Thick Specs - Classic Indie Rock

Guest Column - Gordie Johnson Interviewed

On a cold and wet October afternoon, I huddled in with a few Trent friends in Peterborough at the Old Stone (a favourite haunt) and knew I had a call coming from Mister Gordie Johnson (of 'Big Sugar' and 'Grady' fame) who was across the country. Gordie had some time to kill and was kind enough to open his vault of knowledge for little old Matt McKech from Thick Specs as he was waiting to get on a ferry to Victoria, BC to kick off the 'Good As Dead' tour with Grady.

MattMcKech/ThickSpecs (TS): What started you down the road of music, Gordie?

Gordie Johnson (GJ): Well, that's a story that started a long, LONG time ago. But as a kid , of about 12 or 13, I was always into listening to records. That kinda thing. I can remember as a teenager going to see Rush in detroit in '77 and I remember thinking 'THIS is what I want to do!'

TS: You're kind of a jack of all trades (and master of all, as well) in the Canadian music industry – how do you switch from producing iconic albums like Joel Plaskett's 'Ashtray Rock' to performing buzzsaw guitar riffs and writing music in Big Sugar and now Grady?

GJ: Ya know – I guess somewhere along the line, I stopped making the distinction between the two. For me, now, it's all the same thing. I mean, the way I look at it, the control board is just one huge keyboard that sends electrical impluses. So for me, when I stopped differentiating between playing music and producing, I started having fun with it. With someone like Joel (Plaskett), though, it's like I can channel him through electricity and microphones and amps. It's pretty cool.

TS: Speaking of which – how did you and Joel ever get connected?

GJ: Well, it was pretty serendipitous, really. Ya know, for a long time, I'd be travellin' somewhere and a song would come on the radio and I'd be like 'Hey – I like this. What is it?' and bandmates or other people would tell me 'Oh, that's Thrush Hermit' and his music just started stickin' with me. It stood out from a lot of other crap I would hear. So I'd hear him while listening on the radio and then I saw a video that he did with the emergency band  and I was like 'Whoa! Who is that kid?' and people were like 'That's Joel from Thursh Hermit' and I was always into his stuff. So for a while, it was sorta like I would  always accidentally run into him. Then I found out we love all the same stuff and that we both had a lot of the same influences musically and it sorta started gettin' creepy. But then, luckily enough, his management called me and said 'We'd like you to hook up with joel for some production work' and I was like 'Yes, please! Send him my way!' So it all took off from there.

TS: I'm sure you and Joel must get into some good chats about gear as you're both into that stuff, hunh?

GJ: (laughs raspily) Oh yeah, man. We can get into it. Whether it's songwriting or guitar gear – but now, actually, with Joel having his own studio, we talk a lot about recording gear and we can go on for an hour on the phone about that stuff. But Joel seriously is one of those guys who has my deepest respect as a songwriter and amazing guitar player, man. Sometimes, with the stuff he shows me, I'm like 'Joel – I don't even want to know what you're doing or playing right now.' I can remember once he was gonna show me how to play 'Clueless Wonder' and I was kinda like 'I don't know if I want                                    you to show me, ya know?' It's like I didn't want him to spoil the mystery. (laughs)

TS: You were one of the first Canadian musicians to release a hit single both in French and English (with Big Sugar) – How did that all come about? Was it controversial?

GJ: Actually, it was pretty controversial which was kinda stupid. I mean, it seemed pretty simple to me. I can remember reading contracts about francophone radio play and I was like 'Why don't we sing in french?' In my mind, it seemed practical – Canada is a 2 language country and I've worked with all  kinds of bands in Quebec (The Respectables) who only write in french and so I've spent a lot of time with pure French musicians. But as far as the songwriting and singing of an album in both english and french, it's a massive undertaking. I can honestly remember meetings with the record company and people were pounding their fists on the table in a boardroom. It was ridiculous. People were saying 'Oh, but we wanted to put o canada on OUR record and blah blah blah' – I was like 'You gotta be kidding me!' But it was worth it, I mean it really opened the doors for us and gained us a lot of respect in Quebec and with a lot of people in the industry, there.

TS: And now for a gear question - How do you get some of the wailing, big, catastrophic sound you do from your guitars?

GJ: (chuckles) Well THAT is actually something I get asked a lot but it requires a lot of explanation – and it's funny, ya know – I get more gear questions than you'd believe. But for me, it ain't about the equipment – it's the lack of equipment that does it. I've always found that the most uncomplicated signal path between my guitar and the amp is the key. I mean, Matt – if you want to hear from the voice of God, you gotta be able to channel it. Mostly too, I use really heavy strings and I have to play a lot harder to get that sound. I'm a pretty dirty player. I tend to use amps without distortion because my hands are the distortion - my hands are dirty and my playing is pretty crude and progressive. But yeah - cleanest signal path is key because all these overtones and signals are pure and the sound regenerates – so you have to get in the signal path which is actually a circular path that is constantly looping away from you on a circle. You have to plug yourself into a magnetic field - you have to be part of it. I always see all these guys with 9 volt everything and pedal boards and 10 cables between you and your signal - there's a lot of cutoff, there. It's gotta be pure. Joel plays his electric like it's still an acoustic guitar and I play electric guitar in Grady almost like it's a banjo, ya know? I use alot of banjo tunings. The electricity is just incidental.

TS: (mind blown) Wow!

GJ: You got all that? (laughs heartily)

TS: Let's talk about Grady as opposed to Big Sugar – tell me about the differentiation between the two projects for you.

GJ: Well, the process of BS (Big Sugar) was a lot different in actuating the musical theory  - half the band was Jamaican and we lived in that community in toronto. Now, I'm not comin' from the sitars or the crazy wind-up instruments – we used musical elements in Big Sugar that were close to us – a lot of old blues, reggae and other stuff. But those were only ingredients. We all had a fairly good sense of humour which helped. Now, livin in texas for most of a decade has had a profound influence on my guitar playing, ya know? I mean, my voice was changing - my playing was changing. Songs that I started playing in standard tuning became eliminated. I describe it like this – I dream in open G. It's kinda like dreaming in languages. You know how most of us only dream in one language? Well, my brother knows a lot of languages and he dreams in Japanese. So I began to embellish my metal, my punk rock. Everyone I knew was in a rock band and loved Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and ya know – that stuff gets into your skin. It presents what we do. BS was part of a piece of machinery. It was a lot of marketing, radioplay, video-making, all that stuff. And it's not that it isn't relevant – it's just not part of my dream anymore. The bands I listen to aren't into that. Ya know, if we would write a song with BS and executives would say 'you can't say cocaine because of radio standards', we didn't do it. Now, I'm singing what I'm singing. That's it.

TS: I read that you filmed a video for Grady in Luck, Texas – an 1800's Old West town that is actually owned by Willie Nelson. Is that true?

GJ: Well, standing at the bar of the continental club, it's a totally different scene down there. I mean, people like Mike Judge or Billy Gibbons are always standing at the bar and they're part of the community and the club. It kinda raises the bar as a performer. These are professional people. You rise to that level. But yeah, Luck, Texas – stuff like that happens to you, here. We were throwin' around ideas for a video and this lady at the bar was like 'shoot it at willie's place!' and we were blown away. If you're there, you're there, man. Things like this happen. We even had Willie tell a joke on the record – at the start of  'cup of cold poison' – and ya know, it's all part of the environment. Ya know, Willie gets impressed because you're his children and you have a firm handshake. He's not impressed by radio play. I got really sick of downtown toronto. Every gig was a showcase. Everyone was always shmoozing. I'm more interested in having a well-trained dog, now. If you can hang on to a bucking bronco for 8 seconds, that impresses the hell out of me. But yeah, we shot the video, and it was awesome.

TS: 'Alberta Bones' is a favourite track of mine on the new album. Tell me about the writing process of that.

GJ: Well that one was written by me and my friend Clayton from the Road Hammers. We've been friends a long time and wrote songs together all day, one fall day down here. Now, I don't think about Alberta specifically all the time or anything – but it seemed appropriate. It's funny - someone from the british press called us 'cowboy metal' – and I guess after hearing that, we were emboldened us to say 'Yeah! So what if I like Waylon Jennings and Outlaw Country and Buck Owens and Dale Watson!'   And Dale, especially – I love that guy. He's a musically unsung hero of the scene. He's not as big as Toby Keith but he's the real deal. I see him every monday. (laughs) He plays a lot of truck driver songs. And now, when I'm drivin to houston to play a gig, you can hear Dale Watson on the road in your head and your happy about that lone truck stop.

TS: And that song about the truck stop in La Grange on 'Good As Dead' – was that ZZ Top inspired?

GJ: Well actually, that's a Dale Watson song. Yeah, he wrote that song. But that ZZ Top breakdown in the middle is just us being wise-asses. (laughs) I asked Billy and he was alright with us doin' that!

TS: How far is this new tour for 'Good As Dead' going to go?

GJ: We're goin' right across Canada, man. I'm excited. All the way from BC, straight on through the prairies and into Ontario with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa and all over the place. Come on out and see us!

TS: I can't wait! Thanks so much for your time today, Gordie.

GJ: No problem, Matt. Cheers.

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.

Guest Column - The Good Lovelies Interviewed

On a grey Saturday afternoon that threatened to rain, I caught part of a lively workshop that The Good Lovelies were contributing to at The Ottawa Folk Festival mere hours before they would grace the main stage right before Bruce Cockburn. Having a few Northumberland area connections with the three talented ladies, they graciously offered me some time, while we sat around a picnic table for a good 45 minutes and hashed out some details. Caroline chatted first while the other ladies carted their gear backstage and joined in a few questions.

MattMcKech/ThickSpecs: Thanks so much for making time to do this today – I know you guys are busy.

Caroline: Oh no worries, Matt. Thank you.

TS: I've heard your connection began out of you three being 'refugees from solo careers' – Can you expand on what that means and how you actually came together?

C: Well, we came together as three solo Artists – Kerri was Kerri Ough, Sue was Sue Passmore and I was part of the Brooks sisters. In December of 07, we were all supposed to be part of this 'songwriter in round' deal where the three of us were supposed to come together and decide on three of our own solo tunes and perform them - but there was really this crazy, weird connection that went on between us, as artists. There was this bizarre blend of our own sad solo stuff and this energy that came out of three of us performing together. So we sang God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen together and this crazy harmony came out of it – and from that performance, we got another gig and then another gig followed – and then we were at the Ottawa Folk Festival in 07 and actually won an award all around the same time. It was crazy. Things were just building exponentially, ya know? We played 2 festivals our first year together, 5 last year and 11 this year.

TS: For musicians, music is often done on the side – Is it true that you've all decided to quit your jobs and made the Lovelies your main occupation? And how hard is that?

C: Well we were all working full-time jobs but decided last summer that we could either quit or take leaves of absence – whatever would work.
(the other girls came back at this point)
Kerri: I did NOT quit. Not me. I got a leave of absence.
C: Yeah – Sue and I quit outright but Kerri kept working for a while but she got a leave of absence so we could go on tour. So full on, as of March 09, we all fully quit and did our 'Rags To Riches' tour which was kinda based around leaving our jobs.
K: Yeah – and actually, we were so poor that we knitted our own dresses and didn't pay ourselves for any gigs. Any money we got from playing, we invested into the band.
C: And with three of us, there was a lot of momentum – but we were all still sorta like 'What the f*ck am I doing?'

 TS: Your sound has a really unique old-world/June Carter Cash/but different style – what made you guys decide to go for this style of music?

Sue: It all evolved pretty naturally, actually, and turned into this 3 part harmony tiny sound.
K: We were all sorta like 'Ok – let's do this and everyone writes different songs with different flavours in each song'
C: And there are elements of an old Les Cooper tiny sound but that happened naturally. But now, from our music, we've gone back and listened to a lot of old Hank Williams and other great stuff.

TS: Talk about the video for 'Baby I Got My Way' – what was filming that like?

K: Well we were at a show with the guys from The Barenaked Ladies and their friend Jared (Sales) – this really cool guy – approached us and talked about how he wanted to do this project. So he set up a green screen (which was really weird, by the way) and had 8 different costumes for the video and did all the hair and make-up ourselves.
C: Yeah – because some of the costumes were so weird, we were all like 'How are we gonna do this' but all I can say is that Value Village is a god-send.
S: The 80's part or theme in the video was actually filmed in a boys washroom so we were actually in a room, full of sh*t, trying to keep in character.

TS: There seems to be very little percussion in your songs at times – do you find that to be limiting or simplifying?

C: We keep things pretty simple, ya know. Very rarely do we have drums or percussion but when we do, it adds some good texture.
K: Yeah – and Christine Bougie played drums on 'Baby I Got My Way' and she has a very cool, simple style of drumming. We liked having her play with us. She is awesome. But I guess we miss it, at times – but depending on the room or the type of drummer playing, it really depends.
S: Yeah, our set-up stays pretty simple that way.

TS: How amazing or surreal does it feel to go from just starting the Good Lovelies adventure to being  here today, playing on the Main Stage at The Ottawa Folk Festival, opening for Bruce Cockburn?

S: (nodding) It's awesome. It's friggin' awesome. I try not to think about it. I'm really nervous right now! I totally did not expect us to get here so quickly.
K: It's all pretty poignant, ya know? It's all sort of coming full circle and we feel really lucky.

TS: What advice would you give to up-and-comer musicians who are trying to make a go of it?

C: I would say practice, practice and practice some more.
S: Yeah – and I would say take the plunge and put yourself out there because you'll really never know until you do that. Perform, meet people and promote like mad.
K: Yeah and actually, we've been lucky to meet and network with SO many people. Ya know – you make some cd's with friends. You start low and you aim high. And if you just keep yourself in the moment, it's a good thing to really take everything in as it comes. And you need to learn all aspects of the business in order to make it.
C: But you don't want to be too much in the moment, either – you want to think about the next step, too. Planning is key.
K: Yeah true – but just do your own thing, ya know? Don't worry about what everybody else is doing.

TS: Well this leads well into my question – you guys have had some amazing musicians play and collab with you (Jill Barber, Christine Bougie) – How important is networking and collaborating in modern music?

K: Oh, it's huge. Huge. I would say it's almost top priority. I mean you just saw us talking to Christine (Bougie) and Evan (Cranley) backstage, and it's so cool to start meeting other musicians. After a while, it's like you're just hanging out with old friends.
C: And meeting those people helps with the learning SO much. People like Ben Whiteley of the Whiteley family and Tom Power at CBC have been so awesome to us. There really is an awesome community of musicians surrounding the folk scene in Canada.

TS: Thanks again Good Lovelies and best of luck on stage tonight!

GL: (in unison) THANKS MATT!! (they sang this in 3 part harmony! Just kidding – but it would have been cool if they did.)

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.

Guest Column - Amy Millan Interviewed

In the midst of an august afternoon torrential down-pour, I made my way across a flooded Queensway to Britannia Beach (the site of this year's Ottawa Folk Festival) to spend a few moments with Miss Amy Millan. Upon arriving at the festival site, the rain subsided and I was greeted with an all access pass and some warm sunshine. Amy took some moments away from a delayed CBC interview to spend some time with little old Matt McKech from Thick Specs at a picnic table.

MM/TS: Amy – thanks so much for taking the time to do this today.

AM: Oh, it's no problem at all.

TS: Take me back to the beginning of 'Edith's Mission' and even before -

AM: (shocked) Really? You wanna go that far back?

TS: Well, I guess I'm just wanting to know what started you down the road of music?

AM: Raffi. No word of a lie. It was Raffi. I was obsessed with his songs since I was 3 years old. I would sing along incessantly with all of our Raffi records. And actually, that's what began my stalking of the Whiteley family who now play with me and on a lot of my songs – the Whiteleys actually sang with Raffi on  a lot of those records. Isn't that weird?

TS: That's pretty cool because that leads into my next question – at  a live show at the Bronson Centre back in the fall with Stars, you mentioned on stage how the Whiteley family have influenced you greatly in music – Can you expand on that?

AM: Ya know, I just love the Whiteleys. I've been playing with Jenny and Dan for so long and they both bring such joy to playing music. They've always been so inviting to me and they've never been classist or exclusive. I've played with pretty much their whole family – their father and uncle. And they've been doing music for so long – I mean, they had a gold record with the Junior Jug Band when they were 12 years old. I've been blessed to have them around. And they're hilarious so when I'm around them, I'm always laughing.

TS: When you're not touring, where is your home base and how does that influence your writing?

AM: Montreal is my home – in fact, I just bought a house there. I love Montreal. I think the city has this unique influence because for a long time, the rents were pretty cheap and there was (and still is) a pretty big art community, there. And the girls are really pretty. Seriously.

TS: Speaking of home bases, is it true that you lived in Thunder Bay for a while or was that a rumour?

AM: Total rumour. I've heard that before too. No – I never lived in Thunder Bay. I do mention it in a song but that's about it.  

TS: Was there ever a time where music seemed like an impossibility for you?

AM: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, I was very, very broke for a long time. I can remember getting my first SOCAN cheque and I was so excited. I mean, my bank account was always in the minus. My mom got me this overdraft protection thing and it was always in the red. But I recorded a song that appeared in a Hollywood movie and the movie wasn't that big but I guess the song got a lot of plays in Poland and  that was that.

TS: Was that 'Drowning Mona'?

AM: Yes it was! Very nice. You've done your homework. But after that SOCAN cheque, I remember thinking 'WOW – I can actually go out and buy myself a pair of shoes!'. But it helped having friends in the same boat – ya know with Broken (Social Scene), The Dears, Metric – we could all kinda help each other at times when we needed it.

TS: How encouraging or supportive are Torq and the rest of Stars with your solo projects?

AM: Well first, let me just say that Stars is my number one thing, baby. Always will be. And yeah, they are all awesome about it. They're all my number one support with my solo stuff. In fact, they all pretty much play on the records and a lot of them play live with me. Chris and Evan and everyone else are always super supportive.

TS: Your two solo works so far ('Honey From The Tombs' and now 'Masters Of Burial) seem to both center around death in the titles – Is that coincidence or is there a running theme, there?

AM: No, it's on purpose. I think about death a lot, actually. But I find the more you think about death, the more you think about life and when you realize you'll be dead one day, you're more likely to enjoy what you have around you. And I mean I'm pretty obsessed with human interaction and the way we communicate and I find it interesting that even though someone may have been through a pretty rough experience, that person can find a way to bury things down and still go on. The title of the new record kinda came from thinking about that idea – and a lot about elephants and how they have an amazing capacity for memory – and ya know that expression 'the elephant in the room'? Well that expression comes from the idea that elephants bury their own dead. It's pretty amazing to think about life that way and the stuff we bury.

TS: It's great to finally hear your recorded version of  (the Death Cab song) 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark' – Have the Death Cab For Cutie guys heard your version and what do they think?

AM: Oh, Ben (Gibbard) was super sweet about it. They were all really cool with the idea and loved it and were supportive from the get-go. And Ben is just getting sweeter with time now as he's marrying the lovely Zooey Deschanel. Kinda crazy. But yeah, I've always loved that song and I'm glad it made it on to the record.

TS: There are a few other covers on 'Masters Of The Burial', too – there's a Weeping Tile cover and a Jenny Whiteley cover – what made you want to record those songs?

AM: I guess whenever I do a cover, I feel like it's a song that I wish I'd written, myself. And they're just so much friggin' fun to sing, ya know? I find there's not as much pressure when you're singin' someone else's songs. It's a sort of nice freedom.

TS: Thanks again for your time today, Amy.

AM: No – thank YOU, Matt.

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.

Best of Five Years of Zunior

I'm in a reflective state of mind as a result of celebrating five years of Zunior this summer, I thought it might be interesting to ponder my all time favourite albums selected from everything we sell in the Zunior store.  Here they are:

1. Jim Guthrie -  Now More Than Ever - (2004) - Three Gut -  Jim's music caught me by surprise and simply grew on me over the years.  This album is endlessly listenable.
2. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara - (2007) - Nettwerk - A solid collection of songs from one of my favourite bands anywhere. 
3. Chad VanGaalen - Soft Airplane - (2008) - Flemish Eye - Yet another all time favourite artist.  This album has the Neil Young-ish grinders and the quirky electronic noodlings.
4. Miracle Fortress - Five Roses - (2007) - Secret City Records - Dreamy and oddly British in some way.  I love this album in the same way I love The Stone Roses first one.
5. Elliott Brood - Tin Type - (2004) - Weewerk - The EP that started everything for these guys.  A gritty and tuneful nugget.
6. The Golden Seals - No Hitter - (2002) - Dave Merritt is humble as usual with the title of this one.  All killer, no filler.
7. The Museum Pieces - Philadelphia - (2005) - I came across Tyler Messick's music on a tip from Mike O'Neill.  This album is big in a Daniel Lanois/Mitchell Froom kinda way.
8. Feuermusik - Goodbye, Lucille - (2006) - Just bucket and woodwinds.  This album/concept is musical, fun and compelling.  I listen this one all the time to get pumped up.  Really!
9. Lost Wax Guild - Lost Wax Guild- (2006) - Charles Austin's solo project is spooky, melodic and profound.  I really hope we see more from Lost Wax Guild.
10. The Scribbled Out Man - All Different - (2004) - This is one of the first albums ever on Zunior.  On the day Don Kerr sent me this record I was freshly reminded of the power of the musical underdog.  This album is expands and soars like the greatest pop classics.

It has been so lucky to have Zunior as a way to connect with so many amazing Canadian artists.  This list could go on to include The Violet Archers, Ben Gunning, Boats, Wayne Petti, Portico, Wax Mannequin, Old Man Luedecke, Plants and Animals and so many more.  Of course, the first album on Zunior proper was from Mike O'Neill.   This classic album is enjoyable like a pack of nine Popeye cigarettes. 

- Dave Ullrich

On a Classic Tour with True Hall of Famers

We were very happy to announce the first winners of the Independent Music Hall of Fame this past week.  Eric's Trip and Rheostatics are two great Canadian bands.  It doesn't matter if you are you are young or old, you must at some point learn what these two bands are about.  They both embody the spirit of independent music and independent attitude.  Doing what you really want to do in music means you may not be the best known, or make the most money, but you will leave a legacy.  These bands have a legacy.

I had the pleasure of seeing both bands at close range in 1995 during part of a summer US tour featuring....you guessed it...Rheostatics, Eric's Trip and The Inbreds.  Even better was the fact that this was the one and only Inbreds tour where we used a tour bus(shared with the Rheostatics).  It turned out that the Rheos couldn't make the first date of the tour, so for one night we actually shared a bus with Eric's Trip. I will never forget the sight of waking up to see drummer Mark Gaudet in nothing but white gitch underwear, big fuzzy hair and small packet of peanut butter/crackers as his breakfast. 

The Rheostatics were in the middle of touring Introducing Happiness at that time, but the US reception was cool.  Life for a canadian indie bands touring in the US in 1995 was not at all like what might be expected today (pre-Pitchfork).  That said, rolling on tour bus across the US praries with Dave/Don/Martin/Tim was classic summertime fun.  For some reason I clearly recall Don practicing his cello at truck stops and Dave B watching classic Who live videos.

Congratulations to Eric's Trip and Rheostatics on a well-deserved win. 

- Dave Ullrich

Change of Heart, By Divine Right dust off for NXNE

(Ian Blurton with dog, gear and Jimi T, encourages an Exclaim! photographer to pull his finger.)

New and emerging music may be the reason d'etre of Toronto's annual North By Northeast confab, but the 2009 edition promises some great classic elements, too. Legendary grunge-era combo Change of Heart is scheduled to take to the stage of the Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen Street West) for a 12:00 a.m. set Friday, June 19. Guitarist/vocalist IanBlurton (currently the hard-rocking frontman of C'mon) will lead the band's reunion charge along with keyboard player Bernard Maeizza and other COH vets. The last time the band performed a proper set together was 12 years ago (approximately the same time Blurton stopped shaving), so the show is generating a lot of anticipation. Though presumably not intended as an irreverent jab, Blurton and co. will be preceded by Toronto unit Dinosaur Bones. Here's some vintage live action from Change of Heart captured way back when at the Rivoli, just a few doors down from tonight's gig.



Meanwhile, veteran indie-rock ensemble By Divine Right is set to dusts off the cobwebs for an 11:00 pm set on Saturday, June 20 at the Whippersnapper Gallery (587A College Street). No word yet on who exactly will accompany ringleader Jose Contreras to round out the band's shape-shifting lineup, but the fact longtimeBDR sideman Brian Borcherdt is scheduled to take to the same stage immediately afterwards constitutes a clue. Chances are ex-guitarist Leslie Feist and former bass player Brendan Canning won't be revisiting the classics, though.

Guest Column - Joel Plaskett Interviewed

(On a golden May afternoon in Cobourg, Ontario, with the sun seeping into the a-frame bedroom, while typing in an odd position on the guest bed of my in-laws, Joel lent me a few moments out of his uber-busy schedule and we rapped about Halifax, 'Three' and all things Plaskett.)

MM: Take me back to the days of Thrush Hermit and before – what first started you down the road of music?

JP: Well, I guess as a kid, I grew up around music.I was immersed into kind of a weird blend of music but I heard a lot of funk music, actually. My mom was a dancer and my dad was a musician and guitar player,  so that helped. My mom always had cool records that were playin'. But I remember that I didn't want to play music as a kid but as a teenager, I moved to Halifax and met my friend Rob (Benvie) who had started guitar at age 13 and then I met Ian (McGettigan), too. We all kinda started a band as a social thing – it wasn't so much a musical thing. But we all started getting into a lot of punk, metal, and other stuff, and ya know- Zeppelin, The Pistols, and many more. We were discovering all this cool stuff and we changed our band name to 'The Hoods'. But in grade nine, I specifically remember going to see a Kearney Lake Road show – and I remember thinkin 'whoa! THIS is what I want to do!' Also, I mean Dave Marsh's band 'No Damn Fears' played back then too and they were pretty awesome. I saw all those people at this show and it inspired me. By age 16, we had 'the Hermit' (Thrush Hermit) all made and we wrote our own tunes and I guess, in some ways, we were right in the right place at the right time. It was all really natural and a lot of it had to with friendships.

MM: 'In Need Of Medical Attention' – take me on the journey that sparked the creation of that album and the start of your solo career

JP: Well 'The Hermit' was still goin' strong and as we were still in the midst of Sweet Homewrecker and working up to Clayton Park, running parallel to all of this was my love of folk music. Ya know, I found myself getting really into country – George jones – Grand Parsons - certainly The Stones more ballady stuff – I was also struck by Gillian Welch – but writing a lot of that style of stuff never felt quite right in 'the hermit' as we were becoming mainly a hard rock band. Anyways, I kept doing mellow stuff on the side and I actually had the medical attention album finished and mixed with Rick White in New Brunswick and had a little band that played with me on that album. Actually, MA was done before Clayton Park was even recorded. CP was out in 99 but MA was done and finished in 98 so I kinda sat on it as I didn't really have a home for it. But my friend Tim from minneapolis sent it to a few places and helped me get it done, and then in 99, The Hermit was on its last tour as things were just kinda at an end for the band. None of it was deliberate, and in hindsight, everyone from TH was starting to do their own thing and everyone has different aspirations. Rob wanted to leave and do his own thing and Ian and I were like 'Well, it just won't be the same band without Rob' so it ended there. But in the midst of all that craziness, I got really run-down and had a big scare from doctor. My white blood cell count was super low and the doc told me I could have leukemia, and I was like 'What the FUCK!'  - and he was like, 'Yeah - if you catch a cold, you could die.' So that was all sorta strange in the midst of me releasing 'In Need Of Medical Attention' as that album was mostly about the passing of my uncle who was a doctor.

Do you find the Creative Canadian east coast stigma a positive or negative factor towards your work?

Usually, I find it to be a pretty good thing – I mean, it's like anything – even when you use terminology like 'Canadian band', there are weird things attached to that. But people think pretty fondly of The East Coast. I tend to get a lot of maritimers comin out to my shows, and sometimes I feel a bit of pride towards the east coast, and I get down with that. You find good people wherever you go. I'm sort of fond of the idea of regional music. Memphis sounds like memphis, new york sounds like new york – I dig regional music. I feel like it's a good thing – if people have a  negative perception of something, it always changes.

MM: Moving on to 'Three' – everybody is talking about this album and sort of in disbelief – 27 songs! Were these all     newer creations or had some of these songs been in the hopper for a while?

JP: It's kinda of a bit of a mix of both – a lot of them were pretty new. Demons was actually a song from 99 and demo'd it way back with True Patriot Love. I was kinda like 'one of these days, it will fit'. But the album is pretty varied. A few songs go to a real dark place and others stay pretty light. Lazy Bones was kickin around for a few years and was always not quite finished. I actually remember jamming it out with Gordie Johnson during  the recording of Ashtray Rock. But most of the songs were pretty close to ashtray – a few were older. Ya know, it was kind of a cultivation of songs from travelling. I went to Australia and Shine On, Shine On, Shine On was sort of about my time there. Safe In Your Arms was another song I had in my head for a while. But as I was doing this triplet theme throughout the album, 3 songs didn't make it and 3 more had bed tracks which are part of this EP called 'Long Way Home' – 45 or 50 minutes in total. Anyways, I tried to keep each of the three albums tight.

MM: Tell me about the recording process of Three as we see it in picture within the album jacket

JP: Oh yeah, it's this little place that I rent. Outside of the pictures, though – it was kinda funny because couches were crammed into a corner and everything out of the shot was a mess. I just wanted everything to look very OCD and meticulous in that shot. Ya know, I love art and I kinda feel like with a record of that much material, you gotta bring people to it. If people can inhabit it and inhabit that space, then maybe it will work.

MM: And you're still a big fan of analog recording as opposed to digital, right?

JP: Oh yeah. Always. The digital recording started in 'Gone, Gone, Gone' and one other track – but all the rest were tracked a tape machine. It was great, man. It reminded me of my love for tape. Computers were only ever used to transfer the audio. The only time I used digital stuff after is when I comped a vocal and I cut between it – but the rest of time, I just sang it til I got the take. I like the sparseness that the 16 track lends itself to. It's pretty basic, ya know? 5 tracks of drums, 1 track  of bass, a few tracks of guitar, a few vocals, a few odds and ends...and that's it, man.

MM: How did the family (i.e. Your dad Bill) and community aspect enter into the creative process of whole work?

JP: Well, Anna Egge from New York and Rose Cousins really got me writing and designing stuff. I wanted their voices to be something that the audience could listen to and be a part of. They were both a huge part of the record. Basically, I wrote all this stuff and I was like this 'sing this' 'sing that' and they did! And of course my dad was playing guitar on a lot of stuff and I always wanted to get him involved with a record somehow. Our styles went really well together. And then JP Cormier came in for a few songs and tracked a few songs. That guy is incredible - he walked out after all first takes! A few guys played whistles, and I got The Emergency in on a track. Pete Elkas also came in for a few tracks. I just wanted to involve as many people as I could but to also keep my producer's cap on pretty tight.

MM: How have you managed, in an industry where there are many snakes, to find the right apples and be successful – or maybe a better question is how does Joel Plaskett describe success in the music world?

JP: Ya know, everybody has a different version of what they think of success – but I find I always tend to be pretty restless. You might have one experience but you're always thinking about the next thing - the next venue – the next album. And you think 'how can I do it differently?' In my mind, I consider a lot of my friends to be people who are artistically successful but not necessarily commercially successful – but that's okay. But there are also lots of people I know who barely scrape by. I guess for me, I remind myself constantly that I'm lucky. Very lucky. And then I've also seen people fast track it – the commerical success side - and it's easy to get jealous. Everyone has a different trajectory. It's been a rewarding journey so far, though – I feel fortunate. Sometimes I wish things would move quicker but then I also like my privacy. It's not so much about who I am or what I do – it's the music. You're kinda fucked when you become famous, ya know? I get recognized sometimes but other times, I'm still just an average joe.

MM:A friend of mine was at the Massey Hall show and mentioned that Miniature Tim came up to the stage for 'Love This Town'. Describe briefly how special that show and that moment was-

JP: Oh man, it was pretty incredible. I felt like everything was building up to that show. Tim was a friend who moved back and forth from Toronto to Halifax a few times – but I knew he was coming to the show. So it was a perfect moment. He came forward and then he slipped into the shadows – never to be seen again! Tim's real dear to me. Having Timmy come out made it into a great show.

MM: Is it true that the song 'Light Of The Moon' (my personal favourite) is about a road trip you took across the prairies in a vintage vehicle?

Ha, ha. Yeah, I bought a 69 pontiac and I had the car for a few years. Rebecca's dad had a line on it so I went and saw it. I loved it. I drove it all the way across country and on the Prairies, I  completely turned the lights off (before the safety regs of running lights). And it was amazing. It's sort of a surreal moment that I'll never forget. The highway was totally brightly lit up by the moon. I slept on the front seat the whole way. And I rememer thinking 'I'll get there By the Light Of the Moon!' – such a memorable song for me in how epic that felt. And I'm not a big nature guy – but once in a while, Mother Nature moves me, big time. That was one of those times. I still feel compelled to still sing that song – it's one of my favourite songs.

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.

Instead of Getting a Manager, Just Read This - 10 Websites to Set You Free

"Kick my ass, I'm not asking...I'm telling here!" - Artie Fufkin, Spinal Tap

Artists interested in staying in the music biz for the long run don't need a manager.  Simple as that.  Here are the websites you need to know to be a self-sufficient self-managed independent artist:

1.  Gmail for email - the most powerful way to collect all your email accounts (even if you have an existing account like you@yourbandname.com) and access from anywhere. The search features alone makes Gmail your most powerful tool for accessing what is your most important information database...your email.
2. Mailing List -  Use this to grow your base of supporters.  There are many options out there including Yahoo.
3. Website as a Blog - use either Blogger for free or Wordpress ($149 per year) for access to slightly more features (such as the ability to easily upload and link to files like mp3).  Your blog lets you stay in touch with your fans every single day, and upload treats like demos and post videos.  Keep your upcoming live dates up to date and make 'Shows' the main link/section on your page.
4. Youtube - Create your own account and make your own channel that fans can subscribe to.  Just about any video footage is good to keep fans interested.  Then also post the best clips to your blog.
5. Facebook - Create a great artist page on Facebook, build your network and actively (ie daily) update your status and send out broadcasts about live dates and special events.  Keep your fans in the loop daily.  
6. Myspace - Same deal, and yes this may mean double the work. Create a great artist page on MySpace, build your network and actively (ie daily) update your status and send out broadcasts about live dates and special events.  Keep your fans in the loop daily.
7. Zazzle - Create on your own demand, online web merch.  Simply upload your logo, choose a t-shirt, pick your price point and then link from you site.  The shirts are produced on demand when people order online. No waste.  Link from your blog/facebook/myspace.  Advertise your stuff at the bottom of your mailing list email.
8. Paypal - Use Paypal as your anywhere anytime bank online bank account.  Use it to collect funds, and buy stuff you need.  Link to your bank account to take out money for the real world.
9. Google docs - keep all financial documents on Google spreadsheets and docs which you can access from anywhere and keep in one spot.  You can also share and colloborate as needed (like with your accountant).
10. Yousendit.com - Use it to send files up to 100 MB for free.  Send zipped copies of your album to press people, agents, fans.  Use it to send high res artwork, or big files of any kind.

Using these ten websites, you can manage all your affairs from anywhere, using any computer.  Simply log in and do your thing. All your information is archived in 'the cloud' and it is safe and secure.  

All you need now is the discipline to do a few simple things every day using these sites.  Set aside 1-2 hours every day to further your profile.  This includes time to respond to email, post to Facebook/Myspace, send emails to your list, manage your money.  

Other must sites to include Skype (your internet long distance phone), Meebo (browser-based instant messenger), CD Baby (if you want somebody else to sell your cds while you are on the road)....and of course Zunior.com.

Slow and steady wins the race,

- Dave Ullrich

The Zunior Independent Music Hall of Fame

We think the time is right for a new award to celebrate the spirit and foundations of independent music in Canada.  Here's how it works:

We are now accepting nominations for to the nominations for the Zunior Independent Music Hall of Fame. Vote for the best Canadian independent artists of all time. The rules are simple. The artist you submit must:

1. Be Canadian.
2. Embody the spirit of independent music.
3. Have put an album out on an independent label.

Voting will remain open until May 31, 2009. Once nominations close, the jury will deliberate for two weeks. The two winners for 2009 will be announced on June 27, 2009 at the Zunior 5th Anniversary show in Toronto.

The two winners for this year will receive in-depth profiles on the Independent Music Hall of Fame website (coming soon), Zunior prizes and independent rock infamy.

Please register your vote today and come back often to see how things are progressing.  Tell your friends too.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the show in June.

- Dave Ullrich

Guest Column - Stephen Carroll Interviewed

Last Tuesday morning, guitarist Stephen Carroll offered me a few minutes out of his busy schedule to talk about all things Weakerthans. The conversation sputtered at the start as he seemed to be having endless phone traffic that morning, but things eventually rolled slickly by talking a little bit about a mutual family friend (and ex-NHL Winnipeg Jets grinder centre) named Laurie Boschman and how Carroll had a stick signed by him when he was a kid. As the March midday sun poured into my dad’s office window and the phone warmed my ear, we dove into the deep.

MM: Take me back to the days of your first band ‘Painted Thin’ and before – what started you down the road of music?

SC: Oh jeez - this must be beyond your years, man. I’m not even sure how we all got so involved in music. I guess John (Samson) and I grew up going to the same schools – river heights community high. He did a lot of work with choirs and my family was pretty musical – they started me on piano at a young age. I hated it. From there, somehow, I fell into good ol’ rock and roll. Early classic rock sort of became ‘taboo’ in the late eighties and nineties and then became something big. That whole scene led me into the underground bars. Of course, ya know, I listened to everything - Hendrix, Zeppelin, into more political stuff and folk music. I covered as wide of a swath as I could.

MM: As a lover of guitar tone, how do you get that deep, meaty tone in some of the heavier songs and something so sparse and rigid in the more ballady ones? Any tips?

SC: (chuckles) Ah, that’s just the Traynor amp, man –  the nature of the beast, really.

MM: How involved is the whole band in writing a song or is it mainly Samson’s brainchild?

SC: Well, we’re all involved in a bunch of different ways. Eventually, it’s up to John Samson to write the lyrics but then it kinda goes both ways. A new song we were working on was trying to stay as an instrumental track - the band was crafting and working on it - but then John came in and sort of had this idea to read some weird poetry over top of it. So ya know, it’s always different. It’s a collaboration.

MM: How do you guys keep your crowd so enthralled even when you take sometimes 3 to 4 years to release an album?
SC: I’m not too sure, sometimes. I guess we have a pretty patient audience. But we also hold ourselves to pretty high standards - which leads to delays in releasing stuff. John is very cautious about what we put out there as a band. We often feel that there are way too many written songs out there. The modern method of releasing an album a year is not something we are interested in. Often, bands end up forcing the songs and releasing a lot of junk. Our label is really awesome and gives us a lot of space, there, so that helps.

MM: I read in a CBC interview that curling is something woven into the fabric of the band – is that why there is a heavy emphasis on curling metaphors like ‘hack-weight’ in some ‘Reunion Tour’ songs?

SC: Oh no. That’s absurd. Curling isn’t woven into the fabric of the band. It’s just something we do. For anyone to say that, that’s pretty ridiculous. John and I are in a curling league together but that’s it. It’s just something we do.

MM: Is there a bit of a metaphorical love-hate relationship with the Winnipeg and does it fuel a lot of your band’s work to date?

SC: I think all of us now have an understanding of the city and we are all trying to look clearly at it. It’s like anywhere – it’s your home town, ya know. If you travel, you miss home and you get a bit of a nostalgic view. Traveling gives us a bit of an idealized version of Winnipeg in our minds. Our families will always be there – the people are easy-going. Stuff like that is what we love. It’s a part of us.

Matt McKechnie is a musician and writer from Ottawa, Ontario.