AS HEARD ON ...
ALEJANDRA RIBERA
DANKO JONES
AS HEARD ON ...
MURRAY MCLAUCHLAN
For the full interview , listen to the March 1 , 2017 episode
CM : Has the current political and social climate here in North America been creeping into your work at all of late ?
McLauchlan : First of all , on the matter of
the Orange Wonder [ aka Trump ], one of my favourite old poems , you learned it in school , but it concerns an explorer wandering in the desert and he comes upon a half-buried gigantic old statue and the inscription is half buried and he digs it out and it reads , “ My name is Ozymandias , King of Kings ; Look on my Works , ye Mighty , and despair !” So that is what I think of the Orange One …
The last record I put out in late 2012 , I certainly hit some buttons . I went on [ CBC Radio ’ s ] Q with Voldemort [ aka Jian Ghomeshi ] and got thoroughly interrogated about one of the songs on that record , which the opening verse was from the point of view of a burned out soldier who ’ d been reduced to ashes by the Afghan war . You know , I got pretty roundly queried on that matter and my opinions on the Afghan war were well known . It actually won me the grand prize in Canada from the Harper Government where I came back from Italy and the first thing that was on my desk was a demand for a tax audit . Mere coincidence ? No .
So as a songwriter , I ’ m not unaware of these things but I think it ’ s safe to say with the newest record , Love Can ’ t Tell Time … I actually wanted to create something where if people sat down for a minute , they could smoke a joint , light their bayberry candle , and just feel good for 45 minutes .
ALEJANDRA RIBERA
For the full interview , listen to the April 12 , 2017 episode
CM : Your debut album , La Boca , received critical acclaim and you won the SOCAN Songwriting Prize for the song “ I Want ” off that album . Because of that , did you feel any pressure writing the new album , This Island ?
PHOTO : BRUNO RIZZATO
PHOTO : DUSTIN RABIN
DANKO JONES
For the full interview , listen to the Feb . 22 , 2017 episode
CM : Your last record , Fire Music , was your highest charting album in some big European rock markets like Germany , Holland , and Finland . Does that inform how you ’ ll approach the promotion and support of the new album , Wild Cat ?
Danko Jones : You make it sound like we have the choice as to where we go . We go where we ’ re asked to play and we ’ ve been asked to play Europe the most so we ’ re always in Europe rather than North America . So we don ’ t choose where we play ; we ’ re not Metallica , and even Metallica , I don ’ t think they even choose . They just go where they ’ re asked and where the offers come in . In terms of that , we go where rock [ music ] is the hottest and they want us the most . In Europe , rock and roll really lives there and it ’ s celebrated the most and with the most knowledge and respect . And thank god there is a place that really kind of understands our band .
Alejandra Ribera : It ’ s funny because I guess there ’ s the external perception of how a career is going or how someone is perhaps being received and then there is the reality that you ’ re living in . I remember finding out about that SOCAN prize and I was taking care of my nephew who was five at the time . I ’ d taken him for a week in Montreal , and the kid is so full-on intense [ laughs ]. He is like ADHHHD . I was just fully present with him at every moment because he needed everything I had and I remember he was having a random quiet moment where he was colouring , which he normally can ’ t focus long enough to colour , and I had just a split second to open my laptop and look at my email and then I saw this note about the SOCAN thing and then he just started asking me questions and then it was done . So that ’ s how I found out .
The thing is , especially when you ’ re on the road , there isn ’ t a lot of ceremony to mark these moments and I ’ ve been living away from my management for a long time , too , so a lot of that stuff is like you ’ re in a hotel and you get a call or see an email and you ’ re like , “ Oh , that ’ s nice ,” and then you go to soundcheck and you sort of forget . I did an interview the other day where someone told me about some accolade I didn ’ t even know I ’ d been given . I ’ d never heard of it before and I was like , “ Geez , maybe I did and then I fell asleep .”
Listen to new episodes of Canadian Musician Radio every Wednesday at 8 p . m . ET at www . canadianmusicianradio . com . After premiering , each episode is archived at the site and can be accessed at any time or downloaded as an iTunes podcast .
18 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN
MURRAY MCLAUCHLAN
For the full interview, listen to the March 1,
2017 episode
CM: Has the current political and social
climate here in North America been
creeping into your work at all of late?
McLauchlan: First of all, on the matter of
the Orange Wonder [aka Trump], one of my
favourite old poems, you learned it in school,
but it concerns an explorer wandering in
the desert and he comes upon a half-buried
gigantic old statue and the inscription is half
buried and he digs it out and it reads, “My
name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on
my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” So that is
what I think of the Orange One…
The last record I put out in late 2012, I
certainly hit some buttons. I went on [CBC Ra-
dio’s] Q with Voldemort [aka Jian Ghomeshi]
and got thoroughly interrogated about one of
the songs on that record, which the opening
verse was from the point of view of a burned
out soldier who’d been reduced to ashes by
the Afghan war. You know, I got pretty roundly
queried on that matter and my opinions on
the Afghan war were well known. It actually
won me the grand prize in Canada from the
Harper Government where I came back from
Italy and the first thing that was on my desk
was a demand for a tax audit. Mere coinci-
dence? No.
So as a songwriter, I’m not unaware of
these things but I think it’s safe to say with the
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