Preview
WINTERSLEEP
Tuesday, July 12
The Hifi Club
In the right conditions, a single spark can ignite an entire forest. The magical thing about that, is after the fire passes and the destruction is over, new life always grows back. The forest will once again be strong. Maybe stronger. This is a story of a strong tree in a new forest. This is a story about tracing roots and branches. This is the story of how Wintersleep came to be.
Just over a decade ago, there was a lot of fuss kicked up about the Halifax music scene. There was a lot to love. Candy-coloured seven-inch singles. Cheeky pop songs with buzzing guitars and lyrics about high school crushes and art school friendships. Best of all, the attention paid to this port city was proof that you could build up a strong, supportive music scene on your own, away from the larger urban centres.
At the same time, musicians with four-tracks in smaller communities across the Maritimes were creating their own scenes. Smaller scenes, yes, but no less worthy of archiving.
In Moncton, Eric’s Trip were starting their obsession with both outer and inner space. In Truro, there was the tiny but mighty Ant Records empire. The label released early recordings by underground hip hop hero Sixtoo and was home to the freakishly introverted but influential group The Motes (guitarist J. LaPointe was in the original North of America lineup). Buck 65? Small-town boy from Mount Uniacke. And in Yarmouth, a town of a few thousand in southwestern Nova Scotia, there was Burnt Black, experts at making music that was aggressive without being macho. Their songs were thoughtful, sincere, beautiful and heavy, heavy, heavy all at once. Burnt Black were more than just another group of local rockers – they were the vital spark for this story, the one that set everything ablaze.
"Burnt Black started this thing called Dependent Music," says Paul Murphy, who sings and plays guitar in Wintersleep. "This would be the same time that Sloan were huge – they had just put out their first Geffen release and Twice Removed. Burnt Black definitely didn’t feel like they fit into the ‘Halifax sound.’ They did lots of all-ages shows in Yarmouth and were really hometown heroes."
The Dependent music label was started as a vehicle for Burnt Black to release its own music. Today it isn’t so much a record label as a community of musicians, artists, friends and supporters. Burnt Black’s young fans were fiercely loyal. By the time Burnt Black finally burned out around 2000, they had touched enough lives to see beauty and strength rise from their ashes.
Dependent Music’s current roster includes some of the finest independent music acts this country has to offer. Jill Barber, who blends elements of folk, jazz, pop and just a touch of mournful bluegrass. Contrived, who veer dangerously close to the edge of post-rock with passion and fury. The Remains of Brian Borcherdt, which is, in part, the heartbroken remains of Burnt Black since Borcherdt started there in 1994. Even the long-defunct Motes have found a home with Dependent, and members of Contrived and Wintersleep are all huge fans.
Ah yes. Wintersleep. Perhaps the strongest and most beautiful of all the creatures to emerge. With members meeting up in Halifax from Yarmouth, Stellarton and St. John’s, Newfoundland, the group shares a love for what Burnt Black and Dependent stood for. In Halifax’s still tightly knit, still slightly ironic indie-rock crowd, it’s not exactly cool to admit you love Wintersleep, possibly because they’re so very loved outside the in-crowd. Their fans are as loyal as Burnt Black’s ever were, times 10.
Wintersleep have released two albums, the first one self-titled and the second untitled, both of them big, dreamy, hypnotic, powerful, delicate and essential. At a Wintersleep show, you can feel your heart split wide open, feel the meanness and cynicism drain away and be replaced with the power to love and forgive and create and live your life fully and openly once more.
When asked for one word to describe their music, Murphy replies simply: "heartfelt."
Yes. You will feel your heart once more. |
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