Interview: Happy Monday’s Gaz Whelan

That The Happy Mondays still exist in any form — let alone as a functioning band — is a minor miracle.

Although they were more of a foreign curiosity here in North America, in their native England the Manchunian sextet were a game-changing act who helped blur the boundaries between rock and dance music. Of course, their off-stage behavior often threatened to eclipse their musical highlights.

Drummer Gary “Gaz” Whelan, who now lives in nearby Burlington, Ont., along with lead singer Shaun Ryder and dancer Bez managed to weather that storm and continue to record and tour.

CHARTattack: So how do you make it from Manchester to Burlington?
Gaz Whelan: In the mid-’90s I left and moved to London. I lived in New York back in ‘99 for a year. I lived in Australia for four years. Then we planned to move here to Toronto, so we came here and went to visit a friend in Hamilton and stopped up in “Borington” Burlington on the way and saw all the kids playing and loved it. It’s great. I love Canada.

The Mondays is kind of a day job now. It’s just me, Shaun and Bez.

Bez does his own reality stuff. He’s like Flavor Flav over in the U.K. He does his own celebrity TV show — that’s what he’s good at and he’s says he doesn’t want to be jumping around all the time at his age. He’s a couple years older than me so he’s about 40, so fair enough.

Shaun does all sorts of this and that. I think old Shaun’s kind of clean and straight. Maybe that’s what’s ignited the old passion.

So it’s a day job, it pays the money. But we enjoy it. We did half a new album and then shelved it while we all did our solo stuff and then next year we’ll go back and revisit it.

This is a new album after the one that you did a couple years ago?
That one kind of came together by accident. I was living in Australia at the time. I’d come back to London to do a couple of one-off shows. We’d taken a break — we only split up once; people think we split up two or three times, but we just took a break — and while I was back I met up with the engineer.

Everyone else hadn’t gotten back and I was stuck in London and we wrote six or seven songs and Shaun came down and put vocals down so then we had an album. We were just a couple short and then we did the rest in Manchester.

Shaun never does the music; Shaun just does lyrics. We all do the music, me and the bass player and the guitarist. We jam and get tunes that Shaun can put lyrics on.

The tour is with The Psychedelic Furs. How did you get hooked up with them?
Similar agent, but we were going to do it initially with Depeche Mode, possibly. I think they’re clean again and I think Shaun’s clean, but I don’t think they’re sure that Shaun’s clean. So we thought it might not be a great idea. So we got in touch with The Psychedelic Furs.

To be honest with you, we only ever did a couple gigs in Canada, we didn’t sell well in Canada. We did O.K. in the States, but when we toured the States we were younger and we were pretty ignorant. We just put on a party. We did Madison Square Garden opening for Jane’s Addiction.

So we were staying in a hotel and me and Shaun are late. We jump in a cab and couldn’t get in [to the venue]. We were supposed to go on stage at 8:00 and by the time we got there it was a quarter past 8. We went to the dressing room to apologize and no one else was there. We ended up doing one fucking song.

So we didn’t do ourselves any favours like a lot of British bands don’t in North America. It wasn’t an attitude thing. We did O.K., especially on the coasts. To be fair we couldn’t fill big venues on our own so to be honest that’s why we’re doing it with Psychedelic Furs.

What is it about North America that’s so daunting to British bands?
In Britain it’s seen as an art form, whereas in North America it’s seen as a job or a profession. So when the first tours of British rock ‘n’ rollers took place in the 1950s, the only places that would put them up were art colleges. So the people who got into rock ‘n’ roll — The Beatles, Clapton or whoever — were artists.

In America, all the art colleges were for architects. American bands kind of work it like a business, they know how it works, they play the game, which is I think the right way to do it. But you play the game. I don’t think it’s resentment, but British bands don’t really play the game as well. Oasis maybe did it the first time. And you’ve got to watch what you say [in America]. You can be as controversial as you want in the U.K.

You helped run an electronic/dance label when you were living in Australia. Were you the one pushing the dancier side of the Monday’s music?
No, it was just the time. We were all into it, we all loved funk, soul, punk and The Beatles and Stones and all that. I was always championing The Beatles, Shaun was always championing the Stones. Me and Paul, the bass player, were no more into it than the rest, but maybe just by the fact we were the drummer and the bass player it shone through.

In the U.K., dance music is so big and mainstream…
It’s not as big here, is it? When I got here, I was really surprised how big rock music is. I’m not a big rock fan. I don’t know any of it. But there’s no cross-pollinating of genres here.

There’s only two types of music, there’s good and there’s bad. In England, there’s mixing a lot. Manchester specifically is good for mixing. The immigrant set in Manchester — there was Polish, Irish, Scottish, African, West African — everyone just mixed. And there was only a few venues that played music so they had, like, Monday night would be Polish night, Tuesday night would be West African night Wednesday night would be Bangladeshi night… eventually they closed the nights down and everything was mixed.

You look at someone’s record collection, it’s got to be mixed. How can you have one type of music? It’s a cornucopia, it’s everything. I have a radio show at McMaster University and people say “Well, what do you play?” Well, music. It could be anything.

This interview originally appeared at Chartattack.ca

Live Review: The Get Up Kids @ Phoenix Theatre, Toronto 10/25/2009

To say that the Get Up Kids were an influential band is a vast understatement. With their second album Something to Write Home About, the Kansas City, MO five-piece created a bridge for pop-punk-loving teens weaned on Green Day and Blink-182 to discover everything from the Promise Ring to Coalesce, and paved the way for mainstream breakthroughs with bands like Dashboard Confessional and Fall Out Boy. And though the band went out on a bit of a whimper when they split in 2005, their legend only grew in the ensuing four years. Now reunited and touring not just to promote the ten-year anniversary and reissue of Something to Write Home About, the band are apparently working on new material as well.

On the tour’s Toronto stop, the Life and Times kicked off the night with a short set of proggy rock, followed by Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band. After a terrible vocal mix on the group’s first song, Devine said something to the soundman and the quartet quickly found their groove, alternating between pop-rockers, Ted Leo-esque protest tunes and brooding-Brand New (whose Jesse Lacey is Devine’s BFF) style rock. Unfortunately, Devine and co. alternated between moments of pure rock bliss and time-for-a-bathroom-break boredom.

Finally, the Get Up Kids hit the stage, launching into “Holiday” to uproarious applause, quickly followed by “I’m a Loner Dottie, A Rebel” for which the band paused briefly to let the crowd sing the intro line “Come tomorrow I’ll be on my way back home.” In fact, throughout the night the crowd sang along with every word out of Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic’s mouths. Even deep cuts off On a Wire and Guilt Show, such as “Walking on a Wire” and “Hannah Hold On,” received a warm reception.

The band seemed genuinely pleased to be playing together again, pouring themselves into every song. Keyboardist James Dewees laughed off requests for a Coalesce track (he used to play drums for them) but delivered on another for Slayer. Despite their stature amongst their fans, the band remain incredibly self-aware; at one point Pryor asked the crowd if they wanted to hear an old one, then joked that they were all old ones before playing Four Minute Mile’s “No Love.” In fact, the group did an admirable job of playing something from each of their releases, reaching all the way back to play the title track off of the Woodson EP.

After 16 songs, the band briefly retired to the backstage before returning for a five-song encore that started with their covers of “Close to Me” and “Beer for Breakfast” and ending with “Don’t Hate Me,” “I’ll Catch You” and “Ten Minutes,” promising that they’d be back again. Though certainly many left with a tinge of frustration that perhaps their particular favourite wasn’t played (like, say, “Central Standard Time”), it was hard to argue that this was surely as good a Get Up Kids show as you could possibly hope for.

This review originally appeared at Exclaim.ca

Butch Vig, you son of a bitch…

My good friend Godfrey, a kindred spirit when it comes to 90s nostalgia, has written a rather interesting post about uber producer (and occasional rock star) Butch Vig entitled “Hoc Opus, Vig Labor Est.”

In comparing the three major records he produced in that decade – Nirvana’s Nevermind, Sonic Youth’s Dirty and Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream – he argues that Vig was essentially responsible for the popularizaton of over-produced rock records, robbed of all sense of space and time. I have to say that I agree with him. It’s well worth a read which you can do here.

Record Reviews: Jesus Lizard reissues

By the time The Jesus Lizard formed, lead screamer David Yow and David Wm. Sims had already done time in the short-lived but highly influential Scratch Acid. Sims also played in Rapeman, Steve Albini’s post-Big Black noise act, so expectations were no doubt high.

Head was the Chicago quartet’s first full-length, and while it doesn’t quite match the highs the band would subsequently reach, all the group’s trademarks are here: the snaking rhythm section that drove the band, the howling guitar leads cutting over top like a razor and, of course, Yow’s murderous vocal wails. Lead track “One Evening,” in particular, would become the band’s blueprint on subsequent records.

Pure, an EP recorded before drummer Mac McNeilly was recruited, was long ago tacked onto the end of the band’s debut. The band play with a drum machine instead and sound like a gothed up Public Image Ltd. Although the songs stand up on their own, they do sound a bit disjointed sequenced after Head’s 10 tracks.

Further blemishing the album’s flow on this reissue are a pair of live tracks and their medley of Chrome covers appropriately titled “Chrome” that was previously only available on the Bang compilation. Of course, if it comes down to not having these tracks in the name of flow, we’ll still take them any day.

Goat consolidated the sound The Jesus Lizard had developed on their Head debut, furthering a signature noise with producer Steve Albini, creating the template for what would become “the Steve Albini sound” that bands — including Bush and Nirvana — would seek out in the coming years.

Opener “Then Comes Dudley” lays the track for the rest of the record — caustic, abrasive and never letting up. Even slower tracks like “Rodeo In Joliet” are an aurally exhausting enterprise, laying bare the band’s sense of conviction to stand out from the crowd and forge their own path.

Touch And Go has added five bonus tracks, including “Sunday You Need Love” from the “Mouthbreather” single, “Pop Song” from an Ampetamine Reptile comp and three live cuts: “Lady Shoes” and Money Stick” from the Lash EP and “Seasick” from a 1992 tour giveaway.

Liar was recorded in 1992, and is The Jesus Lizard firing on all cylinders, just in time for the flood of new interest in their brand of noisy underground rock.

The disc continues the band’s working relationship with producer Steve Albini, and is arguably the penultimate record the Chicago foursome created. Most notably, the album includes the original version of “Puss,” which would appear on the band’s split single with Nirvana.

Not that David Yow and company ould be viewed in the Seattle trio’s shadow. Liar featured some of the band’s most ferocious and, even in the climate of the times, confrontational tracks like “Boilermaker” and “Rope.”

The reissue includes a quartet of bonus cuts: demo versions of “Gladiator” and “Boilermaker” that were previously only available on an Australian seven-inch and the “Dancing Naked Ladies” single with B-side “Wheelchair Epidemic.”

Down marked the end of an era for The Jesus Lizard.

With their profile at its arguable height, it was the last album the group would record for Touch And Go before they signed with major label Capitol Records. It was also the last time they would work with Steve Albini, who reportedly severed ties with the band following their defection to Capitol.

Curiously, Down was released in 1993, the same year as Nirvana’s In Utero, who were signed to DGC. The latter album was produced by Albini and was remarkably similar in it’s sonic assault to the other Albini-produced Jesus Lizard albums.

Like the rest of The Jesus Lizard’s Touch And Go records, there was a less of a sonic shift with Down than a further streamlining of the band’s sound. This sonic consistency has somewhat hampered their legacy with no single album to rally around, and their abrasive sound and deep catalogue leaves no entry point for the uninitiated.

Four bonus tracks are once again tacked onto the end of the record. They include “Fly On The Wall” B-side “White Hole” and “Glamourous” and “Deaf As A Bat,” the two studio tracks from the 1992 Lash EP as well as “Panic In Cicero,” their contribution to the Clerks soundtrack.

These reviews originally appeared at Chartattack.com

A Quick Q&A with The Gaslight Anthem

New Brunswick, N.J.’s The Gaslight Anthem won over both fans and critics last year with the old-school punk and soul fusion the created for The ‘59 Sound, their sophomore album.

A year on, the band are hard at work and still on tour while simultaneously beginning work on their next album.

Guitarist Alex Rosamilia discussed the band’s success and dropped some hints about the new album in an email interview.

Have you started work on the new album? What’s the sound shaping up to be? Similar to The ‘59 Sound?
Alex Rosamilia: We don’t have enough material to really come to any conclusions as of yet. There is a pretty big disco/salsalito vibe on the songs we’ve got so far.

How does the songwriting process work for the band?
Depends on the song. Sometimes Brian’ll [Fallon, singer/guitarist] have lyrics first, and sometimes we work on the music first.

You’re working with Ted Hutt again. What did he bring to the table with the last album that made you want to work with him again?
It was just a good collaboration all around. Everything just worked really well with Ted.

Were all the band members involved in the New Jersey punk scene prior to forming the band?
We were all in touring bands in the hardcore/punk scene. Personally, I wasn’t in anything worth mentioning…

How did the decision to fuse Jersey shore rock with punk happen? Was it a conscious one?
There wasn’t one. I’m not sure I even know what “Jersey Shore Rock” is…

A lot of people were taken by surprise by the old school nature of the band’s sound and lyrical content (referencing Miles Davis, Tom Petty). Was this a chosen aesthetic?
Any references are from songs or artists that we actually do listen to. They aren’t picked for aesthetic purposes. They’re picked for homage.

Do you see any other bands/musicians working in the same vein as your band? Any kindred souls?
There’s a ton of bands busting their asses out there. Too many to name them all. The Loved Ones and Let Me Run come to mind, though.

Were you surprised at the immediate success of The ‘59 Sound?
Extremely. Still am, actually.

Did the success influence the way you approached the new album?
Just made me more nervous to put out something good.

Any album name or song titles you can give us?
Don’t have any yet.

You’ve done a lot of interviews over the past year — what’s the biggest misconception about the band?
I feel we’ve kept pretty true to ourselves.

Brian sang onstage with Bruce Springsteen, which I’m assuming is somewhat of a dream come true for the band. What goals or dreams have the group yet to fulfill?
Next on the list, Eric Clapton and Noel Fielding.

Have you had to set new bars for achievement?
I want to learn pedal steel.

This review originally appeared at Chartattack.com.

Hidden Cameras to turn Origin:Orphan into “musical theatre production”

Via Exclaim.ca

The Hidden Cameras’ new album, Origin:Orphan, may not be out until September 22 was just released but already head Camera Joel Gibb is looking to create a “theatrical music production” based on the album.

Despite the grand stage ambitions, Gibb says that Origin:Orphan isn’t a concept record. “I don’t sit down and write a record like the cliché of the band touring, and then they sit down and write a record,” Gibb tells Exclaim! in an interview. “I think that there’s themes, for sure. But I didn’t form the record thinking of that [stage production].”

While Gibb isn’t certain what the final narrative will be for the production, he says it will revolve around the theme of “the universal orphan.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time the Toronto, ON collective have wandered into musical theatre territory, having twice collaborated with the Toronto Dance Theatre, who helped marry the group’s music with interpretative dance. “I want this to be less modern dance and more theatrical,” explains Gibb, “but also with dancing and choreography. I guess just something new.”

Although neither of those productions with the Toronto Dance Theatre were performed outside of the city, Gibb hopes to mount the new Orphan product in Berlin. He’s already spoken with a theatre in the German capital and now needs to draft a proposal to submit to the German government for funding.

Gibb should have plenty of time to flesh out the details in the coming months, as the band hit the road with Gentleman Reg to promote Origin:Orphan, which is due out on Arts & Crafts.

Record Review: Still Life Still – “Girls Come Too”

Alright, let’s get this outta the way. Still Life Still sound like Broken Social Scene — a lot like them. That they’re both signed to the BSS-run Arts & Crafts and Kevin Drew co-produced the band’s debut record isn’t going to help the comparisons, either.

But outright dismissing the group denies the chance to listen to some great tunes. Drew was always concerned with bucking expectations, burying some of BSS’s catchiest material under layers of dense reverb and feedback or slowing would-be hits to a crawl.

Still Life Still, though, are freed from these expectations, allowing them to explore the pop potential of all their post-millennial influences. The slow building “Kid” is an excellent example, focusing on groove and melody over atmospherics.

Still Life Still might not be the most original sounding band, but Girls Come Too is certainly worth your time.

This review originally appeared at Chartattack.com

Shotgun Jimmie Live on CHRY!

Sackville, New Brunswick’s very own Shotgun Jimmie, in town for a show at the Cameron House, swung by CHRY 105.5 this week to chat and play some tunes. Despite pitching up a tad late, Shotgun Jimmie aka Jim Killpatrick was a hilarious guest and a great performer. The former Shotgun and Jaybird member played a number of tunes from both this spring’s Still Jimmie and his tour only EP Paint it Pink on a banjo that was strung like a guitar that a friend gave him as he was leaving the house. It’s good listening kids…

Listen to Shotgun Jimmie live at CHRY 105.5 here.

Record Review: Cobra Starship – “Hot Mess”

After Fall Out Boy introduced R&B tropes to their spit-shined pop-punk anthems, no band took the idea and ran with it like Cobra Starship. And while their previous two records were far from perfect, their best tunes successfully married the mosh pit to the dance floor.

But on Hot Mess, the band’s third full-length, they’ve all but abandoned their punk roots. Guitars are buried under heavily processed synths and drum beats while lead singer Gabe Saporta continues to play the role of jilted nice guy and lecherous old man.

This would all be perfectly fine if the band had just written better songs because nothing’s worse than pop music that’s not catchy. Only the Leighton Meester duet “Good Girls Go Bad” gets the blood pumping. The rest of the album just feels like we’re listening to the American Apparel set’s version of the Jonas Brothers.

This review originally appeared at Chartattack.com

Record Review: The Hidden Cameras – “Origin:Orphan”

While the Hidden Cameras‘ last record didn’t translate critical acclaim into mainstream acceptance, the Toronto, ON-based collective are certainly not resting on their laurels. Though the band may have reached a relative glass ceiling of success, their creativity continues to know no bounds. The church revival quality of their music remains but Joel Gibb and company have added synthesizers and guitar loops to the mix, giving these 11 tracks a fun dance vibe that will almost certainly be exploited in the group’s legendary live shows. Rave-ups like lead single “In the NA” and “Underage” sit next to more brooding and ominous tracks like “Ratifying The New,” but the album’s centrepiece is the slinking “Walk On,” which is bursting with instrumentation. In a rare moment of recorded despair from a group better known for joyous sing-alongs, Gibb has crafted the sonic equivalent of someone’s life unravelling before their eyes. It’s a testament to his vision that with a revolving cast of musicians and a constant desire to shake up the formula each record sounds fresh without sacrificing the band’s trademark hooks and harmonies.

What kind of sound were you trying to achieve with the new album?
Gibb: I don’t know if there’s a specific sound you could connect to the whole record; I just wanted to try different things with different songs and hopefully still retain a thread that ties everything together. The last record was a little bit more traditional ― drums, bass, guitar. The strings were sparingly used, there were no horns, not so many weird instruments. But with this record there’s more keyboard, there’s much more horns, there are different styles of violin playing.

Has living in Berlin influenced your music?
I don’t know how to qualify that kind of thing. Undoubtedly, yes, but I wouldn’t know how to get into specifics. I think most of these songs were written in Canada.

With the band a collective scattered all over the place how do you write?
For me, songwriting is a solitary process. I bring bits and pieces to the musicians. Depending on what the song needs, I’ll ask different musicians to play, but there’s no formula. Each song creates its own formula.

But you have an idea of how the end product will sound?
I hear the whole thing in my head most of the time. Recording is just a matter of realizing that.

Is the finished product reflective of what you hear?
Sometimes. And then sometimes it turns into something different when you have to take into consideration the realities of recording.

This review originally appeared at Exclaim.ca