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Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
 Wende Halonen -- coffee-brewing expert -- returned home to Iqaluit after a brief attempt at life in Yellowknife. The Western Arctic just didn't offer her the comfort of Nunavut. - Kerry McCluskey/NNSL photo |
News/North: Tell me about your career as a punk rock singer.
Wende Halonen: I've sang all my life. Lately I haven't and that kind of bothers me. I'm thinking of trying to find somebody to sing with just for the joy of singing. I was singing when I was seven and doing stage shows with my brother and sister. I figured the stage would be where I was most comfortable. I went to university for a year and I wasn't into it. Off I went to Toronto in 1979. It was a good time because there was a close connection between London, England and Toronto.
I searched for a band and auditioned for Skip Prokop, the drummer from Lighthouse, which might not mean anything to anybody. I seemed to know a lot of people in music, but I never seemed to get very far because it wasn't a very good lifestyle for women, especially if you felt a bit fragile.
But I had a great time. I went on the road with a band, really as a kind of groupie -- but not like that -- with a band called Wireless. They had a recording contract and were an Australian band. I wanted to see what it was like. It was pretty crappy if you were a woman.
N/N: Were you singing with them?
WH: I did a little bit of singing, but not much. I never really got recorded. I worked with a band and we worked in a studio right beside Rush in Scarborough. But I never found the right people to work with. In Edmonton I was still searching and by then, I was in my early 30s. I auditioned for the Pursuit of Happiness, but they were looking for a back- up singer and they found me to be too much of a lead singer, which is what I always wanted to be -- a front person. Finally, I decided it's not happening. I never threw myself into it. I used to go out a lot and meet people and bleach my hair blonde while I defrosted my fridge. I had this terrible little fridge.
N/N: What do you mean it was a terrible lifestyle for women?
WH: In rock music it appeared to me that men were always being supported by women. I didn't have a partner who was going to support me. The music world allows men to pursue and women support them. Every one of the musicians I knew who was male had someone at home, covering the bills.
N/N: You didn't want that role?
WH: (Blank stare, followed by laughter). No. No, I wanted someone who would do that for me and there never was anybody there in that capacity. I didn't see too many women in music at that time and I never saw the opportunity where someone was going to support me emotionally and financially.
N/N: How did you get North from trying to break into the music business in Edmonton?
WH: I went to work for a woman who started the Gourmet Cup in Edmonton. I was her manager. She had been to Yellowknife and she knew the North was prime for a coffee shop. She paired up with a Vancouver company to get franchising capital and I went with her to Yellowknife. She left and I ran it. I always dreamed of coming to the North. I had pictures of icebreakers on my wall as a kid. Coming to Yellowknife was a wild dream so I stayed.
N/N: How long were you in Yellowknife?
WH: Five years.
N/N: And then you made your way over to Iqaluit the first time?
WH: I was working for Northern News Services as the circulation manager. I made contacts and got the sense that there is more to the North than Yellowknife. I was happy there, but I found people to be cold. They were friendly, but not open. Then I travelled to the Eastern Arctic and I thought this is fascinating. I was trying to get out of a difficult, personal relationship and I didn't know how to because we were entrenched with the same friends. I thought I'd go to the Arctic. I secured a job with the Frobisher Inn.
N/N: What were you doing with the Frobisher Inn?
WH: I cleaned rooms and worked in the bar. That's where I met my daughter's dad. It was a way to get here and know I had a place to live. Even in 1992, you didn't come to Iqaluit without knowing where to live.
A lot of good things have happened to me here. I find people warm and receptive and there aren't a lot of boundaries. If doesn't matter if you're the deputy minister or the garbage collector. There's an equality I find wonderful.
N/N: And then a new coffee shop popped up, The Grind and Brew.
WH: I had the opportunity to work at the Gourmet Cup and I always dreamed of having a business. I aspire to be like my grandfather. This opportunity came along and I knew I could do it. We were given a step up when Kenn Harper allowed us to take the place for the first two months and pay the rent at the end of the two months. He trusted me enough to know he would get his money or he was willing to take the risk. We made a go of it. We were right on the main drag. We opened on November 1, (1995) fully decorated for Christmas and fully stocked with Christmas stock. I never looked back.
N/N: You broke open the coffee shop market in Iqaluit.
WH: I did. Although lots of people figured it would fail in the first year. But I knew it wouldn't. I tried to make it like a retail coffee store down South where people who love coffee and tea can come and find new products and accessories to make the experience better. I cried when I sold that business. I was lost for three or four months.
N/N: Eventually you made your way back over to Yellowknife. It seemed like it was such a dream for you to return there. What happened?
WH: I realized it didn't feel like home anymore. I got to Yellowknife and where I was living, it was very suburban and there were lots of fences and traffic lights. Leevee (my daughter) noticed that, too. I just thought, I don't want to buy a house here. I want to buy a house in Iqaluit where things are growing and changing and there are opportunities. Plus, I feel so connected to people here. They're not blood relatives, but I know if I was in dire straits, I could turn to people here. Yellowknife, now, is not quite like that. It could be, but I wasn't willing to extend the effort it would take. I've done so many things in Iqaluit that are positive.
N/N: When you got off the plane back in Iqaluit last week, did you know you'd made the right decision?
WH: Yes, yes. Coming back to Iqaluit was perfectly right. There's nothing like it. I feel like it's some kind of cocoon. I'm willing to do what it takes to have a happy life here. I'm actively looking to buy a house, regardless of the fact that it comes with a lot of issues.
N/N: You will be broke.
WH: But you have to be broke somewhere you want to be. I want to be here ... For me, this is a place of freedom and possibility and opportunity and camaraderie.
The only thing I miss here is buying perfume -- not that I buy a lot of perfume -- but that boutique thing isn't here.
N/N: Leevee must be excited about coming home.
WH: It's important for me to have Leevee here so she knows about her Inuit culture and enjoys it and respects it. That won't happen in Yellowknife. I kept looking for Inuit everywhere I was. Inuit were so much a part of my daily experience here.
I'll never be Inuk, but I certainly have learned things from Inuit. I didn't even realize before entering into a cross-cultural relationship how much my upbringing affects how I do things. Lots of the conflict between me and Leevee's dad was based on how I was raised and how he was raised. It didn't click in that we had to compromise.
N/N: So, it's good to be back?
WH: For me to have a place like this, I damn well want to keep a hold of it. I figure I'm going to die in Apex.
