LIBRARY VOICES SPEAK UP
Upcoming release testament to rockers’ resilience
After seven years, two full length albums and two EPs, multiple member additions and subtractions, and more time spent in vans than any human should be forced to endure, Reginabased indie rockers Library Voices are back and stronger than ever.
At times, since their last full length album in 2011, Summer of Lust, it wasn’t always a given that would be the case.
The band has encountered stolen gear, flooded jam spaces, and the homophobic attack and beating of guitarist/vocalist Carl Johnson while walking downtown with a former bandmate after the latter’s surprise bachelor party. It was a case of mistaken identity that left the charismatic frontman with a brain injury which required a lengthy recovery. Other members of the septet got married, had children, and had a multitude of job changes.
Despite tribulations that would cause most bands to call it a day, keyboardist Michael Dawson says they never considered pulling the pin.
“You know, it’s funny,” he says. “The closest we ever came to breaking up was when we were trying to be a band 200-per-cent of the time. We hit a wall and we had to re-evaluate. At this point I think we’re in a better place than we’ve ever been. When we finished our touring commitments we all ended up writing new music, buying new gear and still hanging out all of the time.
“We consider it an unpaid sabbatical. It also gave us a much needed window to tend to our relationships and careers in the way they deserved. Now that things are making sense again I don’t think it’ll be another four years between albums.”
The band’s new record, Lovish, while not released for a few more weeks, will be available at their show Saturday at The Exchange.
According to Dawson, despite the album’s seemingly lo-fi feel, it’s “sonically the biggest and fullest” album they’ve ever made.
“We’ve been referring to the sound as mid-fi, which I’m confident music nerds are already making fun of us behind our backs about. We recorded again with Orion Paradis at SoulSound here in Regina. We’ve recorded two LPs and two EPs with him now so at this point it’s almost telepathic. He’s been really supportive of our strange workflow and he always knows how we’ll respond when he plays something back. With any luck maybe we’ll be able make our next record there entirely through psychokinesis.
“If we’ve got good at one thing as a band it’s using equipment wrong with great results. Overdriving tape machines, etc. We used a bunch of vintage effects and gear recording, most of which was barely functioning, so it made us commit to sounds during the recording process. The difference this time around is that we produced the album and then Dave Plowman and Alex Bonenfant (METZ, July Talk) mixed the album in Toronto. Our old friend and Estevan Comprehensive School alumni Rob Morrison also jumped in and mixed the song Sunburnt In L.A., which is my personal favourite song on the album.
“Of course there are other, much simpler reasons why the album feels slightly different as well,” Dawson continues. “Brennan (Ross) contributes four songs to the album this time around and he also plays a 12-string guitar on 99 per cent of it. (Mike) Thievin is probably one of the best drummers in the country, which anyone who has seen his other math/prog project Radville perform can attest to. But we’ve also worked to really scale back his parts and keep them very clean — on Lovish there are a lot more moments where he gets to play the drums like he loves to. At least I hope he feels that way. I’m sure if he had his way all of the drums would sound like Mastadon.”
The band, which also includes Amanda Scandrett, Paul Gutheil, and new bassist Ethan Anderson, intends on touring Lovish, though not as extensively as past albums.
“We will continue to tour in different capacities,” explains Dawson. “Not to the extent we have in the past but we do still love to perform live. It’s just important to us all that we do it with respect to everyone’s families and careers. We’re working on a pile of music videos and other extras in support of the record. On one hand we’ll be spending less time in the van with this record, but on the other we have more support behind this release than anything else we’ve ever done. Our label has offices in L.A. and Germany and we have a great team in place from Mexico to France. We’re going to spend fewer hours away from home than we used to but we are using our time wisely putting more planning, work, and love into the band than we ever have.”
Before then, Dawson and Library Voices are solely focused on sharing tunes from Lovish and their back catalogue with their plethora of fans Saturday.
“We’re very honoured to share that stage with Surf Dads and The Steves. We’re also really excited to offer copies of the record here at home a couple weeks before it’s available anywhere else. We logged a lot of hours making Lovish and we’ve been sitting on it patiently for months waiting to share it with people so Saturday will definitely be special for us.”