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Local Guides
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Arctic
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by Shain Shapiro
May 15 – 21, 2008 |
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Often bands choose names in a way that depicts their sound, as if
a few words or a phrase can lead the listener into the music, act
as an introduction or description before any notes are played.
This is more prevalent in post rock and metal than any other
genre, as names like Explosions in the Sky or Cannibal Corpse
lend meaning to what one should expect from the stereo, hinting
slightly at what the music will sound like. Indie bands, for the
most part, choose the a moniker that acts aside from the sound,
as a name like Radiohead and Foals does not offer much
explanation or introduction like the aforementioned do. Arctic,
however, is an exception to the rule. In our genre–label music
world, the collective would fall under the indie world, as their
melancholic harmonies mix in dark, haunting folk and ethereal
art–rock akin to Radiohead or Fleet Foxes. Plus, if there were a
soundtrack to the Arctic, a set of sounds that properly
represented desolately beautiful spaces, this would be it. Arctic
sounds, well, like the Arctic. It’s bleak but meaningful music, like
a distant light faintly illuminating a piece of tundra, despite
everything else around it being pitch black.
Formed originally as a solo act but now comprised of a trio,
Vancouver’s Arctic do take elements of the Great White North to
heart in their compositions. Yet, while the music does not offer a
audible accompaniment to global warming, the plight of polar
bears or bristling cold, it does highlight the quiescence that
enraptures the lifestyle up there. Everything is slower, quieter and
elegiac, as if the cold makes time stand still so for once, we can
catch our breath and realize everything at work around us. “I grew
up flying with my father across the high Arctic, and when I was
naming the project, I thought, what is the one thing that really
means something to me, that defines me,” explains founder and
principle songwriter Marcus Martin. “It is a very ethereal notion,
but the name does influence the sound,” adds multi–
instrumentalist Kristen Starcher. “I hear the music as very much
like how I picture a northern landscape; very sweeping and
expansive.”
Arctic is back with a new album, their first with both Martin
and Starcher at the helm. Titled Today Brought Me Here, the
record is a reaction to the trials of self–actualization, a set of
songs coined in reaction to the daily grind, and how we all
sometimes forget to appreciate everything around us. “It’s about
the paths and events that lead you to where you are,” explains
Martin. “Essentially, the theme surrounding the record questions
how you arrive in the circumstances you find yourself, how your
history shapes you.” Recorded at home in Vancouver slowly over a
two–year period, Today Brought Me Here solidifies Arctic’s sound
on record, one akin to Kid A–era Radiohead, early My Morning
Jacket and Aerial–esque Kate Bush. The songs were written over
the course of several years in different time periods,” adds Martin.
“Because of that, there is no singular muse. The songs touch on
understanding ideas of isolation, loneliness, observation of
human behaviour and interaction. Musically, the main idea was to
keep the recording sounding like the live show, and to be able to
play all the songs live as a solo artist. We added a very little bit of
electronic drums and keyboards to a few songs where it fit, but
other than that, the tracks are all pretty much how you would
hear me play them solo with the layering and looping.”
During the recording, Arctic expanded to a three-piece, as
earlier on in the recordings, Martin pursued Arctic as a solo artist.
It delayed the recording, but allowed the band to explore more,
rework old songs and churn out, in the end, an excellent record.
“Turning Arctic into a band was a great experience and opened up
a lot of possibilities for us, but it did tend to stop the recording
for long stretches while we focused on adapting the songs for the
band and rehearsing for shows,” explains Starcher. “We could gig
or we could work on the album. It was an either/or thing.” Due
out this month on their own Board of Records, Arctic will hit the
road and soar across Canada for the first time in their current
incarnation.
Experimentation is the key to the live show, something
Martin is excited about exploring throughout their cross–country
run. “To me, music is not a fashion statement and I don’t see
clear boundaries. I combine elements that I like from anything
from jazz to hip–hop to metal, but I don’t usually let people hear
specific influences. It might be something about the delivery
rather than the sound or the chords.”
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