PreviewW
OX
Sunday, December 12
Liberty Lounge
Some bands dream about the road. Some sample it. Some avoid it. Mark Browning, mastermind behind the Vancouver band Ox, can’t escape it. Literally. The road devours so thorough a portion of his time that he hasn’t had a home address in over three years.
"I always knew that the definition of rock ’n’ roll is being on the road. Being someone who believes in rock ’n’ roll, the minute they decide that’s what they want to do they have to accept it. There’s going to be some sacrifice. People all over the world sacrifice for what they believe in," says Browning from a stop in Vancouver after yet another string of gigs.
"To me that’s what it means to be an indie band. In this genre and doing what we’re doing, singing what we sing, you have to live it. (For example) you can’t put on the clothes of the MC5 and be MC5. You have to live it. You’ve got to suffer – going on the road, doing shows, getting paid where everything goes into the gas tank, eating what (you) can, not for three weeks but for three years."
In Browning’s case, sacrificial lambs include day jobs, family time, girlfriends, eating and sometimes even dry clothing. But Browning never sacrifices his vision or passion, which is why Ox’s first album, Dust Bowl Revival, hitchhikes such a sweetly haunting back road. When he toured through Calgary a few years back, he had unmixed versions of the recording. Blessedly, the production process polished the diamond without sacrificing the rough.
"I was really doing things in an anything goes philosophy which is kind of how the whole record was made. It was like, who cares if it’s mixed? The idea about the whole record was it was meant to sound unfinished in the first place. I released it independently and it kind of blew up everywhere and early this summer it was re-released by Maximum music in Vancouver." The album is currently being distributed by Universal.
Admitting Dust Bowl Revival’s notoriety and popularity make it a bit of a demon to follow up, Browning says its common themes stretch into his current songs. This forms bridges for his deserved fan base, gained during Ox’s Canadian and three U.K. tours over the past couple of years. While the drummer has changed and the keyboardist-vocalist is on sabbatical to raise her new baby, the band’s constants remain campgrounds and couches, stolen weeks and Laundromats.
Not surprisingly, Ox’s firmest plans centre around music – specifically recording. Around Christmas time the band will be back in the same studio where they recorded Dust Bowl, working once again with producer Chon.
"We’ll be in the studio Christmas Eve. I don’t know how it’s going to affect me. Is it going to make me blue or is it going to energize me?" |
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