Motel Raphaël
Refuses to hit the snooze button at times when other acts would sleep in.
“My boyfriend was with us and he was like, ‘You guys are supposed to act like rock stars — trash the hotel room!’ ”
EMILY SKAHAN
Up until recently, it may have been safely wagered that, in the history of popular music, never had such an implausible thing been attempted, much less accomplished. That, in the absence of threat or duress, seven early20-something musicians — a bona fide rock ’n’ roll band — might voluntarily undertake the unthinkable.
Namely, last week Montreal indie-pop/folk outfit Motel Raphaël held band practice at, it pains to say it, 9 o’clock — in the morning. On a Saturday.
Embellishing aside, what wickedness is this?
“That’s just the way we’ve always done things,” singer/ guitarist Emily Skahan says with a shrug. “We played University of Ottawa orientation a couple of weeks ago. We had two beautiful hotel rooms at the Lord Elgin, and when we got back from the show we jumped on the beds for about a minute and a half and then we went to bed. My boyfriend was with us and he was like, ‘You guys are supposed to act like rock stars — trash the hotel room!’ And I said, ‘We don’t do that, we need our sleep!’
“We like to have fun, but then there’s a time for being diligent and disciplined, and that’s what’s going to get you far.”
That this degree of commitment is exceptional in a band so new (they’ve been together in their current, fully fleshed-out form for just over a year) and so young (five of the seven are still in university) almost goes without saying. But there is much that is exceptional at the Motel Raphaël, beginning with the three frontwomen — all singers, songwriters and guitarists — who formed the core of this emerging concern just two years ago: Shakan, Clara Legault and Maya Malkin.
These three, each of whom brings something singular to the endeavour, make up the creative nucleus of the band. It’s a complex musical molecule that was rounded out a year ago with the addition of Dane Stewart (vibraphone and general good vibes), Livia Morris (trumpet), Robin Warner (bass) and Afolabi Fapojuwo (drums). And though Motel Raphaël exists at the intersection of numerous interests and abilities, the members say the unwavering dedication to the cause remains the same.
“No project seems too big, no task too hard — we just pull up our socks and get it done,” Legault states.
Chief among these is the recording of their 10-track debut album, Cable TV, tentatively scheduled for an independent release at the end of October. It’s a process that commenced in June, and the record, like the lineup, has depth.
There’s a tangible note of nostalgia that wends its way through much of the writing, amplified by Skahan, Malkin and Legault’s thrilling and often chilling threepart harmonies. It’s especially evident on propulsive pop songs like the clever and compelling Ghosts, the rootsy, cool London and the relentlessly ear-wormy new tune The Things You Should Have Said.
“We’re old souls,” says Legault, tongue-in-cheek.
“Every song is a story, and every story is important and it shapes who you are as a writer and a person,” says Skahan. “Every story that we’re telling comes from a true place. We write about what we know, the things that have affected us.”
Hence the touchingly funny, perfectly pop Rooftop of Romolos.
“That’s a true story,” says Malkin. “I wrote that song after I got proposed to on a rooftop. The song is happy, but it was a sad evening. Montreal musician Charlotte Cornfield had done a music video for a song called All of the Pretty Mistakes on the rooftop of Café Romolo, a bar in Mile End. When I saw it, I thought, ‘Whoa! That’s the rooftop I got proposed to on,’ and all the memories of this epic event started flooding back, so it ended up turning into the happy song, and it’s all true.”
This is the second year in a row that Motel Raphaël has been booked for Pop Montreal, this time sliding into a headlining slot. And what a difference a year makes. Right?
“We have new haircuts!” jokes Legault. In truth, audience members will be treated to a number of new songs, as well as older songs, that have come to fruition at the hands of the full band. Some of the colour on the bloom comes courtesy of what might usually be considered unconventional indie band instrumentation: the trumpet and, especially, vibraphone. But Motel Raphaël makes it seem like everyone should have a vibraphone player.
“No, they shouldn’t!” exclaims Skahan with faux horror.
“People are trying to steal him from us!” adds Malkin. “They say, ‘Oh, it would be so cool if Dane could play on our album,’ and we’re like (as though whispering in his ear), ‘Dane! Don’t do it!’ ”
From the writing to the collegial repartee, humour is a constant in the Motel Raphaël camp. Make no mistake, they take the business of being in a band seriously and then some, but when it comes to being themselves, well, not so much. It feels, in short, healthy. It’s a word not often associated with their namesake, in the city’s west end.
“It’s an infamous eyesore, and every time you drive by you know that it’s where the prostitution and murders happened, that’s where drug things went down, and it’s just this dirty, dirty place,” says Legault.
“Anyone who knows us knows we’re probably the furthest thing from that seedy kind of stuff, and I thought it would be a really good name for a Montreal band because it would always be a kind of wink to everyone here. “Half of it’s burned now.” Adds Malkin: “We got a lot of hits on Google the day that it burned down.”
Now all that remains is for the other half of it to burn down — preferably on the day the new album comes out. And, if anyone’s asking, they don’t know anything with respect to the whereabouts of the motel’s signature sign.
Nothing at all.