Sometimes, even established artists need a separate outlet for their innermost creative thoughts. For Wooden Stars guitarist and Canadian music staple Mike Feuerstack, the outlet is his solo project, Snailhouse. The project has been gaining steam since the release of Fine in 1994, playing host to contributors like the Polaris-nominated Julie Doiron and Arcade Fire’s Jeremy Gara.

Snailhouse’s latest, Lies on the Prize, is decidedly more upbeat than a lot of the band’s previous work. Still, Feuerstack says the album examines some of his darkest ideas yet. He prefers to remain ambiguous when talking about any specific meanings or messages, though.

“The entire album is a rumination on the topics [of honesty and ambition], and any amount of thinking will always raise as many questions as it answers,” Feuerstack says. “For me, the album isn’t a statement so much as an exploration.”

That sense of exploration has become an integral part of Snailhouse’s work, as their discography plays host to varying sounds while maintaining a sense of conceptual continuity. Feuerstack says this isn’t too surprising, given the subject matter for much of his music.

“The commonality simply comes from the fact that all of my songs are a glimpse of life as filtered through me,” he says. “Of course, I have my own unique set of interests and tendencies, but I’d like to think that my themes and musical styles always continue to evolve and shift. The common thread is my voice, or that aspect of me that will come through without me even trying. Even if I change styles dramatically, there will be something of me in the music.”

As music becomes easier to acquire, musicians are faced with an ever-more-fickle audience. Feuerstack’s ability to draw personal fulfilment from his music has helped him stay tempered about the situation — while a hard-to-impress audience presents a challenge, he sees it as both a blessing and burden.

“People have varying degrees of interest in music,” he says. “It’s easier to reach people now than it used to be, but there are two problems with that, as I see it: the potential audience is flooded with options, and many of those listeners are people who have never really been very involved or even interested in listening to music in the first place. My music in particular is a kind of acquired taste. It dresses up as pop music, but that’s really a bit disingenuous, because I really want a deeper relationship with the listener than most ‘pop’ demands. At the end of the day, I just have to try not to think about how many people like it and focus instead on the quality of the connection with those who do.”

In keeping with Fuerstack’s collaborative spirit, Snailhouse’s Calgary set will feature local heavyweights Aaron Booth, Chris Dadge and Chris Vail as the backing band.