Neal Jandreau
spotify
Are you from Maine originally?
No, but with the last name of Jandreau, the french history of Northern Maine followed me around the world. I was born on Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. in the State of Maryland. My father, a born and raised Mainer, joined the military and we traveled to Europe and the US until retiring to Fort Kent, Maine when I was 11.
How did you become a musician? What inspired you?
Although my parents had a great record collection and my father is a drummer, I was not much interested in music until I moved to Maine as a pre-teen. In fact, I didn’t even own any form of music until my older brother bought me Green Day’s “Dookie” album. I became obsessed with that album and wore the tape out. I can still sing the lyrics and melody to the entire album. I found myself gravitating towards bands in the ’90s whose music was focused on telling a story through lyrics and melodies like Hootie and the Blowfish, Sister Hazel, and Tonic. When some high school friends of mine said that we should start a band, I decided to pick up the guitar and learn how to play. I learned to play fairly quickly by putting in time and effort. I didn’t even think about singing until several years later when one day I realized I could. Being a musician or musical is both a learned skill and innate to certain individuals and I feel very lucky to have that ability as it has fed my soul and bonded me to life-long friends and strangers alike over the years.
Tell me more about “Ashamed” and the messaging behind it.
Before I explain the messaging behind it, understand that I wrote “Ashamed” more than 20 years ago and it has evolved a little since. At that time, I was, and still am, enamored with the idea of putting stories to music but in order to do that, you have to have a few key ingredients. You need a guitar, a voice, lived experiences, and in my case, a little maturity to put those experiences into words. It wasn’t until I experienced my first real heartbreak that I had all the ingredients to put pen to paper. “Ashamed” was an attempt to ascribe a feeling on to the individual who broke my heart. I could not grasp the concept of losing the person I fell in love with for the first time and whom I spent just about every day. The emotions you experience falling in love for the first time are incredibly powerful only matched by the emotions you experience falling out of love. Needless to say, I was heartbroken and needed a way to understand what I and the other person was feeling. It was, of course, from my perspective, and as I came to learn, as most of us do, it is never as simple as we make it. We learn and remember things differently as our heart heals. I am certain now that she didn’t feel shame but at the time that’s what I assumed she felt because I was so devastated.
Do you plan to launch new music?
Given that music is my passion but not my profession, I have only been able to complete an EP of six songs. My dream, with my marriage and birth of a daughter, that I will have more experiences in which to put keystroke to screen and finish writing and recording a full-length album in the near future.
Do you plan to perform live or virtually anywhere in the near future?
I have no plans of performing with my original music anytime soon, though I would love to. I have been lucky enough to perform at a few socially distanced events with my ’90s cover band, Stealing North. Keeps the musical blood flowing but the feeling isn’t exactly the same as pre-pandemic
