Pierre-Paul Pariseau

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Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra
Republik
Tuesday, January 31 - Tuesday, January 31

More in: Rock / Pop

On a poster promoting the 2010 European tour of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, a series of heartfelt, all-caps slogans describe, in outdated parlance, what audiences can expect when they see the brooding, experimental Montreal band in action. Below the lines of text are a few old, vaguely haunting black-and-white photos, slightly crooked, giving the poster a collage feel — design features that are hallmarks of the band’s aesthetic. Near the bottom of the poster, four more lines appear:

THIS OLD WORLD IS IN A HELL OF A FIX (ET CETERA)

BUT OUR SIDE IS THE RIGHT SIDE

BUT NOW-TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME

LET’S LAY THOSE DEMONS DOWN

Out of context, these words could easily be mistaken for a call to arms by religious radicals, or the antiquated headline of a pamphlet inciting political upheaval. And yet, separated from the rest of the poster’s rambling text, these lines present a sort of statement of intent. They convey aspects of the band’s sound, outlook and approach, all of which sets them apart from most independent music. Above all else, the lines communicate SMZ’s greatest skill — the ability to communicate dead-set urgency and hopeful sincerity.

THIS OLD WORLD IS IN A HELL OF A FIX (ET CETERA)

What began more than 13 years ago as the side-project of critically acclaimed orchestral rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor has since flowered into a compelling, string-driven experimental noise rock project worthy of distinction on its own. However, to the band’s chagrin, Godspeed’s categorizations have stuck to the group in the music press, specifically the notion that SMZ makes “apocalyptic” music.

It’s true that guitarist Efrim Menuck writes lyrics that can appear political (“1,000,000 Died to Make This Song,” for instance), and the slogans that cover the top half of their tour poster also feature prominently in the album art and liner notes. For all outward appearances, SMZ’s music is far from sunny or light. But Menuck insists that just because he offers a bleak worldview doesn’t mean there isn’t hope.

“I’ve never really gotten our reputation as being ‘apocalyptic’ or ‘nihilistic,’ which is another one that gets thrown out there a lot,” says Menuck. “We’re the opposite of all that, as individuals. And the songs we write together are really trying to point in the opposite direction of all that noise.

“But at the same time, the world we live in is in a hell of a fix,” he says. “It’s a bad piece of history we’re all living through... so we try to write songs that try to address the current situation, the lives we all lead, and the difficulties we have in this world.”

Since their sparse, heartbreaking first album, He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms, SMZ have walked listeners down a thousand dark, twisted paths, adding touches of folk and gospel to their urgent crescendos, which always deepens the candour and emotional depth that has become central to the band’s sound. There’s an undeniable humanity in expressing the worry and the anxiety of not knowing what’s next, but going forward nonetheless.

“Really all we’re doing is playing different types of blues,” says Menuck. “That’s where the hearts and the guts of music is, acknowledging that somehow here we all are, we’re in the same boat, the boat is sinking, and just taking it from there. We believe in music, we believe that music is a good thing.”

OUR SIDE IS THE RIGHT SIDE

“There are definitely moments where it feels like we have an antagonistic engagement with the industry as a whole. Maybe that’s fuel,” says Menuck. “At the end of the day we’re a punk rock band, so there’s a lot of ‘fuck you’ in us too.”

Though you’d be hard-pressed to convince the average listener that pulsating, violin-driven dirges or haunting, choir-sung laments are the work of a modern punk rock band, you only need to look at SMZ’s comprehensive do-it-yourself method over the last 13 years.

Between 1995 and 1997, as Menuck’s searing guitar noise explorations began to coalesce into Godspeed You! Black Emperor, he and a group of fellow artists and musicians set to work converting a Montreal loft into a fully functional recording space, dubbed the Hotel2Tango, which has served as the studio for nearly every record Menuck has been involved with. Concurrent with the construction of the space, the members started working with the DIY imprint Constellation, which has released material by Godspeed, SMZ and a host of related projects. The label has grown over the years, featuring some of the most interesting experimental rock music available, with a strong focus on Canadian and Canada-based artists.

In addition to recording and releasing material, the band applies a relentless work ethic to touring, both in North America and overseas. Despite the obvious difficulty of organizing every aspect of one’s career, and the dedication the band has shown to their craft and their careers as musicians, Menuck remains cautious, even if there is some “fuck you” in their approach.

“We’re less convinced that there’s something unique about what we do, or somehow there’s something special about what we do,” he says. “We don’t feel that way. We don’t think that we’re doing anybody any favours by putting this music in the world. We feel lucky we get to earn a living playing music, and it sort of begins and ends there. “

NOW-TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME

The band hasn’t released an album since 2010’s Kollaps Tradixionales — the tour that featured the aforementioned poster — but is preparing two 7-inch records, their first in the format, for sale on the current tour.

Typically, the band will work on new material slowly, introducing it into the live set when it feels ready, and generally only setting it to tape much later. Sometimes, as with their 2008 album, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons, it can take years. That’s not the case this time. In order to have these new releases ready for tour, the band packed themselves into the Hotel2Tango, wrote the songs and set them down in one or two takes. The process left little to no time for the songs to gestate, suggesting the recordings may be more urgent and chaotic than usual.

“We have these awesome songs right now,” says violinist Jessica Moss. “Instead of letting them become a year old by the time we put a record out, we thought this would be a way to honour the state that they’re in right now.

“And it’s because we believe in the art object as being an important thing. We are all too aware of the fact that nobody buys CDs anymore, so this is a way to offer something that’s maybe more affordable, and maybe a little outside the norm — it’s an offering, basically.”

With their first full-scale tour in two years underway, Menuck and other members of SMZ expressed some concern that this round may be their last. Though the band has no plans to break up or stop making music, there is the real possibility that at some point, hitting the road will no longer provide a living. For Menuck and Moss, who are now the parents of a two-year-old, this upcoming tour is more urgent, and perhaps more anxious, than usual. It’s reflected in the spontaneity of the two 7-inches.

LET’S LAY THOSE DEMONS DOWN

In 2003, Godspeed You! Black Emperor went on indefinite hiatus, as members began to move away from the band’s slow-burning sound and toward their own projects, which saw Menuck turn Silver Mt. Zion into a full-fledged eight-piece band (now standing at an economical five members). Last year, however, Menuck and the other members of Godspeed decided to reconvene in order to curate a music festival called All Tomorrow’s Parties. It evolved into a fairly extensive tour that put SMZ on hold for the better part of 2011. Though Godspeed had only been gone eight years, for Thierry Amar, who has played contrebasse in SMZ and Godspeed since the beginning, it was a reminder of how far he had come since he last played those songs.

“It’s the past, and the things that every note conjures,” says Amar. “You remember who you were then, and you remember your victories, but mostly you remember your losses and people that you’ve hurt or lost throughout the years. It’s not easy. For me it wasn’t all pretty.”

Though Godspeed is scheduled to play this year’s Coachella, as well as All Tomorrow’s Parties this summer, they are still a band rooted in the messy past. Silver Mt. Zion’s continued activity, as well as hints of an album later this year, indicate that this band is firmly grounded in the present.