Birdsong artist Terry Witzu opens up about songwriting after a six-year hiatus. Producer Ted Adler shares how there is no communication barrier when musicians use music as their language for both in-studio production and healing.
I first met Terry Witzu at a coffeeshop in Ottawa in February 2024, after he had applied for a Birdsong New Music Grant, which finances indie song production from individuals diagnosed with mental illness.
What strikes me on this cold, wintery morning, after I pick him up from his small apartment in Vanier, Ottawa’s east end, is how excited he is about addressing all things music. He tells me how much he loves so many musical genres and name-drops bands I’ve never heard of for over an hour.
Terry’s manner is engaging and articulate and his music stories are fabulous and fascinating. He also tells me he has a lot of musical equipment at his place but had not played music or composed in over six years!” That gets me.
(L to R) Margaret Konopacki (Foundation Founder), Liz Nowak (Board member) Terry Witzu, Allan Kinney (Birdsong Artists) Jim Wright (Birdsong consultant), Scott Corkery (musician), Bryant Didier (Birdsong Music Director)
“Let’s change that!” I cry. “Let’s find a few new songs you’ve composed and never produced and get you back in music-drive mode!”
And into a good studio here in Ottawa he goes! Birdsong Foundation has gifted him a good quality speaker from Dave’s Drum Shop in Ottawa and we at the charity have adopted our new Birdsong artist with great joy.
Says Terry of his background: “I was born in Whitefish, outside of Sudbury, a remote and sparse community in Ontario on March 20, 1976. Home was miles down a dirt road, miles away from neighbours, and even further away from the opportunity to socialize with other kids during my early years. I essentially grew up surrounded by wilderness and was then sent to boarding school. This is where my mental health deteriorated as my parents divorced. Don’t get me wrong. My parents loved me. I’m in close touch with my mom Nadja who lives in Buffalo and my dad who lives in Sudbury. “
“I don’t like to talk about my mental health details because of the stigma that you feel from the society,” he says. “But since I live with depression and anxiety that is often off the charts, I have gained a sense of empathy for others who struggle. I’m happy to help people who have mental illness because I understand it. I sacrificed my 20s to get my life back together again. The message I have to people who are mentally ill, is that you need to put in your own effort; you must do the work. It’s not going to get better by itself and music to me is part of the treatment and solution.”
In the past Terry attended Mohawk College in Hamilton where he studied Music Theory and Performance. He has also worked as a writer at Northern Life, a Sudbury local newspaper. Other hobbies include graphics, playing wargames, watching movies and painting miniatures.
Family members and friends say that Terry has been incredibly focused and responsible in his daily life and today he supports himself by working at a vintage clothing store and providing for himself and his beautiful cat Dennis. The debut of Terry’s new song, entitled “Crying Is Creepy,” marks a new beginning in returning to songwriting and performance.
Watch it on YouTube here:
His greatest joy was when he was a member of a band playing with fellow musicians, which he hopes to do again. As it is, working with Birdsong New Music Foundation has been lifechanging and has given him renewed hope for the future.
“I believe it was this passion for the arts that nurtured my imagination,” says Terry. “It planted the seed for what would develop into an aptitude for writing and illustrating, but never any hint of the love of music and performance that has become the dominant passion that fills my heart today. ”
“And it wasn’t until one day that my private desire to be a musician exploded into an outright obsession when I saw The Tragically Hip play. They were a complete flip side from the often noisy, opinionated bands I was accustomed to. Instead, a musical, but strangely aggressive sound topped off by what struck me as a beautiful insanity on the part of Gordon Downie. To which, I felt an immediate relationship in my adolescence. I felt like jumping out of my seat, pointing at the stage, and yelling, THAT! That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life! For better, or worse it became a compulsion. A mixed bag of the usual crushing defeats, humiliations, small victories, and glorious moments followed.
“So, my lifestyle has been rather nomadic,” he continues. “I feel at a loss for a hometown, but through it all, the stage has been my only home, and since moving to Ottawa I’ve felt homeless for way too long. On my darkest days there is a sense of helplessness that my fate is to waste away in exile. But today I have a feeling of optimism that has grown through the wonderful musicians I’ve met through Birdsong Foundation, recording this song as I feel my way through a city that remains a mystery after many years.”
To his credit, Terry kept at writing tunes all through his years onstage.
“When it comes to songwriting, sometimes the ideas just come to me, and sometimes they don’t,” he says. “When I wrote Crying Is Creepy, I sat down at the piano, just messing around for a second, and accidentally played this little hook. I immediately grabbed my guitar and began writing chord structure and melody. Some lyrics popped out some were merely phonetic. I didn’t force it; it just flowed out of me.”
“I can’t exactly describe a clear songwriting process, because it’s so instinctual. But when I do get a good lyric or idea, I know I’ve probably put some thought into it, even if it feels spontaneous. I don’t really know where my ideas come from. It’s not like I’m drawing from personal turmoil, but more like a serendipitous thing where inspiration just strikes.”
“Sometimes, a song just pops into my head, and I have to sort through it. I’ve learned to capture those moments by recording my thoughts, because once you’re inspired, it’s hard to remember exactly what you came up with. And that’s why I try not to alter those early ideas too much-those first drafts, the melody, and the feel are key. They’re raw, and that initial energy is important. ”
“The tricky part is trying to recapture that feeling later, especially when you’ve had time to think it over. These songs aren’t meant to be a memo or a mission statement. They’re not therapy, they are just songs, and that spontaneity is what makes them real. If someone finds personal meaning in what I wrote – wonderful! There is definitely some meaning there, but for me that could be a thousand things at once. My goal is to catch the listener’s ear and make them want to listen to the song again (and again, and again, and again...).”
Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/0clPPCQGRjXNKavFa10GhT
Music producer Ted Adler from Sound Decisions in Ottawa, who produced Terry’s song, comments: “It is an honor to work with people who struggle with mental health issues because when we begin to talk about ‘music’ there are no mental health issues. When you create and talk about music, it is a different language altogether. I work with artists like Terry with more mindfulness as I know the anxiety can be sky high. Terry is a very talented and passionate musician with his own vision. I try to make music that speaks to each artist individually. I want each musician to dream and to feel the dream of creating great music is coming true.”
“What was fun for me about the song we produced Crying Is Creepy, is that it’s a 60s feel a product I would call folk rock style. Terry wanted the song to sound like an old recording and convey a vintage feel. We managed to create that kind of sound. “
“I love to work with the Birdsong artists, and I have now worked with three of them. There are not a lot of guided ways for a new artist to produce their own music independently. When you do it yourself there really is no guidance. So, I can give guidance to artists who are really talented but would have a difficult time creating music on their own and it takes money which they don’t have. Birdsong Foundation steps in with a grant and finds the right team of pro’s to creates hope by believing in the artist who struggles. The great music that comes together is really of great benefit to these individuals who start to believe in themselves; it’s challenging, transformative and fun.”
Terry performed at the Strathcona Park Art Show during the summer of 2024 and the debut of his song Crying I Creepy on all streaming platforms marks a first-ever launch of one of his songs. Photo Credit (L-R) (L to R) Margaret Konopacki (Foundation Founder), Liz Nowak (Board member) Terry Witzu, Allan Kinney (Birdsong Artists) Jim Wright (Birdsong consultant), Scott Corkery (musician), Bryant Didier (Birdsong Music Director)
Terry will be back in the studio recording his second song and working towards his first album later this spring 2025.
Birdsong New Music Foundation
birdsongnewmusicfoundation.ca
Produced by Ted Adler
Song Credits: Terry Witzu (composer, vocals, Guitars, Bass) , Scott Corkery ( Elec. Guitar,back-up vocals), Allan Kinney (Piano, Modular Synth), John Macias (Drums)