The thrill of the stage

For anyone who has ever had the opportunity to perform for a live audience, you will understand what I mean by the thrill of the stage. It is a feeling like no other to bare your all and pour your heart, sweat and tears into a song. That thrill is brought to a whole new level when the crowd truly gets involved and starts to sing along.

We’ve been fortunate enough to play a few of those shows lately where the audience knows the words as well as I do. It’s on those nights where you can almost feel an electrical charge in the room – the energy that a crowd can create when they are into what you are playing is a pure high, the best drug you can find in my opinion. You can’t buy it, it and it won’t happen every night, but once you’ve experienced it you’re hooked. This is why we keep doing it. Forever in search of the feeling we can only get when connecting with our audience.

We played a great set last night at the Vancouver Celtic Fest, and were joined on stage by some very talented traditional artists. Fiddle, flute, viola and accordion to be exact. This was a whole new energy on stage as we had these musicians jamming out on our songs and adding a beautifully eclectic layer of sound to the show. We found a new high. Music is amazing. Do your self a favour and go catch a live show sometime soon. Look up what bands are coming to town and choose one. Get up front and close to the stage, and let yourself be in the moment. Enjoy it for what it is, and just maybe, you will experience that high you can only get when you lose yourself to the music.

In thinking of all this, I was reminded of one of our all-time favourite shows, right here in Vancouver at the fabled Commodore Ballroom. The show was sold-out, and the audience was magical. I swear you can feel what I am talking about just by watching this clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaU-FmIaz1s&feature=related

Enjoy the weekend everybody,

Matt L.

All the Rave

A few years back we used to go to raves.  Well….not all of us…..but a few of us in the group.  We didn’t go every weekend, but we went enough that we got to know some of the fanatics in Vancouver’s scene and we became pretty familiar with a bunch of the local DJ’s who were making headwaves around the world.  I never really felt like I fit in, but the crowd of people that we used to see were some of the nicest people that I have ever met.  Mind you, they were all fucked up on whatever pill was available that night….but they were nice enough.

Now I have been playing music since high school, and had been to plenty of rock shows prior to my first rave….but there was something alluring about the whole techno movement to me.  I was into partying, and it seemed like this crowd knew how to have a good time.  More than anything….these people were PASSIONATE about the music! 

Which brings me to this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2f3uuLLow&feature=related

Watch from 1:00-2:15.  The sound is the shits, and you have to ignore Tiesto’s incessant yelling into the microphone (you’re a DJ, not a hype guy).  But that is a crowd….and they go off!!!  Forget the drugs….forget the fact that it’s one guy mixing electronic sounds and sampling other songs….this video shows why this music works!  That is why more than 100,000 people flock to Florida every March for the Ultra Music Festival.

It’s that moment when the beat drops…..when the DJ has worked the crowd into a frenzy, teasing the release, then building the song up and up until it can’t get any higher…..then BAM!!  The beat kicks in and you can’t help but move!  You’re body won’t physically allow you to stay still! 

Now don’t get me wrong…..my heart is all about rock and songwriting and playing the guitar, and I honestly can’t stomach much techno on a day to day basic (I heard a joke once -  Q: what did the raver say when his/her drugs wore off??  A: This music sucks!).  But I can’t question the electronica scene and the millions who love it.  Just like there’s things that a band can do live that a DJ will never be able to emulate, there are also things that you can do musically with a turntable that a band will never be able to emulate.

If you haven’t experienced a GREAT DJ in a live setting….then you have to give it a shot!  You may hate me for suggesting it….but you may just thank me for it.

M2

PS – The Ultra Music Festival happens every year in Miami, Florida.  I didn’t even know that it existed until it was brought to my attention by Bob Lefsetz – the Pope of music blogging.  As it stands, the 2012 edition (happening next week) is already sold out, with pre-sale tickets selling out in 20 minutes!  I’ve never been, but one day I want to go just to experience it.

Worth the watch.

I don’t have alot to blog about this week. Well, that’s not entirely true… Studio & writing sessions, off to Toronto next week for CMW, summer booking up very fast with great shows/festival dates…

But all I want from you people this week is to watch this.

Seriously. Watch it if you haven’t. It’s not just that these girls are insanely talented, nor is it just about how persecution almost sunk the band. It’s not just about how the ‘taking the long way’ record is one of the best albums I’ve ever heard because of where the songs came from, nor is it because of all the incredibly awesome people who are involved in this thing. It’s not about any of those things… It’s about all of them and so much more. You don’t have to like them to appreciate this film. It gives incredible insight into how this business is and how delicate fame can be, it exposes so much how $$ drives how art is made / played and heard and it shows how passion, perseverance, conviction and belief in yourself is the truest road to success.

Watch it.

G

Summer Festivals – Summer Daze

Recently I was visiting with our good friends Tamara & James down at the 100.5 The PEAK FM’s studios, and amidst all the laughs and cookies… yes cookies – note to all aspiring bands, radio DJ’s take bribes. They don’t always work, but they will gladly take them…. Anyhow, amidst all of that, I learned that The PEAK is giving away tickets to Coachella. Hot Damn! While I sat there in studio, the phone rang no fewer than 18 times with people trying to win. Apparently you have to listen for a certain song by an artist performing at Coachella, and then be the 1st caller in. They never played the song while I was there, so clearly these listeners were keen on winning!

So I started day-dreaming about playing at some of these festivals with my own band, as they truly are synonymous with summer. We’ve had the pleasure of playing at several big festivals here in BC, most notably at last year’s Live At Squamish festival. This multi-day, outdoors event is much like Coachella, where most folks rough it in tents or RV’s, sun tan all day while checking out some newer bands, refresh in the beer gardens or back at their campsites, then head back off on the pilgrimage to the main stage for the evening’s big headliners.

We were selected to play on the Friday evening last year on the 2nd stage, which was a real treat as we got to use Metric’s backstage trailer. A small, but welcome luxury when you are driving all day. By the end of the set, we really did not want to leave, but sadly, we had to drive right through the night all the way to Fernie, to perform at the Wapiti festival. We were set to play with Said The Whale, Library Voices, Sun Wizard and Elliot Brood, the very next day. That drive was a real blur, but the festival was superb, and we were once again finding ourselves in that other worldly haze of festival life.

Festivals are special for the bands in that you get to hang out with the other artists, catch up with friends from home or the road, get fed, get fed free beers, and you usually get to watch some sweet bands yourself. This was much the case backstage at Wapiti as we had dinner and drinks with Said The Whale and Sun Wizard, but as luck would have it, we had to hop in the van just as Elliot Brood was taking the stage, to head back to Squamish. That’s right, back to play at the Green Couch Sessions/Barber Shop Stage at Live At Squamish on the Sunday. Which meant we had driven all the way across the province, back and forth, while playing 3 shows, in two days. Needless to say, we were truly in a daze by the time we got to Squamish for the 2nd time.

I remember it well though, as my parents and some family visiting from England came up to see us play. I excitedly gave them the tour of the festival grounds that my all-access musician’s pass allowed, and we watched Black Mountain, while members of Metric and Weezer were mere feet away. Later on, after a few beers and a veggie dog, we played our set to a packed, sweaty crowd that really got going in the blazing afternoon sun. And our ‘work’ was done. Finally we could rest! With our last set of the weekend over, we were able to just enjoy the last night of the festival, and after all the travel, that’s all I had on my mind. I just wanted to immerse myself in the crowd, and into the excitement and energy of just being there, and it reminded me of the festivals I grew up going to as a young music fan. The Gorge, Edgefest, Warp Tour…. It is truly the people, and the environment created by the festival organizers that make the events special. The bands just provide the soundtrack.

I was lucky enough to watch Weezer from the photographer’s pit right at the very front of the stage, but after 4 songs I moved into the crowd so I could sing along with everyone else. That was something I won’t soon forget. Weezer was a band I grew up loving, but one that I hadn’t listened to much in the past decade. This didn’t matter one bit as they played a perfect set, allowing us all to feel connected as an audience. Everyone sang, everyone danced, the stars were shining up above, and by the end of it, I had made lots of new friends with whom I had shared this experience.

Ah summer. You can be such a stranger for most of the year. I am typing this while I peer out the window at Vancouver’s snow-capped mountains, and we just played in Whistler last weekend. I even took in a day of snowboarding on the hill. I guess that you, and your ritual of the summer music festival are still a few pages off in my trusty notebook calendar. But the anticipation is already building…..

M1

Delta Spirit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI8gUjQSgPQ

I got turned on to Delta Spirit a few months back by our singer Matt L.  I remember the first time I heard them – I was half asleep on the bench of our tour van on the way back home from a show in Eugene, Oregon.  We must have been almost at Seattle…..I was hungover as fuck and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep on the bench.  See the night before was one wild night.  We had showcased at an Arts Conference in Eugene infront of a bunch of talent buyers.  The show was great, but the real fun began when we stumbled across the buyers at the bar after the show.  It happened to be karaoke night, and these fine folks from all across the Western USA were letting loose…..and we were more than happy to join right in.

But I digress….the van ride was one of those 9 hour trips where you just can’t wait to get where you’re going.  We were all a mess, the van was a mess, we were 5 hours in and we’d run out of stuff to talk about…..and then suddenly I heard this tune on the radio.  Some songs you just hear and you know that you like them.  It doesn’t happen that often, but when it does you know it.  It took me hearing 5 seconds of ’White Table’ and I was sold.  The drums were pulsating….the guitar hook was everything I wanted it to be….and the singer was delivering this message that I was eating up.

“Torn in two, battered and scarred, I’ll give you my love but not my heart.  Tattered and worn, battered and bruised, I’ll give you my love but it won’t be true.”

Wow….fuck me.  These guys are the real deal.  And they’d released 2 albums prior to History from Below.  How had I not heard of these guys??  Turns out they’re a big part of the whole ‘Laurel Canyon’ scene in California that also spawned Dawes and Deer Tick.   Not bad company.  It’s just great music….no effects….no gimmicks….just honest tunes that also happen to rock.  These guys aren’t concerned about their genre or how they fit into today’s popular music scene…..they’re just making honest music that is as catchy and relatable as anything I’ve heard in a while.  They give me hope for music…..they give me hope for our band…..and they give me hope in life.

If you’re in Vancouver (or anywhere in North America for that matter) go and see these guys.  They’re about to kick off a massive tour and they’ll be in our town on May 6.  I for one cannot wait to see these guys live…..and I hope I’ll see you there.
M2

Here goes something (from the burbs to world class)

You love your favorite band. You know that band that you discovered before the rest of the world did. The one you told all your friends about before the band was cool.  You can say you had the records before the record that broke them.  Before they had to write the record that outsold the first popular record – yeah that watered down gimmicky one (insert kings of Leon comment here). Remember how as soon as that band got big and started considering alot more factors than just making good music when they put a record together – & you kinda lost that connection? 
Alternately, there are those bands who just get cooler as they go and they manage to sell more records as well( see foo fighters & ray lamontagne).  Bands who just get better, cooler and more like they are… It’s a different type of evolution - 

Well shit, I’m not saying that the matinee is by any means your favorite band or anything (presumptuous aren’t I?) but you all know us and we sure aren’t famous yet so you can all say you knew us when right?  

Here we sit at The world class Armory studios with world class gear and a world class engineer / producer working on the album (hopefully – please for fuck’s sake) that breaks our band in a big way. Listening to how our songs are changing as we work with a guy with a very broad background and diverse understanding of the musical landscape of the world is really something else. 

We have worked with some of the best that our city and scene has to offer. We have been made better by working with some of the most talented and hardworking people in town but this experience so far has been completely different. It’s not even an apples & oranges thing. It’s more than that. So many of the steps are the same but the whole experience is on a different plane. It’s such a treat to be a part of & as we learn the differences between this and our previous experiences, hopefully we augment not just our process but our attitudes, our understanding and our approach to what we do. 

I really hope that this ends up being an album that you can call your favorite someday. I hope that the next one is even better without us changing what we do or who we are. I truly hope that not changing but refining, defining and augmenting what we do will keep us relevant, popular and honest without changing who we are or why people dig what we do. 

Can’t wait for you to hear these songs. Some things are changing… Some may piss you off, some may make you very happy. I’m feeling very liberated by letting changes happen and not fighting for things just because I’m used to them.  

I really hope that you feel the same way as we do right now and embrace our development – and if not, tell us that we’ve changed and that we need to keep it realer. Dig?

Keep your eyes out for new songs at shows and for us to post updates on when you can expect to hear new stuff. 
And please, tell us what makes you like us now and what you want from us as we move forward. We love that you like us and want to keep this good thing going. 

Much love (kiss face)
Geoff

Entering the studio. Enter the dragon. Enter the producer.

As we excitedly head into Vancouver’s fabled Armoury Studios this weekend to track a few songs with highly regarded producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Tragically Hip, Faith No More), I thought I would visit some of my favorite albums by way of who produced them. As you may well be aware, when a producer enters the studio, they can have a huge impact on the outcome of the recording, and some producers have built their career on a ‘sound’ that they can achieve. Just think of what Metallica’s career might have been like, had Bob Rock not found THE SNARE sound for the black album.
Here are my Top 5:

George Martin – ‘Abbey Road’ by The Beatles – Put on the headphones and appreciate what Mr Martin was doing, all analogue at the time.

Rick Rubin – ‘American Recordings’ – by Johnny Cash – Sometimes it’s about a producer’s instincts. This album is sparse, but magical.

T Bone Burnett – “Raising Sand’ – by Robert PLant & Alison Krauss – T Bone has such a unique way of layering songs, and gets some of the best guitar tones.

Bob Ezrin – ‘The Wall’ – by Pink Floyd – The soundscapes that Bob & Roger Waters achieved take you on a journey, and the production is integral to telling the story. The album was written, and produced with the live show in mind from the very start.

Steve Berlin – ‘Phantom Power’ – by The Tragically Hip – What can I say? A classic album by an iconic band, but this album sounded different than any of their other material. And this is who we are working with this weekend!

 
Let the fun begin ; )

 
M1.

Live @ VENUE – From the Stage

On February 18 we had the opportunity to play our first show in Vancouver in nearly 3 months as we took the stage at VENUE.  Now first off, I’ve been to a number of shows at VENUE and have had the chance to play there before – although never with The Matinee.  We had expected to put 400 people in that room, and we had planned on keeping the balcony closed.  But as our showtime drew near, the promoter told us that we had more than 550 people in the room and they were forced to open the balcony to accomodate the crowd.  Wow….thank you all!  We honestly couldn’t believe how many people had turned out, and we were like kids in a candy store waiting to get the show started. 

Now I’ve read reviews of the show in the days following the gig, but I wanted to give my own review of the show – from my point of view on stage.  This isn’t in any way ‘the band’s’ review of the show….just my thoughts and feelings about the night from up there behind my guitar.

We started with L’Absinthe.  It’s become one of our ‘starting’ songs since the middle of last year (we played it first during our set at the Peak Performance Project Bootcamp – and have been doing it ever since).  I’ve always felt that your first song has to come out strong and grab everyone’s attention right off the bat.  It’s your first impression – and it lasts throughout the night – so it better be good.  I thought the song went well – we played it tight and seemed to have people stomping from the get go.  In the middle of the song, we bring down the music and M1 talks about the inspiration behind the lyrics of the song.  It’s a great down point, but in hindsight I don’t think we should have done the long ‘talking’ breakdown.  It seems to work better at other parts of the set, and I felt that it was too early to bring everything down…..like we lost a touch of the momentum.  But the song ended strong and we launched right into Sweetwater.

Sweetwater is a bit of an ‘ace up the sleeve’ song for us.  We know that we play it well, and it’s the kind of song that has the tempo and feel that always seems to get people moving.  We did the clapping/stomping breakdown as always….we had pondered changing that whole section up during rehearsals but we ended up missing some practices as Mike was really sick.  So we plowed through it like we normally do and I felt like we had the crowd on our side by the time we had finished.

Next up was Let Her Go – we did the normal breakdown and threw in a bit of ‘Old Man’ by Neil Young.  We’ve only done that breakdown a few times and it seemed to go over really well.  I mean, how does a little Neil Young not go over well?  It was also right around this point of the set that we all started to realize that our monitor mixes were way out of whack from they were during sound check.  We didn’t let it get us down, but I could feel that we were all struggling with hearing things at this point.  We try to be a strong vocal band, but there’s nothing worse than not being able to hear anyone else on stage, let alone yourself.  But every band has been there, and you can NEVER use that as an excuse.

After Let Her Go, we brought down the set and strung together 4 new songs – Pottery, Stoned the Roses,  Sauna Song, and ScooterFruit (all working titles!).  Looking back, we probably should have spread the new songs around a little better.  As is stands, the first 3 tunes were all mid to down tempo, and I felt a bit of a lull in the action as we made our way through this part of the set.  So much of our energy is fed from the audience, and I sensed that we may have lost a few people at this point.  I was also a little pissed at myself as my guitar chord got stuck under the pedal of my pedal steel during Pottery, resulting in some funky notes.  But things like that happen, and I was determined to not let it affect the rest of the show.  New songs are always interesting live….I could feel our focus turning more to our instruments – to make sure that we were playing and singing everything correctly.  There’s nothing that can be done about it really….other than playing the songs a million times and getting to that level of familiarity where you can just let go.  I did think that we played the new tunes well….I just felt like we could have arranged them a little differently in the set.

I felt that ScooterFruit – the last of the new songs – turned the tables around and won back over the audience.  It’s an upbeat rock song with a ‘quasi-psychadelic’ breakdown (I’m not going to lie – it is completely inspired by The Who!) that ends with a gnarly guitar solo.  I couldn’t help but play a little Freebird-esque riff to close the song out, and I felt that we nailed this song.  The energy was back where it needed to be, and we had long since forgotten the sound issues that I mentioned earlier.

We hadn’t thrown a cover in the set yet, and our second to last song was Grace, Too by The Hip.  This was the first time that we had ever played this song live, and I think it went over really well.  Picking a cover is a tricky thing.  We never want to play the obvious cover, but we still want to pick songs that people will recognize.  We had toyed around with the idea of a number of other songs at rehearsal, and Grace, Too was a real last minute decision.  We kept pretty true to the original version (had we had more rehearsal time I think we would have made it a little more ‘rootsy’) but I went way too long on the outro solo.  During rehearsals we had set ‘cues’ so that we all knew when were gonna segueway into another part.  Well….I took the baton and ran just a little too far with the outro solo!  We ended up going way longer than planned, but what the fuck….those things happen sometimes!  That’s what playing live is all about!

We ended off the set with The Road - one of those songs that we’ve played so many times live……I doubt I could fuck it up if I tried.  Like Sweetwater, we had toyed around with changing up the drum breakdown but we ended up going with what has worked in the past….and I feel like it was the right choice to end the night.  It has the familiarity factor (well at least to some people in Vancouver!) and our energy was top notch to end the set.  As important as it is to start the set properly….it’s just as important to end the set on the right note, and I think we did that with The Road.

Now when we left the stage, we honestly had zero intention of playing any sort of encore.  But we couldn’t believe how supportive people were (again….you are all amazing!) and we decided that we’d do one more.  As we walked back on stage, I thought that we should do a cover…..but the decision was made to do one of our old classics – Stomp.  It’s as good of an ending song as we have (after The Road) and we ripped into it having not played that song in months…..literally.  While it certainly wasn’t the tightest that we’ve played it as a band, there’s something to be said about coming back to a song months later and busting it out infront of an audience.  We all knew the parts….and we all knew how to make it rock….and I think it was the right choice to end the night.

After that, the lights were up and we had to tear down all of our stuff ASAP.  When we all sat down and chatted about things later that night, the biggest thing that we kept saying to each other was ‘Wow….that crowd was amazing!’  There’s always going to be mistakes, and nothing is ever going to run perfectly…..but we try our hardest to never let any of that stuff get us down.  Now we look forward to taking this show on the road in the very near future!

M2

The Hit List!!

Always more tired on Tuesday than I am on Monday…..what’s up with that?

I Can’t Stand It – The Hot Rats

Sweet Sour – Band of Skulls

Lonesome – Dr. Dog

Sixteen – The Heavy

Hallways – Islands

Leviathan – Mark Lanegan Band

Song for Love – Plants and Animals

St. Petersburg – Supergrass

-Peter

The Amazing Awesomeness of Music

So I got sick recently. Really, really sick. I had major infections in both ears and in my sinuses. It hurt like fucking crazy and I actually lost most of my hearing for three or four days. Whether you’re a musician or not, you’ll probably understand how panic-inducing that was. Especially as a musician, music is my life, and the thought of potentially losing my hearing was weighing on me intensely. I had to cancel a couple of shows, but there was a Matinee gig coming up that I wasn’t about to pass on. It was time to rehearse, regardless of my physical state.

I made my way to our jam room, painfully and with much effort. I hadn’t played a bass in over a week and due to my reduced hearing, and the last song I listened to before getting sick being Toto’s ‘Rosanna’, I’d had almost no musical input besides ‘meet you all the way, Rosanna yeah’ rolling through my head in a constant mess. My hearing was returning slowly, however, and I was feeling somewhat optimistic. So I turned on my amp, sat on top of it and plugged in my bass. I proceeded to play a low E to test my volume level, and just about fell off my amp. It felt like the whole damn earth was shaking beneath me! I felt that note resonate through my entire body. It was absolute ecstasy. The emotional release of both hearing and feeling that note, after days of hearing almost nothing, was intense and wonderful.

While my bandmates were setting up, I played everything I could think of. Big low notes, fast jazzy runs, tapping licks, even the bass line from Rosanna. I hadn’t felt such a visceral connection to my instrument in years. It was a difficult rehearsal but I felt so amazing afterward, despite my exhaustion. I hadn’t realized how tough the illness had been on my mind and my heart. One note was all it took to lift me back up.

I’ve always believed in the power of music. It certainly saved my life at one point, though that is a story for another day. I think that we sometimes forget how amazing music truly is… how much power it has to heal us, lift us, complete us. I had certainly started to gradually lose sight of it. I guess a little kick in the ass is required sometimes. And if a few simple notes can make someone so happy, then what about all of the amazing music out there… it’s fantastic beyond words!

Mike