Shows
It’s been kind of a wacky month for shows. I took on a last-minute opening slot last Friday at The Capital. It was a quiet night, but I’m always happy to play there under any circumstances. With just two bands on the bill I got to throw a few extra songs into the set that I haven’t played in a little while. Then a show scheduled for tonight at Boom had to be cancelled. Let’s just say there was some confusion about the scheduling.
52
52 Weeks. Artwork by Lisa Freeze.
But here’s what I’m really excited about. Next Saturday, Feb. 20, I’ll be joining Christian LeBlanc (of Kitty Smack) in Saint John for the release of his 52 Weeks CD at the Sunstar Lounge. Actually, in total there will be 6 different solo electronic acts, so this is bound to be a pretty wild and eclectic night of synthesizer music. I just think it’s so cool to see our little community rallying around Christian’s project, which I think is itself an impressive feat worth discussing.
At the end of 2008, Christian set out to record 52 demos over the course of 2009 — one song every week. They didn’t have to be perfect, polished, or even complete. The point, as I understand it, was to push himself as a songwriter and a producer without the pressure of having to record complete songs, EPs, albums, or whatever. I’m not a very prolific songwriter, so I find this to be an amazing undertaking. Personally, I tend to let self-doubt get in the way of getting things done a lot of the time. I agonize over whether or not people will hear my music the same way I do — it’s surprising sometimes how people will tell me they love songs that I thought were throw-aways, or feel indifferent towards songs that I actually put a lot of thought into and felt were very successful. But I guess it’s that subjectivity that makes music exciting sometimes.
Anyway, I’m also just happy to be playing in Saint John again. In the Das Radio days, we considered Saint John our second home and easily played some of our most memorable shows ever there. But things change, and as The Trick I think I’ve only ever played there a handful of times. Only twice in the last year, that I can recall. So I’m looking forward to seeing who, these days, will come out to an electronic show there.
Recording
As long as I’ve been playing instruments and writing music, I’ve been constantly recording. Every so often, I pick a bunch of those songs and try to make a CD out of it — usually, a home-made DIY affair. I originally planned to release an album late last year, but clearly that was a bit over-ambitious. The way things stand now, I expect to have an EP completed in the near future (sorry, I’m not ready to get more specific just yet) and then we’ll see where that goes. So far, I know it will have at least 5 songs, and possibly as many as 8. More info soon…
