>>PREVIEW
YOUNG GALAXY
Thursday, June 14
Liberty Lounge (MRC)
It’s rare that a live band sounds exactly like it does in the studio. Between amps that have been loaded into a hundred clubs, road-battered instruments and an army of soundmen who put their own spin on the mix, usually the only place you can get the record is on the record.
This fact is especially true for Montreal’s Young Galaxy and the shimmering dream pop on their self-titled debut. Before the band hit the studio it was a duo, but now, in true Arts & Crafts style, their membership has swelled to six. Now, as Young Galaxy crosses the continent on their first major North American tour, they’re revelling in how their sound has evolved.
"Ultimately, the true test of a band is how it interprets the music live," says guitarist and vocalist Stephen Ramsay. "Given that we kind of did things in reverse with this band, because we made the record first and then put the band together, we felt really eager to get out and make the most representative version of the band as quickly as possible."
Young Galaxy originally came together a few years back in Vancouver, when Ramsay teamed up with longtime friend and now romantic leading lady Catherine McCandless. "We attempted to write songs together, but nothing fully congealed until we were involved with each other because then it was just an obvious by-product of the amount of time we were spending together." That was the start of Young Galaxy, but it wasn’t till the pair relocated to Montreal that the band really began to take shape.
In that musical hotbed, Ramsay and McCandless not only met other like-minded artists, but found an environment where they could both devote themselves to music. They spent time as touring members of Stars and that contact soon led to a contract with super indie label Arts & Crafts. With songs and label support, there was only one more thing they needed – an album.
"The making of the record itself was a risk, given that we were relatively inexperienced musicians," says Ramsay. "Catherine had never been in a band before. That really began the context for what taking risks was all about."
Armed with Vancouver-recorded demos, the pair hit the studio with producer Jace Lasek, shoegazer extraordinaire from The Besnard Lakes. With help from Lasek’s bandmates and an appreciation for old-school recording techniques, Lasek and Ramsay were able to bring songs that had been germinating for years. "We tried to make it dense," says Ramsay. "We tried to obscure some of the overtly sweet or immediate things about it because we enjoy certain esthetics."
Balancing simple pop melodies with a keen ear for texture proved to be the key. The driving hook of the album’s single "Outside the City" is tempered with a wash of swirling guitar white noise. The epic album opener "Swing Your Heartache" builds to an understated climax before hand claps and an a cappella refrain turn it into an indie-rock gospel tune. Still, for all the work they put in at the studio, Ramsay says the lyrics were equally as challenging.
"We’re trying to provoke people to think about what they are hearing and even if they don’t agree with it, they at least have something to say about it. It’s about a conversation."
Once the final touches were put on the album, Young Galaxy then had to find a way to bring those songs to life onstage. When their label offered them a slot opening for The Dears, they accepted, but it meant putting a band together under serious time constraints. They got lucky. After recruiting drummer Patrick Sayers from Tricky Woo, Ramsay and McCandless discovered several of their friends were not only musically inclined, but interested in joining their band. This new lineup has been together since December and while it took Young Galaxy a few shows to find its legs, Ramsay says the results now are even better than he imagined.
"We were able to painstakingly create this patchwork vision, like a larger picture from small, small pieces over time," he says. "It’s much easier once you have a band together. The momentum picks up when you are able to do things as a group as opposed to just you and one other person." |
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