At age 42, Opal Dar has hit a major milestone as an artist.
“Until just a month ago, I haven’t been able to direct anyone to a link with my music,” Dar said. “I’ve been on stage my whole life singing and doing music, also that whole time was caregiving children and people, and my life took a care giving direction and I was not able to make the music.”
Dar is getting ready to release their debut album Birds Hurting Birds Who Hurt Birds, recorded on Gabriola Island at The Noise Floor Studio.
The Sooke based artist deals with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome, and says despite facing a number of barriers, they were tenacious in putting in the work to make the album happen.
“ I really believe that my art has a place in this world, and really it came down to kind of my tenacity when I realized there were a few barriers, but one of them was money. And when money’s a barrier, I say, no, that’s just boring. That can’t be the reason.”
“I have to do everything possible to make sure this is happening without the money.”
Dar received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in order to record Birds Hurting Birds Who Hurt Birds.
“ I usually use a motorized wheelchair or a walker, so doing things like cooking and working, not doctor recommended. Right now, I’m on bedrest, deeply, to mitigate everything I’ve done to try to release this album by myself,” Dar said. “Did it, Yay! But it’s been hard. I get really sick. I’ve been in the hospital twice since August from burnout from trying to do this.”
Dar spoke about some of the challenges people living on disability allowances face.
“As a single parent, I get about $1,800 a month and the rent is really high. My rent is $1,500 a month. So there isn’t a lot to live on. There’s some child tax on top of that, but essentially it comes down to living on about $150 a week after you pay your bills to afford your food and everything. And then there are rules to how much you can earn if you’re able to work part-time.”
Listen to the full interview to hear Dar discuss the journey to releasing Birds Hurting Birds Who Hurt Birds, which comes out May 27, as well as to hear three tracks from the album and the stories behind them.
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