Italian singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalistGIOELE VALENTI is a busy musical bee. He’s the mastermind of spellbinding psych acts JUJU and HERSELF and he regularly works with fellow Italian artist Nicola Sanguin of Lay Llamas. He also toured and recorded with the wonderful duo Jonathan Donahue/Grasshopper of the supreme band Mercury Rev recently.
A couple of weeks ago JUJU played my hometown of Ghent (Belgium) again and we had
a chat focused on his newest album made withLay Llamasand namedFlag Of Breeze.
But first, as usual, we start an interview with a slice of music. Here’s one of my
favorite Juju songs, it’s from the excellent 2nd LP Our Mother Was A Plant.
Hello Gieole,
great to meet you again
You operate under two different monikers: JUJU and HERSELF.
Why, Gioele? Different music and/or different musicians?
“I think that at the basis of my training there are such heterogeneous listenings,
from folk to post-punk, that I immediately found it necessary to split into several
artistic personalities.
Different sound perspectives for the same artistic identity. Call it, if you will, sonic schizophrenia or company of artistic sub-personalities. I’ve always made my records myself. Of course, live, both Herself and JUJU become a real band.”
Which track would you pick from your work – overall – to introduce
yourself to people who never heard of you ?
“I think a good synthesis of JUJU’s sound, we find it in the song We Spit On Yer Grave, from the debut album… you can find everything in it. From new wave to post-punk; from indie pop to shoegaze. It still sounds very good to my hyper-critical ears!”
New mini-album FLAG OF BREEZE is a collaborative one with Lay Llamas (Nicola Giunta) You worked with LL before. What connects you both?
“It’s a long story… rooted in twenty years, I think. Nicola and I met at the time of Herself‘s first records. Nicola came to one of my concerts, if I remember correct-ly, in my city. And we immediately became friends. Lay Llamas is a Nicola‘s idea, and when he started taking his first steps, he immediately involved me, more or less.
Our most nourished collaboration takes shape in the Ostro (Rocket Re-cordings) album. From time to time, we like to make a record together, like the latest Goud, or the Flag Of Breeze collaboration. Between me and Nicola, in addition to a long-standing friendship, there is an extraordinary artistic affinity. In the work of the Lay Llamas, a perfect chemistry is unleashed, which neither he nor I can explain on rational grounds. I think it’s “simply”
a kind of alchemy.”
Lay Llamas’ Nicola Sanguin
Are all songs created together, lyrically and sonically?
“Normally the work with LL takes happens in the following way. Nicola sends me a sonorous canvas, or a definite structure. I write the lyrics and record my vo-cals, some arrangements, guitars, and synthesizers and then he polishes everything to a strong, typically LL aesthetic. It often works like this… but it’s not a rule. Sometimes everything
is already clear enough. Other times, we have no idea where the songs will lead us.”
Are all tracks connected or does each one stands on its own?
“As for my writing part on Flag Of Breeze, in agreement with Nicola, there is a universalist inspiration, which I am not afraid to define as pacifist. the whole record is lavished by this utopia of brotherhood, which is not mannerism, but a yearning pure, sincere. Fully aware that our world is falling apart under the yoke of truly negative powers.”
I like the artistic image on the album’s cover, although I have
no idea what it means? Is there a story behind, Gioele?
“The aesthetic part of the cover is totally Nicola‘s prerogative.
I can only tell that, yes, I like it!”
Which movie would be perfect to have your music as its soundtrack?
“A film whose story is written by Tom Robbins and whose photography is han-dled by John Alcott! Naturally, I would see Lucifer directing, the most misunder-stood angel of all!”
Painting by Alexandre Cabanel named ‘Ange Dechu’ (The Fallen Angel) in 1847
If you could collaborate on a new record with
a big name artist, who would it be and why?
“You know, I feel like a craftsman. I even have a hard time thinking of myself with a “big” name. There are so many artists that I love… I think with Mike Scott of the Waterboys. I loved them so much that I sanded my heart. Simply, because they are a part of me.”
I know you like to play live, so the lockdown years must have been
a pain in the ass. How did you cope with that Covid-19 period?
“Yes, that was a very painful time. As for everyone, by the way.
I think JUJU is a machine that express itself at his best in live dimension.
Yes, I really missed the live dimension. But I’m a fatalist, and I think everything
happens for a reason. And here we are again.”
A couple of weeks you played in my hometown of Ghent in Belgium again.
It looked/sounded as if you and the band were happy to be back on stage
despite car problems the day before.
“Sure, man. We were coming off a date in Bordeaux and were on our way to Beaumont.
We had this bad, but not serious, accident. We missed a date. But we caught up with Ghent. A city that we love and have played many times.
We were happy to play this concert organized by Sven Van Daele. Sven is a fan and a great person. We are always very happy to play in Belgium. A place where we feel at home.
March 9 – Ghent, Belgium – photo by TUTV
Any plans to work or tour with Mercury Rev again?
“Oh man. Yes I’d really like. We catch up with Jonathan: (note: Jonathan Donahue
is Mercury’s Rev charismatic singer/frontman) from time to time, like old friends.
They are extraordinary artists and very special human be-ings. Maybe…”
Gioele’s Herself project feat. Jonathan Donahue
What’s the next step for Gioele Valenti
and his different projects/collaborations?
“There’s something brewing… but I’m not the type to open
my mouth before things are done. Fingers crossed.”
Buy/stream FLAG OF BREEZE
here via Bandcamp.
. Thank you Gioele for this interview.
May the road rise with Juju/Herself.
London‘s synth-dream-pop FERAL FIVE – Kat and Drew Five – released
their long-awaited debut LPTRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD last month.
They introduced it with this message: “It’s an evocative voyage through a Feraltropolis style future city, and an offering of sonic elixir for heart, feet and mind. Leading us through secret spaces, changing skies, personal truths and revelations, the Ferals glide seamlessly between bold alt-pop, experimental electronica, and cinematic landscapes.”
What can I add? Turn Up The Volume‘s ears are FF fans for several years now and
this debut longplayer spoiled them again and again with a series of spins and many
more to come. Kat and Drew took their time to come up with a first full-length, and
they hit all the right buttons with this golden trance-dance-pop accomplishment.
Kat and Drew will tell us all about it in this Q&A.
Hello FF,
welcome and thanks
for taking the time
to do this interview
This July it will be 10 years since you released your debut single SKIN.
Since then several swirling singles followed. Why did it take so long
to have an album out?
“We wanted the album to be all killer no filler! Skin was a cracking single, we still love playing it live, and we’ve evolved a lot since, both as musicians and producers. We didn’t just want to put an album out because we could. We’ve released 4 EPs and a load of singles, plus we’ve been producing and remixing for other artists. We’ve been busy.”
. Now that it’s here how does it feel to have that CD and vinyl in your hands?
“Awesome. It’s a culmination of recent ideas, sonic explorations and experimental pop tendencies. It’s also a story and a journey. To have it literally in our hands and not just as
a DL is pretty cool, and it’s been great working with ethical record label Reckless Yes for
this release.”
Which artists and or music was your biggest inspiration along the way?
“We’ve a huge melting pot of musical loves from Siouxsie Sioux to Killing Joke, Goldfrapp to Hot Chip, Billy Nomates to Billie Eilish, Daniel Avery to Kelly Lee Owens,
Hans Zimmer to Hildur Guðnadóttir. There are many.”
What’s the story behind the album’s title ‘TRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD’?
“It sums up exactly what we think, and our values right now. It came from our
song of that name, Truth Is The New Gold. We’ve experienced so many devastating
shifts in the world and people manipulating truth and reality. We wanted the title
to be purposeful, clear, and give hope.”
All songs are no older than about 2 years, besides PET SHOW
released in 2018? Does that track mean something special to you?
“We wanted the album songs to be ultra new as we were heading
in fresh lyrical and sonic directions, and most of them are.
Pet Show was our first exploration of the world of Artificial Intelligence, a playful song
about AI robo-companions. It spawned our idea of the journey for the album, which explores different kinds of truth and trust, and includes some AI sonics.”
I miss that 2019 dancefloor banger SHAKE IT. Did you
ever thought of including this one on the album?
“We had a vision for our album, and it had to be a cohesive and inspiring
piece of new work. Shake It still finds its way into our live set though.”
All the artwork for your music used to be glossy, glamorous and flashy. The cover sleeve of the album is different. It’s the title that dominates the look. A conscious choice?
“The album is high concept and thought-provoking. We wanted to make a statement. It was very exciting working with cover art legend Malcolm Garrett (Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, Simple Minds) on all our artwork and band merch, and we had many meetings to discuss ideas.
We took a very bold step in not putting our band name on the front cover – but letting
the statement speak for itself, and there’s gold on the cover! Plus wearable glamour, we collaborated with cult UK jewelers Tatty Devine on a gold mirror necklace based on the album artwork, and we’ve gold t-shirts.”
You recently launched a video clip for the LP’s title track.
How did the content came about? What’s the idea behind
the visuals?
“The Truth Is The New Gold music video is all about the search for truth in melting worlds. Set in beautiful landscapes it’s also unsettling as we stride across the narrows, caped in gold and morphing into new shapes ourselves.
It was entirely shot using drones, and the drones became characters too, like surveillance machines. Kat directed it, along with David Morris from Flying Film Labs who did the amazing filming.”
Any memorable anecdotes of the ‘making of’ in the studio?
“No trashed TVs just trashed hard drives! A lot of the sounds on the album were
taken from field recordings that we made and interesting objects. We were doing
lots of experimental sound making, using things that would disintegrate and never
sound the same again.
For example, never use crystals as percussion instruments!
Listen carefully and you can hear the sound of crystals
splintering.
In Feral Five we have our studio language. When one of us says ‘can
we make it sound more silver’ we know exactly what that means.”
I suppose you got this question already a million times. What about
the Artificial Intelligence vocals? What does that mean? How does
that work?
“Playing with reality in sound, we collaborated with Berlin technologists Birds on Mars who created an ‘AI Kat’ for us. Kat had to record her voice, and they trained their AI on it to give us AI vocal synthesis that we could use to make new and unique otherworldly vocals on four of the tracks.
It became a character too, an instigator, an oracle. In Silver Sky it almost sounds like an AI child, retorting to Kat’s human vocals telling her: “it’s not the end, it’s not the end.”
GOLDEN RULE is one of my favourite pieces. It’s about what we need to survive: togetherness. Should we be hopeful that this can actually happen in these troubled times?
“It’s great to hear that Golden Rule resonates with you. That was the reason it’s the final track on the album. Togetherness is key, and yes that can happen. The more chaos there
is in the world, the more people respond to each other as humans, and that is a superpower.”
Will you go out and play THE TRUTH IS THE NEW GOLD on the road?
“Yes for sure. We are working with a leading audiovisual artist on a new show that will bring the album to life, make it grow, and create a unique performance in each location.”
Is this the end of a FERAL FIVE era, a continuation or
the harbinger of a new beginning?
“We’re all about newness and new beginnings. Feral Five is on a continuum.
Anything can happen in Feral land. This is just the start.”
Thank you very much for this interview.
May the road rise with Feral Five!
As a lifelong music junkie and gig addict, I lost track, a long time ago, of the number
of concerts I ever saw, mostly in my home country of Belgium, but also in France, The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and Danmark (Roskilde festival). When I fell in love with a band, like, just to name two, Oasis or Echo andThe Bunnymen I drove or flew lots of miles to see them several times during one of their tours.
Live music was/is and will be always part of my life. It’s my dope.
And when the sound at a gig is perfect and simultaneously the stage’s lighting emphasizes that perfect sound with a matching, choreographic light display magic happens.
But when the sound is horrible and/or the lighting is poorly directed or just not fitting with what’s happening on stage, even when one of your beloved artists/bands is on the podium playing your favorite songs, the experience can really suck (I know, I’ve been there).
So, sound mixers with trained ears and light men/engineers with sharp eyes are essential to create along with the artists that magical feel. So why not have a chat, for a change with one of those wizards who work in the dark every night.
Belgian engineer Ronny Snels turns up the lights at concerts for 30 years now.
I met him at a gig in Antwerp (Belgium) a couple of months ago and he’s definitely one of those passionate, caring, and expertised technicians several bands and concert/festival organizers want to work with just because of his professionalism, vision, and commitment.
Hello Ronny,
How and when did you start in the music world as a lighting man, Ronny?
“That actually happened quite by chance. I had been active for three years as a roadie
with a Belgian cover band, named La Cuenta, when suddenly the light man stepped up
and it was suggested to me to do the light. I wanted to try this and when I came backstage after the show, the whole band was very enthusiastic about what I did, so I kept doing this.
At that time I still had a normal job as a worker in a metal factory and I did this as a hobby on the weekends. A few years later I stopped as a laborer and then I started working for ASP as a stagehand for big shows and I was occasionally allowed to do the lighting in a venue called Biebob. Afterward, I started doing jobs as a lighting man for Trend and PFL.”
Did you learn along the way or did you follow a specific training for this job?
“I learned most of it by doing and by seeing a lot of concerts and by observing
how other lightmen worked. And of course also by checking the manual of the
lighting control at home.
I am lucky that I have a good feeling for the rhythm of music
and the music itself and can convert it into the right colors.”
The early days
Do you work as a self-employed person or for a company?
“I work as a freelancer but I am not self-employed. My invoices
go through an interim office. But I can be hired directly by anyone.”
What exactly does the profession entail, Ronny?
“My job mainly consists of being responsible for the stage’s lighting during
a band’s concert. Firstly I program all the lights on my light table during the day.
When I’m on tour with a band, this has to be done every day because every
club/hall has a different lighting plan and different devices to operate with.
If the band itself has a light man of its own, then I have to assist him during
the day so that he can run the show in the evening, with the available program.
In addition, I also design the lighting plan for shows and festivals, such asGraspop Metal Meeting in Belgium (note: one of the biggest metal fest in the world) where I have been responsible for the Marquee tent for years.
And then there are the technicians who set up and connect
the light and break everything down again after the show.”
How do you generally experience the environment
and the business you work for?
“I experience it as a pleasant environment to work in,
where there is usually not too much pressure.
We do work with very irregular hours and often at weekends, but the fact that I am working in the evenings between all kinds of people who come to enjoy themselves, always makes it fun for me.”
How long are you away from home on average per year
“It varies, but I think I’m away for an average of 4 months a year.
I’m 52 and still single and that makes it easier to be away from home often.
Fortunately, I am not only working on tours. I also have my jobs and shows
in different clubs, halls and festivals when I am in Belgium.”
Are you only active in Europe or do you also work outside of it, Ronny?
“Most of my tours are in Europe and I’m glad about that, because here in Europe
the light material is usually of good quality. But I already worked in Russia when it
was still possible and in Japan, Indonesia and South America. Unfortunately, I have never been on tour in America because a work visa is required and that costs a lot of money.”
Do you tour and work for the same artists more than once?
“I’ve been doing lighting for the Portuguese metal band Moonspell for
10 years now. I have a very good relationship with them and I really like
their music.
Celebrating 10 years of working with Moonspell with Ronny’s mother also invited to the party
And since 2019, I also regularly do the lighting for metal band Rotting Christ.
I also shone lights on Insomnium, Borknagar, Levellers, Arlo Parks, TesseracT,
Evergrey, Bizarra Locomotiva, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Abbath, Lacuna Coil,
Anathema, After Forever and others.
Your 3 favorite tours/festivals ever?
1. Vltima Ratio Fest in Belgium, last year
with Moonspell, Insomnium and Borknagar
2. The 2019 tour of Swedish metalheadsEvergrey
Lots of parties on the tour bus.
3. My first tour. It happened in 2007 with Dutch band Alter Forever
What sort of music do you personally prefer, Ronny?
“My taste in music is very diverse, but my preference is mainly for 80’s pop
and rock and disco. In the car, I often listen to Radio Nostalgia and at the after
parties I mainly let myself go on 80’s pop and rock.
Which assignments/tour(s) are you looking forward to this year?
I’m especially looking forward to the South American Tour with Moonspell
in March and April. And then it’s gearing up for a summer full of festivals
at home and abroad.
The best and worst memory ever?
“One of the best is the 2017 DVD recording of Lisboa Under The Spell with Moonspell in Lisbon‘s fantastic Campo Pequeno. It was a long busy day but from the start of the show everything went smoothly and I felt like I was in paradise. When I see the result I am very satisfied and proud that I was able to do this show.
The worst was in 2019 with Moonspell and Rotting Christ. Halfway through the tour, at the border crossing between Greece and Turkey, we lost a lot of time at customs, so we only arrived in Istanbul in the evening and therefore later than we should.
The bus driver needed to respect the required timetable for driving and resting. beacuse of that we had a very disrupted schedule for half a week, with short times to do my work. Moonspell even played a show at 1am. This was of course not optimal for the atmosphere on the bus, but we survived the tour.
Is this the job of your life or would you do something else if you had the chance?
For me this is definitely the job of my life. My first show as a lighting man was on February 10, 1993 so I’ve been in the business for 30 years now and I wouldn’t want to do anything else. I have been able to turn my hobby into my “work”.
I am still grateful to Belgian cover band La Cuenta. It all started with them.
And I am also grateful to my dearest mom for always supporting me.”
Thank you very much for this chat, Ronny.
May the road rise with you (and your mum)!
Power-pop darlings PARAMORE based in Franklin, Tennessee are not the most productive band on the planet with their 5 LPs in 18 years but that doesn’t have a negative effect on their millions of loyal fans.
With their new longplayer THIS IS WHY – the first
in 6 years – it’s hype time again among the critics
and euphoria among their massive following.
Notorious music websiteNME just published a big-read
interview with charismatic front lady Hayley Williams.
Williams: “Paramore is a huge part of our friendships, but it’s about what’s
underneath. It’s the fact that we bond over artistic and creative activity and
the compulsion to make things. It was time to give it a rest, and if we needed
to make something, to challenge ourselves to find new outlets for it.”
The late great/tall JOEY RAMONE, born Jeffrey Ross Hyman
(May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001) about his band, the New York
and the British punk scene and more.
Raw and rough groovin’ Toronto trio ON released
their self-titled debut LP last September. A steamy
powerhouse of a record (stream/buy below).
At times they turn up the heat and the decibels like Courtney Love
and Hole did with flaming panache once upon a time, at times they
slow down with front Amazon Lucy Di Santo and her sensual voice
under the spotlight, while they fill their tank to let the rip-roaring
riffs fly around again afterward.
As long as afire bands as ON keep on rockin’ in the free world rawk ‘n’ roll
will be around forever. And, yes, just as the Stones did (and still do), we like
that too. Not to forget ON guitarist Steve Fall who talked about their passion
with Turn Up The Volume.
But first the brand new video for Break You, the album’s brisk opener.
Hello Steve,
thank you taking time
for this Q & A,
When and how did ON start off?
“ON began on a break from touring in our other project Acid Test.
We started out in the mid to late 90s in Toronto and toured parts
of Canada, the USA, and Mexico.”
When you google ON you won’t find out that’s
also a band. What’s the story behind the name?
“Lucy came up with the name. It means to be in tune with what’s
happening. We felt it definitely applies with observations we see
around us now.”
Credit: Gord Hawkins
You’re a DIY trio. What does that really mean in reality?
“It means we do all of our career planning, financing, writing, and
co-producing all of our music and brand. We even release the music
through our own imprint called indiestructable records.
Of course, now that we are expanding our career, we have enlisted help
such as Drew at Star Sound in Florida and Darius at Phase One for engineering
and co-production help, for PR we use Shauna from Shameless Promotion
She helps us market and release strategically and prepares all of our media,
she even plans marketing singles, videos, photos, interviews, and much more,
we see her as almost in the band much like Darius and Drew.
Then we are starting to use agents for touring. We picked up Sean from Happy Nomad Booking out of Charlotte NC, USA. Sean is helping us book North America and Europe soon. So in reality, although we are DIY, we have help which we engage. The people mentioned are key to us. And also great friends too.”
What does making music means for your
heart, soul, and mind for the three of you?
“For all of us, it means self-expression, soul cleansing, and documentation.
We write and utilize our natural chemistry which is the triad in ON.
The chemistry helps guide us to express how we feel. We really locked in
as musicians and as people. We see ON as an extension of who we are.”
Which of your songs would you pick to introduce
ON to people who never heard of you?
“Break You, Underdog, Gator, FLA, Soul Killer, Amends and also Make Me
and I See Red ( some unreleased material we play live and might put
out…stay tuned.”
You released your ace debut album last year.
How much blood, sweat and tears when into it?
“A lot! We started writing it almost 3 years ago in New York City, then
in Fort Myers Florida and finally in Toronto. We started it just prior to the
pandemic and we struggled in 3 locations to navigate its completion. We
spent an enormous amount of time arranging the songs and really took our time recording layers and parts. We pushed each other almost to exhausting limits.”
Is there a big picture/theme behind
the inspiration/writing of the album?
“I think so. We wanted to write something that meant a lot to us as people and
also to document what we see and feel. Some of the lyrics are introspective and
some are observations. The riffs were meant to also give a snapshot as almost like
a paying homage to yet also creating our identity. I think we accomplished what we wanted to say.”
Did you listen to records of other artists to inspire
you during in the writing process of the songs?
“Not during our writing. No I mean we always listen to music constantly but we really just wanted to capture who we are as the three of us. Of course, some influences will shine through. In some songs I purposely would display a Stones sound or a Jimmy Page style to a riff, such as Amends, just to show a feel and groove as Dan plays a lot like Bonham at times; but yet I had the intro for the song for years just lying around.
In fact, the intro was inspired by some of the theme music in an 80s movie Risky Business and also Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield and wrote the intro lyrics as we cruised Manhattan together. Then we gave what we had to Lucy and she took it further with the Amends concept.”
With other songs,I just wanted to capture a support riff or groove to support Lucy such as her Bass riff for FLA. Dan would come up with guitar parts too, lyrics and give them to us. All of us would go into teams and co arrange then we would come together as a triad and tune it further.
Closer AMENDS is my absolute favorite. Tell me all about it.
“Thank you for having a favorite song that means a lot to us. I alluded to Amends in the previous question but to add to this I will say that it was a true band effort. I had the intro riff since 2012 actually and I just tucked it aside. When Dan and I got together in New York, we started rapping ideas for the intro based on us jotting down observations.
.
We would walk out of his apt late at night and just cruise the streets with a coffee each. The idea to get a cool Page like riff was just an accident really. I just threw it out and we bookended it with the intro and it had a cool groove. Lucy really captured it with her narrative approach to her vocal too.”
Suppose your album was a movie, which one would it be?
“I think it would be a movie of adventure and exploration, in the middle of
the movie there would probably be a struggle and in the ending a celebration
of the human spirit.”
What’s an ON gig like?
“It is loud, and tight, you will get a real performance not something prepackaged
and planned at all. I think people experience our chemistry and vibe. Lucy
has a presence onstage and we feed off of this.”
Credit: Lindi Gordon
Next step for ON?
“Touring the West Coast of USA then Eastern Canada and Eastern USA
then we are planning to tour Europe next summer all in support of
the album we put out and perhaps some new surprise singles we might put out.”
Thank you Steve for the interview.
May the road rise with ON!
Watch the late loud Motörhead warrior LEMMY and bandmate Eddie Clarke in
a 2002 interview for Belgian TV about rock ‘n’ roll live, strippers, Andy Warhol,
painter Rembrandt, hard-drinking, and more.
DETROIT REBELLION is the musical project of singer/songwriter/guitarist
Jeff Toste from Providence, Rhode Island. He uniquely explores a world of
gritty blues and garage rock, assisted by drummer Micaiah Castro.
Last October 3rd longplayer, baptized FAKE NEWS saw the day of light.
A groovin’ swamp blues record moving forth and back, with a series of bloodcurdling mood swings, fired-up now and then with psychotic guitar-charged hooks, then again taking a sonic step back and let the crystal clear reflections about our fucked-up world
do the talking. A fascinating work it is, and a direct inducement for a talk with Jeff Toste.
But first, as usual, Turn Up The Volume starts an interview with a slice of music. Here we go.
Hello Jeff,
Welcome,
When and how was DETROIT REBELLION conceived?
“Somewhere around 2010? Started out of a jam with
a drummer friend who couldn’t commit to playing
regularly.
So early days was an evolving solo project before
finding a drummer, but I still do solo too.”
What’s the story behind the band’s name?
“An interest in “forgotten history” and the influence
of Detroit music, especially on the new LP. I never
knew there was a Detroit Rebellion in 1967 before
I heard the name.”
Getty archives
You’re an indie DIY duo. What does
that really means in reality?
“It’s duo and/or solo, but DIY in that all writing, recording,
videos, graphics, etc… is done by Detroit Rebellion.
However, DR is open to possible collaborations on occasion.”
Which of your songs would you pick to introduce
Detroit Rebellion to people who never heard
of them?
“‘Clap Of Thunder’ is the first single off
the new release, so that’s probably best.
I revamped my guitar sound and mixed the drums
more up front on the new LP, so the sound is closer
to what we sound like live.
The song is about climate change denial and the wrath
of nature. All the songs start with guitar rhythms or riffs.
The lyrics are inspired in part by the vibe of the guitar,
and in part by what’s currently on my mind.”
New album FAKE NEWS is not a happy album.
What/who inspired you for the gloom-and-doom
songs?
“The world is not a happy place right now. Media bias,
mis-information, climate change, corruption, social
division, mental health in crises, etc…
I’m basically singing existential blues. There are
many struggles to work though and music helps.”
The album’s artwork says a lot. Who developed it
and what did you actually want to visualize?
“I developed it. I wanted an image
suggesting a dramatic wake-up call.”
You just shared a video for the album’s acoustic closer
NO ONE NEEDS TO KNOW. Sonically a magical surprise.
Was it intended that way or is it a stripped down
version of an existing song of yours?
“I wrote that song approximately 13 years ago, but never
recorded it, till now. It’s only on the album because my girlfriend
heard me messing around trying to remember how it went.
She suggested I record it. Most song ideas lend themselves
to adding drums. That one had a non drum vibe.”
If you were invited to let your music be used as
a soundtrack to a movie, which one would it be?”
“I’ve been told Detroit Rebellion music would fit
on a soundtrack to a Tarantino film? Any movie
of his and/or David Lynch would be very cool.”
Suppose I asked you to have your own way with The National Anthem,
how would it sound and how would it be named?
BURN THE LOUVRE is the musical moniker of Canadian
singer-songwriter-guitarist Jordan Speare and his sidekick
Sean Cooper.
After releasing 11 songs – one per month – last year, they assembled them into their
debut album, baptized Silhouettes (stream/buy below). A collection of electrifying pop sparks, catching tunes, and self-reflective musings. Spicy stuff to feed your hungry ears.
Turn Up The Volume advices you strongly to discover these inspiring musicians. We’ll
help you with this chat with mastermind Jordan Speare who does everything himself,
who doesn’t really want to burn down the world-famous FrenchLouvre Museum,
about Twitter billionaire Elon Musk, about a girl and about 2023.
Hello Jordan
Welcome
When and how did BURN THE LOUVRE start its musical journey?
“Okay, I will try to make this long story as short as possible [laughs]. I started Burn The Louvre as an indie rock band with my brother Dylan about 10 years ago.
He had his songs, and I had mine so we decided to combine our ideas, edit each other’s work and do this properly. We went through a few different bandmates during the 5 years we were active and released 2 EPs together: Post-Romance EP in 2014 and We’ll Be Just Fine in 2017.
However, shortly after we released that 2nd EP, my brother decided that he didn’t want to do this anymore. So that was difficult for sure. I basically had to start all over again from scratch. Fast forward through a couple more line-up changes that didn’t work out and I found myself without a band for the first time at 28 years old.
I really didn’t know how to be a solo artist, but I had these 11 songs all finished and ready to go that would end up becoming Silhouettes, I knew I had to record them. I enlisted help from my friend Andrew Billone of indie rock band Silvertone Hills to play lead guitar and bass for me on all 11 songs on the album and asked my friend & fellow singer/songwriter Stephanie Deshane if she would sing with me on “Alison”.
My friend Mickey Ellsworth recorded, mixed, mastered & produced the entire record himself and was instrumental in the sound and the finished product. We finished wrapping up the recording of Silhouettes late 2018, shortly afterwards I received an
email from my current guitarist Sean Cooper. He was answering a “Musicians Wanted”
ad I had put up on Kijiji, I had forgotten to take it down.
So we ended up getting together for a beer, we hit it off, we got together to jam the following week and we’ve been getting together an average of once a week ever since.
So now we’re an indie rock duo, if you will. I’m sorry, I know that wasn’t exactly a short answer [laughs].”
Who came up with the band’s name and is there a story behind it?
“So I came up with the name when my brother & I first started the band about 10 years ago or so? The name Burn The Louvre actually came from a Fight Club quote! It’s not in the movie, but it’s a line in the book. I just loved how many different ways a name like that can be interpreted, which is fitting as to how many different ways our music can be interpreted. Lots of genre-mashing in there.
But just to clarify, we are definitely just an indie rock band and not a terrorist group [laughs]. Fight Club is definitely my favourite movie and I really loved the book as well. It just made sense to me, right? The thing that I love the most about our band name is that there are a couple different connotations surrounding it depending on how you interpret it.
The two extremes I see are either: A) “Down with the upper echelon! Let’s burn The Louvre!”, which is pretty self-explanatory: rise up and revolt, right? Or as I like to interpret our band name: B) “People don’t care about art anymore. If art is so undervalued, then let’s just burn The Louvre down and see if anyone misses it. Mankind doesn’t deserve The Louvre anyways.”
You’re an indie DIY duo. What does that really mean in reality?
“Well, when you’re an independent musician, DIY really means DEY as in “Do Everything Yourself”. It’s an enormous amount of work, especially when you’re working a full-time job on top of trying to carve out a music career.
So releasing 11 songs in 11 months this past year when I was handling every aspect of the release by myself, song registration + tracking, social media, promotion, marketing, PR, bookings etc.
Let’s just say I did not have a whole lot of fun in 2022 [laughs].”
Which of your songs would you pick to introduce yourself as an artist to people who never heard of BTL?
“I would probably pick “Lost With You”. It’s our most popular song according to Spotify with over 15,000 plays since it was released on 05/31/2022. It’s a fun, upbeat indie pop song and clocking in at only 2:35, I feel like it’s the perfect introduction to our music for the modern music fan’s attention span [laughs].”
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You released your debut album SILHOUETTESlast month. It features all 11 tracks you released this year, one per month. What/who triggered the idea to do it this way?
“Well I had these 11 songs ready to go and I knew they belonged on an album together before I went into record with our producer extraordinaire Mickey Ellsworth. I also knew that it makes very little sense in 2022 for an independent artist to release a full-length album all at once without any kind of label support. Streaming services like Spotify are set up to reward artists for releasing material consistently. They recommend a new single every 4-6 weeks or so to fully benefit from the algorithmic bonuses you’d receive, so in order to appease these Spotify algorithm gods [rolls eyes], I was kind of forced to treat each song as its own individual release in an attempt to capitalize on the potential for more playlist adds.
The fact that you can only pitch one song per release to the Spotify Editorial Playlists
also influenced my decision. So what that means is, say I released Silhouettes all at once as one album, I would only be able to pick ONE song off of the record to pitch for Editorial Playlist consideration…whereas by releasing the songs individually as singles first, I was able to pitch each of them for consideration instead. That’s its own slippery slope and it is extremely difficult to get placed on one of those Spotify Editorial Playlists, but the potential pay-off was too great for me not to at least try my luck and give each song a fair opportunity to make the cut.
So the decision was kind of made for me as to how I was going to be releasing this album and because there were 11 songs to release, the only way I could release them all in the same year, so that it would qualify as an album, was to release the first single in January, which would mean that the last single “Honolulu”, would be released in November.
At which point I re-released everything as one full album. The waterfall strategy of releasing the singles individually before the album is out, if you will. The timeline
worked out perfectly, as I know that it’s typically not very effective releasing anything
new in December, as people are so preoccupied with Christmas and the holiday season, nobody’s really paying attention to anything else, so this gave me ample time to release everything before Christmas.”
Is the album’s title in any way related to the whole of the record?
“So, after my brother left the band back in late 2017, I had these 11 songs that had kind
of been sitting on the sidelines for a little while; I had written them all from age 24-27 and they all just so happened to be about ex-girlfriends and women that I used to know [laughs], total coincidence.
So after spending time on these 11 songs, I realized that they actually fit really well together and kind of told a bit of a story about a young man’s growth from moving on from a short-term relationship where maybe he wasn’t as good as he should have been to re-discovering life as a single man, to finding new love, to then losing that love as well and by the end of the album he’s stuck reminiscing about what went wrong and he’s left longing for the girl he lost in the first place.
I decided to put these 11 songs together on an LP called Silhouettes, named after the title track. Silhouettes is a bit of a nod to the fact that the women who inspired these songs are silhouettes of my past. I think there’s a certain beauty in the idea that people who were once a big part of your life become nothing more than shadows after the relationship ends. This LP is my way of paying tribute to these women who impacted my life in some way.”
Who created the LP’s artwork and what did you want to visualize with it?
“Isn’t it beautiful?? My friend Billy Pozeg created the album artwork for this record and I could not be happier with how it turned out. Billy is a graphic designer and he used to run one of the biggest independent live music venues in Hamilton called Club Absinthe; we would play there all the time.
He actually created the artwork for Silhouettes as a show poster for our first EP Release show back in November 2014. I loved the poster so much I asked him if I could use it for
an album cover one day. He was gracious enough to just give me the design, we altered it very slightly and what we are left with is one of the most beautiful album covers I’ve ever seen.
The fact that the design of The Louvre on fire is inside of a silhouette of a woman, whereas all of the songs on this record are about different women in some regard, it just made too much sense. We’ve definitely gotten a ton of compliments on the album art, so if you’re reading this Billy, you are the man!”
DUMB is definitely one of my fav tracks? What’s the song about?
“I am so glad you like that one! Thanks again for including it on your 30 Best Tracks Of 2022! Honestly, that one really humbled me. So “Dumb” is one of three songs on the album that is about my on-again/off-again ex-girlfriend Maya . “Achilles’ Heel” & “Easy” are the other two. They are tracks # 6, 7 and 8 on the album and they kind of play out together like a trilogy whereas: “Achilles’ Heel” is about when we first got together when everything was wonderful.
“Easy” is about the first time we broke up (“nothing’s ever easy”) and “Dumb” is about the aftermath of said on-again/off-again relationship, where I find myself desperately missing her, but I’m too proud or in this case “too smart” to give in and go back to her. The ironic thing about that is that we’ve gotten back together again at least twice since I wrote and recorded that song, so I obviously am just “as dumb as I thought I was”.
This was a really fun song to write though. I was listening to a lot of The Dirty Nil at the time, so this one (along with a couple other tracks on this LP) is heavily punk-influenced. This song is me attempting to write a Dirty Nil song, so I was basically just doing a terrible Luke Bentham impression the entire time. The general message of “Dumb” is to stay strong, be proud and whatever you do, don’t be dumb enough to go back to the person who hurt you; and then I decided to sneak a bunch of lines in there joking about killing
her [laughs].
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I made sure to add some lines in later that cemented the fact that the whole thing is meant to be an obvious joke. She had heard this song long before I recorded it and actually really liked it, appreciated the humour in it and completely signed off on it.
Just so everybody knows.
I thought it’d be funny to write a song from the perspective of the person who was left where you’re basically fantasizing about killing your ex throughout the entirety of the song (“I’ll give your best to your new boyfriend and let him know that he won’t ever see your face again”), before reiterating (over & over again) that you’re not “dumb” enough to ever actually act on it. I really had a strong feeling that the cowbell would really work really well in this song and I am so glad it did. The cherry on top of this stupid fucking song [laughs].”
Do you have another 11 singles ready to make us happy in 2023?
“So that’s a hard no [laughs]. This LP was a long time coming. I was working on it
since my brother quit the band back in late 2017. I overcame a lot of adversity putting these 11 songs together and had to deal with countless roadblocks on the way to
release these.
Obviously, the recording/mixing/mastering process for an 11-song LP is a very long one and definitely not something I’m eager to do again, although Mickey did an INCREDIBLE job on this record. I only want to release singles and EPs from now on. Being a DIY artist means I did 100% of the PR and promotion for this album by myself.
So sending out thousands of emails every month for 11 months just absolutely drained my mental health. As soon as I’ve wrapped up promotion on this record, I’m going to spend most of 2023 taking a long break from social media & email and mainly focus the majority of my time on gigging, practicing & improving instead of promoting/marketing, which I really hate.”
“Having said that, we have a LOT of new material. I have at least 10-15 songs that I feel deserve to be recorded and Sean has at least 5 of his own as well. So we are definitely going to spend the majority of 2023 demoing these new songs and trying to perfect them before we head back into the studio to record; hopefully with the great Mickey Ellsworth again! I can’t say enough good things about him as a producer. But from now on, 4-6 songs per year is my new threshold. Releasing 11 songs in one year was far too much work for one person to do all by themselves.”
Suppose your album was a movie, which one would it be?
“I am so glad you asked this question because I actually have a GREAT answer for it [laughs]. So, as I had mentioned earlier, my decision to release Silhouettes as 11 singles was mainly to appease the Spotify & streaming service algorithm gods [rolls eyes again], but I figured that if I was going to release this album in 11 parts, why not release the songs all out of order?
That way it gives people an extra reason to go back and listen to the entire album in the correct order once it’s released, right? The inspiration for my release strategy came from the movie (500) Days Of Summer, where the movie tells the story of the relationship between Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s & Zooey Deschanel’s characters entirely out of order.
The movie keeps flipping back and forth between various moments throughout their 500 days as a couple and as it does this, the picture gradually becomes clearer and clearer. I felt that seeing as this LP dealt with similar themes of love and loss, it made sense to me to draw inspiration from this cool indie rom-com. Silhouettes essentially is an indie rom-com [laughs].”
THE event of 2022?
“Honestly, probably Elon Musk buying Twitter. That man rocks so many boats that nobody asked him to, I absolutely love it. Leaking the “Twitter Files” where there is likely nothing for him to personally gain from it, just shining some extra light on all of the political corruption we’re living through. I can’t wait to see what he does in 2023.”
Now that 2022 is over, what’s the best track and album you heard this past year?
“I love these questions! Best track is a very tough one. I don’t know if I could narrow it down to 1 song specifically. But if I had to pick my favourite album of 2022, I couldn’t do that either! [laughs] The best I could do would be to narrow it down, in which case it would be a 3-way tie between Cool It Down by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Formentera by Metric. and Blue Rev by Alvvays. Just three spectacular records by three spectacular bands that in my opinion, each deserve consideration for Album Of The Year.”
Name 3 things you really want to happen for BURN THE LOUVRE in 2023
“1. Personal growth as musicians and songwriters. I feel these new songs we’re working
on are excellent and very different from these ones, so I am very excited to get these down and just become better at what we’re doing. We’re looking into adding some new members, so I’m excited for what that does in terms of our sound.
2. Another recording session. While I know it’s unrealistic to say we’re going to release
new music next year when I know how long the entire process takes, it would be great if we could be at least ready to head into the studio by the end of 2023 to record another 6 songs.”
3. More radio play. We’ve already gotten a great response from radio for these songs so far! So that’s been extremely encouraging, but I still have a fair amount of pitching to radio still to do for the first month or two of 2023, so I am hopeful we’ll continue to get accepted and get our music out there into the world.”
Thank you, Jordan, for this interview.
May the road rise with Burn The Louvre in 2023.
Do not hesitate. Buy/stream SILHOUTTES
here via Bandcamp
