Maranger embraces ‘beauty of imperfect love’
Jesse Maranger loves community — be it friends and family or the strong supportive music collective he has found here in Waterloo Region.
His 2014 debut album, “So I Love You As You Are,” was a soft and poignant reflection of family and childhood.
His new fan-funded sophomore album “Dreamist” is about “embracing the beauty of imperfect love” and adulthood.
“Another way of looking at it — I think of “So I Love …” as winter and “Dreamist” more like summer … like it blossomed from the last one,” says the Waterloo-based singer-songwriter.
Maranger notes it’s also good to get feedback from his “Dreamist” contributors.
“I was talking with one gentleman and he feels that this album is a lot more mature. It is like the songs from the last album grew up,” he notes with a laugh.
That may have something to do with single “They Can’t Tell You Who You Are” featuring Bob Egan (Blue Rodeo, Wilco) on pedal steel guitar.
“I got to know Bob over the years through his Kitchener shop, Bob’s Guitars,” says Maranger. “I would go in there, bring my guitars to him and he would put new pick ups on them.
“I ran into Bob about six months ago when I was working on the album and he said he would love to play on it,” recalls Maranger. “I chuckled … yeah right … Bob Egan wants to play on my album. He said ‘No, honestly. Send me an email. I would love to play on one of the tracks.’ I told him I would do that and luckily enough I was partway through writing “They Can’t Tell You Who You Are” so I was able to really leave some space in that song to let Bob do his thing,” he adds cheerfully.
Maranger sings lead vocals in addition to playing acoustic, electric, bass guitar, synthesizer and banjo.
The album, recorded and mixed by Maranger at his home studio, is spacious, spare and elegant in its musical execution. The songs meander gracefully into each other — Maranger’s melodic chapters of love and life interspersed with nature’s own music. Maranger’s hypnotic voice, set to simple string arrangements is sometimes a whisper, or an echo, reminiscent of a babbling brook or a gentle breeze blowing through the forest from opener “Song of the Singer” through to “The Cardinal” to “Mary Lake,” “Pines” and gentle but haunting finale “Ember Years.”
It’s a little Elliott Smith/Nick Drake/ Tim Buckley and slightly Aidan Knight with lots of aural room not only within each song, but between each sonic stave.
“Dreamist” was mastered by Gavin Gardiner of Toronto indie folk band The Wooden Sky “for another pair of ears and the final sparkle.”
Maranger says most “Dreamist” songs were written after he got married last fall. And he found the process a little harder because he had to cull the album down from 30 songs.
“The past year, the things I am learning about myself and my hopes for the future are all wrapped up in this album,” he notes. “At the end of the process I felt confident that I had the eight best songs for this album thematically and musically,” he states.
Maranger, originally from Stratford, first built up his musical confidence singing harmonies as a member of the Perth Country Choir.
“We sang older choral arrangements but also a lot of new stuff. Beatles songs were always my favourite,” he recalls. “We did “Can’t Buy Me Love” in the choir and that was awesome. We actually got to travel a bit,” says Maranger, adding touring included Chicago and parts of Canada. “That’s a big part of why I love music so much in the first place,” says Maranger, adding he began playing piano at a very young age.
“When I was 12 years old I could not give up music but I could choose what I wanted to do,” he recalls. “I took guitar, learned my first three chords and then wrote my first song. Somehow songwriting was always a part of music for me,” he adds.
Maranger came to Waterloo for university, and then went to teacher’s college in London but keeps coming back to K-W because of its strong community.
“Dreamist single” “They Can’t Tell You Who You Are” was actually created from community cellphone video footage submitted to Maranger for this music video project.
Michael Jeung, with director Andrew Cherry, wanted to create a video featuring these cellphone images actually projected onto Maranger. The two filmmakers also created “Waves” from Maranger’s debut album. It won Best Canadian Music Video at the 2015 Grand River Film Festival.
Maranger really enjoyed filming the video though it took a good six months.
“While we were filming it I almost felt like I was walking through people’s memories, which was actually pretty powerful. There is one clip of a mom and her brand new baby. That is my friend Laura,” he notes. “I have always wanted to make a music video collaboratively with the community. I am really happy with the way it turned out.”
Maranger is also a producer (JoJo Worthington, Lydia Mainville). He and good friend, musician Elsa Jayne, recently established DIY recording label Evergreen Arts. He says Evergreen is focused on collaboration and community, through fostering local musicians. He will also be mixing and mastering Jayne’s upcoming EP.
Maranger believes a good song makes you “feel” something; hence the reason people connect so closely with sadder songs. He does not label his music as “sad.” “I have always tried to keep my music real conveying very intimate emotions,” notes Maranger. “Nature has always been one of my biggest inspirations — the duo of being out in the wilderness and the forest. The other side of it is more like relationships and obviously not just romantic ones,” he adds.
“I strive to be true with the things I am thinking about and the emotions I am feeling — the depth of it all, the joy and also the hard things — the changes, and the growth. I want to be a part of it because all of those things are a part of my life.”