Singer-Songwriter Emaline Delapaix on Her New Album, Depression, and Living the Life That Feeds Her Soul.

*Photo credits to Binne Gestaltung

Hi Emaline, so nice to have you here! Could you start by introducing yourself and your music career? 

Thanks for having me. My name is Emaline Delapaix and I am a Berlin based Australian singer songwriter, vegan, and cat companion. I taught myself to play instruments in 2011 and decided to pursue a full time career in music after pretty much having a mental breakdown a few years back. I wasn't living an authentic, honest life and in the end something had to give. Now I am living much happier here in Germany and playing music full time.

I’m in awe of your bravery of quitting your job in Toronto to pursue your music career in Eastern Germany, not to mention starting off living in a caravan in the winter! Can you share with us how you took that giant leap and what impact it had on your life?

I was so down mentally and spiritually in the creative sense that I knew something big had to happen for me to find and reinvent myself. I had been in a long term relationship which was abusive (this relationship inspired the song 'Exorcism' from my new EP), I wasn't vegan, I wasn't playing instruments or writing music that meant something to me. I had a horrible day job that didn't pay a lot and was struggling with a lot of body issues. I was also flat broke and dealing with such horrible depression that I was even having suicidal thoughts. I just thought logically, if I am to go on then I must fix this. I must find a way to live as a person who suffers from depression in a gentle, creative and affordable way. So that's how the idea of the caravan in nature came about. And Germany, well it's quite affordable and they are very supportive of art.

Congratulations on giving yourself what you needed! You partially credit veganism for helping you shift away from depression. Can you speak further about how veganism contributed to a shift in your mental health? 

Depression is an illness that will be with me for the rest of my life and it's still something I need to face in my day to day life. Music has helped me so much in being able to express myself, and veganism is so important. Apart from the obvious health benefits of a healthy veggie/fruit/grain/nut diet, I feel that I am treading a little lighter and have become a more gentler person in the world. It haunted me before when I ate dairy and wouldn't take responsibility for my food choices. Food plays a huge role in how our bodies and minds function. I did a lot of research when I moved to the caravan and raw and unprocessed vegan foods, especially juice have a really positive effect on how the brain works. Unfortunately most mental health professionals don't focus on food and just hand out lots of pills. This is my experience and pushing all those chemicals into my body just made me worse. A healthy vegan diet, exercise, and following the path you are supposed to be on, for me, is a really good starting point to begin tackling depression and accepting that it's part of you but to not allowing it to dominate you. If that makes sense.

As a vegan in Berlin, what does a typical day of meals look like for you? 

Well I tour so often so there isn't a typical day but when I am home it's mostly pretty healthy. Often breakfast is simple, fruit or cereal with homemade almond or cashew milk when I have the time. Lunch is often a huge salad- you know, one of those metal bowls usually for a whole family. I fill it with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, peaches, nuts, chickpeas or beans, with some cayenne pepper, sea salt, lime juice and walnut or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Dinner might be a simple pasta with fresh veggies and lots of chili/garlic and I often make a litre of juice during the day such as apple, beet, lime, ginger, cayenne pepper. When I find myself getting down I will switch to 60-70% raw if possible to help kickstart my brain and get it into alignment. That's how I like to think of it. :)

Your music website has a vegan section! In what other ways do you merge your two passions- veganism and music? 

I play lots of vegetarian/vegan related restaurants, cafes, hotels, house concerts and festivals and try to give a small % of CD sales to local animal shelters as I am passing through different cities and towns. I wish I could do more but since I am independent I don't make so much money. I hope eventually to be able to buy an old house with a big plot of land so I can adopt my homeless kitties. :)

In your experience, what is the biggest challenge, and the biggest reward of being vegan? 

For me in the beginning it was saying, yes I want to take responsibility for what I eat and stick to it. Now it's the fact that veganism has made me so much more compassionate and opened my eyes to other things in the world that are not right. So that for me is the biggest reward and the biggest challenge. To care, but to care too much that it often breaks my heart when I see what's going on in the world to animals, to humans, and the planet and even just what we do to each other on a daily basis. My question is often, why are we so unkind? How did we get this way? How can we fix this? But I am glad to be vegan. There is no going back now. :)

I understand those feelings. Thank you so much Emaline! You've shared a lot about yourself and I really appreciate that. I wish you all the best with your goals, and dreams, and health! 



Emaline has just released a 5-track EP entitled Exorcism. It is available for purchase in digital download and a limited edition signed handmade CD.  You can also like her Facebook page and visit her website at www.emalinedelapaix.com. 


         ~ For a free digital download of Exorcism, comment below or email me for access! ~