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
