Evangeline Gentle, photo by Mark L. Craigshead
By Will McGuirk
“Hunter Street is lit in that golden glow”
No matter how down one gets music gets one up. All those cycling thoughts hooked onto a passing chord, and whoosh up and at ‘em. Bed laying, the inevitability of staying in bed, in bed, in bed, in bed. . . until hand reaches out, radio clicks on, song fills the room and thoughts change to ideas, ideas to plans, and plans to action. Up and at ‘em. There’s a world to save, one soul at a time, one song at a time.
By Will McGuirk
Here in Shwarawk City its always a balance - one foot in the country one foot in the city one foot in the factory one foot in the farm one foot in the grit one foot in the grass one foot in the slow one foot in the fast
This past week Crown Lands released their new album and a video for the track, “Leadfoot” - fast cars and a shout out maybe, to the balance
“Slow down, slow down
Lonely as the sun Slow down”
By Will McGuirk
Its been some time since Hunter Sheridan threw his hat into the crowded singer/songwriter field, thinking March this year but so much has happened since then who knows it could have been yesterday or a hundred years ago, it was May actually. We had reached out to Hunter and yes we are slow but slow is ok - in fact we would argue its better. That’s the great thing about art, for artists right now, for those who choose to take time, to take their own path, there is no benefit to the urgency of hitting the charts, the airwaves, the tour schedule. All of that is gone and art, always, is outside of schedules. So take the time. Anyway there is a timelessness to Hunter’s tracks, a brightly musical guitar just cresting on surf twang, and the softest of harmonies. The songs crackle and burn and drift, carrying whatever cares you have up and out into the night sky. The perfect companion for some time to contemplate.
Slowcity.ca: Skin & Bones has been a long time coming, how do you feel now its out in the world?
Hunter Sheridan: “Over the last 5 years I’ve put out a few albums with West Hammock and even a live off the floor album with a side project, and those experiences really taught me a lot about the recording process, which inevitably influenced my writing and preparation going into my first album. I really needed it to set a foundation for what you can expect from me and I am looking forward to building on that with new music you can expect later this year.”
SC: Tell me how the album was written, solo? guests? producer? recorded where and how?
HS: “All of the song structures and main melodies were written solo, but the other instrumentation and production was done as a group including myself, Jules Hall, Ty Callan, and Jordan Moore. There is one song on the album that is actually an older West Hammock track that was never released and was part of a 3-track session near the end of the band’s time, which Sean Thornton plays keys on (‘What You Need’ – track 5). Jordan Moore and I were going through these sessions during some of the early mixing stages for the album and we thought that the message behind the song and the whole atmosphere fit really nicely within the ‘Life is a Dream’ track list. Aside from that song, all of the tracks were recorded in our home studios in Hamilton and Oshawa – Jordan is an amazing engineer who can make a studio anywhere, so the songs are all recorded in positive, familiar places that we were having a lot of fun with, which I think shows in the tones and rhythms of the album.”
SC: Just to clarify, Spotify has you listed as a Guelph artist - are you living there now, tell me about the whys of the move and how you are enjoying the Royal City
HS: “I’ve moved back and forth between Guelph and Durham Region over the last few years, but I originally moved there for school when I started at the university. I fell in love with the vibrance of the downtown core, the arts culture and the proximity of the city to some beautiful landscapes like Tobermory, Fergus and Elora.”
SC: With gigs shut down what have you been doing to share the music and how have you been coping with Covid-19?
HS: “We had a tour booked throughout May and June, and I was really looking forward to getting this album out and playing these songs live with the group. It took me a minute to figure out how we could still make this semi-possible and after a few calls with Jordan, we figured out how to set up a more polished live show with higher quality audio. This led me to promoting a virtual album release show where you could purchase a ticket to the show and a physical copy of the album. We did the show with Sidedoor Access and Zoom, so all of the audience members were live on camera during the show as well. It was really special, and I am thankful to everyone who supported.
“My time spent without performance opportunities has been really focused on writing. Jules and I have written a new album that we are looking to start recording sometime next year, and in the meantime, I have some singles coming out throughout the remained of 2020. There may be some virtual shows with a similar format to support those, however we will see where it all goes! Aside from music, I’ve been renovating a 1984 shorty school bus into a camper with my mom this summer! We had to completely gut it, cut out the old metal, learn how to weld the new stuff in and go from there. That has been a really fun experience.”
SC: Is there a physical album available - CD, Vinyl ?
HS: “There is! Physical CDs are available for $10 and I’d really love to do vinyl at some point, but I’ve got some merch ideas in the works before that. Digital copies are also available for purchase on Bandcamp for $7, or you can stream the album anywhere you listen to music.
If anyone reading is interested, they can e-transfer me at huntersheridan@gmail.com with their name and mailing address in the notes, and I will send a copy!”
SC: Who did the artwork, it’s really interesting
HS: “Jules Hall is responsible for all of the artwork. It was all hand drawn, even the text, then scanned. A lot of the concepts of the album draw from nature, space and time, so I wanted to incorporate this around an individual to demonstrate our connection to the universe and to each other. Jules did an awesome job and we will definitely be using some of her artwork on the album for merch that will be coming this Fall.”
Terra Lightfoot, photo by Mat Dunlap
By Will McGuirk
Its the rock, and its the roll. Its the morning roll, the every morning roll of the rock uphill, the rock which rolled back down overnight. Its the inevitability of defeat and the absurd hope in imagining an alternative outcome. Every morning, the rock, every morning the roll and every morning the hope, always the hope, always the hope. Thats the art of it, of life, of it all. To persevere, to continue.
“'Paper Thin Walls' is about having your heart run over by someone who never really comes through.” - Terra Lightfoot
“. . . sharing it now is about what sharing art is always about: another chance that we may partake in connecting with our brothers and sisters of this world, and hopefully joining you in noticing a speck of light gleaming in what appears to be a relatively long and dark night.” - the Avett Brothers
“‘St. Augustine at Night’ is a song about one’s relationship to their hometown, but also is a song about the varying degrees in which we all watch our lives pass us by.” - Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes
By Will McGuirk
To have hope but not faith. To continue although experience says other. To build, to make, to write, to sing, to continue. forward . . even as 2020 becomes a year of looking back and accepting we collectively took the wrong fork in the road. Will we ever learn? Look to the artist as they forge ahead, voyageurs on the stream which engulfs the rest of us.
“At the moment, living in a complicated quarantine surrounded by invisible (and not-so-invisible) plagues upon us, fragmentation is palpable: a splintering of social ties, of nature's capacity to regenerate, of something vague that once felt stable and now feels unreal...... All of these things hover between us and within us.” - Peter Burr, Austra art collaborator
“I have this idea in my head that our music generally feels out of place against the backdrop of summer, but the dynamic of the city in its current condition really captured the solitude and confusion behind the song in a way that feels compelling.” - James Thomson, Nation of Language
“‘The Swans’ is a present day, apocalypse-era reply to Springsteen's ‘Dancing In The Dark’ or Bowie’s ‘Modern Love’. I wrote it before the pandemic, but in anticipation of the need to live above and against the fire and brimstone, to forever fall in love with the natural world. “ - NYSSA
Close Talker, photo by Nicole Ens
By Will McGuirk
Its been a fine few days of music; starting with a livestream by Oshawa band, Dizzy, on Friday, and today getting a peek inside a possible new venue in Oshawa while shooting an episode of a new Bell Fibe TV 1 show on the Oshawa music scene, this episode starring Lindsey Schoolcraft. On the weekend I was working, selling records in the shop and chatting with customers about possibilities and projects.
This is my community, I am of it and in it and I am in it because of music because music culture, unlike sports, is not divisive, music unifies. Music creates space for conversation, not competition. Music is its own venue, its own channel, its own content. And music is at its best when it hears itself as art and not product. We are getting closer.
“The voice of the song is overwhelmed with questions - seeking answers in teachers, family, love. Exhausted and uncertain, the song arrives at the recognition that the voice itself is the vehicle for change and actualization.” - Luka Kuplowsky
“It's about missing people deeply because you realize that you need them more than anything.” - Close Talker
“It’s a song about something I struggle with, which is how I want to present my body to the world, especially as the only woman onstage most nights in our band.” - Libby Rodenbough, Mipso
“Every day, I picked up my acoustic guitar and wrote. I said something. It all felt urgent.” - Anthony da Costa
By Will McGuirk
Saleen and Chelsea Nolan are Equal. The two sisters have been playing together for most of their lives and they have now released the video for their debut single, “Deserve This”. Known for their harmonic acoustic sets around their home town of Oshawa, ON., this song sees them change direction, taking a turn into bedroom synth pop. The song echoes some of their favourite singers including Taylor Swift and the Stella sisters, Lennon and Maisy. The video is both charmingly cute and intriguingly complex, much like Equal. We had to know more. . .
Slowcity.ca: Tell me about the song, where was it recorded and who produced it, do you have any guests on the track?
Chelsea Nolan, Equal: “We actually recorded this during quarantine with our good friend Brian Gosling. Saleen and I sent vocals, a demo and some reference tracks and he took it to the next level. Produced, mixed and mastered- he absolutely nailed it. It was really interesting to work from my bedroom and send files back and forth and fine tuning it.”
SC: When did you move from acoustic to this stylish synth pop?
CN: “There was never a particular moment, I tend to just picture the production as I am writing the song. Sometimes I write more acoustic songs (which you will definitely hear in the future) and other times it changes to alternative or synthpop. I try not to box myself in a genre, especially because I'm a fan of so many genres of music and take inspiration from each one.”
SC: Where did the idea for the video come from and how was it executed?
CN: “I actually thought of the lyric video idea at 6am when I couldn’t sleep. It actually ties in with the official music video set to be released tomorrow at 12PM EST. I wanted the lyric video to be different then most and took a lot of inspiration from Taylor Swift's lyric video for "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." It took a day or so to write all of the sticky notes and I arranged them in a way I thought it would flow well. Since this was during quarantine, I filmed it myself. It was actually super funny because I was jumping on and off my bed, doing squats trying to get the best shots. It was quite the workout!”
By Will McGuirk
Self-described sad-dream pop makers Dizzy will be sending out the happy vibes as their new record drops Friday July 31. To celebrate the launch the Oshawa-based Juno winners will be live-streaming some songs from the album, titled ‘The Sun and Her Scorch” via online performance on Zoom from the upstairs at Kops Records in Oshawa.
Tickets for the show, which begins at 6 p.m. EST, are available for $5 through Sidedoor.ca with proceeds going to Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC). The band will also be doing a Q and A session.
‘The Sun and Her Scorch’ is available on Royal Mountain Records.
Kops Records is located at 156 Simcoe Street South and is open on Fridays until 7 p.m. However this is a private event and due to Covid-19 protocols the public will not be allowed into the upstairs area.
By Will McGuirk
2020 OMA Emerging Artist of the Award winners, Zaftig, have released a video for the track “Changes”. The song is from the ‘Flight of the Mingos’, the debut album from the Oshawa-based prog-rock three piece. The video was compiled from the band’s East tour of 2019 and hopefully at some point in the future they will be able to show us footage of a west coast tour.
Austra
By Will McGuirk
It can be mobility, but it can also be stability. One can find pleasure in place, in staying in place, one doesn’t lose face by not visiting place after place, one can still be face to face with the same face in the same place and find pleasure. For once it may be where you are and not where you are going that has priority. Be Here Now maybe.
HOWEVER. . . when one has to move one can do so with this brilliant track from Austra in the earbuds. Or better blasting from the car stereo of the Uber driver as you step determinedly into the back seat. Breaking up is hard to do they sing but easier with this track at your back.
“how we hurt people when we’re not taking care of ourselves. I was spiraling, anyone with a bit of care for me saw that and tried to say something but I was walling myself off to any real advice. Making an echo chamber of ‘you’re not doing anything wrong’. Nobody grows in an echo chamber.” - Liza Anne
“It's about a woman who loses everything in a game of cards narrated by the dealer who cheats her while taking advantage of her inability to stop playing. At the end of the song, the dealer nearly shows his humanity, turning away to hide the guilt of his actions. The video attempts to tap into the emotions the dealer attempts to hide - guilt, regret and consequent turmoil. - Paul Kasner
“This is a song about truly selfless love, and letting that person know what the kingdom they have created looks like. Purple beaches and violet skies, heavy storms but none of it matters. The palace is safe, and I’m happy to be in it.” - Patrick Krief
By Will McGuirk
Read Poe’s ‘The Maelstrom’, read ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis, listen to Okervil RIver’s ‘Away’ then listen and watch this video for “cardigan” from Taylor Swift’s new album, ‘folklore’
This is now and will be the same now for so many people, literally as we experience the planet getting wetter and metaphorically as we see ourselves struggling to stay above the stream of media.
Who isn’t adrift? Who isn’t lost, drowning, off-kilter, unbalanced in this flood of information, all of it so urgent, so demanding, and what are you going to cling to?
What is your raft?
Marshall McLuhan positioned an answer in his assertion art is where we need to aim for. Lets swim and reach out for art
For Taylor Swift, also adrift, her raft is art.
By Will McGuirk
Reach out but don’t touch yet, stretch out to feel but don’t feel anything yet. . . do you feel comfortable in your skin, out in your skin among other skins. . . didn’t you feel more comfortable inside when you interacted with the world online. . . where, when skin didn’t matter. . . ready for that space again, ready to retreat further inside and leave the outside out there. What has changed? You have changed.
By Will McGuirk
Anyone missing festivals? Oh, man! For the past decade or more I’ve had the wonderful fortune of attending Mariposa in Orillia, Hillside in Guelph, River & Sky in Field, Harvest in Midlothian, and more. This year zip. Its ok, it has to be, its the right thing but man do I ever miss the camaraderie, the vibe, the serenity, the laughs, love, and the music, oh, the music, there’s nothing quite like songs in the outdoors, leaning on a old old tree listening to songs with roots older than that tree, thats the folk, thats heritage, thats why it works and of all of them Mariposa is the oldest, the grand dame. This year was to the 60th anniversary of the fest and John Prine to be headlining. Yah so sad on so many levels. But Mariposa like others is pivoting and there is now an online Mariposa. So celebrate, support, subscribe, get on board, sign up and listen in and see you next year.
Join the mailing list here: https://mariposafolk.com/contact-us/
Donate here: https://mariposafolk.com/support-mariposa/