Photograph by Alex Cairncross
The Balconies, one of the newest bands to set Toronto on fire with blistering live shows, may formerly have been more comfortable in formal concerts playing classical compositions. Composed of Liam Jaeger and siblings Jacquie and Stephen Neville, The Balconies bring an edgy post-punk feeling to their energetic pop. They’re on the cusp of kicking off their tour in support of their self-titled debut album from late 2009, but took time out between their local shows to tell Ca Va Cool about their backgrounds, discuss differences between Ottawa and Toronto, and point out the importance of animal noises.
The Balconies – Lulu
The Balconies – Serious Bedtime
The Balconies – Rest Up
Sabrina: You guys are still pretty new, having started up in 2007. I was checking out your influences, which range from punk, post-punk, electronic… lots of different decades and genres. Were you trying to channel some of that when you came out with your first LP?
Jacquie Neville: Not consciously. It just kind of came out with our songwriting and the chemistry together. Our influences come out.
Steve Neville: : And if you look at the influences, there’s such a big variety.
Jacquie: Technically speaking, we’re all classical musicians. That’s our formal training, so I feel like the practice of that comes through as well.
Sabrina: Speaking of your training, you studied music at the University of Ottawa. What’s the mentality in the classical music department when it comes to pop music? Is it accepting or more straight-laced?
Jacquie: In my experience, the classical field is quite strict. But as soon as I went to Ottawa U, I met all these amazing professors who would say, “No, they can come together. You can like mainstream and classical music.” If anything, it makes you a more well-rounded musician.
Liam Jaeger: It’s becoming a lot more common. A lot of the professors also experiment. There’s a professor who is a professional pianist and he also plays keyboards at raves. It’s becoming a necessity because you can’t really survive playing one type of music anymore, you need to move around.
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Photograph by Christian Coinbergh
Since releasing their first album in 2003, Shout Out Louds have played everything from Strokes-esque garage rock to orchestrated indie pop, and the evolution continues on their most recent release, Work. Written while the band were apart at global extremes, then recorded with Phil Elk in Stockholm, their third album strips away many musical elements leaving a much more adult pop/rock sound. Bass player Ted Malmros answered some of our questions about the creation of the new album, the state of the band, and touring plans.
Shout Out Louds – Walls
Shout Out Louds – Tonight I Have to Leave It
Shout Out Louds – Please Please Please
Daniel: Could you describe the state of your band in one sentence?
Ted Malmros: Nervous but good.
Daniel: According to your press release, writing songs, recording, and touring is your work, thus your album’s title, Work. Although I like that this means you’ll hopefully be releasing many more albums, isn’t the point of being a rock star to escape the mundane routine of everyday “work”?
Ted: Work should be fun. People with boring jobs should quit them and get a more stimulating ones. We like our work. And yes, I think you can expect some more albums for sure.
Daniel: Your bandmates were all over the world (Stockholm, Los Angeles, Melbourne) while the songs for the new album were being created. What effect did this have on the recording process?
Ted: To be honest, I think we really needed a break from each other and more importantly we needed some time off “work”, but I don’t recommend writing songs from far apart. It was a bit difficult when we finally met to put it all together. Big parts of the music were written then in Stockholm.
Daniel: On Work you take your sound in a different direction from your last album Our Ill Wills, removing much of the orchestration and really paring it down to the basics. What inspired this shift?
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Photograph by Chris Gergley
Call them shoegaze, call them progressive rock, call them what you will, the Besnard Lakes specialize in creating a hazy atmosphere that gives way to soaring vocals and majestic soundscapes. Revolving around the core duo of husband and wife Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, the band is set to release the follow-up to their breakthrough album The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse, entitled The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night. If lead single ‘Albatross’ is any indication, we are in for a treat. Jace Lasek was kind enough to answer a few questions ahead of the album’s release.
The Besnard Lakes – Albatross
The Besnard Lakes – For Agent 13
The Besnard Lakes – Disaster
Kevin: Why call yourselves the Besnard Lakes?
Jace Lasek: I grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan and in 1995 I started traveling up to Besnard Lake as a summer trip with my friend. We loved it so much we made a promise to return every year to clear our heads. Olga and I had our honeymoon at Besnard Lake. It’s a very secluded place, and very hard to get to. You really feel like you are the only people there.
Kevin: With …Are the Dark Horse receiving critical acclaim, including being short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, did you feel pressure to top it with …Are the Roaring Night?
Jace: We tried very consciously to forget about Dark Horse. We made our first two albums without any preconceived notions of anyone wanting to hear them. We wanted to approach this record in the same way – to close ourselves off from the outside world and write without distractions.
Kevin: ‘Albatross’, the lead single from your new album, seems to be more immediate and direct than much of …Are the Dark Horse. Was this a conscious decision?
Jace: It’s just what we were feeling at the time. ‘Albatross’ was a really old song that we resurrected and rearranged. It was actually the first song we completed for Roaring Night. It came together quite quickly.
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Indie folk darling Basia Bulat’s second album Heart of My Own is out January 26, and it’s every bit as enjoyable as her 2008 Polaris Prize shortlisted debut. Heart of My Own was largely written on the road, taking inspiration from the sights and sounds experienced on tour. The Yukon had a great effect on her, as can be heard on lead single ‘Gold Rush’. The singer took some time to chat with Ca Va Cool before her tour kicked into high gear.
Basia Bulat – Gold Rush
Basia Bulat – Go On
Basia Bulat – In the Night
Kevin: You’re in New York right now?
Basia Bulat: Yeah, we play at the Bowery Ballroom on Friday.
Kevin: Have you toured the US much? I know you’ve covered Europe and Canada quite a bit, but is this new for you?
Basia: No, I’ve been across the US a few times actually, so it’s nice to be back.
Kevin: Just interesting, I went to [The University of] Western [Ontario], I know you went to Western, you were involved with the local music scene, [campus radio station] CHRW, and you were in the first edition of LOLAfest.
Basia: What were you studying at Western?
Kevin: Biochemistry, so probably not your area.
Basia: But now you’re writing about music for a pastime?
Kevin: Yeah, it’s kind of a weird twist.
Basia: You know, I don’t think it’s that weird, to be honest.
Kevin: Anyway, my question is, what does London mean to you?
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Photograph by Norman Wong
The Most Serene Republic serve as a reminder to embrace eccentricity wherever you may find it. The Milton, Ontario septet wash out jubilant layers of symphonic pop to capture the delicate grief in growing up. With their third full length release …And the Ever Expanding Universe, released on Arts&Crafts early last year, the band reveals the strange serenity of an archaic soundscape.
Their visit to the Canadian East Coast late last year started with a sound check occasionally punctuated by the communal donair passed around onstage and the inspired vocal ballads chanted while warping levels. In a starlit back alley dominated by a foggy Atlantic panorama, I spoke with keyboardist Ryan Lenssen and indulged in a romanticized intimacy shared amidst the splatter of raindrops and sting of Halifax cold. The conversation held a note of disheartened idealism found in the group’s records as we spoke about the pain of passivity, the finicky superiority of compact cassettes, and plans for the next album.
The Most Serene Republic – Where Cedar Nouns and Adverbs Walk
The Most Serene Republic – Heavens to Purgatory
The Most Serene Republic – (Oh) God
Jan: What band have you enjoyed touring with most?
Ryan Lenssen: Five years ago we really enjoyed playing with Wintersleep a lot. That was before they became massive. They still remain friends of ours. Loel Campbell is one of my favourite people, I love Wintersleep! Touring Canada, no matter where you go, you’re going to get good people that don’t want to step on any toes – it’s because we’re all passive.
Jan: That could be it.
Ryan: No it is. There’s a lot of anger, there’s a lot of hate that people have, but we keep it to ourselves because we don’t know how to deal with it in Canada, because we didn’t grow up with an American sentimentality.
Jan: It’s interesting how each of your albums has had an emotion tied to it. You describe Population as anger, how much of that is based on your sentimentality?
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