Doublestop Magazine

Interview with Swil Kanim

by Karl Nelson

Swil Kanim is a violinist and member of the Lummi Nation, a Native American tribe located in Washington state. In addition to his musical career, Swil Kanim has also appeared in Sherman Alexie’s film The Business of Fancydancing, on television’s Northern Exposure and The New Canoe, among other credits. He recently agreed to answer Doublestop Magazine‘s questions about his music, his career, and more.

How did you start playing the violin?

My music and skill is a direct product of a well-supported public school music program in the Bellingham, WA school district. If it wasn’t for a school instrument and group lessons provided by the school district I would not be playing. I think I would not be alive. Music helped me process the trauma of being a foster child in my early childhood and my early adulthood. My mental health is owed to the rhythm, pitch, dynamics, vibration and tone music provides as a tool to express the emotions and thoughts words could not provide.

I do not think it a coincidence that we, as a society, continue to increasingly medicate our youth for ADD and depression as we continue to cut music education programs.

So, how did I start playing the violin? I couldn’t avoid it.

When did you decide you wanted to play professionally?

When I was in the Army I performed for a talent show on Fort Dix, NJ. I just thought it would be fun to play some music for my fellow troops. They introduced me as a “classical fiddle player.” I heard groans from the audience and realized this could be a tough crowd. So, I played “Turkey and the Straw”, and a version of “Pop Goes the Weasel” that included me playing on top of my head, behind my back, between my legs and concluded with a flip of the bow. Troops are under a lot of stress, which is the perfect condition for humor. They loved it. What I didn’t know was the show was video taped and sent to the All Army Soldier Show in Washington, DC. I toured with them for a couple of years. I realized that it was possible to make a living out of not just playing the violin, but entertaining.

Do you still combine acrobatics and the violin? Seriously, the violin is a hard enough instrument to play the “right” way, much less behind your back! How’d you figure out how to do that?

When I was in High School there was a show called the Gong Show. There was this guy who got “gonged” while playing “Pop Goes The Weasel”. We were planning a concert at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle as a part of our orchestra tour. Some of my classmates thought it would be a good thing to play like that guy. The guy got “gonged” so we didn’t see how it ended. We just made up the rest. The kids loved it. The skill came in real handy as a street performer. If I got the audience to be a bit somber from some tear-jerker I would lighten things with that special rendition. I still get requests for it from kids of all ages.

Back to the story of your decision to play professionally…

When I got out of the Army I had some odd jobs but would practice my violin on the streets of Seattle and the Pike Place Market. The audience interaction is what I fell in love with. So, I stuck to it. I embraced the definition of love in the Bible: Love is patient and kind (1st Corinthians, Chapter 13). I found that the Greek behind the words were also used to describe longsuffering and worthwhile. I started to receive feedback as a street performer that my performing was making the pain of peoples life worthwhile. At first, I thought, no way, but then I realized that music had that effect on me. Why not the passersby? I thought I had finally found something that made the pain of my life worthwhile. It was making the longsuffering of others worthwhile.

Is there a tradition of fiddle-playing in Native American culture (or, among the northwest costal tribes, specifically)?

I would say there is a tradition of self-expression in all of Native American culture. There is honor in self-expression. I believe most Americans have come to learn that it is a selfish or frivolous act to express themselves. Generosity-of-being was considered frivolous and absurd. Through it all–the boarding schools, the kids being snatched up by the states and placed in non-native homes or, even mental institutions–elders have held onto their identity. Many have become successful lawyers, doctors, nurses, school teachers, professors, but that is just what they do. Who they are is in the quality of that self-expression. I am just a violinist. That does not mean that I need to give up my identity. That does not mean that I need to sit in an orchestra and assume the tempo of a conductor. I can slow down. I can play for reasons other than to impress someone. I am not dumbing down when I play something simple with feeling. I am holding up the concept of simply living through my music.

You obviously identify closely with your heritage (the “Violindian”) — how has it influenced your music?

R. Carlos Nakai. Especially in his early recordings. One flute. One man. So many feelings–sometimes within one phrase. I learned that there are hundreds of tribal nations in North America. Each with their own way of being. Each with their own songs to sing at their own special times. These are new times. Maybe, the time for a new song and a new way to sing is now and on the violin.

How did you take on the name Swil Kanim? Is there a difference between Richard Marshall and Swil Kanim?

My legal name is still Richard Marshall. I use it if I owe you money. Swil Kanim is my Indian name. Everyone that knows me calls me Swil Kanim. Even my wife calls me Swil Kanim with both words. If I am in trouble though or I am caught up in something that has my attention she will say, “Mr. Richard Arthur Marshall!?’ I got my Indian name in a ceremony like we have always done.

Were there players you looked up to as you were starting out?

Oh my goodness yes! So many players. Yehudi Menuhin was one of my favorites. So dramatic and passionate. The person that impacted me the most didn’t play violin. His name was Keith Green. His dynamics while playing piano in his early contemporary Christian albums was truly inspired. It showed me a lot can be done with just one instrument. Then, there was Jean-Luc Ponty. He showed me you can make the violin do anything you want to do if you are willing to put the work into it.

You’ve done public speaking, acted in films, stage, and TV, and of course played plenty of concerts. Are you working on any interesting projects now?

I am trying out the idea of producing. I am working on producing a documentary about the drug addiction problems on our Lummi Reservation. These are tough times but not without hope.

Who’s in heavy rotation on your iPod (or whatever device you use to listen to music)? What are you listening to?

iPod? What’s that? Will it fit in my 8-track player? Seriously, I like to listen to what the pianist David Lanz calls ‘heavy mellow” music. That, and to my wife’s dismay, I listen to a lot of sports talk radio. I am a Seattle Mariners fan, but I am not picky about the sports talk, so long as it is about sports. My wife has really turned me on to Waylon Jennings. I grew up hearing his music but now, with her help, I really hear it.

Thanks for your time!

Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Swil Kanim at his official website or at his MySpace page.