Juno-nominated, Canadian folk rockers Deep Dark Woods are currently in the UK as part of their first European tour, with two London dates which we would reoommend you to attend, one tonight 21st February at the Lexington, Islington and another tomorrow, south of the river at the Windmill, Brixton with good friends and fans of theirs, The Arlenes in support.

We caught up with them last October in Nashville at the Americana Music Conference and Festival on the night of their album  worldwide release date at 3rd & Lindsley and briefly interviewed lead singer Ryan Boldt, drummer Lucas Goetz and organist Geoff Hilhorst backstage before the show. As with New Country Rehab we had seen them play to a packed crowd at the Basement and been in their thrall along with the rest of the crowd.  Since we last saw them they have continued to gain more accolades, having been nominated for a Juno for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year 2012.

NfMP: How has your experience in Nashville been, have you enjoyed it? Is it your first time at the conference?

Ryan Boldt: Yes, it’s always great, from the BBQs to the live music.  We’ve been here about, say twice before? Something like that. We’ve always had fun, but this is the funnest of all the times, like right now.  We’re having a blast.

You’re here promoting your new album?

Ryan Boldt: Yes, it’s called ‘The Place I Left Behind’, it’s out on the Sugar Hill label, comes out tomorrow 18th October (2011) on worldwide release, it released in Canada about a month and a half ago.

What can you tell us about the album?

Lucas Goetz: It’s our fourth album, we recorded it in Halifax Nova Scotia on the East coast of Canada.  The album was self-produced and was the first time we’ve worked with Geoffrey here, who plays keyboards; the organ and the piano and Mellotron, electric pianos…

Geoff Hilhorst: And grand piano, on that record. It was such a great experience to produce it ourselves.  Yeah, we had a lot of fun.

Ryan Boldt:  It was the start of the hockey season

Geoff Hillhorst: The Leafs were doing good.

Ryan Boldt: And the Oilers won their first game.  It was really great! They lost pretty much every one after that though.

Geoff Hillhorst: So did the Leafs.  It was great, our teams were winning when we were recording the record which plays a role in the fantastic memories we have of that time.

Ryan Boldt: We stayed in a bed & breakfast, the people in the B&B were really nice to us, if a little crazy.

Geoff Hillhorst: In a fun way, not like ‘oh my god I’m afraid to go to sleep’

Lucas Goetz: We were there for about 2 weeks, and recorded the album, and that was that, we all flew back home.

So you self-produced your album?

Geoff Hillhorst:  Yeah all five of us.  We had a great recording engineer Darren Van Niekerk, the studio was called The Sonic Temple.  We happened upon the studio cause we were on the road and we had to record this song for the CBC Song Quest, and had to record it while we were on the road, so our bass player Chris Mason found this studio so we went in, it was such a fantastic room and Darren was just an awesome engineer, willing to go the extra mile in just about every aspect of the process.  So we went back there to record the full length record there because of that. He gave us some great input.

Lucas Goetz: He’s also good at interpreting our ways of describing our ideas, cause we don’t really know how to speak the engineers’ speak.

Geoff Hillhorst: Yeah, we’d just make motions and sounds, like: Woooongh wooongh, you know? Woooongh (laughs) and Darren would say ‘yeah I TOTALLY know what you mean, we’ll do that’.  And then he does it.

Ryan Boldt: It’s kind of like James Brown in the studio, he would do all sorts of things.

Geoff Hillhorst: Hand signals? Yeah, or like Bob Dylan.  He’d rehearse his band super hard and then the band’s all ready to go and then Bob Dylan will throw out a song they never ever played before.  It keeps them on their toes.  I don’t know where I’m going with that…

So who’s the primary song writer?

Lucas Goetz points to Ryan: This guy (Ryan shrugs), and Chris Mason writes some songs too, and our road manager and friend Evan Dunlop wrote a song as well that’s on the album.

How long had you been playing the songs live before you recorded them?

Ryan Boldt: We’d been playing three of them for about 2 years, then learnt three of them just before we went in, maybe played them once or twice on the road.

Geoff Hillhorst: I’m surprised we didn’t do more.  I like it that way though, it’s nice to learn them and then record them. It’s neat how certain songs will change and develop over time as well.  You learn a song in the rehearsal room and you record it and you think it’s good, we recorded a coupla the rehearsals when the songs were brand new from this record and the difference between them then and now is from playing live, rather than going over and over them in a rehearsal situation.  They kind of happen live and it’s pretty cool that way for sure…and then they change up even more in the studio.

Ryan Boldt: And now they’re changing even more on the road.  You always want to kinda change them a little, otherwise it gets too boring.

Your performances are particularly engaging, do you think that crosses over into your recordings?

Ryan Boldt: Recording and playing live, yeah, they’re completely different.  I love recording, cause sometimes, at certain live shows, you can’t sing with emotion cause there’s one person in the audience that just doesn’t care or something, whereas in the studio you can really, you know, sing it really hard if you get the mood right in the room.  It just depends on the live show, when there’s loads of people it’s wicked, awesome.  Like at the Basement the other night!

Geoff Hillhorst: When you have everyone’s attention in the room, when something like that happens, from the musical and the lyrical perspective, the lyrics that Ryan writes you really need to pay attention to the whole dynamic, and if we know that people are doing that and listening to what Ryan is singing about that becomes just as powerful for us as it would for anyone in the audience as well.

Check out our website to find out more about us.  There’s a free single on there from our record, it’s called West Side Street and we’ll be over in the UK in the Spring of 2012, so come see us.

Don’t miss Deep Dark Woods: there are two London dates to choose from so there should be no excuse.

After the 3rd & Lindsley show Ryan came outside, across the street and performed a solo version of Virgina for us from the album.

You can also watch this beautifully filmed version of Two Time Loser, recorded by The Neighbor’s Dog, a channel that lovingly records house gigs in Canada with beautiful production values.  Well worth checking out their channel.

Stay tuned as we’ve also got The Deep Dark Woods in for a special recorded studio session in Reservoir Studios which we’ll be putting up soon.

We filmed Danny Schmidt earlier this year when the sun was shining down on Regent’s Park and the Regent’s canal.  He was in London as part of his UK tour, playing at the Green Note cafe in Camden. For the full interview with him that we did at the time you can skip here, or watch below for a little bit of sunshine and blue skies.

Interview by Tim Cooper | Film by Kathy Magee

In a double-header that might well have gone down in mid-Seventies LA as “One Of Those Nights” (to coin a phrase), a sold-out Borderline hosted a stunning show by Dawes and Jonathan Wilson.

On a steamy July night Dawes opened the show with their Seventies-influenced jams, evoking echoes of everyone from Little Feat to The Band, before being joined by Wilson, showcasing songs from similarly Seventies-influenced solo debut Gentle Spirit.

It was a night of tight rhythms and harmonies, loose guitar solos and keyboard improvisations. After two hours of spellbinding interplay, and in one of the worst kept secrets in town, up jumped Jackson Browne, who was doing this sort of thing before the guys onstage with him were born.

He gave the rapt crowd, including luminaries ranging from Roy Harper to Caitlin Rose, half an hour more including These Days and a tribute to Warrren Zevon before closing with – inevitably – a mass singalong of Take It Easy.

It was a magical night and it’s a tribute to the present-day keepers of the Laurel Canyon flame that both Dawes and Wilson held their own against the living legend alongside them.

Before that we caught up with Dawes backstage and persuaded them to tell us a little about themselves before playing an acoustic version of ‘How Far We’ve Come’ from their album ‘Nothing is Wrong’.

We stumbled across Sean Dunne after seeing his short film Stray Dawg featuring Jonny Corndawg (who will be playing a series of UK shows in the coming week and soon to be featured on here).  One of his first documentaries, The Archive, was selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and he has gone on to direct several noteworthy documentaries.  We love what he’s doing and got in touch for an interview and to get him to share some favourite tunes with us.  Check out some of his short films below, we’re pretty sure you’ll love them as much as we do.

• How long have you been making films? And what got you started?  

I have been making films since around 2007. When I graduated High School the film schools I wanted to go to wouldn’t have me.  I guess I didn’t have enough experience or show any potential whatsoever, so they told me to fuck off.  Instead I went to Purchase College, a small state-run school just north of New York City. There I studied cinema history and criticism. Nothing hands on. When I graduated college the jobs I wanted wouldn’t have me. I guess I didn’t have enough experience or show any potential whatsoever, so they told me to fuck off. I worked in a goddamn deli for a year after college, gaining no experience in film.

Finally I caught a break and was given a chance to be a postproduction assistant on Pepsi corporate videos. I got to see all aspects of postproductions. Eventually I worked my way up the ranks and was given a chance to do some writing for them. I guess I was pretty good at that because it led to an opportunity to write and produce for the History Channel. Once I was over there I was exposed to other creatives and given a chance to have my ideas heard and see them through from concept to completion. Basically that became my film school. I was lucky enough to be able to learn on the job and discover what I liked and didn’t like and develop an aesthetic. I gravitated towards documentary because I really liked talking to people and hearing their stories and I thought I was pretty good at developing a rapport with my subjects and telling their stories in a unique way.

In June 2008 History Channel sent me to Pittsburgh, PA to direct some commercials for an upcoming show they had. On our way out of town I convinced my Director of Photography (DP), Ed David to stop off and shoot a little piece about Paul Mawhinney, the owner of the world’s largest record collection. We spent 6 hours with Paul and the result was The Archive, my first short documentary.

Read more…

This Wednesday 8th June, Danny & The Champions of the World are back in London for a headline show at the Borderline.

We’ve got 10 discounted tickets available for Notes for Mount Pleasant readers which gets you entry for 6 pounds (instead of 8), that means an extra beer at the bar.  First 10 to email us go on the NfMP discount list on the door.

We also have a signed screen print of their poster, designed by the fantastic Scarlett Rickard, from an original photo by Tommy Sheehan. Get your hands on one by answering the following question:

In Danny & the Champs new song “Every Beat of my Heart”, what animal is “always the one bopping around”.  Answers by email please with *Champs Poster* as the subject.  Good luck!

And here’s something to whet your appetite that we filmed in Cheltnam back in April on record store day.

We’ll see you at the gig!

If you’ve not yet stumbled upon Josh T Pearson’s new album, Last of the Country Gentlemen, then read this excellent review by Alaistair Mackay in Uncut and see if it sways you.

It won’t be to everyone’s taste.  It is at times uncomfortable listening.  You’re right in there with him, as he whispers and croons poetic but raw, unashamed and often cruel confessions of his unravelling relationship.  As someone at NfMP said after full submersion in the album: I feel like I know him more intimately than I know my closest friend. It’s not always pretty, but it’s always beautiful. After listening to the album on repeat for a week I took to self-medicating with Onda Vaga. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pleasure to lose yourself in there, but nice to be able to bring yourself back.

Three weeks after playing to a sold out Slaughtered Lamb (~150 capacity), Josh was back in London playing to a sold out Union Chapel (~800).  Pianist and composer Dustin O’Halloran opened the show, delivering a note-perfect performance of cinematic arrangements. The ideal support for Pearson; creating a meditative and reflective space for what was to come.  Dustin toured with JTP’s previous band ‘Lift to Experience’ and later in the show Josh credited him as being one of his heroes.

JTP wandered onto the stage, deliberating with the audience: “Jacket on or off?”  Jacket off.  He’d requested little or no light on him during the sound check.  Once the sun had set he asked: “Can you see me? I wasn’t sure about the lights cause it was daytime when we set it up. S’alright? Cause I’m reaaally good looking” (said with a smile).  ”It’s true!  I totally forgot to shave this morning”. Some more jokes followed, about how he’d planned to play from the pulpit and rise up from behind it just as Dustin finished his support.  He’s naturally funny and endearing, but you sense his sharpness, he’s no fool.

“The King is Dead” he bellowed and he passed his hand over his face saying, “serious face, serious chords” and with that silence fell, as he launched straight into ‘I Ain’t Your Saviour or Your Christ’, which lasted over twelve minutes and managed to make you feel like it’s just you and him in the chapel in the dark.  It felt almost dangerous.  There was total silence apart from the irritating click from photographers who buzzed around the front of the stage. Not appropriate on this occasion - even though they were doing “the Lord’s work”, as JTP said. Though they did get some good shots. Union Chapel staff said they have never seen an audience so entranced… and silent.

He played most of his set unaccompanied, but for a couple of songs (‘Country Dumb’ and ‘Woman When I’ve Raised Hell’) he was joined by strings (not his idea, but because someone thought it needed to be grander for the Union Chapel) and Dustin on piano. He admits, and it seems, they were slightly unrehearsed.

In between songs he told more jokes: “What do you call a musician that just split up with his girlfriend?  Homeless.”

“Mickey Mouse is on a charge for killing Minnie.  The judge says – ok Mickey, so after all these years of love and devotion, you’re telling me you killed Minnie cause she was crazy?  And Mickey says: I didn’t say she was crazy, I said she was f*cking Goofy!”                   And so on. Throughout the night he continues to pepper his dialogue with “the King is Dead“.

Here’s his second song: ‘Woman When I Raise Hell You’re Going to Know It’:

And third: ‘Sorry with a Song’, that has a distinctly Buckley-esque (Jeff) feel.  Though as another friend put it; he makes ‘Grace’ look like Justin Bieber.

By the end of his encore we were wrecked (but exhilarated)… and understandably, he was too - exhausted from touring these songs.  They’re not easy to listen to and, one imagines, even harder to perform.  He invited the crowd along to the after-show drinks at the Buffalo Bar.  ”Password?” he says –  ”The King is Dead”.

The password did actually work.

Josh T Pearson returns to London 26th November to play the Barbican.  We suggest you get your tickets now before they sell out.

Pete takes a seat in the galley and we film live favourite, ‘The 88’, a song that Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou covered on the Tin Tabernacle tour. Later, as we cab across London to catch Ben Folke Thomas’s gig at the Garage, we discuss the inspiration behind ‘The 88’ and Pete tells us, ‘Since writing the song, the number 88 seems to come up in my life all the time.’ At that precise moment one of us notices the taxi meter has clicked round to £8.80.

You can see Pete Greenwood play songs from his new album at the Lantern Society showcase on Saturday 5th March at the Betsey Trotwood alongside Ben Folke Thomas, Hank Dogs, Joe Wilkes, Simon Stanley Ward and Greg Harrisburg. Turn up early: last time it was such a popular night that people were left out on the street … the capacity is only 88.

Pete Greenwood also plays Trevor Moss and Hannah-Lou’s Tin Tabernacle Revue at The Social on 16th March. A European tour with The See See begins at the end of the month, with more London solo dates to follow.

Words by Vicki Hillyard | Images Kathy Magee