Graventown

Episode 118: Interview w/ Jen Baranick of Broken Down Golf Cart

• Graven • Season 2 • Episode 118

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 40:08

Countryfolk and Citydwellers: I hope you wander round to the Graventown get-down. It's been nice to get back into the Podworld (that felt really lame to write) and interview the super talented Jen Baranick from the supersonic fuzz-love-space rock band Broken Down Golf Cart. Broken Down Golf Cart are known as purveryors of spacey grunge and fuzzy weird love began as the audio/visual project of Canadian-born, Merseyside-based musician, animator and visual artist BDGC captain Jen. With a raucous, groove-glow and memory-movie dreamscapey album called "Funeral Smoker'"on the way, Jen is ever prolific and ever frontally lobed about the mammoth mind-machinery behind the creation of a new album, and we had a great chat as I welcomed her back for her second visit to the Graventown Podcast.

My new album "Geographics" is out now on all platforms. You can preorder the digital, cd and vinyl versions of the album on my bandcamp page, (which helps me greatly) but I understand that cash is tight all over the map, so you can also order a five dollar Geographics sticker. 5 beans! This album is really special to me (as my friends Melissa Payne and Charles Austin played all over it) and I hope you'll come along for the supersonic ride. Follow me @gravencanada on all the socials, and check my website to see when I'm playing live in a town near you. Join Graventown today to support yours truly for only 8 clams a month. 

unknown

Free free free.

SPEAKER_04

And we're back at it again in Graventown. Really thankful that you're here. Sometimes it's just my own neurotic ramblings, but sometimes I have guests, and today I have a very special guest. But before I introduce that amazing person, just want to let you know that if you want to support the Graventown podcast and what I do here, you can go to something that I have called a Ko-Fi. It's like a Patreon, but it's spelt K-O-F-I. And uh for eight bucks a month, you can be part of the Grave Town crew. It's pretty cool. I send out little updates from the road, and it's lots of fun. That's K-O-F as in Frankii.com slash Graven Canada. And I'd really appreciate any support. And my new album, Geographics, is out. You can hear that anywhere. Thanks so much for your support and love and kindness. I really feel it. You know it's difficult times, but we're we're making our way. We're trudging through. And speaking of making our way and making great, great music, I want to tell you about someone who's been on the pod before. And I I feel really sad that I said pod right there, because I'm not that busy. I can say podcast, okay? I don't know why I said it, it just kind of came out. But I want to tell you Broken Down Golf Cart is a Liverpool, UK-based indie spacey grunge act known for, as they describe it, fuzzy weird love. And they've released various singles and EPs over the years, including Do It Anyways, uh, which came out in 2025, and Songs for the End of the World Party, which was 2024, and their music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, all those kinds of things. And uh, I'd really like to welcome to Graventown for the second time. Jen from Broken Down Golf Cart. Jen, welcome to Graventown.

SPEAKER_01

Hello, how are you?

SPEAKER_04

I'm doing all right. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01

I'm good, I'm good. I just finished actually a broken down golf cart practice and um real. There were yeah, it was there was no um, it's getting hot. It's getting hot here. So um uh yeah, I I'm gonna have to get the fan out because we're all sweating. We did the set twice, and uh by the second time I was like, I'm dying. I need to get out of here. You all need to leave. Get out.

SPEAKER_04

I hear you. So uh do you like I want to ask you, just as someone who like myself, you know, um you and I are both uh I would say like high output music makers. Like we don't really wait around for you know the green light to come on. Like we're always just kind of making and brewing in the convection oven of the song. Do you feel like that is how it works for you? Like, do you kind of always have songs that are flowing through you? And then when you record, you're like, well, I just have these ready to go, or how does your creative process work? I'm interested because I'm like, I watch your stuff, I love it, and I'm always like so drawn to the way that you create and the high output that you have. And uh just yeah, how does that all work for you?

SPEAKER_01

Um, well, I'd say, well, okay, if I can put it kind of visually in a non-visual way, because this is uh this is audio, that's okay. But um basically, like uh I guess it all started before, I don't know, like I have a folder that's usually like I've recorded, I don't know. I've got a folder on my computer that's like kind of demos, like kind of just me like messing about and uh just like just putting ideas down and stuff like that. And I call it too new too new for school. I don't know, stupid, stupid really. I love it. As dumb, but yeah, so I've got a folder called Too New for School, and then I've got another folder that's um called BDGC Current Musac. And the current Musac one is usually it's ideas that I've had that I like made the arrangements for, and then I've like gotten the drums on it already. So once I get the drums, because I find that's like the hardest part, because that's like, you know, like all the microphones and like getting the drummer out, and it's like, you know, so many tracks, uh, tracks are on a drum kit. So that that's usually like that's my like folder that I'm like, okay, I can literally just sit here and kind of like mess with that because and and it could be polished up and put out sooner than later. And then too new for school is kind of like stuff I'm still kind of messing around with, just in logic and like rearranging and like figuring out ideas. So yeah, I always have kind of like songs that are ready to get done, and then songs that are like not really there yet, but it's like in the background. So yeah, I always kind of do have music that's always kind of there. Um, I have been like whittling it down though, um, by so I had I had this folder, broken down in golf cart music, that I had loads of drums on that I recorded like I don't know, maybe like five years ago. There's like multiple drummers, and that's what this album is the that I'm putting out on May 13th. Yeah, it was all old songs, to be honest. Um, it was 12 songs, and I was listening to them and I was like, okay, I have 24 songs right now, okay? Like that, yeah. So I split the old ones into I've split, I went 12-12. So the first album I'm putting out is called Funeral Smoker, and those are all really old songs that I literally went back and I had all like the drums on it, and I had I had to still put a few guitars and like fun bits on it. But to be honest, I hated the lyrics on it. Not that I, not that I hated it, but it was just like me too long ago, and I was listening to the lyrics and I was like, oh my god, I can't. I'm not no. I have that too. Yep. Exactly. Like I just like ripped them apart. I just like was like, yep, nope. So I think this this album was quite difficult to finish because I had to rewrite a lot of the lyrics, which is like a lot of brain power, and you don't want to just be like, ooh, filler, filler. You have to think about it and stuff. And like, obviously, because you don't want to just like turn some crap out. So uh this was pretty hard. The second album that I'm gonna hopefully release uh soon after this album is more um, I'm happy with the lyrics. It's more recent, it's more who I am currently. And so um, so yeah, so that that'll be the second album coming out. But yeah, this one was super hard to do. And I guess, yeah, for the creative process, I just always have a folder of stuff and then I'll like I'll revisit it. Or sometimes I'll just like I'll just take what I'm currently working on and just like be like, I can't deal with you right now. And then I'll just like write something really quick and and I'll just put it out in like three days and I'll be like, I don't care, you know what I mean? It it just like it just comes out and then I'm like, okay, I've released that emotional shit, so now I need to like go back to what I was working on. So it's just I'm kind of like all over the place, just like firing. My brain's just like firing.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I can tell. I and I love the I can tell that from talking to you and stuff, and like your ideas and the process. And we you you and I have talked about this before, and it's super interesting. And um, yeah, I was wondering too, like, so funeral smoker, by the way, great title. Great title. Oh my god. And I want to tell me the story again. We talked about it briefly, but uh what the story of that title, I think it was like a conversation you had with someone, is that right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I had um, so I like I recently um um just like uh I don't know, I just had a conversation. I'm trying to like not smoke whatsoever, and I've been like alright at it. Like it depends if I'm like having a having a drink or something. Yeah, but I've been pretty good. But um basically I was just talking to her in the elevator being like um uh at work and I was just like, oh, you know, I just um I'm really like you know, only I'm trying to like only like do that when it's like you know, I'm having a drink or something like that. And she was like, was it a coworker or something? Yeah, I was a coworker, and she's like, ah, babes, me too, you know, like and she's like, you know, nowadays, like, you know, I'm just a holiday and a funeral smoker. And I thought that was just like and she just said it such was such like class and like pizzazz, whatever the heck that word means. But yeah, she just said it in such a way, and I was like, damn, and that just like stuck in my head. And I was gonna call the album like funeral holiday smoker, and I was like, okay, no, Jen, just pick one. Like you can't just have everything all the time, you know. So anyway, I uh so I was like funeral smoker, and the reason I kind of picked like the darker one is because this album's a bit, it's a well, it's not a bit, it's it's hard to talk about. I don't want to talk about it too much, but this album's dedicated to um one of my friends who passed away uh around August. So I um yeah, because the it's got it's kind of like a it's it it's it's dark. It's a pretty dark album and like, but you know me, like I don't know, like I'll like write kind of happy sounding stuff, but that that sounds pretty tra it's like the lyrics are pretty tragic and and stuff. So it's it's like a surfy kind of like feel good, pretty melodic album, but like it is dedicated to like like my friend's death and like the fact that like I don't know, just like addressing feelings around and emotions around like loss and grief and and life and death and like all that stuff, all that fun, beautiful stuff we have to deal with as living organisms, you know.

SPEAKER_02

But I know doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it is what it is, isn't it? Um, but yeah, uh so that's that's kind of what it came from. And then when she said that in the elevator, I was like, yeah, funeral smoker, and you know, it was just kind of funerals fitting and smoking, and my friends smoked and he had a funeral and uh he loved the song, the funeral, and he like, I don't know, it just all was like, Yeah, that that'll fit, that'll fit with it. So yeah, um, that's where it came from. Why I told her about it the other day, she was like, No way, you did that. I was like, Yeah, thanks, girl.

SPEAKER_04

That's so cool. I I well, I mean, I I we've talked about this too, and I'm really sorry for the loss of your friend. I mean, it's it's a horrible thing, it's like undescribable, it's impossible for anyone to understand like what you're going through, what other people are going through. But um, for sure it's just in some way it has like uh helped creation to to come out of it too. Uh in the sense of like these songs, right? And I think about that more. Maybe it's just I'm getting older, like I'm almost 50, and I think about that process of like, you know, even in at some of my newer lyrics, I realized like I was talking about like, oh yeah, when things die, like even human bodies decomposing, like there's literally, you know, trees and things that grow out of the ground, like it's like we're fertilizer. So it's a weird circle to think of the fact that like growth does come out of death, like it's wild.

SPEAKER_01

It is crazy. Oh my god, do you know what that reminds me of something? Let's like sidetrack. I watched a documentary the other day about this like a funeral, uh, funeral home business or whatever. And they were like being like, I forget, I forget, I I don't remember everything, but basically they were like, Yes, bring your bodies, like your loved ones' bodies here, and we will like give them back to nature and don't worry, we will take care of them. And you know, okay, yeah, it turned out to be a massive, like, massive scam. I think scam is like not the right word to use. It's like un, it's it's it's it's much worse. And basically the people were like, they basically found out that like these people were just like storing the bodies like in their establishment, and they were just like rotting, and it was just like they didn't, yeah, they never did anything with the bodies, they didn't do hack like fuck all. Like they were just like, sorry for swearing.

SPEAKER_04

No, no, you can swear, you can swear, you can say fuck shit, pitch, whatever you want.

SPEAKER_01

They didn't do heck all. Um, but yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Um I get to feel that. That's so good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, like yeah, they didn't do anything, so yeah, they there was like big court cases and stuff. I I'm sure if you just like Googled it, but like, yeah, and like they went in to wherever their their property was, and it was just like full of bodies, just like still just like rotting fluids everywhere, and they just like never did anything with or they they cremated a bunch of them all together, and like the people like they were both they were either gonna like you know, give them back to nature or they were gonna uh put their ashes to like and then give them back to the family, but like it wasn't even their ashes, and sometimes it was just like gravel.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

It's it's it's yeah, honestly. I watch really fucked up shit. Like, I'm sure you can tell from the art I do, but yeah, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_04

No, no, I don't think it's fucked up at all. Well, it's interesting. I I've I noticed more and more like people are talking more about that stuff, like crematoriums, funeral homes, and all that. It's like really bizarre, and um I actually it's weird. In the last couple years, I've had I have two friends who are funeral directors, like those are their jobs, and they live in yeah, different like one lives north of Toronto, one lives in London. But it's so bizarre. And I sidetracking too. I listened to this comedian talk about telling the story about how he used to his friend's um parents ran a funeral home and they would go there at night, get high, and there would be like you know, sometimes bodies around, and he said, like the odd time him and different friends were you know making out with different people in caskets and stuff, and I was just like, fuck me. I mean, I yeah, I know, right? I'm like not okay, it's not okay. So weird, and I mean this is obviously in the 80s or something, but still, it's like fucked up.

SPEAKER_01

Still, that's not cool. Oh my god, it's fucking weird, honestly. Like, I kind of wonder like when they're like, you know, late at night when people are like processing, you know, bodies getting rhythm ready, and they're like putting their makeup on, or like, you know, like I don't know, like just like imagine being like that your job, and like you're there like late at night and you're alone, and it's just like you're with a dead body and you're just like, oh my god, okay, I'm gonna make you beautiful for tomorrow. It's your big day. I know. And like, and just like what if, like, I don't know, like, I don't know, what it would I don't know, would it trip you out? Like, would it what if what if you saw a ghost? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I know, exactly. That's what I'm saying. I'm sure that there's all kinds of experiences. And I I've you know, um, my friend Sage, who's a musician and lives north of Toronto, like his shout out to Hollow Sage. Uh like he is a great dude and has like a nice family and stuff, and it's like a really you know, he finds the fulfillment in it. But yeah, I think yes, like there's always stories and weird shit happening because it can't not, right?

SPEAKER_01

Doing that kind of thing, like you can't be around that type of activity without yeah, and like life is already kind of weird, like space is already kind of fucking weird, like like everything's fucking weird. If like and then you know, like existence is so weird on its own, and then the people are just like, no, no, there's no way that there's like an afterlife, there's no way that there's anything after this. I know. Well, what the what the fuck is this then? You fucking how you're gonna you're gonna simplify just like death and stuff, but I mean, look in the sky, what is that? Like all those stars, like what the heck's going on, man. I know, I don't know. I like this strange.

SPEAKER_04

No, you look up for uh like literally, you know, a minute at night, and you're just like, okay, like there's gotta be more. This is not it's not just this, but it's crazy. I mean, yeah, I I totally agree with you. I'm I don't know. So do in here, getting back to your songs. Like, do you think of that like say when you're writing a song like Why Things Shouldn't Matter? Great song, by the way. Great song. Um like do you think about are you like a metaphysical person? Seems like you are from what I I've talked about with you. Like you think pretty deeply about a lot of topics, like you're but but then you have other you have some songs too that are more kind of like easy for people to grab on to, digest, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? Yeah, like you have who are some of your influences in that way, like the deep, deep thinkers and music and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01

Um I I think I've told you this uh before, and they're probably still the same, but um I love uh Anton Newcomb from Brian Jonestown Massacre. I love his music, and he's like he's fucking cool as stuff. Uh he's a like a a pretty like I look up to him a lot, um, how he like recorded all his stuff like back in the day and stuff. And I think he's he still does now anyway. He's cool as fuck. And then um there's Chad Van Gowen, who's Canadian, who uh you know him, he's thick. Like he he like uh does his own like cartoons and like and he's he's weird as fuck too. He's all like he's all like uh whimsical and shit with his ideas. You can tell in his writing and like his animations and stuff like that, and his lyrics, like they're phenomenal. Um yeah, I mean fuck I could I could think of it's a few bands that I'm like I'm really getting into like a lot of bands that aren't like super super well known lately. Like I've uh I swear to god, my iPod is like gold. Yeah, it's like gold, honestly. Like it's got I mean, yeah, I still use an iPod.

SPEAKER_04

I love that you use an iPod, that's rad.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, fuck Spotify. They don't pay me enough. Fuck them. They can, you know, I don't get money from them. I'm not gonna use them. I mean, if I do use them, um I'm just gonna hear all the commercials because I ain't paying for that, you know. No, but um, yeah, no, I'm on YouTube listening to like just like weird stuff and a lot of like people that aren't known, but they you know, there's just like the algorithm. Oh my god, have I ever told you I say a logarithm? I said a logarithm for like a hundred years. Like that's pretty cool. I didn't know how to say it, but no, it's not, it's embarrassing. I say so many words wrong, it's so bad.

SPEAKER_04

You know what though? A logarithm seems kind of what it is because if you think about it, not to get gross, but it is a log of shit. It's a log of shit floating through the atmosphere. And if it catches you in the right time, right? You're a logarithm lined up. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01

You're a logarithm of shit. Yeah, no, um, I would say more, but like um it's hard to think of, but those are some main ones, and then there's just loads. I could I'll send you some some music sometimes, a list of stuff. But yeah, I love, I love when people are just kind of like I love when like lyrics are a bit weird. It doesn't tell like the whole story. You can kind of just, I mean, uh this I feel like this is like pretty common to say, but it's just like I really like when things just aren't just very, you know, um just cut and dry. Is that the right way to say it? Like you know, I don't like knowing what people are talking about all the time. And sometimes I like little hints of it, and then I can just like guess. And I like to think about people's lyrics. I freaking love lyrics, like I love it, and I you know, I love songs that even like maybe they have one sentence. Like, I don't care. Like, I just love I love lyrics and and uh yeah, so tell me about poetry all the time.

SPEAKER_04

I love it. Well, tell me about why things shouldn't matter and the words in that song are kind of like in the video, it like this. Well, by the way, if anyone's listening, like do you go check out Brock and Down golf carts videos on YouTube because Jen does her own animations, they're super cool. And uh that one is like these two hands with the bones coming out, like sort of reaching and twisting for each other, but they're not really touching. Like, what what what's all that about?

SPEAKER_01

No, isn't that like life all the time? Honestly, that's that's just how I feel all the time. It's like, no, yes, no.

SPEAKER_04

Anyway, it's like you're almost there, but not quite.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you're never there anyway. That's sad. Anyway, uh yeah, um, I actually made that in like fucking two hours because I was just like, I was like, I gotta put out a video. So I like filmed in my backyard, filmed the sky, and like a few days prior, and I was like, I'm gonna do something like that. And then because I'm just trying to do visualizers right now for a whole album, and I don't even know if I'll I'll I'll make the whole album out with visualizers. We'll see. But I'm just trying to, I can't, I don't have like the time or the capacity to make like full blown music videos lately. Like I'm in three bands, I work the nine to five, I'm doing gigs, like I've got, uh, I feel like I'm like flying through time and space and you are. I don't know, man.

SPEAKER_04

And you're existing, you're existing in it. You're here with me right now. It's all good. We're here together.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so yeah. Um, yeah, so I made that quite quickly, but I just like rotoscoped my hand and uh then just like did it from different angles and then tried to find a uh like a close enough loop. They jump a bit, they're not like seamless, but they they do the trick. But yeah, that song is kind of um it's about kind of like let's see, like it like the lyrics in the verses are kind of like uh talking about like you know, you know, when you're like bonding with somebody, or like maybe you have in the past, maybe it's not like a recent thing, but you know when you've had a really good night with somebody, whether you're drinking, whether you're you're bonding, whether you're this or whether you're that. Maybe you maybe you love them, maybe you don't, maybe they're just a friend, maybe they're just someone you're getting to know. It doesn't matter, like the relationship. But it's like you're at night, you're you're it's it's someone, you know, like you're alone, there's no one else around to like influence how you might react in situations. Cause I find, you know, people act different when they're alone. People act different when there's another person. People act different depending on what kind of day they had. People act different depending on their environment. Like you, you're always like a different person in different situations.

SPEAKER_03

It's weird. Totally.

SPEAKER_01

In this kind of situation, this would be like, you know, you're bonding with somebody, like maybe someone you just met, like I said, or somebody you like or whatever. And like the next day, it's just completely different. So it's like the closer it comes to like the sun coming up, and you know that the time is is cutting short, or like, you know, reality is kicking in of like it's not dark anymore, and it's not like this this like intimacy of like the darkness where you kind of feel like hidden. It's like all of a sudden the light is coming up and you're like exposed, and then you change again, and then you're not as close as you were, or like, oh, like the next day you don't talk to each other the same, or you, you know, it's just like it's just like you could, you know, it that's the way I feel. And then um about like the verses and stuff, but then the choruses come from actually the bassist at Broken Down Golf Cart, who's actually fucking living it up in Bermuda right now, Liam Crosby, that motherfucker. Unreal.

SPEAKER_04

Um no way.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he's my good friend. He's a Coast Guard um in Liverpool, but he uh he got uh he got an opportunity at the head of Bermuda and kind of do the same job, but but like living in paradise. So he's there for like he's there for a while. Um hopefully he comes back and plays bass for us again. But in the meantime, we have Nina doing bass who's fucking phenomenal. Awesome. Um, but yeah, anyway, so he um he was just talking to me one day about how like he just I think he slept over. He was on my couch and he was like, Jen, you're fucking blinds, like they're blue, everything is blue. Like in the morning, like when he sleeps on my couch, like the whole like living room. Just goes blue. And he was just like, oh, it's like it's too light outside. God, it's just like, oh, I just need to close the curtains. It's just too light. And like me personally, like, I like my curtains drawn. Like, I yeah, I like to wake up and like the sun's coming up. Like, even if I'm like, I had a late night, I'm like, I like the I like the light filling my room. I like my fucking blue room, whatever. And he was just, he gets so bothered by it. So I just took what he said, it's too light outside. Um, just to kind of go with the fact that like it's too, it's too light outside to now be the people that we were, you know, at night. And that's where that kind of comes from. So it was like two things mixed together. Cause like, you know, like, and yeah, that that's my explanation.

SPEAKER_04

I love that, man. Oh, look, look at that. Like, that was such a great synthesis of a song. Sometimes it's so hard to like distill it down, you know what I mean? Like to just even an idea in the song. And I I find like, I don't know about you, but I listen to a lot of comedy podcasts when I'm not into the music world because it's though it's very different, and I would never I'm scared shitless, like I would never get up and do stand-up. But I like listening to comedians uh of all whatever genders, ethnicities talk about how like the construction of a joke. And like I feel like for a song and even lyrics, it's the same thing. Like you're you we're trying to boil it down to really what it is, right? Like there are songs where you can be wordy and sort of free flow and and have lots of shit crammed in there, but a lot of the times the comedians use this term an economy of words, and I love that, right? It's like that's kind of how we work as songwriters, too. It's like there is a real economy of words because we're trying to like just figure out the the right exact ones that are gonna hit that feeling, you know?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

So look at that. You mean you just you just brought that to life with the story about the blue room and everything? That's pretty rad.

SPEAKER_01

And then you'll have people that write songs. Oh my god, I really appreciate when people just like have really minimalist stuff. It's like it's so instrumental and stuff. Like, do you know do you know King Gizzard?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, King Gizzard.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, you know, they've got that, yeah, and they've got that song that's just like rattlesnake, and they just say rattlesnake the whole fucking time. And I'm just like, what a brilliant song. I could listen to you just fucking say rattlesnake about 85 fucking times. Like I'm down, you know what I mean? And it's just like, you know, I love I love when people do shit like that too. Cause I think I'm just like, could I even do that? Like, what word would I pick?

SPEAKER_04

What would I do?

SPEAKER_01

Like, what would I do? I'd probably say something like boner. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, boner, boner, boner. No, it's so true. I find I find that too. It's like inspiring to hear other people who can be more minimalist. And I definitely like I love words and wordplay, but yeah, I mean you definitely do so.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, their instrumentation is insane though, so it's like they they can definitely get away with battle stink titles.

SPEAKER_04

But let's talk about some of your instrumentation because I know that you and like I've talked to you before about guitar rigs and certain sounds, like you definitely are someone who wants to build like soundscapes at times. I'm just wondering, like, did you ever were you ever a fan of like Sonic Youth? Or yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. For sure. Okay, and like um because as I get older, I'm people are always like, Oh, do you do you like this person? And sometimes I'm like, no, and it's fine. But I feel yeah, like, and um yeah, like I think we've talked about some of the the overlaps that we have, like Sonic Youth, uh maybe Dinosaur Jr., maybe Breeders. Oh, Defo.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, Defo, yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so like but but in building your sound songscapes, like um what's the other song of yours that I was listening to? It's called Broke uh Anatomy. And uh that one has like a real vibe, like it's got this groove, you're playing this riff that starts the song and it just kind of carries it, and it's really like sitting in this groove. But yeah, I don't know. You have like spacey, like almost surfy vibes at times, but then all the other times you can get really loud and heavy and moody with the guitars and stuff. So talk talk about that. Like, what's your process for doing that? How do you arrive where you arrive sonically?

SPEAKER_01

Um usually like so. When I first start a demo, I'll just like plug in, like just line in uh to like the actual interface, and then my might just do like a like a fake amp on it or something, just get some like sounds and just like mess around. Cool. And I'll like, and then like I'll pretty much like write, like do some of the sometimes sometimes I keep them in the background, just like really low or whatever, or like if I like them, because sometimes you can make really cool sounds that aren't like you know, like actual like amps and pedals that you own and stuff. You can find some cool sounds, but uh um yeah, I'll start with that and then obviously like I'll get like maybe like the the drums and then the bass on it and stuff or whatever, but then I'll start building it up. That's when I'm like, okay, now I'm gonna actually like plug in and use like the amps I have and like use my actual pedal board and like the sounds that I have, like that I usually like play live with and stuff. And then yeah, so I'll use different amps for different things. Like I've got, I've got, I've got quite a few amps. I think I have a problem. I think somebody should come over and just like relieve me of a few of my amps. I think it's a bit ridiculous. I would display.

SPEAKER_04

I would love to, but I don't know what to do.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god, it's just like so stupid. I'm just like, honestly, if if I like died, I'm coming back to Canada in a bit, and like if I die on the plane, just like I just like I don't know, bring my body back and it's like bury me in my amps or just like give them to a friend. In the amps. I love it. And I just put my head in the little amp and then put my torso in the twin reverb. I don't know. But uh just build like a person in all the amps. Um, but yeah, I I use different amps for different sounds. Like I've got a twin reverb, so that like that's quite a clean, like kind of big sound. It's just like, I don't know. Yeah, it's just like weird. It's like it's about like mic placement too, like where you want, like if you want like you know, just like you blend, you know. Sometimes I'll just do like one microphone, sometimes I'll do two, depending if I want like the back of the amp sound and I want to blend it. And then, and then um I've got um like a Vox AC, I don't remember what letter, uh number AC 10, maybe, but it's a bit more springy and bright.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

And then I've got a Boss Katana, which is like, I don't know, it's like kind of creamy-ish. I hate that word, but yeah, it's like a creamier kind of vibe vibe. Um, it sounds good with the fuzzes. Um and then uh it's uh there's also like this like tiny little, tiny little amp I have. I forget what it is, but it's like a little, little tiny one. Like I don't even think I would gig with it, but like uh if you if you record it properly, you can get kind of like a you drive it really hard and you can get like a stick fucking massive sound out of this big amps or this tiny amp. So it's like I don't know, it's just like kind of like what are the sounds you're going for? And you just kind of gotta experiment and then yeah, I pretty much like I'll use like you know, one amp for like the rhythm section, then I'll be like, okay, now for the solo part, I want it to cut through, so I'm gonna use like more of like a brighter one, and then I'll like blend it all, and then I'll pan and then I'll just go nuts. To be fair though, sometimes I like put way too many guitars on, like the guitar tracks, and I'm like, okay, we need to not this time. And I always tell myself, we always tell myself, I'm like, we're not gonna do it, Jen. We're not gonna fucking put like three different amps and like six different tracks, and then I fucking do, and it's like like how many times can you like overdub everything? It's just ridiculous, but yeah, I um yeah, I I have a problem, and I'm just gonna have to maybe that'll be my next year resolution is just to stop being like that, but it's hard.

SPEAKER_04

It is hard, but I love that I'm admitting my problem though. You you know, but you love the sounds, and I think I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

SPEAKER_01

Uh by the way, have you feel a bit muddy sometimes though? Like if you you know, uh I need to like I need to learn to be a bit more precious, uh not as precious, like the opposite. I need to like let things go and just be like, right, is that actually making the recording sound better, or am I just like, no, I need it, but I recorded it and I spent time on it and like blood, sweat, and tears. Like it needs to it needs to make the cut. And it's like, no, Jen, it fucking doesn't because now nobody knows what you're saying because the guitars are too loud and like your voic, vo your voices, your vocals are cool.

SPEAKER_04

My voices are my voicles are boisted. Yeah, I I think that uh you know, I don't know. Have you worked have you worked with like a producer before?

SPEAKER_01

Um I have with like the other bands um that I'm in. I for broken down golf card, I'm like a stubborn you do it yourself.

SPEAKER_04

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

I'm like a little stubborn pony about it. I'm like, no, I am too, most of the time.

SPEAKER_04

So that's the thing that I think that's why we get along, is because I have a pretty singular vision of how I want it to sound, how I want it to come out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and you can take your time and you're not paying someone and they're not just like breathing down your neck. Sorry, all producers, it's not that you're breathing down my neck, but you kind of are in my mind. So when you find it yeah, you're just like on a time, you're on someone's watch, and they're kind of just like, so what are you doing now? And you're like, uh, but if you're alone, you can be like, What am I doing now? I'm gonna have a fucking sandwich. That's what I'm gonna do, and then I'm gonna record more. Yeah, Gary, yeah, and then I'll I'll be up till two, and they're not with me. You know, it's my time, my watch. But yeah, other bands for sure.

SPEAKER_04

I found okay, yeah. Well, I found like I worked with um Jim Bryson from Ottawa, and though I don't see eye to eye on on everything with him, but it was really cool how like that it did help me. This is probably 2018 or something, 19 when I recorded with him, and um it did help me to become less precious because in there was one song where I was legit like, and I know I'm sure this would drive you nuts, but it was just like uh he's like, Yeah, so this 20 sec this 20-second stretch of the song where it's just the one riff playing it over and over, you can just take that out. And I remember being like, Oh, but I it's part of it, you know, I wrote it that way and it's meaningful, it's building up to something, blah blah blah. Then I heard it back, I was like, Oh fuck, he's totally right. You know, and I I think that's part of it is like being it's like when you're just focused on making the song better, and it's not about ego or like getting your thing across. And I found with Jim he was always, always about that. He's he's about making the songs good. And like, yeah, if you know, I've I don't know, I've I've had different experiences too recording with people where they're like, you know, you didn't you don't even need to have that part, you could actually fade it out here, whatever, right? Like just different stuff, and I think that's um I think you're just doing it, Jen. You're just like you're doing it. The more you do it and more you get into it, you'll it's like they're like kids, your songs, right? And you're just like, eh, yeah, they gotta go, they gotta live, right? They gotta go live their lives.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, be free.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, be free. Yeah, so are you so um this album, Funeral Smoker, is out. Is it out now? Are you just really doing the songs bit by bit? Kind of.

SPEAKER_01

I'm just uh it's all done. Like it's all uh I so I got somebody else to master it who is Slowflower Studio in um, I think they are based in Chester. I could be wrong, but they are amazing. Uh yeah, so they uh yeah, I uh to be honest, like um I I was like um I was stoked uh to actually get someone to master master this stuff this time because I didn't I mastered the the EP I did and stuff, but it's just like it's such like a it's such a dark horse, dark art, dark horse. Why did I say that? It's such a dark like art to like master and after you just like first of all, like I'm already recording everything. People will constantly tell me, like, you shouldn't mix that. And like, you know what, maybe they're right, but with broken down golf cart, I am, and that's just like I don't care. Don't tell me that, but I am gonna do that. Shut the fuck up. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04

I agree with you.

SPEAKER_01

Mastering it on top, like mastering 12 whole songs. Uh, I think is it would have been like it probably would have driven me insane. I don't know. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna get someone to master it this time. And you know what? They mastered it and they just made they did a beautiful job. So shout out to Slowflower Studio. Shout out, and shut up, and uh yeah, they did an amazing job and I love it. So they've they everything's done. Um it's it's it's uh I I have it all.

SPEAKER_04

When can we when can we get it in our hot little hands?

SPEAKER_01

Um uh May 13th. I'm pretty much just like I'm putting it out and I'm leaving and I'm coming back to Canada for 11 days. Um, and uh, I'm just gonna, I'm just I'm just like, bye. Here's my album, bye. And then I'm just gonna probably just turn off social media for a bit and just fuck off for a bit and then I'll I'll be back. Oh my god. Yeah, it was kind of like I I'm I'm I'm leaving. I I uh take a train to London on May 13th, and then I fly, I think it's yeah, in the morning on May 14th from London to Ottawa. So um yeah, it'll just be it'll be done then, and I'm gonna put it out on I think Spotify, Bandcamp, and then I'm making some physical releases too. I've done like the artwork for it and stuff. I just need to make the sleeves. I have bought the CDs and I'm gonna burn them all myself because I'm an idiot. But it saves you a lot of money.

SPEAKER_04

It does, it does. No loads.

SPEAKER_01

So I bought these like fancy looking like red CDs. Um I love them. And they I just picked them up the other day. So I have those. So I'm gonna burn them, but I'm just gonna, I'm gonna get the sleeves printed. Um, I love the artwork. Um the artwork was done by um my friend Kelsey. Um who does amazing. She's kind of like, oh my gosh, she's gonna kill me because I don't know which is it is it crochet? It's not crochet. It's like she literally makes like a loom and she like wow, she like, she like, I don't know, she's she's got this like makeshift. We like, we we skype or uh like here and there, and she'll just be sitting there in her like underwear. I'm just like drinking a white claw, and I'm like, how you doing, bud? She's like, Yeah, I'm good. Just like she I forgot I forget what she does, but she like like these strings that go up and down, or maybe it's just down, and then she just like kind of weaves, she's weaving, she's like weaving like a cool, like, I don't know, fucking thread, not thread. Oh my god, what's bigger thread?

SPEAKER_04

Oh, I I know, yeah, yarn, yarn, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So she's just like weaving yarn and she made this like beautiful, like kind of hilly looking vibe. So she she just just doing that one day. I was like, can I use that as alumart? Because that looks sick. She's like, really? I'm like, yeah. So she took a picture and then I drew like a little um graveyard on it and put like a freaky looking son smoking a ciggy, and then that was that was it. I was like, that's the art, it's perfect. Like, so yeah, she did it. It's like it's kind of like it. I like I like that it's like not art that's like drawn, it's like physical. Yeah. So you can see like the fluffs on it and stuff. So yeah, I'm gonna make sleeves from those and then super stoked. Uh yeah, I'll bring it to gigs. I I always say I'll bring merch to my gigs, and I never do because I'm lazy, but um, this I will bring CDs, they're smaller than shirts.

SPEAKER_04

So I know shirt t-shirts. I gotta despise. I hate it. The sizes and all that bullshit, it's garbage.

SPEAKER_01

I know, I I know.

SPEAKER_04

And you're like, oh, I sold eight smalls at a show, and then you're like, Oh, okay, I gotta get some more smalls, so then I get more from my t-shirt guy, and then at the next show, it's like all the largest sell. You know, there's never any rhyme or reason. It's yeah, exactly. What is the point? There's no points. That's why I do tokes now. That's it. I do fucking tokes.

SPEAKER_01

Ooh, tokes. Uh I love a toque.

SPEAKER_04

Tukes and um like stickers, vinyl, and like ball caps when I have them, but I I don't have any right now. But yeah, but yeah, that's and also they're easy to carry, Jen, too.

SPEAKER_01

You don't carry like shirts, shirts are I know I've got long, I've got long sleeve shirts. Yeah, I've got long sleeve shirts, and like the bag is like the size of me. Yeah, they're all right. Somebody bought some the other day, and I was like, ah, I better give you something. So I just like made them like a I burned them a CD of like all my music to date. I'm like, here, have all my music. Ha ha ha ha like three bazillion songs. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_04

That's wicked. I love that you're I love that you got the technology to burn CDs. I don't I don't know if I have to.

SPEAKER_01

Uh I've just got like a little external hard drive thing that can burn. That's all I do. And I go and I I just burn it, and yeah, I mean, it takes a while. It gets really hot, and I'm kind of like, please, please don't let me down. We can do this together.

SPEAKER_04

Don't do it.

SPEAKER_01

And it looks at me. The external hard drive looks at me. I don't know how it does, or it's not not external hard drive, sorry, disk drive.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, external disk burner, yeah, yeah, yeah.

unknown

Whatever. Yeah, I mean, what am I talking?

SPEAKER_04

I'm just by the way, that needs to be an EP that you do, external burner for sure.

SPEAKER_01

External burner. Yeah. It'll just be me singing like one lyric over like tons of songs. Yes.

SPEAKER_04

But yeah, no, uh, well, let's uh let's let's wrap this one up for today because I think we cut it was really good. We covered a lot of ground, and uh man, people are going to flip out and go wild bananas over funeral smoker.

SPEAKER_01

And I've heard I mean, I don't know if anyone goes like wild bananas, but I would love that. Yeah, I would just I would love that people just hear it and then I mean, I think anything that anyone ever wants is like we love to make music off uh make music, sorry, make money off of our music. We would love to be like, oh, I don't need my job. I can make I can uh I got lots of dollars, but like no, it doesn't really, doesn't really work that way. I think at this point it's like fuck if I could just like if people get their ears on it, if it if it makes them feel something, like I feel good and like that's what I want, but it's just hard to get it out. I mean, I mean, PR and uh on like plugging and all that shit costs so much money. I know. It's like you just throw your music out into the ether and you're just like fucking have it, you know.

SPEAKER_04

It's insane. I I do very, very little of that, and even that is expensive. I know, I can't afford it.

SPEAKER_01

It's too much, it's too much, it's thousands, and it's like, what the fuck? Do I do I'd rather buy another microphone? I don't know, whatever.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah, you're so right. And you're you're probably smarter than me. But um, yeah, no, I think I think that uh it's gonna be great, and I'm manifesting that for you. It's gonna be a great record.

SPEAKER_03

Thanks, buddy.

SPEAKER_04

And yeah, you got you, buddy. And when you come to Ottawa, we're gonna hang out in real time. But thanks for um hanging and uh chatting on uh on Graventown today.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, buddy. Thanks for having me.