SINGING FOR ‘AMERIKA’
Wintersleep to hit capital
What am I trying to find? Are you alive, oh my Amerika? Perennial with the Earth And freedom, love, and law, and life Perennial with the Earth My freedom, I don’t wanna die — from Amerika, by Wintersleep
The biggest hit in a decade by Canadian rockers Wintersleep is Amerika, a haunting modern-rock anthem that encapsulates the uncertainty of the U.S. political landscape in 2016.
The funny thing is, it was written three years ago. And the video, which includes a snippet of a Trump speech along with scenes that portray the decline of civilization, was released in the spring, well before The Donald became the Republican candidate and more than six months before he was elected president.
“At the time, it was kind of like a commentary on something that was totally absurd. It wasn’t written for the election,” said Loel Campbell, the Halifax-born drummer for the Montreal-based band.
“It’s become all too real. We were totally not expecting the outcome.”
The song was assembled in the band’s studio space in Montreal, one of the 11 written and recorded for their sixth album, The Great Detachment, again produced by Glasgow-based Tony Doogan.
Inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem, America, frontman Paul Murphy started out by trying to work Whitman’s line, “Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love” into a rock ’n’ roll song.
The original intention was to convey a sense of hope, which Campbell later saw in Bernie Saunders’ campaign to become the Democrats’ presidential candidate.
“For me personally, that’s what I always associated with the song,” he said, “Bernie, being a sign of hope. Then it turned out that the election campaign was probably the most absurd in history. We didn’t know what was coming, obviously. But the song has connected with a lot of people, and I think it still has its hopefulness.”
He’s right that it’s connected with listeners. The song was a No. 1 hit for 11 weeks on Canada’s rock-radio charts and has been streamed on Spotify more than a million times, while the video was named one of the year’s Top 50 by MuchMusic. That makes it their most popular song since 2007’s Weighty Ghost, a jangly acoustic number from Welcome to the Night Sky, the album that earned them the 2008 Juno Award for best new group.
So how do Americans react when they hear a bunch of Canadians singing about the state of their nation?
Wintersleep has had plenty of opportunity to play it this year during shows south of the border and although the band members stay away from political banter on stage, it always sparks a discussion.
“Even if the song didn’t have the content that it does — of the failing American dream — most of the conversations I have with people I meet or know in America is about the election,” says Campbell.
“So to have a song in the set referencing it is good because hopefully there are people talking about the issues because ‘these Canadian guys’ are.”
Amid the whirlwind of activity required from an act with a hit song, the band also went through a personnel change this year. Longtime bassist Mike Bigelow, reportedly
worn out by life on the road, decided to leave the band. They’ve had other musicians filling in, but recently settled on Chris Bell, who’s been their sound engineer for years, as the newest member.
“I find he’s like a rock. He’s so solid. He just wants to serve the songs and he’s got a great tone,” Campbell says.
“It feels like a team. The shows have been so good on this Canadian tour.”
Whether or not Bell joins them in the studio remains to be seen. It’s always been Campbell, Murphy and guitarist Tim D’Eon who form the creative core of Wintersleep, and hash out songs together in the studio. But they’re not averse to experimenting with others, as you can tell by the big, fat bass line supplied by none other than Geddy Lee on one of the Detachment tracks.
However, they’re in no hurry to crank out another record. The first half of 2017 will be filled with tour dates, including a mid-January excursion to their home territory on the East Coast, followed by journeys through Europe and the United States. To keep it sustainable, they pace themselves.
“We try to keep it to three weeks, maximum, on the road, then a week off,” Campbell says. “You can’t say yes to everything. You’ve gotta know your boundaries. We want to make sure we get to make another record.”