Mr. Jones and Me

It's amazing what a voice, a guitar and a street corner can do.  Mind you that voice is an extremely hard working, talented and relentless artist, out to make his own breaks.

Bodhi Jones is soft spoken and polite.  And an awesome, like really, really awesome musician and busker.

I caught up with the 29-year-old musician recently on his home turf, at Robson and Howe in downtown Vancouver.  Although there is a man offering books for change on his usual corner, Jones makes sure we stay close, as he has promised tickets to fans.  An awesome first impression of the man, worried more about getting these fans free tickets than anything else.

Fans of Bodhi know he has no issue writing and releasing music.  His latest record "Where does the Time go?" is set for release Tuesday (September 14, 2010).   It's more solid work from the Native of Salt Spring Island, true to the sound that his fans have come to love.  Although this time around his fans will have to wait a little longer for the next album.

"I write all the time, and I want to get music out there.  I'm on the street corner cause I'm actually selling the music. I want to get it to as many people as possible and keep giving my fans more. But I think the next time, whenever my next album comes out, it's gonna be a little bit longer away I think.  I’m gonna work a bit harder at the songwriting.  I usually just let it come naturally and quickly and easily, but I think I can get a bit more in depth.  I think I haven’t really scraped the surface of what I’ve got to say.  I’m gonna try a bit harder, maybe a year.  This time next year I'll definitely have an album out. 1 year. Instead of every 4 or 6 months or whatever it is."

I think fans will happily accept this, sounds like Bodhi taking his time will benefit everyone.  It will be fantastic to see where this talented artist takes his music next.

Jones is musically maturing before our very eyes.  Beyond being naturally gifted, he's had the benefit of The Peak Performance Project assisting him.  Merging natural talent and technical knowledge, the project has been rewarding.  A 6th place finish last year has earned him a spot in this year's top 20, but maybe more importantly, he's been here before.

"I guess I was a bit of a veteran (at band camp), which was weird because just 1 year ago I was so green.  I was freaking out and puking before my performance.  The showcase there.  It was my first time ever performing on a real stage by myself. So I've come along way, pretty crazy. Its developed me for sure.

Last year, I don’t know if I was naive, but I really thought I might be able to get in the top 3 or 5. I worked really hard.  It’s a disadvantage for a solo artist I think personally, compared to having a full band possibly to delegate different tasks. So last year I really killed myself.  

This year I’m coming in, work a little smarter, a little less frantically.  Just soak it all in, learn as much as I can which I did at boot camp. I learned a lot this year, faculty was great, much better than last year. This year I don’t have hopes of winning, if I do that’d be cool, but I just want to use this media attention, meeting all these new people, I'm learning and I'll just take it in stride.  This year it seems the new batch of peak artists is just nuts. So we’ll see."

Jones is right, the talent level at this years contest is insane, but the VanCity Busker fits right in.  At Band Camp in Princeton, BC this past August 27-September 3, The Peak FM must have understood just how lucky they were to have these creative geniuses under one roof, and really ramped up the program.

"It was boot camp this year.  Last year it was like a vacation.  A lot more free time. This year they just packed in more classes, more focus on tweeting and blogging, and we had to write and record a song professionally.  Last year we did the writing thing, and they just said "OK, go record it", you had three takes, one microphone it was recorded raw.  This year they had the whole studio, producers. So you really had to craft a polished song that was ready for radio. So that took a lot of, like literally most of us stayed up the last three nights.  Pretty much no one slept the whole 24-hour days, it was pretty crazy. 

I did my collaboration song with Kyprios.  He was kinda a stand out at camp.  It was interesting cause I think a lot of us weren’t sure what to expect out of this hip hop cat.  He kinda brought a lot of people out of their shells, he was one of the leaders at camp for sure.  He was a good guy to work with.  It was an amazing, amazing experience. Anybody who’s playing music should apply."

Bodhi is super excited about all of the recorded songs from camp, mentioning at least a few could be instant hits.  It will be a treat to hear him collaborate with a hip-hop talent like Kyprios.

Of course playing on the street has its unique moments.  Although it's been good to Jones, that doesn't mean the day to day always goes so smooth.

"Well it is a challenge. To do it for a living, to actually pay the bills with it.  But I can’t complain cause I could be digging ditches like those folks across the street.  It gets competitive, mundane sometimes.   Sometimes it seems like you’ll play for, it might just be 30 minutes, but if your singing your heart out for 30 minutes, and no one seems to care, its pretty hard. I think it's hard on the confidence sometimes. You just tend to focus on the negative. Yeah I might sell 20 CD's, but I saw 20,000 people walk by that didn’t give a shit about it.  Sometimes you wonder what you’re doing out here.  

I’ve been robbed a couple times. I caught them both times.  I leave the cash in there sometimes if it’s a busy day.  They just grab the cash, so I gotta put my guitar down and chase them down the street.  One time I was wearing flip-flops and I chased a guy on a bicycle and caught him.  But these people are down and out.  They give the money and it's all good.  Never a dull moment out here, that’s for sure.  I’ve met a couple producers, I’ve been flown down to LA a few of times by busking.  You never know who you’ll meet out here. I think that’s what keeps me going."

I'm sure there is a "humble" counter out there for my website somewhere, but I don't care, because it fits again.  Although he's already bringing joy to many listeners, he continues to work hard at his craft, almost unaware of how good he is.

"If I do end up making music, like a solid career where I have albums released around the world and stuff, if I do become successful, I think I'd still like to keep it real and busk once in a while. Maybe when I release my albums I'll busk in front of some of the stores or something.  And this tour, I’m going across Ontario in October, I’m going to busk in every town I go to, we're gonna film it and make a little documentary.  See what it's like to busk in different towns. Even if there might be 10 or 20 people around, who knows. So that’ll be fun.  Yeah I’ll always busk, that’ll always be part of it."

Well Mr. Jones, there are many owners of various recorded goods that would argue you are already quite successful.  It's those people, along with the work ethic of the gifted songwriter, that will ensure "Bodhi Jones Release Day" comes to a town near you, maybe even "by this time next year".

Nanaimo Bars & Sweet Chords...It's Christopher Arruda

I recently caught up with Christoper Arruda high on top of Nanaimo, we had a chance to sit down and chat about his musical life.  The first thing that really made itself obvious when chatting with the man was the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve. The 26 year old singer/songwriter released his first solo album “God Hates a Coward” in October of ’09, and he’s been working like a dog every day since then. He’s a class act, and another example of an extremely talented modern day musician doing whatever he can to make a run at the ever-changing music industry.

“I think what I’ve really realized is, after Open Parachute ceased to exist, it was a long slow process (to realize), that it’s literally the only thing I actually know how to do. Like quite frankly I sit before you as this guy that, if I didn’t have it, I don’t know what I’d be doing, know what I mean?”

I’m not sure Arruda is giving himself enough credit. Adjusting to his solo career seems to be going to quite smoothly. With his newest E.P “Swain” on the way in September (his second album in 11 months), things are looking up for the Nanaimo talent. With a full-time job on top of his music career, and recently qualifying for the Peak FM Performance Project, Arruda has learned to make music for himself.

“It was really intimidating at first, because I didn’t really think that, quite frankly, I had a hope in hell. It was one of those things that was like, "Well this is happening". The difficulty with me is, you know I’m 26, I work a full time job, and so I don’t really have the ability to do what those other bands have done (in the contest), which is kinda throw their entire lives into it. So when I looked at it at first, I was like “I can’t really compete”. But then I looked at the materials that I assembled, you know through the music video, and the album sounds pretty good, production wise. I looked at that and I just said well the materials are pretty good, and if their basing it on the materials, you never know.
"I’m certainly thrilled to be a part of it. Definitely gonna be an awesome experience. And I think the way I’m gonna go about the Peak thing is just work as hard as I can and just try and get the most out of it as I can. Not really treat it as a competition but more just as an experience and a place where I can build some camaraderie and learn more about the business side of things, which is something that I haven’t really been that good at in the past. It should be a really positive thing so I’m super excited about it for sure.”

Fans can be super excited about the September release of Arrudas’ latest works, “Swain”. There will be 200 copies printed, and the seven song E.P. will be available on Itunes as well.

"I had all these songs, and was just like "I’m gonna take 7 of the best songs and I’m gonna record them with a 58 and a microphone". To be fair I did overdubbing, and some of them do sound pretty big, but it was all done by myself, I just wanted to do something that was so honest. And if there is mistakes, then that is better. Case and point the last one I recorded I finished, I finished tracking about a month ago.  I had a couple beers, and I wrote this song, and I recorded it in my living room with this shitty condenser microphone and then I really liked it, and I showed it to some friends.  They were like "Yeah this is really good". So I was like, “OK, now I really have to record it”. I did three separate recordings of it after that, in the end, I probably spent 12-13 hours trying to do this song, and in the end you know what I ended up doing? I ended up taking that original version and that’s the one that’s going on there. Because it’s just the best one, it’s just the best one.

“You know there is something about the first take. It was a condenser mic, me and my guitar and I added some vocal overdubs, and that’s kinda the spirit of the whole thing. It’s all about lovers, and kinda the good things that happen in relationships, but also the really fuckin heart wrenching and horrible things that happen, that’s really the theme that makes it up. The whole idea is just honesty and, you know, here it is. Its slow, it’s a slow record, there's no drums, it’s just a chill little EP.

“I’m kinda treating this as a footnote to “God Hates a Coward”.  Because “God Hates a Coward” to me was this huge triumph over you know, over myself really. And this is something that kinda came as an afterthought. I guess looking back at it now, it’s kinda natural it came after it because “God Hates a Coward” was really, really angry. This (Swain) is more like acceptance, yeah, yeah pretty much. I just had a little epiphany actually! I never really thought of that myself (until now). Maybe I should go see a councilor.”

Well Chris, we can only hope your councilor doesn’t tell you to stop playing music!

Arruda is set to release “Swain” September 5 at the Diner’s Rendevous in Nanaimo.  With all the talent in the world, and an attitude to match, it looks like the only “acceptance” Christopher Arruda will need worry about in the future, are awards.

Links of Interest:
www.myspace.com/christopherarruda
www.christopherarruda.com/
twitter.com/ArrudaMusic

Ladies and Gentlemen, Vince Vaccaro

Vince Vaccaro is loving life right now. It’s evident upon meeting the man, and why wouldn’t he be? He just finished playing the inaugural Tall Tree Festival in Port Renfrew, has shows lined up for the summer, and is a finalist in the Peak FM Performance Project. More important than all of that though, is how he got there.
Music has always been a big part of Vaccaros’ life, until about five and a half years ago, when he stopped chasing that dream, and took off for Australia. Who knew that’s all it would take? Spending only months in the Southern Hemisphere, Vince headed back to the Provincial Capital with fire.

“The day I came back, I had come back from a place of not wanting to continue, you know? I mean when you try for so long on something, it is discouraging, you take little steps, but then you also take so many steps back, you know time holds you up, or something doesn’t work out, or whatever it is.
When I came home, it was like “Go, go, go, this is what we’re doing, and this is how I’m gonna do it” just like go, go, go really hard, that was the only thing I had going on. Where as now I’m doing various things, and it’s a little more manageable, a little less stressful.
It’s been 5 years since I’ve come home, so in a way, I feel like this is a completely different place I’m in now where I’m just happy to be. I make music at home, I record in my living room, and I’m happy to be doing that right now again, it feels more like a balanced equation.” Vaccaro told me recently on a hike at Thetis Lake.

Vaccaros’ songs are performed as well as they are written. The live show being such an important part of any musician’s career, Vaccaro has a simple approach.

“People want to connect man, there is so much disconnect. So for me, without getting stupid deep, it’s just a human connection, and the show is the same way. With the show, I lose myself in the songs, like completely. Sometimes there’s some videos out there, where I’m just, eyes closed, hands in the air, just in the moment. You see it later, and you go “I don’t even remember that” cause you’re so lost in it, and I think people crave that, that real connection that musicians have. I love seeing bands that I would call almost spiritual music. You know Ben Harper? When I see him perform, I’ve seen him three times now, all three times it was just, almost like watching Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley mixed up together. You know when you get that real soulful thing? Just really intense, I like that. I like connecting with music like that. That’s where I think the live show is. You can’t download that.”

With an abundance of talent and experience, Vaccaro has to be a favourite in the Peak FM Performance Project. Great songwriting, along with an excellent stage presence make Vince a tough act to go up against, though he’s trying not to look at it that way.

“It is a crazy thing. My truest feeling is, I'm almost uncomfortable what I would say, going up against some of my best friends. I don’t want to compete against Steph, she's like my sister, you know? So you gotta switch your perspective from going up against, to doing the best you can.
But the air of competition is still out here, it’s around. We all want the top prize. We did an orientation, it was the first commitment we had. I just attended the workshop with Tom Jackson, he’s a performance coach, he’s actually the number one performance coach in the world. He coached us on some stuff, and everything he said made complete sense. And I’m the kinda person that doesn’t wanna be told what to do. If someone tells me what to do, right away my defense is up cause I feel like they're changing me. Even if they want the best of out me, or they're suggesting something out of genuine care, I still have my back up. I don’t know what that is, but I’ve always been that way. I don’t want to change for anything, or I don’t want to change my music for anybody at all. Watching him work with bands, he was awesome. He didn’t change them for his liking, he changed them so that he took the best out of them. Like a music producer in the recording studio gets the best take out of the artist, he’s just getting the best live take out of a performing situation. So that was good for me to see.”

It’s been more than a year since his self-titled full length came out, but that doesn’t mean Vince hasn’t been busy writing and recording. In an ever changing industry, artists are looking for new ways to connect with fans. A lighter approach to recorded goods, and more of a push to the live show seems to be the way these days. The Montreal born musician understands this trend and embraces it fully.

“I’ve been recording some new stuff, I’ve spent the last 6 months or more, just writing, writing, writing. Just being really open to anything that I hear. That’s how I feel music comes to me. It’s not like I sit there and go “I wanna write a song about how beautiful I think this is”.  I just hear music in my head. I don’t even know how to explain it, but I just sorta hear everything. I hear all the parts, it’s like a feeling that comes over you or something. Like when your mood changes, you’re just suddenly super happy.  That’s how music comes to me, suddenly I hear music. So I’ve been open to that, I’ve been writing a ton, I have over 50 songs right now, It’s insane. I picked my favourite four. I put them down last week, and I wanted to be able to tell friends and people, not to spread the word, just share what I’m up to. Like a cool photo I’ve taken. I'm not trying to make it the next thing. If you check it out at http://www.fireandsun.com/, there is an explanation of what it is. Those 4 songs, I’ve been focusing a lot on that. I want to release something for free on the internet. That’s kinda what I want to do, because honestly people don’t really buy music anymore man.  I don’t want to create any more garbage in the world, so I’m gonna do a little bit of free download action. It doesn’t cost me anything to write them, they come to me freely. So who am I to say “pay me this for that.”, it’s like no. If I’m gonna be like the person in between whatever’s out there and music, then cool, you can have it all for free you know. Hopefully they come to the live show, and that’s how I can make a living. That’s sort of my vision right now for my future.”

I feel like a broken record sometimes, but it’s that sort of attitude that makes you want success for the man. When an artist puts his fans up front like that, you can’t help but be impressed. The four tracks available at http://www.fireandsun.com/are solid, my personal favourite being “Coco”, where Vaccaro shows off his bi-lingual skills. With a musical style that is “instant classic rock”, Vaccaro is another kick ass Canadian musician with plenty to offer. With all the momentum he has been gaining, there is no better time to show your support. An easy feat for a musician who wants nothing more than to just share his music and his moments.

Here are a few other sites of interest:
http://www.vincevaccaro.com/
http://www.fireandsun.com/
www.myspace.com/vincevaccaro
www.twitter.com/vincevaccaro

Sitting down with Aidan Knight

Another amazing West Coast musician has dropped by The SoapBox. Extremely talented, and incredibly humble, Aidan Knight was kind enough to give up some of his time. It's also the first audio interview here, and I'm fully abusing the term "podcast". Check it out :)



*I apologize for the less than perfect Audio quality. It was supposed to be a podcast, downloadable and such, but I can't figure out how to post it appropirately. If you would like an MP3 version, I can email you one no problem, just send me a message!*

Here are a few sites of interest as well.
myspace.com/aidanknightmusic
twitter.com/aidanknight
aidanknight.com
aidanknight.bandcamp.com

A name you should know now... Steph Macpherson

It's amazing how things have a way of falling into place isn't it? For Steph Macpherson (@stephmacpherson on twitter), the pieces are falling quite nicely.
Fresh off the heels of her top 20 inclusion in the Peak FM Performance Project (http://p3.fm @thepeak), Steph has been announced the winning "Ourstage Artist" at Vancouver's Lilith Fair, on Canada Day. Not a bad spring so far.
"It feels very good, and especially rewarding when you feel like there is a lot happening." she told me recently at a show at The Fort St. Cafe in Victoria.

That was before the Lilith Fair announcement, so that rewarding feeling can only grow. Of course if you've had the opportunity to see her live, this was only a matter of time. She's another very talented West Coast Singer/Songwriter and it's truly a treat to see her play. Her combination of keeping the audience involved, and pure musical talent leads to a memorable set time and again.

"Your live show is so, so important. Especially now. You can have great songs, you can have great songs on the radio, but if people come to see you play and don't feel like they connected with you in some way, and they don't feel like they wanna come back to your show, you're kinda dead in the water."
"A Strong "hometown following" is really important. People need to know what you are doing, and who you are at home. I love playing at home, because I get all of my friends and family out at my shows as well and I'm always seeing new faces too which is pretty exciting. Especially in Victoria which is fairly small, where I grew up and I never really expect so see new faces."

It's this attitude that makes you want her to succeed. Speak to anyone around her about her, and you realize she's just extremely likeable.

"I love Steph Macpherson. I have encountered her in person a bunch of times in Victoria, around the city, the odd house party or live venue dive. She is always friendly, humble and sweet. I think right away one of her strengths is her personability. If you meet Steph, you like her." Zone 91.3 host and owner of "The Morning After" blog (http://spintheblackdisc.com/) Jeremy Baker (@Jeremy_Baker) said.

"Stephs great, she's a really great musican and a great writer. Just a really nice person in general you know? I have a lot of fun touring with her, we always end up doing songs together, it always turns out being real fun." added Saskatoon Musician Zachary Lucky (@zacharylucky) at the Fort St. Cafe.

With her talent being recognized more and more by the day, we can look forward to hearing more of her in the future. The Peak FM Performance Project is an excellent opportunity for finalists to learn and expand each and every area of their musical careers. Cash prizes are awarded to the top 5, and a lot of loot is up for grabs (the winner receiving 6 figures). For starving musicians, cash is king, but this competition serves more purpose than just giving up money.

"I can tell you that the experience last year was wonderful for the artists and created a real sense of community that has survived the program. The goal is to help each of the Top 20 reach their potential. The artists who work the hardest in all areas of the program and show that they have not only the talent, but also the business sense and marketing drive will reach the program summit." that from the Executive Director of Music BC Industry Association, Bob D'Eith.

With this mega-talented group (including Said the Whale, Vince Vaccaro, Aidan Knight, Debra-Jean amongst others), Macpherson undoubtedly belongs, but will certainly be in tough. As for what she has to do?

"Steph is an artist and she works hard perfecting her craft and writing beautiful songs. To be a top 5 contender on The Peak, Steph Macpherson needs to write a great pop song that caputures the Peak audiences' imagination in the first listen and demands a repeat listen. I think she has done that with a couple of her cuts (already)." says Baker.

"I think she just needs to stay calm to be honest. She gets really worked up over things, and they are things she often doesn't have to worry about, I think she'll be just fine." Lucky said with confidence.

Macphersons' eyes light up at the mention of the competition. It's clear that she is extremely excited, and humbled about the opportunity.

"Everyone is saying (other artists in the competition) is as much as it is a competition, it's also so great to be devolpoing such a community with each other, and I think we will create some really great things as a group as well as individually for ourselves and each other."

"To You" her debut E.P. was released last year. She says she has been working on new material, and another E.P. is likely.

"EP's are great, cause it's not too much music. I know it's weird to say too much music, but it sort of leaves people with "that was great, I'm ready for more" feeling."

Well Steph, I think it's safe to say that everyone is ready for more. As for how she comes up with her songs?

"Most things inspire me in some way. The way it is, I don't even really know where a song comes from. Sometimes I like the sound of words together and it'll go from there, sometimes I have a melody in my head and I'll go on that, sometimes Im just strumming on a guitar or recording on a piano or something and magic will happen and I'll just have it flow out, and its just an indescrribingly beautiful experience."
It certainly is...

You can check out her myspace (http://www.myspace.com/stephmacphersonmusic) for music and up to date tour information. Almost unbelievably you can still catch Macpherson at a "coffee house" venue for as little as five bucks. Do yourself a favour and get out to a show soon, the chance to see this act at a cafe around the corner may soon be replaced by the theatre downtown.