So this interview has been “in the can” for at least 10 months… it was actually the first one completed for this issue. My apologies to Deni for the extreme delay, but the information in this interview is relevant and interesting still, and his album definitely will make by top 20 of 2014. So read on to see why so many people are loving Deni’s unique brand of acoustic rock music….
Matt: For those not familiar, what is your background in the “music scene” (if that was such a thing still when you started)?
Deni: My background started back in the 90’s as a Primus, Radiohead loving bass player in my own band called inroad. I learned to play bass in my church’s youth group and high school jazz bands, like so many other musicians. I went pro when I stared a duo called theBetween with one of my best friends Rob Carter. We ended up playing a lot of shows and when we parted ways musically after so many years, I just kind of stared floating around. Eventually I knew it was time to go “solo” as they say, and just stared using my own name and refining my solo sound.
You have a new album coming out (Quiet Town). What can people expect from this album (both existing fans and those that have never heard your work before?
Well, it’s different than anything I’ve done. Quiet Town was a purposeful exit from my comfort zone in my own studio into a new land of ravens, pine trees, a quiet road and a school house that had a bit of a life of its own. There is more grit, more life, and more honestly in these songs. They aren’t really the same crafty acoustic pop songs like my previous solo work… there’s much more depth.
When I say there is life in the album, I mean you can hear my dog’s collar shake. You can hear us talking in the background, and a few endings are impromptu and a tad unconventional. You’ll hear Tom (bass player for the album) snoring and us laughing when we tried to get more of his snoring in the vocal mic and his headphones feedback and wake him up. We left it in there because the last thing I wanted to record was a polished studio album. Dre (my producer) and I wanted life in it. Something to dig in to.
It seems like the writing and recording process for Quiet Town were different for you in some ways than in the past?
Certainly was… I started writing for this album about six months before I was scheduled to spend the month of November in the school house with Dre for tracking. A normal process would be for me to lock the door in my studio and emerge six weeks later with an album, but this was different. I spent 6 months making my songs the best I could make them, writing new ones and refining. I recorded demos for Dre, and we headed to the studio to track for a month.
Dre and I brought other musicians into this project. “More DNA is better”. As in, the more great people you have involved the better the album can be right? We tracked for a month, brought a few people in to the studio, but they came and went, it was mainly Dre and I in the school house working on things. I’m used to being a lone wolf on these sort of projects.
You and I have discussed your feelings over the final product of Quiet Town. I think those thoughts shine an interesting light on the overall project. So even though it is a cliché question, what are your feelings about Quiet Town?
If you are used to my other albums, you may find yourself all of a sudden thinking about this album. You may have just loved it if you were a fan of my previous work and heard something like the last one I did… but this one I’m hearing a lot of people talking about it. “It’s sure different” or “there’s a lot going on in there isn’t there?”… It’s meatier. It’s harder to get. There are noises you may not like but they grow on you.
My feelings? It’s the best work I’ve ever done. Was it supposed to be an easy listen? Nope. I’m not here to make you comfortable. I’m here to make you have feelings of some sort. But I promise you if you let it get in your head it may become the fabric of your life for a short while. It may be that album you play years from now and remember what your life was like back then. I hope it will become one of your favourites of all time. Tall order eh?
That said, I also think this is the kind of album you can put on repeat while you are BBQing in the back yard and not care to change the album for a few rotations.
Plug in your headphones and get deeper though.
So why vinyl? A small run of 100 must have been expensive?
I ran more than 100. So the cost per unit isn’t bad, but the over all price is high! I’m independent but I have lot’s of help from people that believe in me. I had help with the bulk of the cost for this though.
Your music videos seem to be very labor intensive. Why go the stop motion art route instead of, say, lyric video or live performance capture approach?
I’m an artist. I have no trouble committing to labour intensive work if the result will be beautiful. Plus… I really want what I do to be lasting you know? What’s a few days or weeks of work if it can make someone feel happy… or anything for that matter.
You also produce various forms of visual art. Do you do that professionally or as a hobby? I believe that I have read that some are for sale?
I’ve been a painter for my whole life. My favourite teacher of all time was Mr Thirtle. My grade 7 and 8 art teacher. He invested in me and my ability to draw. I only stared playing music much later high school. In fact, I was accepted to a big art college in Toronto but didn’t end up going… I started selling art pretty early on, but I used to have piles of paintings in my house until I had a lean month in the early days of my musical career and made an attempt to sell them. I sold most of my art inside a month and paid all my bills! Since then when I feel arty, I’ll paint, and I’ll throw it up for sale. It usually goes pretty quick.
I’ve thought about spending a month and painting and showing at art galleries, and I do a few commissioned pieces a year. I’ll say that I have a kids book with art on the go right now though.
How did the “wild things in starving artists wall paintings” thing come about? I think someone else does that with Star Wars and Thomas Kincaid paintings?
I just saw all these old landscapes in my travels and thought why not re-purpose these bad boys? Funny eh?
Back to your music, it seems that there is a hopeful message thread throughout your lyrics. Even though there are definitely darker ones, too. Some people spend a lot of time crafting a certain message, while others just let whatever is inside loose. What is your approach to your lyrics?
I was talking to a friend the other day and he asked me the same thing. I’ve somehow crafted a feeling that the art and songs I make are very purposeful, the reality is that they just pop out. I try to form them, so to speak, into something understandable, but I have no specific message in mind other than everyone is unique and should be loved unconditionally.
That said, I work on lyrics now as much or more than the musical side of the song. It never used to be that way.
You have a good amount of music on your Bandcamp site. Is that all of your output? Take us through some of the highs and lows of your past output.
Well, I went solo a few years back and just hammered out “Man About Town”. They were mostly songs I had written for my old duo. Right away I stared on “i (am) hope” so I could have more than an EP to sell at shows. Then there was this and that, a few covers, and a few Christmas tunes. I had a plan though, pretty much all of that was to lead up to Quiet Town.
Sorry for all of the cliché questions, but since you are a fan of many of the artists we cover (and others), could you tell us some about your current and past influences (musical and artistic)?
A HUGE influence for me is Michael Knott. As a teen his music seemed to hit me the hardest. I mean, I have all of his hundreds of albums and like most of it. I’m a fan. The 77’s I liked in the 90’s but didn’t love. Now their earlier albums are some of my favourite ever recorded. They nailed it back then and no one knew it. Seriously, “All Fall Down” is AMAZING and I’m a bigger fan now than ever. The Choir I always loved. Radiohead was huge for me. OK Computer is my favourite album of all time. Neil Finn’s solo work I love… but my favourite music is made by Sigur Ros. I cannot get enough. I’m sure future release of my music will have very strong leanings towards heavier ambient guitars like theirs.
We also like to have artists share tips for producing music/art in this “difficultly disconnected but still connected” landscape we are in (since major record labels are no longer even a pipe dream). What is your advice for people that want to go into music now?
Make the best music you can. Make the best art you can and challenge yourself to do it better, more provoking, different, more beautiful. It may even become a job someday.
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