Apr. 21, 2010 - Issue #757: Face First

Prevue

Peace at last

Eamon McGrath's upcoming effort an esthetic departure

The siren call of Europe seems to be particularly strong amongst local bands this summer, and, despite a giant ash cloud causing a few musicians to be stranded on the continent, folk-punk troubadour Eamon McGrath is gearing up for a second shot at the place that gave us Parliamentary democracy as well as a number of pungent cheeses. Having completed a rather successful solo jaunt through Europe last summer, McGrath is most excited about being able to head across the pond with his band Peace Maker in tow.

"This time I decided to try and go and do the whole thing with a band because last time I went I was on my own, pretty much like a backpacker going across the countries, but this time we're taking a whole band and renting a van and getting our gear organized and stuff," McGrath explains of his plan for the coming tour. "Going over there is a really different experience than playing music in Canada. It's a cultural value of appreciating music differently: in Edmonton the band's in the bar and people are going to get drunk anyway is kind of the attitude—the band is like wallpaper or something—but in Europe it's not like that. When a band is booked for a venue, the people go out just to watch them. The orientation of the culture around drinking is a lot less."

After putting out nearly two dozen albums before he turned 20, McGrath was eager to take his time with what will be Peace Maker's first release, a self-titled effort that will see the light of day as soon as the upcoming tour is over.

"You get to a point where you're recording and releasing a ton of music there's a batting average and my batting average was starting to get kind of low in terms of really great songs versus songs I wouldn't play live," McGrath explains of the genesis of the upcoming record. "I like to think that the record definitely signals a lot of changes in my life and as an artist. I think that this record symbolizes the theme of redemption, the idea of coming out of a blackout and finding out what you did from a bunch of people is a really shitty feeling and this album tried to kind of give something to people who've felt the same way, to say that in the end it's going to be alright."

As McGrath explains, the Wild Dogs era of his life had to come to a close because he needed to move past a lot of the self-destruction that that band centred itself around—self destruction that was beginning to take a toll on him—and he needed to get back to what he really loved: writing songs worth listening to.

"Two-and-a-half years of being shitfaced and high everyday ... it was starting to affect my art, it was starting to affect relationships I had with people—that's the big theme," he says. "There was a lot of guilt for that because I feel like I betrayed the art I was making for a long time and sacrificing songs and art for getting high. It's something I'll never do again." V

Thu, Apr 29 (8 pm)
Eamon McGrath
With Enemies of England
Leva Café

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