North by East West: Music on the Rock

MUSIC ON THE ROCK

by Rozalind MacPhail

photo credit: Mark Bennett

This place is a buzzin' as Newfoundlanders from the mainland head home for Christmas. It's pretty normal to be invited to more than one show per evening in this town but now I have four or five shows to attend each night. It's a good thing that all the clubs are so close to one another.

Last night, The Scope had their 'Best Of 2009' event which included performances by The Novaks, Chris Kirby, The Class War Kids, The Dardanelles, The Once, Kujo and Atlantis Music Prize winner, Curtis Andrews. The Atlantis Music Prize is like the Polaris Music Prize of Newfoundland. Curtis Andrews won for his fantastic world jazz album, The Offering of Curtis Andrews which includes a number of St. John's finest instrumentalists. I'll be interviewing Curtis for my next post so stay tuned!

Interview with Jody Richardson of the Pathological Lovers

Anyone involved in the St. John's music scene is familiar with captivating frontman Jody Richardson and the energetic live madness of the Pathological Lovers. They are a local favourite and are consistently mentioned as one of the best live shows to catch in town. Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta! claims that PT are one of his favourite bands on the rock. Jody was recently voted as 'Best Rock Star' in The Scope's 'Best of 2009' issue. Dashiell Brown of The New Spin gives us a visual of Jody, describing him as "an intense man [who] creeps up and hunches intently over the microphone like he’s ready to eat and attack it and his eyes burn a mark right on you—whoah, he’s intense, the “hunchback” of George St. United Church."

The Pathological Lovers have just released their highly anticipated full-length album, Calling All Favours and their CD release party happens tonight (Dec 18th) at the Rock House with BUNG playing a special reunion set. Make sure to get there nice and early if you want to get in. Advance tickets are already sold out. Starts at 10:30pm. Tickets $15 at the door.

1. You're just about to release your highly anticipated debut CD, Calling All Favours. Can you tell us a bit about the album?

Ross Murray, who worked with me on the Fur Packed Action album, Dull Thud of Fur, came down from Chelsea, Quebec . He brought mics and stuff, we rented a load of gear from Don Ellis and put together an outboard studio at Grant’s (PL keyboardist) house in Bay Bulls. We recorded for 2 weeks and then Grant and I worked on the rest of the album in my basement for a few months. Learned a lot and looking forward to putting that new knowledge to work on the next band recordings.

2. Any memorable recording experiences you wish to share with us?

Dave Rowe’s (Rosie’s) BBQing, Alex’s 4 one-take drum performances, Grant’s incredible house/palace, actually hearing what Dave is playing on "101 Fictions", recording vocals with Grant, a moose in the back yard, blueberry picking and starting out days with smoothies, getting sick to my stomach from nerves every time we put a went to mix another song - with Ross Murray and Dave Bignell in Ottawa.

3. You have some gorgeous string arrangements in "Storm Your Little". Can you tell us a bit about who arranged them and who's playing?

Grant and I arranged the strings in Garage Band. Then Grant charted the pieces onto staff paper, which was no slack feat. The Atlantic String Quartet came in on the last day of recording in Bay Bulls and totally blew our minds. Most of their takes were perfect so we ended up stacking them to make a more orchestral feel. It was incredibly thrilling to have such good players pull off our first attempt at string parts. "Deck In Between" has the ASQ playing as well. There are three distinct parts playing at the same time in that tune so it gets really chaotic but they nailed it, of course. Also, the incomparable Patrick Boyle played on two of the songs. He had just had mouth surgery for a bad tooth, but Captain Professional pulled it off and gave us some fantastic work on "Sister Cities" and "101 Fictions".

4. Any exciting plans for the band in 2010?

Well, we are going to keep writing, do some limited touring, get our stuff set up for itunes and on-line purchasing and basically leave our first album in the dust. By the time the Juno’s show up in St. John’s , we should be in high gear with our new compositions and a dangerous live show. I’m hoping all the insanely good Newfoundland bands will take full advantage of the Eye of Sauron being cast our way.

5. What are your favourite live music venues in St. John's ?

Well, obviously the Ship and the Rockhouse but a good piece of our hearts belong to CBTG’s even though it’s so goddamn cramped on stage. Sandy and the staff make the place as special as it is.

6. What's your favourite thing about the St. John's music scene?

The quality and quantity.

Any dislikes?

Crowds come out so late.

7. Favourite Newfoundland food/drink?

Moose meat in my Goulash. Dominion Ale. (And obviously fresh cod during the food fishery)

8. What's the most wacky thing that's ever happened to you at a show in St. John's?

One time the cops shut down a show for 15 minutes because they searching for a guy who stabbed someone with a fork. The police came up on stage afterwards, apologized and then leaned into the mic and shouted, “Okay, keep rockin’!”

9. Favourite Newfoundland artists/bands?

Lizband, Black Bags, AM/FM Dreams, Mercy the Sexton, Two Guitars Clash, The Domestics, Kujo, Local Tough, Gienus, Ron Hynes, Quiet Elephant, Dan Trouble, Sherry Ryan, Joe Belly, Jill Porter, Maggie Meyer, Hey Rosetta!, Dwayne and Curtis Andrews, Mightypop, Exit Party, Danny Keating, Jon Hynes, Gramercy Riffs, Mudflowers, Ye Yeti, Paddy Barry, Neil Conway, Ian Foster, The Wolves, The Reluctant Showmen, The Satans, Other People, Nuke Neck, Jerry Stamp, The Once, Sean Panting, Roundelay, Japan Batteries, Rick Lambe, Jigger, Picco and all other bands I haven't mentioned.

10. Favourite albums of 2010?

We’ll see, I guess.

11. St. John's needs:

More money.

12. Favourite things to do on a snow day...

Jam high, get further on a new song, watch South Park, read the news, eat at Tina and Mark’s, hang out with Ally (my uber-daughter), walk Ziggy and sleep next to Jordan.

13. Any advice you would give to bands who are just starting out?

Give a shit and others will too.

Visit the Pathological Lovers online:

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/thepathologicallovers

You Tube: Video of PL playing at the Rock House