>>PREVIEW
WOODPIGEON
With Aaron Booth, Jane Vain & The Beautiful Creep Cabaret and visuals by Joe Kelly
Saturday, October 28
Engineered Air Theatre (Epcor)
Each time Mark Hamilton tries to describe where his songs come from (even though the question isn’t really asked), he begins to describe how they’re already in him. Then, the affable front man and songwriter behind Woodpigeon instantly cracks up. His face contorts in anticipation of looking like a new age dork in front of his community of friends. He tries to articulate this several times, always with a soft-spoken "oh, don’t put that in," before clearing his throat for comedic effect and correcting himself, "I mean, put whatever you want in."
When he laughs, his whole face lights up. Somewhere between his introspective music and gentle demeanour, Hamilton definitely has an orphan vibe going on. Involuntarily holding on to a loneliness that he’s been unable to shake since having his heart broken by a Scottish lad, strong emotions bleed into his music. It’s all poetically documented on Woodpigeon’s Songbook, the Calgary band’s full-length debut on Edmonton’s Rectangle Records (distributed by Universal). Songbook crosses an expressive spectrum from quiet hymns to fun and quirky pop tunes. Everything originates from Hamilton’s personal journal.
"It’s hard to sing it in front of people sometimes," he admits. He describes the embarrassment of singing deeply personal lyrics to audiences occasionally including unrequited crushes. Still, he says, it’s typical form for pop music.
"I always think the best pop music in the world is the most heartbreaking. A lot of early Beatles stuff is about getting turned down, like, being in love with a girl and her not liking you back. A lot of pop music is absolutely miserable, but maybe it’s the only way to get over it?
"(As for) my little problems, it has helped me at least document them, know how to write them down and acknowledge them. It’s weird to think about because it’s not a conscious thing that you’re doing. I’m not thinking oh so-and-so really hurt me last week, let’s write a pop song about him."
With thousands of hearts breaking in secret everyday, practically anyone can relate to Woodpigeon’s songs. Fans affectionately share their appreciation after live performances.
"One person told me that they were really sad about something," says Hamilton. "They were crying and driving home from Edmonton and somehow my voice led them home. That’s very nice. Stuart Murdoch (Belle and Sebastian) does that for me… he does the same sort of longing thing, but in a much smarter way."
Perfectly suited for intensely confessional lyrics, Hamilton’s hushed vocal style is backed by powerhouse choral vocals and mighty instrumentation. An orchestra of lively misfits, Woodpigeon predominantly consists of music geeks from the CJSW disc jockey family. Country and western gentleman Daren Powell gives an entirely spirited personality to the drum kit. Jazz aficionado Kenna Burima is the whisky-voiced chanteuse behind the keys. Lovably lanky indie rocker Peter Moersch joins Hamilton on guitar; intuitive and melodic bass playing comes from sound engineer Michael Gratton. Flanking each side of Hamilton are the tremendously vibrant vocalists Annalea Sordi and A.J. Giesbrecht.
"The girls give me confidence because they have such beautiful voices. If they tell me that they like what I’m doing, then I feel good," he says. "Annalea and A.J. are two of the sweetest, most loving people I know. Annalea lives (with me), so she hears everything first. She hears them as I’m writing them. If she comes out of her room and says ‘what is that you’re doing, I really like that,’ then that’s cool. The next time we play, we figure it out on the piano."
All three ladies in the band bestow a unique hymnal quality to the vocal parts for an almost sacred and solemn effect. It’s no accident. Hamilton is a huge fan of hymns and finds them suitable vehicles to convey heavy emotions that aren’t able to be reconciled in real life. In unreleased demos electronically sent to friends late at night, you can almost hear his heart shatter in tidy three-minute songs. That’s the thing about Hamilton. He can find the tragic beauty in having your heart trashed and set it to a pretty tune within 20 minutes.
"Yeah, I ripped off a hymn. ‘A Hymn for Two Walks’ is the hymn ‘Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.’ I adapted it. I gave it new words, made the arrangement and made it a gay love story," he chuckles. "It’s my own spiritual thing, I guess. I’m not a religious man, but I’m very much in love with hymns. I think they’re the most beautiful songs. They’re very simple. I think they’re the first pop songs too, because they started writing hymns at a time when other music would be concertos and they were writing these two minute songs. They can be made into pop songs. We made one into a seven minute pop song."
While Woodpigeon’s take on music is not everyone’s cup of tea, Hamilton has a very set idea about what he wants the band to be. He’s enthusiastically pursued the talent of visual artist Joe Kelly to help set the mood for live shows. Hamilton is not about to change anything to recruit new fans. He’s happiest fighting for his unique vision and what he believes in musically.
"My main concern is making music that I like and that the people in the band like. That makes us happy. I’m not interested in changing or doing anything different based on an audience that we’re not getting. There’s enough people that like this kind of thing. My thing is that I would never change anything based on the idea of getting more people to listen to it."
He sighs with a wistful smile before adding, "I just want to make beautiful records." |
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