Charlotte Day Wilson doesn't regret giving up hockey to be a musician

Though Charlotte Day Wilson grew up studying piano, she also spent much of her youth with a hockey stick in hand. The Canadian singer-songwriter played competitively at the Women's AA level up until her highschool graduation year.

"I love that it's a team sport," Wilson tells Q's Tom Power. "I think you learn how to work with others and I love the competitiveness of it. I'm a very competitive person. Sports are a very important way for me personally — and a lot of people I know — to just let go of any kind of energy that's stored in our bodies [that] needs to go somewhere. I think when you're a teenager, you have so much extra energy and it was a great outlet."

But after realizing her passion for music and suffering a concussion on the ice, Wilson decided to quit hockey. She doesn't remember there being a "pivotal moment" when she chose music over hockey, but giving up a sport she loved was still a difficult decision.

"My parents and everyone had put so much time and energy and money into it," she says. "I think a lot of people hoped that it would go somewhere in the future. And to be honest, I didn't really see that there was a future for me as a woman in hockey."

Now, Wilson is about to release her second album, Cyan Blue, which is one of the most anticipated Canadian records of the year. She found inspiration from a trip to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, where she crafted her third single, Canopy, within an hour. 

"I actually ended up writing all the lyrics and melodies just walking around the house without any music, which is kind of backwards to my process," she tells Power.

Her other source of inspiration? Her younger self. "I think a lot of us are in the pursuit of connecting with our inner child and sometimes that means helping heal an inner child, sometimes that means having fun with your inner child. For me, I guess I just can't escape this thought — I'm always interested in it. I'm always interested in how I would impart knowledge on my younger self, how I would protect my younger self, how I would give some confidence to my younger self."

Wilson says she's now at a place where she can care less about the reception of her music and focus on how others connect with it. "If people connect with it, then I've done a great job. I know not everyone's going to connect with it but for the people that do, I hope it moves them. I hope that we can find a space in my live shows to connect in person. That's really all it is for me."

The full interview with Charlotte Day Wilson is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Charlotte Day Wilson produced by Mitch Pollock.