When Chantel Emond - better known by her stage name French Press - finished her shift at a Winnipeg coffee shop, she ran to the back to grab herself a cup of black coffee and came back to sit down with a nervous smile.

However, the 29-year-old singer-songwriter doesn’t lack experience.

She studied jazz in Toronto at Humber College throughout the mid-2000s, played with acclaimed band The O’Darling, and spent much of 2010 singing in venues around Thailand and Morocco, sporting unflattering outfits chosen by her band.

“Travelling was a getaway from my everyday life. It made me open to different realities and it was a great way to build up my ideas,” Emond says. “I also discovered I didn’t want to sing jazz covers anymore. I had more to express.”

The Wolseley resident doesn’t regret coming back home to Winnipeg to launch her career.

“You don’t want to work when you’re away. You get inspired, then you come back home to work.”

Though French Press has already achieved some buzz, recently being named one of CBC Scene’s top 10 artists to watch this year, Emond has only been playing locally under the moniker since last June.

“ I’ve never doubted myself musically, but as a writer I’ve doubted myself many times.

Chantal Emond

“My goal was to grow up as an artist in a smaller community. I mean, I’m new and I’m already moving ahead so quickly.”

Since she is new, she’s still working on defining herself as an artist, having recently switched from keys to guitar in a live setting. 

Although she grew up listening to the Beach Boys and Patsy Cline (and admitted she’s often been compared to Regina Spektor), French Press found a new source of inspiration.

“I’m very excited about Elliott Smith’s music.”

On the topic of the late Portland songwriter, she muses on a related project she’s discussed with long-time friend and Enjoy Your Pumas/Cephalopods member, Josh Benoit.

“We’re planning on doing some sort of tribute night to Elliott Smith, where we’d cover a bunch of his songs. But first we need to find out if Winnipeggers even like him and if they’d show up at the event.”

The group setting of her former band allowed for some shoulders to lean on, but the seven-piece orchestral pop collective spent more time battling to have each of their voices heard, and caused The O’Darling, a group the Globe and Mail called one of the “top 10 unclaimed treasures of 2009,” to implode.

Despite having all this experience, Emond admits she still deals with anxiety before her shows.

“An hour before I play, I get so nervous. Last weekend I played at a house concert and I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came. I got the clammiest hands I’ve ever had.”

Nerves aside, Emond is still open to easy going collaboration, having just collaborated with local poet Jennifer Still last month.

“You really need to be willing to learn from the people who have been doing it for years and years.”

Published in Volume 67, Number 17 of The Uniter (January 23, 2013)