a big part of it, to really find that character and make it real because if I don't, then I'm not going to be able to tell the story."
And what stories they are! When she mocks the ideals of today's stereotypical superstars in "Slept With A Nation", we catch a glimpse of the values of some of Hollywood's biggest stars. "Lets face it talent only goes so far in super fame and then it's just about image. It's all gotten lost in money, sex, and being noticed," Jaclyn pokes fun at this idea with great confidence and poise. In "Surround" we see a woman struggle with her sanity. "She has been left alone so many times by people her whole life. She ends up questioning herself more and more and she has hit a bottomless place. "It stings to stare into my own black eyes" the lyric cries.
The types of characters in Jaclyn's songs, which she co-writes with her producer, Ross Hardy, show her breadth as a performer. Unlike many songwriters who use the medium for catharsis to shed light on their own problems and successes, Jaclyn often jumps into the delightful or dark worlds of the characters she creates.
From writing about a virgin whose cherry was popped and her heart subsequently broken in "Futuristic" to refusing to doctor oneself to live up to the Pamela Anderson ideal of beauty in "Do You Love Me", Jaclyn basically says what she wants. It's a far cry from her lead role as sweet and innocent Sandy in the European production of Grease, which she performed in both English and German, on a 60-city, 90-day tour last year.
While pursuing her recording career, Jaclyn is currently performing in the critically-acclaimed production of EDGE at the world-renowned Deerhurst Resort in Canada. "I still aim to do a Broadway show at some time and will ultimately get there, but my solo recording project is something that I have been plugging away at for 3 years now and I feel very strong about its direction." Jaclyn continues, "Some people say I'm diverse, others question my decision to connect my musical theatre experience with my solo project. I think all experience is integral whatever it may be. Every opinion is just that. An opinion. If something is meant to be a success it will happen with or without the help of others."
She identifies with this in "My Crowd", a song written from the angle of an independent artist being rejected constantly from various entities in the industry. Now, the 27-year-old is ready to put all her energy into her recording career and is doing it on her own terms.
Born in Amherstburg, Ontario within the Windsor-Detroit area, this small-town girl is a classically trained pianist and accomplished guitar player. In high school, she became involved in various musical theatre productions and continued to focus on that area of the arts at the University of Windsor.
From there Jaclyn went on to perform at Deerhurst Resort in the very same stage production of which Shania Twain was once a cast member. There, she was introduced to Producer/Songwriter Ross Hardy, who was looking for a young artist to develop. "We melded together with some great ideas right off the bat," says Jaclyn, who had never before written original material or pursued a recording contract.
They shopped a demo with the first batch of songs and gained a lot of interest, but Jaclyn was still finding her sound. Meanwhile, she won the 2001 KICX 104 FM Starquest, as well as a runner-up position in the 2002 Pantene Pro-Voice music competition out of 1000 entries across Canada. She and Ross ploughed on, developing a unique electronic-based classic rock sound.
Ross and Jaclyn worked together on all the songs on Screwtiny. "Things Like That" is a re-vamped version of the Pantene Pro-Voice entry. "The lyrics focus on God, a God-like figure, and all the things a God does to affect the world, but how they want to release themselves of that, rebel, if you will, against the idea of a higher being," she says.
"Do you Love Me" is a sexy lyric that denounces the superficial, blonde bombshell ideal. "Everything about her is fake and plastic and society is putting her on a pedestal," says Jaclyn, "and the girl in the song is rebelling against that. Do you love me for me? I'm not going to change. I'm not going to get implants."
"Whore", which they came up with in Europe when Ross visited Jaclyn during the Grease tour, is tongue-in-cheek. "It's about a girl who wants it all and is willing to do almost anything to get it. The music had this real island-y carefree nature to it which spawned this character who laughs at men and is fully in control. It didn't come from anywhere in relationship to my life," laughs Jaclyn.
"Let Me Cry" was another track that Ross brought unfinished to Europe. "I remember listening to it, ripping down the autobahn in Germany and it had this real Euro feel to it. That's obviously where the reference to the Mini came from," she says. "Basically a girl feels she tried everything in a relationship and she didn't get anything out of it."
In "Wall Of Dreams" a lonely wife struggles with the decision of whether or not to have an affair. "The husband is this corporate exec who doesn't care about his wife back home. He's all over the world," she explains. "There's a cameo (Ross), where he calls home and obviously something's up, and this girl has decided to take the plunge and move on and have an affair in the end."
Jaclyn plans to create a video and is pushing her new release Screwtiny to radio in the next few months. The album has been released online with a street date coming soon.
Visit http://www.jaclynwhittal.com for more info, pics and music!
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