"That's the age-old question, and I certainly don't think I handle it well!"
Victoria Canal is reflecting on touring—more specifically, the strategies she uses to manage the inevitable physical and mental toll that travel and performance impose on an artist.
"I don’t think you can truly grasp the level of exhaustion that touring brings," Canal shares. "I've experienced every type of touring, from sleeping on the headliner’s bus as an opener to following a bus with just one other person in a car, to now headlining my own shows in a van... It's an ongoing process of adjusting and attempting to find what feels sustainable."
Despite her candid remarks and demanding schedule (which required our interview to be conducted in two parts: a brief session in London and a video call while Canal power-walked between meetings in LA), the Spanish-American singer-songwriter remains upbeat and clearly relishing this successful post-album phase. Her debut full-length album, 'Slowly, It Dawns', came out in January, followed by nine concerts in the UK and US.
"This year, I feel like I'm figuring it out... I've spaced my touring differently this year to include breaks of two or three weeks between runs, and I'm doing shorter runs, only five or six shows at a time," she explains. "And it’s really helping—it's beneficial for my mental health and overall balance."
In some respects, it might appear that Canal should be used to life on the road: her list of childhood cities would make for an impressive world tour itinerary—Munich, Shanghai, Tokyo, Barcelona, Madrid, Dubai, and Amsterdam. Her international upbringing has certainly instilled in her a relaxed perspective towards change and movement, yet the notion of home remains significant to her.
"I think I probably handle [moving around] better than a lot of people... I know how to manage it well enough to endure," she states. "I've always found it interesting to talk to people who define home differently because their definition contrasts with mine. For me, it’s not as much about a physical place as it is about a feeling."
"I feel at home when I'm with my family, no matter where we are," she continues. "I can completely disconnect and separate myself from the persona I've chosen to present to the world."
Victoria Canal's musical journey began early; she recalls feeling a "calling" to songwriting around the age of 11 or 12.
"I had this realization while listening to 'Man in the Mirror' when I learned it wasn't written by Michael Jackson, and I thought, ‘Wow, people write songs; they don't just appear... Maybe I could do that!’”
Canal remembers her very first song as “a mixed translation of a Maria Callas classical piece”; her initial completely original work was titled 'Find a Way'.
“Of course, it was a bad song since I was only 11, but looking back, I see it actually held a depth that has remained intriguing to me throughout my career,” she reflects.
In her formative years as a songwriter, Canal was propelled by what she describes as a “compulsive need” to create and express herself.
"I remember going on walks with my family and constantly humming melodies, then sneaking away to record them on a device because I didn’t have a phone at that time," she reminisces. "I thought what I had to say was incredibly important, you know.”
Over the years, Victoria Canal has cultivated her ambition to make her songs resonate deeply, aiming for each piece to "reach further in" than an average "love song," delving into the profound layers of unspoken human experience. However, with maturity has come a willingness to slow down and pay more attention to the rewarding process of creation rather than just the end product.
"One thing I've come to realize is the beauty in trying new things along with the beauty of commitment. I'm finding new joy in the process itself rather than just the results," Canal shares.
"In this industry, it’s easy to feel disheartened when you invest a lot of effort and love into something but don’t receive what you believe it deserves in return—be it through streaming stats or financial compensation or whatever else. That can really discourage artists, and I've definitely felt that," she admits. "I’ve found that redirecting my focus to seek fulfillment and satisfaction in the act of creating itself, rather than worrying about others' opinions of my work or what they’ll give me for it, has become a valuable tool for me."
This shift in focus may also be a way to resist the constant pull of social media; that incessant, phone-centric culture that has nearly overtaken our lives. Canal recognizes the importance of social media as a platform for sharing, connecting, and learning, and credits some of her success to that online presence (her vibrant and widespread Instagram posts caught the attention of Chris Martin in 2021, leading to a recording contract with Parlophone Records). Yet, while she aims
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"That’s a timeless question, and I don't believe I handle it particularly well!" Victoria Canal is talking about touring – particularly, the ways to cope with it.