King Kong Girio

Plan Of Action - The Kingpins

Plan Of Action – The Kingpins

Most bands naturally evolve in some way. Often what they are listening to at that time will greatly colour their musical choices. Usually these changes are made with a disdainful dismissal of their previous work, as if what they are into now could only be relevant so long as they  spit on whatever they were doing up till then. In the case of Plan Of Action, they felt that not changing would be betraying themselves and their fans.

The Kingpins had become the best version of what they were (the Let’s Go To Work band) not too long before. I had witnessed the best show I’d seen them play up until that point at The Rivoli in Toronto. Their grooves were thick and relaxed as they pulsed through a pretty strong catalog. We were joking after the set about hatching plans  for various theme EPs of trad ska, Biblical ska, Asian ska…etc… and then I didn’t hear much from the band.

Paddy Walsh, who was the lead singer most of the songs and one of the main songwriters, had left the group and was replaced by JFK from Winnipeg. Then Bobby Beaton, the other half of the songwriting front with his distinctive guitar tone retreated from the band without a word to reform The Gruesomes. The band had recorded about 16 songs as pre-production which comprised mostly of JFK material as well as 2 Beaton numbers (which were as solid as any of his previous Kingpins contributions). Overall, it was different in tone, but still sat in the retro pocket they had occupied for so long, touching on some early ska, as well as other sixties touchstones. The material needed weeding through and some additional writing, but I was already envisioning sixties throwback sound. I was going to find out how to get those sixties sounds and push the band further into that place, and one thing was for sure, Lorraine Muller had to have more songs to sing. She had jumped up to the front on the previous recording, but there was little evidence of her voice on the demo CD.

My trip to Montreal put the brakes on all that. Jordan Swift (Kingpins bassist, Stomp Records co-founder) took me out for drinks and laid out his plan while he got very drunk on cheap draft. Jordan felt that the band was settling into a group that “covered” itself, like impostors pretending that nothing had happened. He felt it was time to push the band into a different direction, drawing more on the late 70s and 80s and infusing those influences into their ska. To him it made sense to take from what made the current Kingpins excited instead of trying to re-create the Beaton or Walsh version (unconvincingly, he added). So we agreed to meet a week later in Montreal with new material and see where it went from there.

This is where I became a songwriting contributor for the Kingpins. I brought in 5 songs. The words were mostly gibberish, but I had sketched out melodies, chord changes, some drum/ bass roughs…etc… we took it from there. JFK was not present for most of the 5 weeks we spent in pre-production. He was stuck in Winnipeg and it was difficult getting a commitment from him with regards to his return. He eventually made it back before we were to record the beds. His place in the band was a strange one. He was essentially  Paddy’s replacement. A male presence in the band. During that last week of prep I asked JFK what his plans were and he told me that he would stay if the record did well, but that he had his own thing going. At that point, I felt we should tackle the issue with everyone. My feeling was that JFK should not be present on the CD as a band member because Lorraine was already on almost every song and she should take the position as lead singer. This made some of the members queasy including Lo, who was very reluctant to occupy that position. It was impossible for them to think of the band without a male singer. To me, it was a more focused approach to stick solely with Lo and avoid future trouble with an already turbulent lineup. Then there was the songwriting issue. We agreed (everyone except JFK) to split the original material with each other to help create feeling of mutual investment. JFK took issue with this as he had 2 original songs in the running and didn’t want to share them. Honestly, I think it’s perfectly fine for a songwriter to keep their royalties and credit untouched, but the split was there again and I know he took issue with it later. Enough of this, here’s the record.

1. Plan Of Action – This is a song by The Shambles (B. Mendoza). It was our call to action. Eric  Boom Boom Boulanger (drummer) selected this song. We used a cut from the Portuguese radio broadcast of the ‘74 revolution. I had it on vinyl and we were looking for interesting sounds to sprinkle throughout the record. To make the drums come alive, Claus Frostell (engineer) got us to track them upstairs in the studio owner’s apartment loft.

Plan Of Action is a straight cover, but it suited Lo’s voice so well it was hard to pass up. She managed to blow her voice on the numerous scream takes.

2. Designated Driver – like a number of the songs, we pulled ideas from our lives. I was inspired by Lo’s “mother hen” position in the band. If you know the Kingpins (and there were many of them) you’d know that they could be a needy bunch. Lo was always there to look after her family, sometimes to the point of wearing her out completely. I started there when writing about this long night out.

The B section came while working on the Mad Bombers’ CD in Edmonton. A little nod to Split Enz in there. Love the Farfisa (played by JFK).

3. L’Aventurier – this one (by Indochine) was fresh for me, but to everyone in the French community it was as familiar as the air they breathed. The chorus of the song is a weird shift that bends the ear. The Kingpins were so enthusiastic about doing this, I think it bubbled over into the recording. We took a more direct approach (different decade), less reverb, a little more in your face, but we were careful to include sweeping and pulsing synths, handclaps (real ones) and a flanger effect for good measure.

Online, I’ve read both damning and praise for this version. Happy it provoked some kind of reaction.

4. Sick Valentino – this was the first song I’d written for Lo’s voice. It was a delight trying to write material for her to sing, to even want to sing. Liam O’Neil on a lovingly out of tune upright piano.

5. Takin’ It Uptown – a JFK number from the original demo. Claus had him doing his vocal through a Sennheiser 421 microphone to bring out some more bite. This song also has J.B. Britton (Me, Mom and Morgentaler) on congas to keep it rolling forwards.

6. Matchbox – this song came directly from the band jamming in that first five weeks, the music came fairly easy. I love listening to Josh Fuhrman popping out those sax riffs like he’s breathing them. It sounds effortless, but always exciting. I played the guitar parts for the most of the CD (except for the JFK songs), but there were times (like this solo) when we had to bring in the bigger guns. That job was left to Simon Angell (Patrick Watson band) and he had to endure contradictory instructions as I attempted to make him play something that at the time must have felt counter-intuitive to him. In the end I was very happy with the double tracked solo using purposefully missed notes played at an intense pace and ending in my detuning his strings as we recorded.

The lyrics were tough to make fit. Jordan had reference points he wanted touched on, but we only had 8 verse lines in which to encapsulate that period scenester history. The first line about John Hughes junkies was a nod to Lo. I think Breakfast Club is still up there for her. Can’t help but roll my eyes and laugh.

7. Bordel – the second French song and this one was spearheaded mostly by Lo. She had the initial chord change and we went from there. While working on it together we managed to come up with the B section. I remember being there and working on the lyrics well into the night. I just can’t remember how I was of any help with the French. I think I mostly nodded my head while she worked it out.

We wanted to get Jean LeLoup to do the Chorus. Thinking it would be perfect for his voice. It was not to be, but we did get Marc-Andre Pilon to stroll in and deliver this bizarrely creepy vocal. He was the devil himself. In the intro we used a synth that Claus brought in. One of the many flavours that Lo teased me about on this record. She does a great impersonation of it if you’d ever care to hear it.

8. The Main – this is Josh’s contribution. A great chance to relax. Some nice turn arounds and an opportunity to bring out some more traditional touches, like the upright piano rhythms. Brought in some more horns – Josh arranged them for the record. One of my favourites on the CD.

9. Goes A Little Like This – another JFK song with a great groove from Eric and Jordan. As this was mixed away from the band (Sound Of One Hand in Ottawa) so I never got the ok from JFK for the copious tape echo that we got from the 1/4″ one track machine. I was excited to include DJ Aerosol on this CD. Lo had more to talk about especially with how underused he was. I was only looking for something to push the song forward and accent, much like a cabasa would be implemented. And that was what he gave us. Not a feature or solo part, but a simple stab here and there that was part of the rhythm section. I’m on the defensive , ha!

10. Consequence – true story involving love, betrayal and dismemberment (or partial removal of the male privates). The details are too lurid to get into, but it’s a Mississauga story that deserves a song. We did it as a duet – JFK playing the victim of said injury, Lo singing the part of the disgruntled partner whose sense of justice was sharp enough to make a grown man wince. I kept the details vague. JFK’s verses were written the morning of the session in an inspired (albeit close call) burst of … duty.

In the video for this song, Josh fills in for JFK as he had left the band by that point.

11. All The World’s A Cage – this is a song by Adam “Bix” Berger (Me, Mom  and Morgentaler). We took this opportunity to lean in another direction. Eric programmed the beat which we tracked using several sources at my home on a Fostex reel to reel machine. I brought it in and we dumped it to 24 track 2″ and built the track from there. This is the only song I played bass on. We used a very small amp for both guitar and bass with Josh playing his sax as quietly as he could manage.

12. End Of The Parade – this was meant to be another duet with Lo and JFK. It was too difficult to pull that together so we went for it as a Lo number. This was about the end of the Kingpins and everything else. This features a wonderful sax/ guitar break played by Josh and Simon. Claus’ synth returns in the chorus – don’t get Lo started! We filtered the part through a Moog at Sound Of One Hand and that’s where the squishy loop came from – thanks to Martin Longden (Furnaceface). Martin also brought in the stereo spring reverb just for our mixes. What a guy.

13. Supernova – these lyrics were inspired by a stalker that had indirectly come in to Lo’s life. I wish some of these songs were as vivid as the stories I was treated to by all the band members. Regardless, this song returns the record to the tone of the first track. Eric at his heaviest like he’s going punch a hole through his skins.

Recorded in 2 weeks in Montreal, mixed in Ottawa.

recorded and mixed by Claus Frostell.

Kirsten Jones - Drive-In Movie

Kirsten Jones – Drive-In Movie (Maple Music 2005)

This album has had quite the journey. It began with heartbreak – not mine, mind you, and experienced at least one rebirth. I was introduced to Kirsten through our friend Paul Swoger-Ruston (who was also involved on this record). We had done some light recording at Jim English’s studio in Elora and then at Paul’s apartment in Toronto, but the project really began at my house with a meeting in the living room. Kirsten played us some songs on her acoustic and then we sifted through more material to fill out the list. Here, Kirsten chose Back To The Playground and Crumbs from my catalog. Both were demos done in the ska style and had to be altered greatly.

From here we prepped some guide tracks based on some references. What we didn’t realize was that we would have to re- imagine a lot of the numbers until we got it “right.” I don’t know if I want to go into those reference tracks, but let’s just say Kirsten’s tastes were broad and it would be a matter of trial and error before she planted her artistic roots. Make any sense?

We recorded the drums with Craig Lapsley in Ancaster at his cabin. With little guidance he blew through the songs in single takes marking the different sections with ease as if he’d been playing them for quite some time. After that we started the process of building the tracks. At the time, I was recording at home and there were great limitations, but with patience the songs took shape. We tried things out, for I Found You, I had Kirsten sing while lying down on the floor to push her to use more of her throat. We got to experiment with doubling/ tripling on Shadows and Lethargy. Somewhere along the line we came to a bump. Songs like Crumbs and Need You were sitting on muscular rhythm tracks and Kirsten was figuring out where she didn’t want to take the songs. I think the only reason Back To The Playground kept it’s Motown beat was due to outside opinions. So we stripped down the other two to guitar and voice, building only lightly (strings on Crumbs).

At this point, Kirsten wrote Bittersweet Grand Canyon, bringing clarity to what really got this record going in the first place. We created a version using some drum programming to build on.

Well, the process went on, chipping away until we had taken it as far as we thought it should go.

Then there’s the next phase, which is the record that most people know. Kirsten and I spoke when she secured a deal with Maple to re-release the record and decided to use this opportunity to make the album reflect who Kirsten was at that moment – or get it closer, anyway.

Bittersweet Grand Canyon – We scratched the original version, rented a pair of Neve pre-amps and a U-87 and tracked it in a day. Kirsten and I played the main guitars, percussion (tambourine skin) and Paul took the solo. Here, we capture the tone that we were looking for, both in the audio and the performance.

Shadows – Craig’s original brush kit tracks remained. The doubled vocals were blended more subtly. Paul on lapsteel bridge, Mary Simon on backing vocals.

I Found You – this would fall in the group songs wouldn’t get played live. Too muscular, too pop, but it does showcase some range. My biggest contribution would be creating the Beach Boys bridge with Paul. A fun exercise, but it came together when Kirsten made it sound “right.”

Lethargy – this is really Paul’s song. I wrote most of the second verse (lyrics), but it was only a variation on the first. Here we were able to create real atmosphere using the very light touches, ending with mellotron strings and tremolo guitar.

Need You – this would be the third version of the song. Live, it would go through more drastic changes. This was part of the Neve sessions that we did for BGC. Paul added the electric guitar. Again, this got closer to the Kirsten’s original intent. Added touches were electric organ bass, tremolo bass (faking a baritone guitar) and my best attempt at a backing vocal.

Back To The Playground – Kirsten helped restructure some of the lyrics so that it didn’t drop into that dark place that most of my songs end up going. I can hear her smile which is something I love about Kirsten, mind you, she usually makes me cry.

You Don’t Feel – the Maple release was a good opportunity to focus the mix so that the parts glued together a little more. This one features a lovely third take on the pedal steel by Steve Halloran, giving the track scope and darkness, seemingly effortless.

Might Have Been – Dave Azzolini added a loopy guitar line to the head which lifted the section. Kirsten’s layered vocals are delicious.We used the original mix for this one.

Crumbs – this is the stripped down version. This might be the original mix, too. Can’t remember. The violins were recorded at Kirsten’s apartment with Lindsey Hiiliard layering track after track. In the end, we just kept everything. She didn’t intend for us to use all the takes, but the parts connected beautifully.

So I’ll Tell You – our first try on this song was more of an atmospheric Lanois thing. In this version we peeled a bit of that away and pushed a more immediate approach. One of first songs that Kirsten ever wrote. I think.

Don’t Mind Me – this also went through some changes, but none that really altered the fact that it’s all about her vocal take. For a while this was her heart stopper at shows. She’s written quite a few more since this CD came out.

Put together on a shoe-string budget, this CD has proven to carry her all the way until now. Kirsten has more recently made an incredible record with Gary Louris (Jayhawks) and I had the honour of being a part of that, co-writing one song, playing bass and offering the occasional “mitch-a-chugga” guitar. What a pleasure.