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KATE MAKI MAKES NO MISTAKES
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by Brent Hagerman
July 1 — 7, 2004 |
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Little over a year ago Kate Maki was a twenty–something teacher
making music in her basement. Little over a week ago Maki
adorned the cover of NOW in Toronto, being touted as one of the
NXNE festival’s hottest tickets. How did she go from chalkboard
lecturer to Toronto buzz girl in just over a year? A letter from the
Board of Education had a lot to do with it.
“Last year, near the end of school, I remember getting these
papers saying you’ve got 30 years left to go until you can retire. I
saw that and thought, ‘oh my god — 30 years, I can’t do that,’”
Maki says over the phone on election day from Halifax. She’s in
between a festival gig in PEI and a flight home to Sudbury to vote
before the polls close. “I just needed to go and do other things
before I settled in for 30 years to the same thing every day.”
Jumping with two feet into the water, and feeling like she
had nothing to lose, Maki took a year off teaching and struck out
with the intention of at least trying a career in music before
attempting the long 30 year wait until retirement. She had been
working on an album, Confusion Unlimited, with Dave Draves
(Kathleen Edwards, Nine Mile) and says that the teaching and
gigging were two separate lifestyles not easily combined.
“You get home and then you go out and play a show, and
you’re up ’til 2 or 3 in the morning, and then you get up and go
teaching.”
She saw a lot of similarities between the classroom and the
stage, and both have their ups and downs she is quick to point
out. “Sometimes it’s harder in a classroom when its Canadian
history and they’re really bored and they don’t want to listen to
you. And sometimes its hard in a bar when it’s just a group of
people who haven’t seen each other for awhile, and it’s yip yip
yip, drink, drink, drink and they don’t even know there’s a band
onstage. But it’s neat when you see students light up and learn
something, that’s a rush. But onstage when people are into your
songs and there are applause at the end — I mean students don’t
clap at the end of a lecture.”
Drawn by the applause, and the lure of a life where you can
be yourself and not fit into a school board’s template of what
makes a good teacher, Maki threw her lot in with the album and
waved goodbye, temporarily at least, to the classroom.
Using advice she must have tried to instill in countless
students Maki set manageable goals for herself — sell a thousand
copies of Confusion Unlimited and tour the country. “I did that a
couple times over,” she says happily, “so now I have to set other
goals I guess.” The new goals are already formed — a new album
in the fall and new tours, hopefully to other countries.
After booking shows herself initially, Maki does have an
agency handling that for her now but is skeptical that at this point
a record company can offer her anything more than she can
amply provide herself. Headstrong and determined to follow her
own path Maki reasons that if she can sell 2000 cds under her
own steam, and keep all the money from them, a record company
would only complicate things. “Of course, if somebody wants to
offer me tonnes of money and do it all my own way, than okay.”
Her success is due only in part to the clear–minded vision
and carefree attitude she exudes. When asked about the bumps
along the road and learning the tricks of the trade in a hurry Maki
exclaims: “I haven’t really made any mistakes I don’t think. No, no
mistakes, I’m pretty much perfect,” before laughing and detailing
a recent gig in Thunder Bay with Ruth Minnikin (The Heavy
Blinkers / The Guthries) where a little more research should have
gone into booking a more appropriate room.
“We played at Warp 9 and I just assumed it was where
everybody played. But it is this really huge 1200 capacity dance
bar — Helix just played there the week before, so you know that
venue wasn’t really suited for Ruth and I, as a folk duo.”
The other part of the formula for success is Confusion
Unlimited. It’s brimming with songwriterly assurance, despite the
fact that it is only a debut. It also boasts a great backing band
(Jim Bryson included) and teeters between fragile love–lost
balladry and harder edged barroom country rock about Labatt 50
and Gibson SG guitars. Maki sees it as a foundation for the next
record, but hopes to go further. She has lots of songs ready and
two separate bands lined up for the recording (currently Maki
plays with different bands wherever she goes, even hijacking Matt
Mays’ band, El Torpedo, for her recent NXNE appearance). The
songs are more oriented to band arrangements she says, so will
likely result in a heavier sound, although she admits to following
the same blueprint for the new album as she did for Confusion
Unlimited in terms of “not having any idea what’s going to come
out in the end.”
In typical off the cuff fashion she muses: “geese, I hope my
first record wasn’t all that I’ve got. I hope there’s more good stuff
to come.”
Kate Maki plays the Jimmy Jazz in Guelph next Thursday with
Nathan Lawr on drums and Ryan Levecque on bass. Lawr will also
open the show.
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SIDEBAR
Ron Sexsmith for PM
Given the choice of any Canadian musician to be Prime Minister,
Kate Maki feels strongly that Ron Sexsmith is the man for the job.
“The obvious choice is Ron Sexsmith,” she says without
hesitation, “because I think he’s got a good heart and he’s got
good ideas about how the world should be run, in his songs
anyway. He just has that fatherly figure. And he’s got great songs,
so if he could translate that into being a political leader than
we’re all set.”
Being from Sudbury, and being known to sing a verse or two
of “Sudbury Saturday Night,” you’d think Maki might choose
Stompin’ Tom. Afterall, her mom has one of Tom’s “used”
plywood boards, hole and all, and uses the signed relic to prop up
the Christmas tree every year.
“I don’t know if Stompin’ would be good up there as prime
minister,” the songwriter cautions. “He likes to party too much.”
KATE MAKI
w/ Nathan Lawr
Thursday, July 8
Jazz Jimmy
No Cover
www.katemaki.com
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