Music journalism
Contributions for IX Daily. 2013.
During the summer and fall of 2013, Daniel worked as a music journalist for the then-popular Montreal blog IX Daily. Below are two pieces that managed to survive the original website’s closure.
Nick Waterhouse brings the California of the 60’s to the Montreal Jazz Festival
This Wednesday, just as the sun was setting on the Quartier des Spectacles, the California R&B songwriter Nick Waterhouse took the Scene TD stage of the Montreal Jazz Fest for his first-ever performance in the city.
On this warm summer evening, Nick, a lad still in his 20s, sports a patterned shirt beneath his vintage-looking jacket and classy, thick-framed glasses, appearing more like a lost member of the Beach Boys, rather than just another hipster. So, don’t commit the error of mistaking this howling bluesman for some indie music shoegazer - Nick Waterhouse is the real deal. He plays mean blues guitar a la John Lee Hooker and records fully analog, kids (you soundphiles out there understand the legitimacy of the latter act).
Nick, alongside a couple of amazing back-up singers and his band, rocked the festival with two sets (one at 9 p.m. and another one at 11 p.m.) of haunting Rhythm & Blues that got the mixed crowd of hip peeps and elders, dancing and swingin’ as if it was the early 60’s on a L.A.’s Sunset Strip club.
Nick Waterhouse gave Montrealers the treat of listening live to his full 2012 debut LP Time’s All Gone. But that wasn’t the only treat of the night, the musician and his talented band surprised the few of us who were knowledgeable of his act with “This Is A Game”, a brand-new song from his sophomore album in-process, which features a wailing acapella intro, upbeat shuffling verses, and the ubiquitous reverb-wet guitar.
It was without a doubt a show not to be missed, especially since it was free. So, now you know when you see Nick Waterhouse’s name on a flyer for a show in town, you shall expect nothing less than a young man unashamed of his musical influences; Ike & Tina Turner-like choirs and swing combined with eclectic blues guitar.
Montreal’s Finest Rock n’ Roll: The Damn Truth
Cabaret du Mile End show review + interview
“There’s too much phony-baloney bullshit out there and The Damn Truth are not, they are the real thing.” said The Damn Truth’s representative after the band’s last show of their extensive summer tour around Ontario, finalizing in Montreal’s Cabaret du Mile End. You could say their rep was just saying that for the sake of marketing and promotion, but the truth is: she didn’t need to. The show was over already, and I was convinced by then that I had just seen Montreal’s finest Rock n’ Roll band.
Having checked out their debut album, Dear In The Headlights (2012), a few hours before the show and falling in love with their revival of the classic Rock N’ Roll sound, I ventured to the Cabaret du Mile End this last Friday, August 30th. I got to the venue and encountered an over-packed floor, as the show with supporters Blood and Glass got together around 600 fans. That’s 200 more peeps than the venue’s alleged capacity. This wasn’t a sold-out show; it was oversold, and for all the right reasons.
First of all, many fans were sporting the band’s new t-shirts and all – something hard to find in the city’s competitive music scene. You could feel that the night was going to be special by that alone. This was uncommon but not surprising after the band started playing. The Damn Truth brings our generation that pure rock energy that legendary bands like Led Zeppelin have had onstage. With their killer guitar riffs, pounding drums, entangling bass lines, screaming bluesy solos, and the Janis Joplin howls of lead singer Lee-La, they tore down the place like the greats. It was completely rock n’ roll. People were dancing around, body surfing, and chanting every song along with the band. It was an uplifting experience to say the least, which should encourage new Canadian rock bands to follow The Damn Truth’s trail. As the band’s bassist, David Masse, said: “I know for a fact that the four of us, we will never forget tonight.”
Once the show was over, I got to spend some time backstage with The Damn Truth. I had a great conversation with band members Lee-La (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Tom Shemer (lead guitar), and David Masse (bass/back-up vocals), in which they revealed details on their upcoming album, their relationship with The Kinks guitarist, and their views on the new Canadian legislation regarding international acts coming to the country.
The interview
IX Daily: How do you guys feel about this sold-out show? I’ve never seen this place so packed. Last time I was here for Matt Mays and July Talk the venue was full, but this was a whole other level.
Tom: Humble. We’re good friends with July Talk.
David: Yeah, we’ve toured with them a bunch times. They’re actually my favourite Canadian band. I am a huge fan; they’re amazing.
Lee-La: We arevery thankful. Montreal fucking rocks.
IX Daily: Tom, you mentioned on the show that you were approached by The Kinks guitarist, Dave Davies, via Facebook. What’s the story behind your relationship with Dave Davies?
Tom: Well, I’ve always loved The Kinks, you know? I really love this guy. He was a huge inspiration on me when I learned how to play the guitar and I fucking love The Kinks – their attitude. So, for me that Dave Davies was writing personally to me was unbelievable, man. I remember seeing that post on Facebook, ‘Dave Davies has a message for you’, and I shit my pants. I swear to God.
IX Daily: So, you had been messaging Dave Davies?
Tom: Absolutely, but with no answers.
Lee-La: Dave [Davies] messaged Tom. We did this cover and we put it online and it won a contest. It was the song we performed tonight, “Yes Sir, No Sir”, off the [Kinks] Arthur album from 1969. It’s an album that nobody has ever heard of. We only discovered it about a year ago and we fell in love with the album; we were listening to it day and night. It became like our mantra. Then we said, ‘Alright, lets do a cover of that’, so we covered one of our favourite tracks off the album, “Yes Sir, No Sir”. You know, it is a really anti-establishment kind of song. So, there was this contest to cover the song and we won the People’s Choice and the second place overall.
David: Here’s what happened (stands up and firmly puts his beer on a table). The first prize was to get to go to Konk Studios and re-record the song with him. But they had to fly us there and we are from Montreal. Somebody from London, like from across the street, won. But we ended up in second place and getting a bunch of stuff.
Lee-La: We got signed records. And suddenly we got Dave Davies message to Tom, ‘Next you guys come to England, I want tour with me, be my opening band.’ It was amazing. The only problem is he’s not touring much these days, but if he does we for sure will remind him.
IX Daily: I heard you guys are writing a second album. How is it coming along?
David: We have maybe like 25 songs in the works right now. We are trying to break it down to the best ones. Maybe we’ll do a double album. (laughs)
Lee-La: We are fighting, we are loving, and hating. We are going through all that crazy experience of writing together and four people pulling in many directions at the same time.
IX Daily: It doesn’t feel like a one-guy thing, your band. It’s four people and all of you are contributing to that collective band feeling, at least onstage.
David: We are just four strong opinionated people. It just happened that way.
Lee-La: Yes, for the better or for worse. Sometimes it takes a really long time to get through a song, or to build a song, or even decide if it is something that we should completely ditch. It’s process and its lots of fun.
David: We manage to meet somewhere in the middle and it stills amazes me to this day. Then all of the sudden there is as song. It is the most beautiful thing, honestly.
IX Daily: Who have you guys worked with for this album? Any producers, record labels?
Lee-La: We don’t have a label; we are completely independent. One of the producers we’ve been working with is a guy called Jean Massicotte, he is a Montrealer. He is one of the most talented men that I’ve met in my life. He has worked with people like Patrick Watson and Lhasa de Sela. He’s a really incredible and inspiring dude. We are super thankful to have him on board and he actually produced our last single, which hasn’t come out yet. It’s been mixed at the moment.
IX Daily: Do you have a date for a possible release?
Lee-La: It was supposed to be tonight. Lets put it that way. There was supposed to be a 7-inch vinyl out tonight. We ran a little late on the deadline. But it will be coming, it should sooner than later.
IX Daily: Have you checked out the new Canadian legislation regarding the fees charged to some venues to bring international music acts? Do you feel like this will affect your band and the opportunities to support the bigger international acts?
Lee-La: It is really hard to tell, because at the end of day the bigger bands have the money and those fees won’t detoured them at all. But it is really gonna hurt the little bands. It is gonna hurt those really indie bands that are just starting their way.