Archive for July, 2009
CD Review: The Junction – Another Link in the Chain
July 31st, 2009 | By: Nathaniel Wisnicki
Another Link in the Chain
TheDisregarding the fairly terrible album title and cover artwork, The Junction’s Another Link in the Chain is that rare release that seems made up entirely of teases. And that’s not meant as slander – the Brampton group shoots out catchy guitar hooks and unexpected instrumentation like it’s going out of style (which it very well might be).
Another Link, the second full-length by The Junction, succeeds in its own upfront way of making aggressively energetic rock without sacrificing an ounce of personality. By ‘personality,’ I mean in particular frontman Brent Jackson, hammering out fairly generic chord progressions and emoting overtop of it with vocals that actually recall – of all people – Bono.
Here, The Junction seem to owe more to the British pop scene (particularly of the 90s) than they do to the spastic indie rock they’re supposed to be creating. Indeed, when taken as a whole the album is like what Blur and Oasis might have sounded like if they’d made decent music.
And they wear these conventional influences and average musicianship like badges of honor. You can correctly guess that “My Love Was There” is the single just from the first ten seconds, a handclap and speedy beat keeping it grounded while the guitar strums along like a lazy guy who’s just been pulled out of bed and forced to go on a jog. Jangling broken chords prevail in the chorus of that song and many others, usually juxtaposed (as in “Out of Here”) with staccato flicks of trebly guitar.
The aforementioned teases are what pull you through, though. “Level with Me” unexpectedly calls up a trumpet counterpoint to Jackson’s singing, leaving you hanging on to when it will come back, and in what form. “Under the Night Sky” relishes in a playfully nudging bass, while a piano shows up out of nowhere and the tiniest of electric keyboard lines makes a charming transition (briefly).
The album is surely not perfect, though. Sometimes you have to wonder if these little hints of broader scope are just used to hold the listener over to distract from the band’s lack of ambition. Or the way drummer Michael Taylor completely overdoses on the cymbals in many tracks (Maureen Tucker of The Velvet Underground would have his head on a stick). Or the unfortunate lull the album hits at the end of the first half with the useless “Pick Your Battles” and “Miles in Denial”.
But then Jackson’s voice comes in again in the next tracks, along with some shimmering guitar tone, and you suddenly want to get into a car and drive with this stuff playing loud. It’s all easy to forgive.
For more of the Junction,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thejunction
Contest: The Junction
July 31st, 2009 | By: Melody Lau
The Junction
The Junction have recently just released a new album entitled Another Link In The Chain and to celebrate, they will be playing a show at the Horseshoe on August 13th (mark your calendars, folks!) How is the Singing Lamb celebrating? By giving away a copy of the album, of course!
If you want to enter for a chance to win a copy of Another Link In The Chain, just simply e-mail me (melodylau.620@gmail.com) with “The Junction!” in the subject, along with your contact info (phone #, address)!
This contest closes August 10th.
Good luck!
MySpace: The Junction
Review: Another Link In The Chain
Neko Case @ the NorVA – July 24, 2009
July 30th, 2009 | By: Guest Contributor
Neko Case
Hello, world of The Singing Lamb! I’m visiting you today at the request of my friend Melody, one of the wonderful maintainers of Toronto’s best music blog (…that would be this one). I’ve cultivated my own meager blogging roots over at Counting Stars on the Ceiling, but in comparison to my two - literally two, as Blogger’s dashboard smugly reminds me each time I log in – subscribers, The Lamb feels like the big time. It’s a pleasure to be writing for you, especially because I’m here on an express mission to talk about one of my most personally beloved musicians. So, let’s get down to business.
You may already know and love this woman. I hope you do, for your sake as well as mine, because it means the following exercise isn’t a waste. Here are some hints as to our personne du jour: She has a voice so beautiful it could make angels weep. Her penchant for words and imagery, especially when it comes to discussing nature, would render Keats and Frost insecure. She has a wonderfully irreverent sense of humor and isn’t afraid to make fun of herself. She’s an honorary Canadian with a mane – about which she doesn’t seem at all vain (more on this later) – as red as the Canadian flag.
If you guessed the one and only Neko Case, then you are, of course, correct. The woman has been touring almost non-stop since the March release of her fifth studio album, Middle Cyclone, which surprised more than a few people when it debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200. She’s visited your own lovely city multiple times, most recently at the historic Massey Hall. (Somehow, these shows escaped review here on The Lamb. But I’m not here to judge…much.) This past Friday, July 24, I was lucky enough to catch her for the fourth time in support of Middle Cyclone at the NorVA, a moderately-sized club located some 1,100km outside Toronto in Norfolk, VA. I’m not all that fond of the NorVA. At nearly 3 hours away, excluding traffic, and with a stage so high as to threaten neck pains for those in the front, it’s a venue I tend to avoid. (The cold feelings can also be attributed, in part, to The Decemberists, but that’s a story for a different day.) Fortunately, the effort seemed justified in the end, as I left even more convinced of the opinion I had formed over past encounters with Ms. Case – whether you’re a fan or seeking out something new, a live performance is the best way to hear Neko. Without the safety net of technological manipulation and second-takes, she delivered a near-flawless vocal performance with plenty of emotion, humility and humor.
The evening began with a short set from occasional tourmate Imaad Wasif. I actually have more memories of his physical appearance – think a mass of black curls attached to the end of a desaturated string bean – and incomprehensible comments than his monotonous dirges. In his defense, though, anything short of a four-alarm blaze would have gone unnoticed in my cloud of anticipation for what was to come. Accordingly, I suggest you click your way over to his homepage and judge for yourself.
It was around 10:15pm when the overhead lights dimmed and the sound of frogs began to play against a backdrop of fireflies, trees and owls crowned in gold. Neko Case, an explosion of unkempt red hair, appeared onstage alongside bandmates Kelly Hogan (vocals), Jon Rauhouse (steel, banjo), Paul Rigby (guitar), Tom V. Ray (bass) and Barry Mirochnik (drums). The show opened with deep cut “Things That Scare Me” from the album Blacklisted, which currently serves as the midway-marker of Neko’s solo career (excluding live releases). A compromise between the campy twang of her early albums and the more refined nature of her recent work, the song presented an opportunity for Neko to showcase the sheer vocal power that has become a hallmark of her sound. The audience was quick to make requests for other songs from the back catalogue, but Middle Cyclone understandably emerged as the focus of the evening. The twelve songs chosen from the album-all but “The Next Time You Say Forever” and “Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth”-comprised over half of the total 21 songs played. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood favorites “Hold On, Hold On” (co-written by The Sadies) and “Maybe Sparrow” made an appearance, as well as songs from the live album The Tigers Have Spoken, including a rousing rendition of The Shangri-Las’ “Train from Kansas City” to end the show.
Despite their infrequency, or perhaps because of it, the truly “deep” cuts emerged as highlights of the evening. In addition to “Things That Scare Me,” the band pulled out “Deep Red Bells” and, my personal favorite, “I Wish I Was the Moon.” The duo was packaged as a one-two deep-cut punch in the middle of the main set. A problem with microphone shock interrupted “Deep Red Bells,” but after a quick mic switch between Neko and Kelly (and the eventual addition of a foam mic cover), the song and the show progressed without a hitch. “I Wish I Was the Moon” undoubtedly elicited many a chill, and likely many a tear, from the audience. One woman in the front row stood, enraptured-eyes closed, mouth agape, emotive expression that I probably would have interpreted as pain, if I hadn’t known any better-as Neko cried, “I’m so tired, I’m so tired.” For the most part, both new and old songs exceeded the standard established by their recorded counterparts. Credit for this accomplishment should be attributed in no small part to the musicians who surrounded Neko on stage. Though I am unqualified to evaluate any of their technical performances, even as a complete stranger to their instruments, it was clear that each member played an integral role in successfully recreating the energy of Neko’s recordings.
While on the topic of the band, I want to take two seconds to discuss Kelly Hogan. It’s almost unfair to refer to Kelly as a “backup singer,” as her striking voice managed to steal just enough of the spotlight away from Neko to reflect in her crystalline eyes. (Yes, crystalline eyes. I know it sounds sappy, but you have to watch this woman live. When singing, she looks like she’s dreaming of romance and faraway places, or maybe just a good night’s sleep in her own bed.) The clarity of her voice was the perfect complement to Neko’s own, contrasting it in every possible sense, excluding the ability to please anything with ears.
And back on track. One of the most striking qualities I’ve come to recognize in Neko Case is her incredible humility. She may not be living a life of fame and fortune, but she is an undeniable critical success; even those who dislike her music seem to respect her talents. Despite great approval, Neko seems disinterested in even the possibility of widespread recognition or a grandiose lifestyle-she lives on a farm in Vermont, keeps company with her dogs and dedicates her energy to animal advocacy (links below). She gets excited by the presence of people like U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and is known for handling her own equipment. Her humility, and the humility of her band, makes for an intimate live experience that is marked by abundant conversation and banter. Almost immediately upon entering the stage, Kelly expressed excitement about being back in the South and reciprocated our “bosomy hospitality” by inviting everyone to be honorary Hogans. When an enthusiastic fan yelled, “I want to have your babies!,” Neko good-naturedly replied, “That is genetically impossible.” (I’m guessing option #2 was, “Be more creative with your hyperbole next time.”) From there on, the exchanges became regular fixtures between songs. Topics included film-Neko detested having “big blue junk” in her face throughout Watchmen, but is a loyal fan of Transformers – and the backstage hot tub in which Kelly may or may not have taken a soak. (“There’s a hot tub, but Brett Michaels might have sat in it…Okay, I sat in it; I’m a hobo.” Draw your own conclusions.) My personal favorite non-musical moment occurred when someone asked, “Where’s the box?!,” after Kelly gently rebuffed multiple requests by placing them in her imaginary suggestion box. Kelly remained silent, choosing only to respond with a sly smirk. Thoughsome people find such constant repartee distracting, I considered it an asset to the overall experience. Some of these musicians have been collaborating for upwards of a decade and, far from domestic disputes or band-breaking love triangles, they still take pleasure in working together. I always enjoy shows more when it’s clear the band is having fun.
I could go on (and on) about Neko Case. It’s probably best I cut myself off here, before I find some other little thing, like the shade of Kelly’s teeth or the style of Neko’s shoes-embellished black flip-flops (I swear I don’t actually know the shade of Kelly’s teeth)-to fawn over. All in all, Friday’s show was 90 minutes of impeccably performed music, plus a lot of personality to fill the quieter moments. I am enthusiastically encouraging every one of you to see Neko Case the next time she passes through your area. (I’m looking at you, Lamb writers.) She doesn’t have a light show, costumes or choreographed dancing, but she does have a winning sense of humor, a talented (and equally witty) band and that voice, all of which guarantee it will be time well spent.
Please excuse my clear assumption that every Singing Lamb reader is Canadian and any other gross generalizations I may have made. I’m American; it’s what I do. And, as promised, the websites of a couple organizations Neko supports, for your perusing pleasure:
Best Friends Animal Society
Defenders of Wildlife
Let’s Chat: The Antlers
July 29th, 2009 | By: Guest Contributor
The Antlers
The Singing Lamb: I’m just going slide you this sheet of questions and you can just say your answers aloud… I’m just kidding!
Everyone: [Laughs]
Michael Lerner: What’s with you guys? [Laughs]
[Laughs] I’m actually just going to throw a bunch of questions at you guys!
Michael: Okay!
Peter Silberman: Sure!
I know that The Antlers started off as a solo project with you Peter, where does the inspiration for the name “The Antlers” come from?
Peter: You know I’m honestly not really sure. I think I was performing under my own name for a little while and I wanted to move away from a singer/songwriter kind of thing. Around that time “antlers” seemed really appealing to me and I sort of wanted to quickly come up with a band name. So, I think that’s where it came from!
Having said that, how did you guys all meet and how did the band form?
Michael: Peter was doing a singer/songwriter/solo work for awhile, then when he decided to expand to a full band I had known I was very specific for it and was a fan. We got in touch and I stared playing then Darby came in…
Darby Cicci: I was friends with the bass player at the time and I saw the first couple Antlers shows as a band. Peter knew I played trumpet and asked if I wanted to come play trumpet for him and so I joined playing trumpet and banjo. Then the bass player left and sort of evolved into what you’ll see tonight; totally different!
The band’s album “Hospice” is coming out soon, I was wondering what the idea/story behind it was and was it something that came from personal experience?
Peter: Yes, it’s definitely a record coming from personal experience: the falling apart of a relationship that’s very dysfunctional. It’s kind of telling a story through this, the story that is the record of a hospice worker caring for a terminally ill patient.
You guys have just came from Detroit and you’ve been with Frightened Rabbit, how is it like touring with them?
Michael: It’s been great!
Darby: Their super nice! They’re great musicians and they had a great show last night!
Michael: They have a lot of good energy, you’ll see, they are a really great band.
Peter: Great songwriting and lyrics, it’s been really exciting to have been playing with them.
Is this your first time in Toronto/Canada?
Michael: As a band, yeah.
Oh but you have been here before?
Michael: I’ve played here before with other bands.
What do you think of our city? I’m sure you’ve seen all the garbage!
Michael: It’s awesome, yeah we’ve talked about the garbage!
Darby: Compared to New York, it’s alright!
Michael: Yeah, it doesn’t seem dirty to us at all, actually.
Our workers are on strike right now.
Michael: Yeah we heard about that! We didn’t notice at all, if no one had told us we wouldn’t have known. Kidding!
How does our music scene compare to the one in Brooklkyn?
Peter: Is this where Broken Social Scene based out of? I guess in a way it’s similar where there is one main band and everyone has their own side-projects or play in other bands and people are just kind of hyper/have a lot of energy and need to do something with it and keep producing stuff. I guess in that way there kind of similar.
And are you guys a fan of Broken Social Scene?
Michael: Yeah, absolutely. I saw them play a few years ago. Great show!
They played a free show here last Saturday!
Peter: I think I saw a video of that, and all three girls were there.
I know as a band you must receieve criticism from the general media, how do you take both the positive and negative feedback?
Peter: The postive is super encouraging and it’s a nice way to be told to keep up what your doing and work hard. It is a lot of work and it helps to have people appreciating what your doing and encouraging you. As far as the negative stuff goes, it is inevitable that people are going to dislike it or find fault. Everyone is entitled to do that you just try not to take it personal and it’s hard not to take it personal.
Darby: It’s really important to just stay grounded with what your goals are as musicician/as a band and really do things because you feel they need to be done a certain way/sound a certain way rather than you thinking people will like it or hate it. It’s really important on working not to think of what people are going to say or think.
So Peter, you write the lyrics to all the songs?
Peter: Yep.
Because I was wondering if you had any prior writing experience because I know a lot of people can agree that your lyrics are very profound.
Peter: I think I wrote a lot when I was younger, creative writing kind of things, but never a ton of it. I think maybe I couldn’t really find a focus as far as creative/narrative writing went. With lyrics it feels a little more free/there’s a lot more freedom. You can surprisingly do a lot with lyrics I think, it’s fun! I don’t have a huge background in it, I like to read but I’m not necessarily reading 20 books a year. I know people who blaze through a million books and are constantly reading and I’m usually constantly reading but very slowly over a course of a long period of time.
Do you guys prefer any kind of venues?
Michael: It depends. There isn’t one specific place, just speaking for myself, that we don’t like but we played a couple of outdoor venues recently that are just very fun and exciting. It just kind of changes it up. Outdoors is fun because there are a lot of unexpected intangibles. It could be beautiful sunshine, it could be rain, it could be night. A club is still always going to be a club. It’s going to be the same when the lights go out. So outdoors is fun.
Darby: Venues that have a lot of history that I’ve either seen shows at or just existed for a really long time. Like in New York we have the Bowery Ballroom; it’s been around forever. It’s really cool to play places like that.
If you were a singing animal what would you be?
Peter: I’d be a singing dog!
Michael: I know someone who has a singing dog!
Darby: I would say… That’s a complicated question!
No pressure!
Peter: Tapir?
Darby: Not a tapir, Peter, thank you.
[Laughs]
Darby: Nevermind…
Michael: I’d be a porcupine, watch out! and a Scorpion!
Darby: I really like snakes, so I’m going to say cobra; deadly, horrible.
For more of the Antlers,
MySpace: www.myspace.com/theantlers
By Ralph Baldo
News Update!
July 29th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau
Built to Spill
Show Announcements:
A Place to Bury Strangers, Dead Confederate, All The Saints @ Mod Club (October 27th)
Atlas Sound, Broadcast, Selmanaires @ Lee’s (October 24th)
Love @ Lee’s (August 14th, $25.00, 19+)
Busdriver, Abstract Rude @ El Mocambo (September 12th)
Titus Andronicus, The So So Glos @ Horseshoe (September 25th, $10.50, 19+)
A Wilhelm Scream, The Riot Before @ Reverb (September 25th, $13.50, ALL-AGES)
She Wants Revenge, Kill Hannah @ Phoenix (September 28th, $20.00, 19+)
Teenage Bottlerocket @ Kathedral (October 27th, $10.50, ALL-AGES)
Fran Healy & Andy Dunlop (of Travis) @ Mod Club (October 30th, $29.50, 19+)
Monsters of Folk (feat. Conor Oberst, Jim James, M Ward, Mike Mogis) @ Massey Hall (November 2nd, $36.50-49.50, ALL-AGES)
Wavves, Ganglians @ El Mocambo (September 22nd)
The Cool Kids @ Lee’s (August 27th, $20.00, 19+)
An Horse @ Drake (September 11th, $10.00, 19+)
Telefon Tel Aviv @ El Mocambo (September 9th, $10.00, 19+)
Os Mutantes @ Opera House (October 2nd, $25.00, 19+)
Kid Koala, Adira @ Mod Club (October 3rd)
Nosaj Thing @ Wrongbar (August 30th)
Mayer Hawthorne & The County, Buff 1 @ Drake (September 27th, $12.00, 19+)
Sea Wolf, Port O’Brien, Sara Lov @ Sneaky Dee’s (October 9th)
Bishop Morocco, The Two Koreas, Metz @ Silver Dollar (August 14th, $6.00, 19+)
Monotonix @ Velvet Underground (October 7th, 19+)
Golden Triangle @ Silver Dollar (October 2nd, 19+)
Zeroes @ Silver Dollar (September 18th, 19+)
For those dying to find details for the Built To Spill shows, Against the Grain has finally released show info! The band will be in town on October 6th and 7th at Lee’s for the price of $26.50 and this is a 19+ event. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning!
Islands will be in Toronto promoting their upcoming album Vapours on October 14th!! Vapours will be out on September 22nd and you can hear a new song entitled “No You Don’t” here now!
Do Make Say Think will play the opening party for the Bicycle Film Festival on August 19th at the Polish Combatants Hall; tickets are $22.00 and this is an all-ages event!
Toronto’s Everything All The Time will be opening for Amazing Baby at the Drake on August 4th. Tickets are still on sale for $13.00!
Metz have been added to the Japandroids/Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band bill at the Horseshoe on September 19th.
Arietta will open for Cursive this Saturday at the Horseshoe!
For those attending the Yeah Yeah Yeahs shows at the Kool Haus this coming Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Amanda Blank will be opening! Don’t know her? Start listening here.
In addition to his upcoming show at the Opera House on September 10th, Caribou will have a DJ set at Wrongbar on September 17th.
El Perro Del Mar will be opening for Peter Bjorn and John at the Phoenix on November 11th. Tickets are still on sale for $20.00!
Wavelength’s August schedule has just been announced! Check it out here! Personal suggestion: August 30th featuring the Wilderness of Manitoba, The Weather Station and Maylee & Pegwee Power!
Unfortunately I wasn’t at Hillside this past weekend but the talk of the fest? From what I hear, Final Fantasy(and why wouldn’t it be? Owen Pallett’s a fucking genius) and here’s video proof!
The Hidden Cameras have a new video out for their new single “In The NA” - watch here.
Flight of the Conchords have finally announced details on their new album, I Told You I Was Freaky! Read more here
And speaking of announcing albums, FINALLY - Tegan and Sara reveal the name of their new record: Sainthood. Not “Thainthood” (watch this video to understand why it may be Thainthood)
Happy listening!
Musically,
Melody
Let’s Chat: The Wilderness of Manitoba
July 28th, 2009 | By: Guest Contributor
The Wilderness of Manitoba
The Singing Lamb: You have a new drummer! So you’ve moved from a four piece to a five piece?
Everyone: Yeah!
But he doesn’t sing, so it’s still four part harmonies.
Will: Yes. We can do four part shows but when we have him it’s nice! It adds kick!
Awesome! Well let’s start with the name of the band. Where did that come from?
Scott: A friend of mine is doing her masters in curatorial studies; she was in New York and she went out to do her masters in Vancouver and curated an instillation called The Wilderness of Manitoba which was coming to Toronto last summer. They were casting dudes to sit in this bubble and they needed to have long hair and they needed to be generally gaunt and the whole premise was them sitting inside of this bubble, going about their daily life for eight hours as images are being projected on the outside so people would walk by and juxtapose the images of the wilderness against the bubble. Anyway, she was looking for people and she asked us if we’d be interested in sitting in this bubble and I really liked the name so…
Will: And Scott, the way we live together and all that because we play in another band, would see me and we’d be sitting there in the backyard and I’d have my shirt off and maybe in boxers and he’d be like, “Hey, if you want to sit in boxers with your shirt off and just go about your daily life, you can be part of an art project and get paid to sit in a bubble and put forth an eight hour shift and go about your day!”
So The Wilderness of Manitoba is actually a meeting of art and commerce?
Will: I guess so; in that sense. Scott was saying ‘This is an Art Instillation’ would also a great band name because we’re always dicking around with great band names. And my dad actually went to the University of Manitoba, I’ve always wanted to go there, I wore his winter jacket for years…I had a lot of weird connections to it which I’ve never been to! So…
Scott: My interpretation was the ability to go about your daily life and get paid for it!
Very nice! So did you create the music to match the name or did you pick the name to match music that was like already there?
Will: We didn’t have a name before we had music.
But you had music.
Will: We had music but that sort of progression was kind of effortless because we were doing different kinds of songs and stuff like that, we were just messing around with different band names and that one just kind of worked; it just kind of clicked effortlessly with what we were doing; him and I were already doing some things that were not part of Provincial Parks.
Which is your other band! Which ones here are in that band?
Stefan: Scott and Will; and they were just not part of that theme.
Scott: Wilderness of Manitoba actually came first before we decided to change our names to Provincial Parks from Howl because Howl sucked.
So there’s a theme going…
Will: Scott and I had a running competition when we started out. I was like, “Okay I just recorded some shit downstairs, now it’s your turn, you go write a song!”
Scott: That’s kind of how we did it; it was a song-writing competition. We just realized we were writing songs that didn’t have a home and so we decided to just make a band for this.
So who’s the songwriter for this project?
Will: Now it’s everybody but that time, it was Scott and I because they weren’t in the band yet.
Right; and so in what order did people get brought in?
Scott: Well we had seen Melissa play her solo stuff and then we wanted that voice!
Well I don’t blame you!
Melissa: They robbed my voice!
And then Stefan came to you…
Stefan: I met them at the Rock Lottery!
And what is the Rock Lottery for people who don’t know?
Scott: Oh, best fucking day of the entire world!
Will: It’s where they basically compile 20-25 people from in Toronto, from different bands and you all pick a name out a hat in the morning…
And they create five different bands to play five different songs!
Will: Yeah, they put all the 1s together, all the 2s…And they rehearse in a space together and perform it later that night at Sneaky Dee’s!
That’s how you met Stefan! And so you guys became friends, then bandmates and you’re also housemates!
Stefan: Yes!
So who are housemates here?
Will: Scott and …and now Stefan!
Melissa: Not me!
And Pete, who’s also in Provincial Parks!
Will: It’s like a community!
Yeah, and speaking of community, you have your whole full-grown community here with…
Everyone: The Delaware House!
Yes, which is the name of this house! And what is it?
Will: It’s for bands to come and use as anything they want whether it be a rehearsal or a set up for a show or just to getaway!
And how many people can you fit in there?
Will: Anywhere from 30-50.
Which is about how many people are here tonight! But anyway, you guys have a new album coming out!
Melissa: Yeah, August 21st!
What’s it called?
Melissa: Hymns of Love and Spirits!
And you’re putting the release show together by yourself?
Will: We are; we just thought of all the venues in Toronto and we decided to release it out of our barn because we recorded it here.
Scott: Some of our favourite bands have played here and want play again so we’re going to have them play again because we love them.
And so when is that?
Scott: August 21st with Snowblink and Maylee Todd, so far!
So you have the new record coming out and it’s a six song EP and then the plan for it is to do a house show tour, I hear!
Scott: The first week of September, I think the 30th, we’re playing Wavelength in Toronto, with Maylee actually which is completely random and then we’re driving east and we’re going to do a series of shows as far as we can go and then get back before we have to work the next week!
So obviously there’s this community, grass roots, acoustic, basically real qualities is really important to you not only in the music that you’re creating because I think it shows in the songs that you write and it’s reflected in the music but also in the way that you’re approaching running your band.
Scott: I think we’ve met a lot of people just through the house and through the bands where we now have the opportunity to network with other houses who do similar things in other communities and that is the brilliant thing. Like, now we can tour fucking cheap because we can bring a tent and a guitar…
Stefan: And it’s fun, it’s not like people come and drink it’s not like going to a bar to see just one band and leave.
Will: I think we’d all rather play to 30 people in a room than 30 people in a giant bar.
But yet, you have a big show coming up!
Will: We do, but only in our hometown!
Scott: Before we get to the big show, the whole idea of this is fostering relationships and getting sort of in touch with people who, for a lack of a better work, really give a shit about the process rather than the “I’m just going to go out tonight and I don’t really care about the music going on.” This is 100% on the music and you notice that with the people coming here.
Well the people coming to your house are the people who’s intentions are on the music being played rather than the event itself and being seen.
Scott: That was the whole intention of the place when it started a year ago. I mean great songs are great songs on acoustic guitar, regardless of how they are performed on a big stage.
If you can strip down a song to its basic elements and it’s still successful then that’s how you know it’s a great song.
Will: Exactly.
Scott: And we realized that there were a lot of people around us who wrote great songs and how do we showcase their abilities?
Will: And often I would love to hear that song that way, let’s ask them to play our house and that’s how the big show came around too, because The RAA played our house and they did a stripped down thing and they really enjoyed their time…
And so they’re bringing you to the big times! And the big show is when?
Scott: Next week, the 30th at the Horseshoe! It’s The RAA CD re-release show with us and Hooded Fang!
So there’s obviously a connection between you and the music you’re playing and the kind of music they’re playing like even the names.
Will: Regionalism!
It’s very Canadian and Canada can be kind of unforgiving to tour because there’s ten hour stretches between the major cities and so when you can break it down and put in a house show that’s sort of the saving grace and that’s what makes it friendly and that’s what you guys are doing.
Scott: The name similarity was actually considered when we came up with the name.
Because The RAA came first?
Scott: Oh, totally. We knew them and have seen them play many times.
So would you say it’s a kind of homage?
Stefan: Well we thought it wouldn’t matter because we never thought we’d get this far!
Will: You know why? Because he writes a lot of songs that kind of pertain to his heritage; we don’t really write songs that relate to Manitoba. I believe in a lot things in artwork just signifiers; if you see something it should feel a certain way, it doesn’t necessarily have to make literal sense. So we don’t actually write songs about Manitoba. Yes, we have a lot of songs that are nature-based but I think it’s more of a Canadian theme.
It may be more just wilderness than Manitoba?
Will: It’s not geographically limited, that’s all I’m saying!
And so people can catch you at your CD release and they can catch you at the Horseshoe and then they can look you up at MySpace! So finally, if you were all singing animals, what would you be?
Stefan: A dodo! I like The Dodos and I just thought dodo because I thought it was a singing bird but maybe it’s not…
Will: I want be a singing cheetah because then I can also run really fast!
Melissa: I want be a singing reebok so I can outrun will!
Will: You can’t outrun cheetahs!
Scott: I’ve always liked Caribou…
So you’d be a singing caribou?
Scott: I think so!
For more Wilderness of Manitoba,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thewildernessofmanitoba
Don’t forget to catch the Wilderness of Manitoba at the Horseshoe tomorrow night and on August 21st for their CD release party!
Interview By Lauren Schreiber
Let’s Chat: Amy Millan
July 27th, 2009 | By: Melody Lau
Amy Millan live @ Harbourfront
The Singing Lamb: So you have a new album coming out! Tell me about it!
Amy Millan: It’s very gentle. There’s a lot of times where you have these very fun epic nights and you go to the bar and you’re out and the music’s pumping and you’re dancing, you’re having such a great time with your friends and then you end up back at somebody’s house for the after party – there’s just kind of this time that’s right before you’re supposed to go to sleep but you kind of want to have one last little party or something – it’s kind of for that time. I just imagine listening to it at three o’clock in the morning would be the best. And also for my friends who just had children who are breastfeeding. So it’s for three o’clock in the morning or breastfeeding!
Ha! You should put that as a warning label on your CDs!
Ha yeah!
So is there any relevance between the first and second record?
Well Dan Whiteley is heavily showcased so he was a big person on my last album. I was very confused between kind of my love of old country music and pop music and so I think what happened was I ended up merging to have it become one. So the gentleness is there but it’s not really country and it’s not really pop. I was really scared when I made my last record because it was my first record and I had never done it but for this record I felt that I was really going to utilize the people around me. So some horn sections and some string sections…it’s a lot more layered, I think.
Is this record as country as the first one?
There’s one straight up country song; it’s the very last song on the album. Kevin Drew was like, “I’m really glad you have it because it’s like, ‘I’m still here.’” It’s still a part of me but it’s hard to explain…it’s gentle.
How has your time with other successful bands such as Broken Social Scene and Stars influenced your solo work, if it has?
Well I think when I made my first record I had written a lot of songs leading up to that and I hadn’t been in a pop band so I had this need to make pop music. I didn’t have that on this record. I didn’t need to make a song like “Headsfull” for instance. I don’t know if “Headsfull” was perfectly fit on that record; it feels kind of loud and like the ruckus but I kind of had anxiety that if I didn’t have a little bit of ruckus something would be missing, and I lost that anxiety for this record because I have two massive pop bands that I’m in, like big bands. And they’re quite loud so that squashed…or I should say quenched? It quenched my thirst for pop music so I was really able to dedicate myself to the softer side of music that I love.
Speaking of Stars, what’s the update on the band? How are you guys?
It’s great! We’re back in the studio, writing. Torquil just had a baby!
Yes, congrats to Torquil!
Yeah, she’s just going to be two months in August! The boys have been back at it; Patty, Chris and Evan have been writing some great music and we actually have four songs recorded and finished. Kind of exciting! The record should be out in the spring.
I also hear that you used to be in a band called Edith’s Mission with Emily Haines?
That was our first band ever! If you’ve seen the book (This Book is Broken), there are some pictures of us playing in the band. Are you trying to get some secret copies of music? She’ll kill me, I can’t! You have to ask Emily, she’s the only one. They’re pretty buried! But it’s interesting because there are songs that we used to play like “Combat Baby”. We actually sang a form of that song together; that was one of the songs that we sang onstage together at the Horseshoe one night but she changed it and it became “Combat Baby” so it’s interesting that a lot of the songs that we had both written had started in Edith’s Mission and they just gradually morphed into different things. There are a lot of things that I hear in Metric that we had done together. We did win a contest; we entered this Q107 thing, we were in the top 10 – so if you’re going to search, that would be the way to go…
I’ll do some digging!
That would be the way to dig!
Do you get asked a lot for a Feist/Emily/Amy all-female trio?
It was such a great idea and I always thought that that would be something that we’d do when we’re older, you know kind of how Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton came together when they were like fifty. I just think we’re all so busy right now that it’s incredible that we even got together for five seconds for that Broken show was an unbelievable lining of stars. But you know, she sings on my record – Leslie Feist – she came and sang on my album. More importantly, I would like for us three to be on the next Broken record and I’ll have a song with the three of us on that album. I think that would be something spectacular.
How’s that going so far? Recording for the next Broken Social Scene record…
Well they just started, right. They just started writing and Kevin’s going to mix down some of the stuff and he’s going to send it to all of us and I think that show that we just had two weeks ago really reignited something for him about the core members of the band and how important it is, our chemistry and how we are together, and I think it definitely made him excited to bring it all together again. It’s just defeating sometimes when everyone’s so busy all the time but I think he was very happy with how he felt after he played that show.
I think everyone was happy!
Yeah it was really special! So hopefully that’s how it’s going to happen. There are euphoric ideas about the perfect way to live your life but it’s difficult sometimes. That’s why I think communes don’t really work. We’re as close to a commune as you’re going to get and I don’t know…the thought of it is so exciting to me that I will be truly disappointed if it doesn’t work. But we’ll see what happens!
So you’ve know Emily Haines and Kevin Drew since high school. What were your first impressions of them and do you still feel the same towards them today?
Well I met Em on the first day of school. I think that’s in the book, I met her on the first day of school going to music class and what was great was that we were both new and we started this high school in grade 11. It’s always weird when you go to a high school and then because people have already developed their friendships but luckily we went to the biggest nerd, geek-freak high school on the planet!
Etobicoke?
Yeah ESA, so it’s not like there was a lack of people being nice to us. It wasn’t some kind of nightmares, Heathers-kind of school or something. When I first met Kevin, he was quite a bit younger than me. You know at that time, when you’re that young, the difference between being in grade nine and grade twelve was pretty expansive so to me, he was a kid. He actually still calls himself ‘the kid’ which is hilarious because he’s like, “The kid needs a spoon!” and I’m like, “Dude, you’re so not a kid anymore but whatever.” But they’re magic people and I remember hearing Em sing for the first time on the second week that we met; we were in the practise rooms and she was playing piano. They’re just very, very, very funny. They’ve gotten better; it’s pretty great. Forgiveness, man! Because there are so many things – that’s the thing about friendships – is that people don’t realize that if you don’t forgive your friends, you’re going to end up lonely and we’ve done so many things to each other that could’ve destroyed our friendships and that should’ve destroyed each others friendships but we gave each other the benefit of the doubt and were like, “You’re hilarious, I don’t want to break up with you.”
How do you feel about the book being written about the band then? Because some have been pretty vocal about disliking the idea of This Book is Broken. Do you think it’s a good idea? And would you ever do something like that with Stars or yourself?
Well Stars is in that book, the book is about everyone. I mean I’ve definitely thought about writing a book about my experiences with Stars but it wouldn’t be the same as the story of how everyone came together. It would be more like road stories and the insane things that happen to you when you travel all over the place but…because there’s some good gossip in the Stars camp, believe me! I just might be at the heart of it…but anyway! What do I think of the book? I think it’s a little bit premature; I think that there’s a lot of stuff that’s not in the book that people didn’t foreclose…is that the word I’m looking for? You’re the writer…
Sure!
They didn’t come forth with a lot of information, a lot of the meaty stuff was kept quiet by me and a lot of people in the book and my favourite part of the book is the last thing that Kevin says which is that you can’t ever understand from a book. It’s pretty great from the photographs and it’s awesome to be in a book; it’s kind of cool, kind of a compliment. That’s the thing with Andrew, he’s a very eccentric person and he doesn’t give a shit about any of that stuff; he isn’t a nostalgic person. But I’m not a nostalgic person; I never want to be somewhere in the past. I’m always excited about what’s in the future but it’s a good story and I think it was done well…it sort of feels weird. You kind of look at it and kind of feel like you’re dead or something. I kind of wished that they may have waited a bit longer but that’s the thing that happens with Broken; Broken is this crazy machine that no one has the reins of. But all of a sudden Stuart said, or his brother said, “You know, we should do a book!” and they’re like, “Yeah, yeah that’s a good thing,” and all of a sudden Kev says it’s a good idea but he doesn’t realize how things are actually going to happen. Like he wouldn’t even do an interview for the book till the very last day that Stuart was writing the book! It’s just this kind of chaos that somehow pulls itself together.
Wow. So I hear that you used to hitchhike? What was that about?
I hitchhiked once on New Years Eve. I was 18 and we wanted to go to the bars because you’re old enough to drink in Montreal. It was very strange, first off it was hitchhiking in the winter – not always the best idea – but we had no money and we were very broke and I remember telling my mom, “Oh yeah, a bunch of us are just going to drive…” So then we met on the 401 it was called “thumbs up road trip” and it was me and two females and two guys and they’re very good friends and we’d split up and we didn’t even have cell phones so we were like, “Okay, let’s meet at Licks in Kingston and see how we do. The next day we ended up in Montreal! The best was coming home because we went and it was crazy; crazy Montreal times and when we were coming home we had no money left. We had nothing. I basically hade 75 cents to try and get on the subway because I was like, ‘”I’ve got to be able to get on the subway when I get back to Toronto!” We weren’t actually outside of Quebec yet and I don’t know if you know but Ontario’s pretty close, it’s about an hour before you get into Ontario from Montreal but we weren’t even there yet and this guy pulls over and he’s got his low-riser car, he’s got the dice in the mirror, he’s got this big hippie knit hat, he’s got dreadlocks and was like, “Hey where are you guys going?” and we’re like, “We’re going to Toronto!” and he says, “Me too, I’m going to Spadina station, get in!” We couldn’t believe our luck! He was telling us how he went out with the woman Susan, that Leonard Cohen song was written about and he was like “That woman, Susan, she was my girlfriend, she was a wild woman!” and telling us all these stories and he had weed and was like, “Wanna smoke some weed?” and he bought us all lunch in Kingston so…not that I’m saying hitchhike, because I would never do it now and if I had children, I’d kill them; but we got lucky.
Ha! That’s a good story. Could’ve been in the book…
Ah, see what I mean! Well what are you going to do! Emily said things in the book that I didn’t know she had said until I read the book and I was like, “Why didn’t Stuart ask or say, “Emily said this, do you have any comments?” because we didn’t know what everyone else was saying so it was like what are we all divulging here? How much info are we all giving away? So it felt like Stuart could’ve probed a little bit more. But maybe its better that the secret stays.
Well it’s a surprise too for you too when you read it then.
Yeah but there’s even more surprises. Maybe we’ll tell the real story in another ten years!
Hopefully! So this is you second time playing Harboufront Centre. What is it about the venue that you like?
I think it’s the best. It’s the best thing about Toronto. Toronto’s had such a shitty summer; the weather’s been terrible, the garbage strike’s been on, the ferry strike’s been on so it’s actually kind of the last vestige of something positive going on in the city to me right now. It’s a magical place and to be able to look out at the water and not have the stress of selling tickets and you know, it’s just free! And no Toronto guestlist nightmare and you’re like, “No, its just free!” Anybody can come and it’s great. For Broken it was a bigger deal because they cancelled the island show and blah blah blah, but a lot of people might not know my solo stuff so it’s a chance for people to just wander down to the waterfront, the beautiful waterfront and hear some songs they might not have otherwise heard.
You’re originally from Toronto but you live in Montreal now. Anything you miss here?
My mom’s house! I miss my family and I have lots of really great friends here; I miss having eggs with Kevin and calling my friend Cathy and walking her dog. It’s people more than specific places. And the language barrier is a little bit difficult so its easier here. If I have to find a sink or something I can call Johnny at the Jet Fuel and I know he’ll set me up with the coolest sink maker in the country. But I absolutely love Montreal. Evan and I just bought a house we’re renovating it right now so it’s completely gutted and pretty exciting. Building our little French home!
How did you feel when you first moved there?
I kind of enjoyed not knowing what people were talking about on the street. When I’m on the streetcar here in Toronto, I hear, [imitating the voice of an annoying teenage girl] “Oh my god, that Susan came home and she had this purse and it was so ugly!” and you’re trying to read the newspaper. But when I’m there its like [mumbles fake French] and you can imagine that they’re talking about the most romantic thing ever rather than hearing about someone’s bad date or something. Chris is trying to take French lessons. I used to be fluent when I was a kid so it’s in there somewhere but it’s pretty generous with the language, you know if you’re struggling most people will help you out. Everybody’s trying to work it out. I just want to get a piece of chicken…poulet. poulet sil vous plait!
At least you have a buddy now; Andrew [Whiteman] just moved there!
Ohhh I know! Isn’t that amazing! It’s a coup! I feel like it’s such a coup because I set him up with my girlfriend and now they’re getting married!
Aw, that’s so sweet!
I was like, I’ll introduce him to this girl and then he’ll move here and it’ll be totally amazing and then we’ll have him and then we’ll play bridge until we’re 80 years old.
It’s worked out so far!
Totally.
So on a different note, I just wanted to let you know that you have a very dedicated base of fans…
Well that’s nice!
Definitely! And they’ve kind of created something called the “Church of Amy Millan”.
What would Amy do! Ha! Well that’s very unbelievable; that’s nice to know. I’ll think of that when I’m lonely and depressed.
Well now you know someone’s praying to you every night!
That’s nice! That’s incredible and I don’t take it lightly. I hope I deserve it.
Well you do!
Thank you, Melody!
Okay, second last question: favourite drink?
Well I love wine. If I was to tell you a specific wine…it all depends on what I’m eating because to me, wine isn’t a drink, it’s also food. So if I’m having an Italian meal, if I’m having a big spaghetti or something, I want an Italian wine. If I’m having maybe something like a fusion of French like having a steak or something I can pull out a Californian wine. The best thing about drinking wine is that there’s so much to learn and there’s so much going on in the world of wine and so much to experience. I actually don’t really drink it on the road anymore because it’s a sacred time for me; this is a wonderful sacred moment I’m having with you! Mondovino! If you want to learn about wine, it’s a documentary it’s called Mondovino and it’s about the politics of wine and what’s happening with new world and old world wines. There’s just such a history and it’s an incredible, expensive habit that I’d love to get into but I’m lucky I have a sweetheart who enjoys it with me.
Aw! Okay finally, if you were a singing animal, what would you be?
Well it’s funny, you now when you do that with your friends, like if you were an animal what would you be – singing animal, we never really do but we do play that game. My best friend Sheila Malhurn who I was hitchhiking with that time in Montreal, we were talking about what animals and I was like, “What about me? What animal would I be?” and she looked at me and was like, “well I think a skunk.” and I was like, “A skunk?!” and she said, “Skunks are cute, Amy! There’s nothing wrong with skunks!” So I guess I don’t know…a skunk?
But I was thinking if I can hear any animal sing, the coolest one would be a giraffe! What do you think it would sound like? To take from its heart to its throat, like the sound would travel up that crazy neck? I would love to hear what a giraffe would sound like singing but I don’t think I’m anything like a giraffe; my neck is really short and I don’t really have a chin.
For more Amy Millan,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/amymillan
If you missed out on her recent show at Harbourfront Centre, be sure to catch her when she returns on October 14 for a show at the Mod Club with Bahamas! Tickets on sale now for $15.00!
Amy Millan: It’s very gentle. There’s a lot of times where you have these very fun epic nights and you go to the bar and you’re out and the music’s pumping and you’re dancing, you’re having such a great time with your friends and then you end up back at somebody’s house for the after party – there’s just kind of this time that’s right before you’re supposed to go to sleep but you kind of want to have one last little party or something – it’s kind of for that time. I just imagine listening to it at three o’clock in the morning would be the best. And also for my friends who just had children who are breastfeeding. So it’s for three o’clock in the morning or breastfeeding!
Ha! You should put that as a warning label on your CDs!
Ha yeah!
So is there any relevance between the first and second record?
Well Dan Whiteley is heavily showcased so he was a big person on my last album. I was very confused between kind of my love of old country music and pop music and so I think what happened was I ended up merging to have it become one. So the gentleness is there but it’s not really country and it’s not really pop. I was really scared when I made my last record because it was my first record and I had never done it but for this record I felt that I was really going to utilize the people around me. So some horn sections and some string sections…it’s a lot more layered, I think.
Is this record as country as the first one?
There’s one straight up country song; it’s the very last song on the album. Kevin Drew was like, “I’m really glad you have it because it’s like, ‘I’m still here.’” It’s still a part of me but it’s hard to explain…it’s gentle.
How has your time with other successful bands such as Broken Social Scene and Stars influenced your solo work, if it has?
Well I think when I made my first record I had written a lot of songs leading up to that and I hadn’t been in a pop band so I had this need to make pop music. I didn’t have that on this record. I didn’t need to make a song like “Headsfull” for instance. I don’t know if “Headsfull” was perfectly fit on that record; it feels kind of loud and like the ruckus but I kind of had anxiety that if I didn’t have a little bit of ruckus something would be missing, and I lost that anxiety for this record because I have two massive pop bands that I’m in, like big bands. And they’re quite loud so that squashed…or I should say quenched? It quenched my thirst for pop music so I was really able to dedicate myself to the softer side of music that I love.
Speaking of Stars, what’s the update on the band? How are you guys?
It’s great! We’re back in the studio, writing. Torquil just had a baby!
Yes, congrats to Torquil!
Yeah, she’s just going to be two months in August! The boys have been back at it; Patty, Chris and Evan have been writing some great music and we actually have four songs recorded and finished. Kind of exciting! The record should be out in the spring.
I also hear that you used to be in a band called Edith’s Mission with Emily Haines?
That was our first band ever! If you’ve seen the book (This Book is Broken), there are some pictures of us playing in the band. Are you trying to get some secret copies of music? She’ll kill me, I can’t! You have to ask Emily, she’s the only one. They’re pretty buried! But it’s interesting because there are songs that we used to play like “Combat Baby”. We actually sang a form of that song together; that was one of the songs that we sang onstage together at the Horseshoe one night but she changed it and it became “Combat Baby” so it’s interesting that a lot of the songs that we had both written had started in Edith’s Mission and they just gradually morphed into different things. There are a lot of things that I hear in Metric that we had done together. We did win a contest; we entered this Q107 thing, we were in the top 10 – so if you’re going to search, that would be the way to go…
I’ll do some digging!
That would be the way to dig!
Do you get asked a lot for a Feist/Emily/Amy all-female trio?
It was such a great idea and I always thought that that would be something that we’d do when we’re older, you know kind of how Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton came together when they were like fifty. I just think we’re all so busy right now that it’s incredible that we even got together for five seconds for that Broken show was an unbelievable lining of stars. But you know, she sings on my record – Leslie Feist – she came and sang on my album. More importantly, I would like for us three to be on the next Broken record and I’ll have a song with the three of us on that album. I think that would be something spectacular.
How’s that going so far? Recording for the next Broken Social Scene record…
Well they just started, right. They just started writing and Kevin’s going to mix down some of the stuff and he’s going to send it to all of us and I think that show that we just had two weeks ago really reignited something for him about the core members of the band and how important it is, our chemistry and how we are together, and I think it definitely made him excited to bring it all together again. It’s just defeating sometimes when everyone’s so busy all the time but I think he was very happy with how he felt after he played that show.
I think everyone was happy!
Yeah it was really special! So hopefully that’s how it’s going to happen. There are euphoric ideas about the perfect way to live your life but it’s difficult sometimes. That’s why I think communes don’t really work. We’re as close to a commune as you’re going to get and I don’t know…the thought of it is so exciting to me that I will be truly disappointed if it doesn’t work. But we’ll see what happens!
So you’ve know Emily Haines and Kevin Drew since high school. What were your first impressions of them and do you still feel the same towards them today?
Well I met Em on the first day of school. I think that’s in the book, I met her on the first day of school going to music class and what was great was that we were both new and we started this high school in grade 11. It’s always weird when you go to a high school and then because people have already developed their friendships but luckily we went to the biggest nerd, geek-freak high school on the planet!
Etobicoke?
Yeah ESA, so it’s not like there was a lack of people being nice to us. It wasn’t some kind of nightmares, Heathers-kind of school or something. When I first met Kevin, he was quite a bit younger than me. You know at that time, when you’re that young, the difference between being in grade nine and grade twelve was pretty expansive so to me, he was a kid. He actually still calls himself ‘the kid’ which is hilarious because he’s like, “The kid needs a spoon!” and I’m like, “Dude, you’re so not a kid anymore but whatever.” But they’re magic people and I remember hearing Em sing for the first time on the second week that we met; we were in the practise rooms and she was playing piano. They’re just very, very, very funny. They’ve gotten better; it’s pretty great. Forgiveness, man! Because there are so many things – that’s the thing about friendships – is that people don’t realize that if you don’t forgive your friends, you’re going to end up lonely and we’ve done so many things to each other that could’ve destroyed our friendships and that should’ve destroyed each others friendships but we gave each other the benefit of the doubt and were like, “You’re hilarious, I don’t want to break up with you.”
How do you feel about the book being written about the band then? Because some have been pretty vocal about disliking the idea of This Book is Broken. Do you think it’s a good idea? And would you ever do something like that with Stars or yourself?
Well Stars is in that book, the book is about everyone. I mean I’ve definitely thought about writing a book about my experiences with Stars but it wouldn’t be the same as the story of how everyone came together. It would be more like road stories and the insane things that happen to you when you travel all over the place but…because there’s some good gossip in the Stars camp, believe me! I just might be at the heart of it…but anyway! What do I think of the book? I think it’s a little bit premature; I think that there’s a lot of stuff that’s not in the book that people didn’t foreclose…is that the word I’m looking for? You’re the writer…
Sure!
They didn’t come forth with a lot of information, a lot of the meaty stuff was kept quiet by me and a lot of people in the book and my favourite part of the book is the last thing that Kevin says which is that you can’t ever understand from a book. It’s pretty great from the photographs and it’s awesome to be in a book; it’s kind of cool, kind of a compliment. That’s the thing with Andrew, he’s a very eccentric person and he doesn’t give a shit about any of that stuff; he isn’t a nostalgic person. But I’m not a nostalgic person; I never want to be somewhere in the past. I’m always excited about what’s in the future but it’s a good story and I think it was done well…it sort of feels weird. You kind of look at it and kind of feel like you’re dead or something. I kind of wished that they may have waited a bit longer but that’s the thing that happens with Broken; Broken is this crazy machine that no one has the reins of. But all of a sudden Stuart said, or his brother said, “You know, we should do a book!” and they’re like, “Yeah, yeah that’s a good thing,” and all of a sudden Kev says it’s a good idea but he doesn’t realize how things are actually going to happen. Like he wouldn’t even do an interview for the book till the very last day that Stuart was writing the book! It’s just this kind of chaos that somehow pulls itself together.
Wow. So I hear that you used to hitchhike? What was that about?
I hitchhiked once on New Years Eve. I was 18 and we wanted to go to the bars because you’re old enough to drink in Montreal. It was very strange, first off it was hitchhiking in the winter – not always the best idea – but we had no money and we were very broke and I remember telling my mom, “Oh yeah, a bunch of us are just going to drive…” So then we met on the 401 it was called “thumbs up road trip” and it was me and two females and two guys and they’re very good friends and we’d split up and we didn’t even have cell phones so we were like, “Okay, let’s meet at Licks in Kingston and see how we do. The next day we ended up in Montreal! The best was coming home because we went and it was crazy; crazy Montreal times and when we were coming home we had no money left. We had nothing. I basically hade 75 cents to try and get on the subway because I was like, ‘”I’ve got to be able to get on the subway when I get back to Toronto!” We weren’t actually outside of Quebec yet and I don’t know if you know but Ontario’s pretty close, it’s about an hour before you get into Ontario from Montreal but we weren’t even there yet and this guy pulls over and he’s got his low-riser car, he’s got the dice in the mirror, he’s got this big hippie knit hat, he’s got dreadlocks and was like, “Hey where are you guys going?” and we’re like, “We’re going to Toronto!” and he says, “Me too, I’m going to Spadina station, get in!” We couldn’t believe our luck! He was telling us how he went out with the woman Susan, that Leonard Cohen song was written about and he was like “That woman, Susan, she was my girlfriend, she was a wild woman!” and telling us all these stories and he had weed and was like, “Wanna smoke some weed?” and he bought us all lunch in Kingston so…not that I’m saying hitchhike, because I would never do it now and if I had children, I’d kill them; but we got lucky.
Ha! That’s a good story. Could’ve been in the book…
Ah, see what I mean! Well what are you going to do! Emily said things in the book that I didn’t know she had said until I read the book and I was like, “Why didn’t Stuart ask or say, “Emily said this, do you have any comments?” because we didn’t know what everyone else was saying so it was like what are we all divulging here? How much info are we all giving away? So it felt like Stuart could’ve probed a little bit more. But maybe its better that the secret stays.
Well it’s a surprise too for you too when you read it then.
Yeah but there’s even more surprises. Maybe we’ll tell the real story in another ten years!
Hopefully! So this is you second time playing Harboufront Centre. What is it about the venue that you like?
I think it’s the best. It’s the best thing about Toronto. Toronto’s had such a shitty summer; the weather’s been terrible, the garbage strike’s been on, the ferry strike’s been on so it’s actually kind of the last vestige of something positive going on in the city to me right now. It’s a magical place and to be able to look out at the water and not have the stress of selling tickets and you know, it’s just free! And no Toronto guestlist nightmare and you’re like, “No, its just free!” Anybody can come and it’s great. For Broken it was a bigger deal because they cancelled the island show and blah blah blah, but a lot of people might not know my solo stuff so it’s a chance for people to just wander down to the waterfront, the beautiful waterfront and hear some songs they might not have otherwise heard.
You’re originally from Toronto but you live in Montreal now. Anything you miss here?
My mom’s house! I miss my family and I have lots of really great friends here; I miss having eggs with Kevin and calling my friend Cathy and walking her dog. It’s people more than specific places. And the language barrier is a little bit difficult so its easier here. If I have to find a sink or something I can call Johnny at the Jet Fuel and I know he’ll set me up with the coolest sink maker in the country. But I absolutely love Montreal. Evan and I just bought a house we’re renovating it right now so it’s completely gutted and pretty exciting. Building our little French home!
How did you feel when you first moved there?
I kind of enjoyed not knowing what people were talking about on the street. When I’m on the streetcar here in Toronto, I hear, [imitating the voice of an annoying teenage girl] “Oh my god, that Susan came home and she had this purse and it was so ugly!” and you’re trying to read the newspaper. But when I’m there its like [mumbles fake French] and you can imagine that they’re talking about the most romantic thing ever rather than hearing about someone’s bad date or something. Chris is trying to take French lessons. I used to be fluent when I was a kid so it’s in there somewhere but it’s pretty generous with the language, you know if you’re struggling most people will help you out. Everybody’s trying to work it out. I just want to get a piece of chicken…poulet. poulet sil vous plait!
At least you have a buddy now; Andrew [Whiteman] just moved there!
Ohhh I know! Isn’t that amazing! It’s a coup! I feel like it’s such a coup because I set him up with my girlfriend and now they’re getting married!
Aw, that’s so sweet!
I was like, I’ll introduce him to this girl and then he’ll move here and it’ll be totally amazing and then we’ll have him and then we’ll play bridge until we’re 80 years old.
It’s worked out so far!
Totally.
So on a different note, I just wanted to let you know that you have a very dedicated base of fans…
Well that’s nice!
Definitely! And they’ve kind of created something called the “Church of Amy Millan”.
What would Amy do! Ha! Well that’s very unbelievable; that’s nice to know. I’ll think of that when I’m lonely and depressed.
Well now you know someone’s praying to you every night!
That’s nice! That’s incredible and I don’t take it lightly. I hope I deserve it.
Well you do!
Thank you, Melody!
Okay, second last question: favourite drink?
Well I love wine. If I was to tell you a specific wine…it all depends on what I’m eating because to me, wine isn’t a drink, it’s also food. So if I’m having an Italian meal, if I’m having a big spaghetti or something, I want an Italian wine. If I’m having maybe something like a fusion of French like having a steak or something I can pull out a Californian wine. The best thing about drinking wine is that there’s so much to learn and there’s so much going on in the world of wine and so much to experience. I actually don’t really drink it on the road anymore because it’s a sacred time for me; this is a wonderful sacred moment I’m having with you! Mondovino! If you want to learn about wine, it’s a documentary it’s called Mondovino and it’s about the politics of wine and what’s happening with new world and old world wines. There’s just such a history and it’s an incredible, expensive habit that I’d love to get into but I’m lucky I have a sweetheart who enjoys it with me.
Aw! Okay finally, if you were a singing animal, what would you be?
Well it’s funny, you now when you do that with your friends, like if you were an animal what would you be – singing animal, we never really do but we do play that game. My best friend Sheila Malhurn who I was hitchhiking with that time in Montreal, we were talking about what animals and I was like, “What about me? What animal would I be?” and she looked at me and was like, “well I think a skunk.” and I was like, “A skunk?!” and she said, “Skunks are cute, Amy! There’s nothing wrong with skunks!” So I guess I don’t know…a skunk?
But I was thinking if I can hear any animal sing, the coolest one would be a giraffe! What do you think it would sound like? To take from its heart to its throat, like the sound would travel up that crazy neck? I would love to hear what a giraffe would sound like singing but I don’t think I’m anything like a giraffe; my neck is really short and I don’t really have a chin.
For more Amy Millan,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/amymillan
If you missed out on her recent show at Harbourfront Centre, be sure to catch her when she returns on October 14 for a show at the Mod Club with Bahamas! Tickets on sale now for $15.00!
