>>PREVIEW
AZEDA BOOTH
Saturday, March 31
HiFi Club
–
Friday, April 6
Re-Store (All-ages)
Regardless of whether there is a harsh swell or soft ebbing in Azeda Booth’s waves of noise, audience members are captivated. Perhaps it’s the seamless interlocking of musical elements that appears simple and at times contradictory, or the aura of intense calm that radiates from the bodies on stage. The chemicals added are unknown but the reaction is pleasantly volatile.
When the Calgary experimental/ambient/pop sextet drew the blueprints for their debut disc, Mysterious Body, the pile of potential tracks to build from was exactly five, according to founding members Jordon Hossack and Morgan Greenwood.
"They were only the tracks that we’d done that we were totally happy with and they were the only five tracks that fit together and they were the only five tracks that we did totally in a collaborative effort," vocalist and guitarist Hossack explains.
The culmination of that effort is a deliciously eerie set of tracks that spellbinds with subtle charm. The CD vacillates between moments where you feel as though you’re eavesdropping on someone else’s intimate conversation and an electronic atmosphere ripe with tension, ready to explode in slow motion. Mysterious Body manages to encapsulate and evoke a wide range of emotions.
"We felt like it might have been a fluke. The whole CD is a series of happy accidents that we didn’t plan – especially the cool parts. Those were accidents and we like them but it wasn’t because of talent. He (Greenwood) is a talented guy and I like to think I’ve got a couple tricks in my pants, but it wasn’t because of talent," Hossack continues. "And we figured that that was the only time that would happen in our lives."
With the addition of four other creative forces to the original duo, the band has continued to bloom in the most delightful manner. Though the newer members aren’t featured on the recorded product, they feel strongly connected to the material they now both contribute to and shape live.
"I feel really strongly about the songs and I feel like when we play them live, they are my songs," says bassist Myke Atkinson.
Multi-instrumentalist Marc Rimmer adds, "It’s become our baby just as much as it has Morgan’s and Jordon’s."
The sense of shared contribution, regardless of a song’s genesis, is proving to be one of the band’s best traits. The band is able to cast egos aside and swap instruments with one another as creative impulses happen.
"Everyone is pretty willing to give up their instrument, to try something new," Atkinson elaborates. "You have to learn people’s boundaries and it all works out. There’s that hesitancy towards it, but in the end it’s all worked out for the best."
Guitarist Chris Reimer sums up the challenge quite succinctly by responding to the oft-made comment that bandmates are like girlfriends. "It’s like having four girlfriends and trying to build a statue with your four girlfriends out of something that hasn’t been invented yet. It’s like, ‘I’ve got cheese and concrete, let’s do this.’"
Despite the odd construction materials, Mysterious Body capably sets a sonically sound foundation for Azeda Booth to build whatever structure they may envision. |
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