Preview
MALCOLM BAULD
Saturday January 15
Night Gallery
Tuesday, February 1
Broken City
"The Frenetics are pretty much finished," says the band’s former frontman, Malcolm Bauld.
This will probably come as a blow to fans. After five years of pumping out solid punk rock from their homebase in Montreal and releasing Grey Veins To the Parking Lot (one of the best albums of 2004), the band’s breakup seems to come at the peak of their musical success. According to Bauld, their bass player Alex Seliger decided to leave band life to get married and have kids. After working their way through five bassists in five years Bauld and drummer Anne Gauthier decided it was time to move on.
"We looked at the options – finding someone new – and realized that we would kind of be going through the same old thing," says Bauld. "We had really tough times when we had to have lineup changes in the past, as far as losing momentum, and I think both of us were ready to try something new."
The good news is that Bauld, instead of hanging up his guitar, is taking the show on the road in solo form. Before breaking up, The Frenetics had planned to tour Europe with Winnipeg’s Greg MacPherson and Bauld had already booked time off work, thus the solo tour. He has been playing one-man shows sporadically since he moved to Montreal a few years back, but for this tour Bauld has recorded demos and worked up a set that mixes acoustic and electric guitar with piano and harmonica. If it sounds like this punk is trading nightclub living for the folk-festival circuit, that’s only partially correct. He may offer a stripped-down sound, but Bauld is looking to follow in the footsteps of one of his punk rock heroes.
"Billy Bragg is the strongest influence as a guitar player," he says. "I remember seeing him when I was 13 years old…. Even at that young age, I thought his guitar looked a little different and sounded a little different from all the other people who were performing.
"He is somebody that I continually reference because he managed to communicate songs and ideas that were very similar, in his early material, to the punk rock of that time, but still was full sounding and interesting to listen to, even though there was only one instrument."
For Bauld, stripping down his sound has proved challenging. After playing with a band as loud as The Frenetics, Bauld was used to relying on sheer volume to keep the audience’s attention. He has refined his sound and come to grips with his new performance technique.
"I had a friend of mine tell me, ‘You’re still playing like you are with a band,’" he says. "It’s difficult because people are used to seeing you play with different people, but there is a tradition in folk music – it works with just a guitar. I have definitely become aware of that as I have gone on."
And while Bauld is taking the stage solo, he isn’t completely alone. He will be making this western swing with Billy the Kid, from Billy and the Lost Boys, who is embarking on a solo tour of her own. While the idea of crossing the Prairies during a frigid Canadian winter may seem like an endurance trial rather than a rock tour, Bauld is quick to point out that there are positive aspects to balance the negative.
"We’re not gonna have a lot of competition and hopefully once everyone is comfortable they’re not gonna want to go bar hopping when it is 20 below," he says. "(And) after lugging so much gear around for so long, it’s nice to do it in a small vehicle."
Indeed, trading in the heavy-duty Ford Econoline van for a rented two-door is going to make this tour cheap on gas and less logistically challenging, but that isn’t what Bauld is most looking forward to.
"After playing loud, noisy punk music for so long, I want to play something that is lower key. But I have a lot of songs that are high energy, too."
CELEB TOP FIVE
The Top Five things Malcolm Bauld is looking forward to on his solo tour:
1. No band fights.
2. No hauling around the Marshall 4x12.
3. Dim sum at Buddha’s Veggie Restaurant in Calgary.
4. Seeing his brand-spanking new nephew in Edmonton.
5. Playing the old covers. "I haven’t had a chance to play covers in five years really. I have about 10 of them (including "What’s so Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" by Elvis Costello and "Stop, In the Name of Love" by the Supremes) I really love playing." |
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