With songs about dinosaurs, ghosts and murder mysteries (and apparently an all-robot backing band), quirky singer-songwriter Matthias Korn and his band The Burning Hell are sure to be fun
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As if taking their name from a religious tract wasn’t enough to secure their place in heaven and the halls of folk-rock fandom, The Burning Hell are safe in the knowledge that they are the darlings of Toronto indie label Weewerk Records. In addition to keeping pace with fledgling label’s other trail-blazing acts — The Barmiztvah Brothers, Ox and Great Lake Swimmers — The Burning Hell boasts the unlikely distinction of being a ukulele-based band. Mixing nostalgic rhythms and beats with a modern pop sensibility, front man Matthais Korn’s spiritual depth and youthful vigour have drawn comparisons to the likes of Jonathan Richman, Johnny Cash, Handsome Family and the Magnetic Fields
“For years, The Burning Hell was just me, myself, making and recording music alone,” says Korn. “I got used to doing things in solitude, but I’ve always wanted to try doing things with a big group. For this record I added banjo, ukulele, guitar, cello, omnichord, trumpet, lap steel, even some accordion. The band has grown over time to encompass some 10 or 11 members. Now everything is one giant social adventure. The lineup is always changing, so there’s no pressure. It’s wonderful because, as long as I’m making music, we’ll never break up!”
Taking the tag-along troupe into the studio, Korn combined his experience as a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with the production wizardry of Andy Magoffin to record The Burning Hell’s latest Southern romp, Happy Birthday. A little bit country, a little bit rock ’n’ roll, Happy Birthday brings its own bottle to the party with humour-laced crowd-pleasers such as “The Man Who Has Nothing,” “Dinosaur” and the spooky ’50s tribute “Grave Situation.”
“I definitely felt like we were on to something even as we were in the process of roughing in the mix and adding backups,” Korn explains. “The album began to take on an epic gospel kind of feel. But at the same time the more bare-bones the approach, the better things sounded. It turned out far better than any of us expected. I don’t like it when music sounds fake, or, shall we say, too perfect. The flaws and imperfections of live performance are what make a song special. We all come from DIY backgrounds and we understand that there’s a certain esthetic to each song, and that we’re trying to capture the energy of it. I like to say that if something doesn’t happen in three or four takes, then it’s not going to.”
Never one to push his personal views onto his listeners, Korn finds other ways to combine politics and music. In November of 2007, he travelled to Israel, where he spent six weeks producing and recording an album with an organization known as Ukuleles for Peace. Delivering exactly what their name implies, UFP brings together Jewish and Arabic children to practice and perform as an orchestra of ukulele and kazoo players with a peaceful message.
“The kids practise once a week and perform at local festivals,” he says. “It’s a cause I really care about, and it shows the power of music. The idea is to use musical education to promote community participation, understanding and co-existence. To me, it demonstrates how great things can be achieved even on a small scale at a grassroots level. Who knows what impact this little thing could have down the road?”
