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By Rachel Andershuk<\/strong><\/p>\n Just four days into touring their second EP <\/span>Try \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/i>, Edmonton-based pop-rock duo Faith Healer (Jessica Jalbert and Renny Wilson) had already seen improvements in their live show. With the help of bassist Jenni Roberts, keyboardist Ross Nicoll, and drummer Mitch Holtby, Faith Healer embarked on a month-long Canadian tour promoting the much-anticipated album.<\/span>\u201cWe only started rehearsing less than a week before tour, and it was the first time we\u2019d played these songs all together. We definitely notice improvements each time,\u201d said Jalbert. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe first show was really good though,\u201d said Wilson. \u201cWe started off on a high note, which is hard to pull off on a big night, when I find that I let my nerves get to me. Not that night. It\u2019s an unusual feeling.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Before <\/span>Try \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/i>, which was released September 8 by Mint Records, Faith Healer was Jalbert\u2019s solo project. Although Wilson helped record both albums, he became an official band member this year.<\/span><\/p>\n Faith Healer performed the entire album at The Handsome Daughter, sharing the bill with Juniper Bush and housepanther. Before their set, I got a chance to sit down with both Jalbert and Wilson to discuss life on the road, loud music, and the importance of record shops. <\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: Noisey recently reviewed the video for \u201cTry\u201d, calling it \u201cone of the strangest video [they\u2019d] ever seen\u201d. What are your thoughts on that?<\/b><\/p>\n Jessica Jalbert: <\/b>Hyperbole. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that strange. It\u2019s a bunch of normal people in extraordinary situations, eating bananas, hanging out on a hill.<\/span><\/p>\n Renny Wilson:<\/b> It\u2019s very much a headline type of thing to say. Like, \u201cthe craziest thing you\u2019ve ever seen!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> \u201cMy jaw literally dropped to the floor when I watched this video!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> \u201cMy fidget spinner came to a halt when I saw that!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: I take it you have fidget spinners on tour?<\/b><\/p>\n RW: <\/b>(laughing) We have two of them.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> One\u2019s broken though.<\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: Who\u2019s the best fidget spinner?<\/b><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> I think our keyboard player Ross has more experience with it. Renny has been catching up. He\u2019s trying to do some tricks and stuff. Earlier today, I was like, \u201cWhat is that hissing sound? Is there a hole in the tire? Fuck.\u201d And then I was like, \u201cOh it\u2019s just a fidget spinner. Never mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: Are you listening to any albums on tour?<\/b><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> We\u2019ve been listening to podcasts, which seems so dull to me. We\u2019ve also listened to Erykah Badu.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> Only one song though.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ: <\/b>Well, we listened to two songs. Remember? Because we were A\/B-ing them and everyone was arguing about which song was better: the meaty beefy one or the tinny Prince one. (laughs) We argue about music a lot.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> I really love Erykah Badu\u2019s album <\/span>Mama\u2019s Gun<\/span><\/i>. I\u2019ve been listening to it recently, and the first song is really bangin\u2019. It ramps up. It\u2019s so long and in your face.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> Like Betty Davis style \u2013 kind of shocking.<\/span><\/p>\n RW: <\/b>But it sounds distorted and really intense. It\u2019s funny because that\u2019s a quality that I love in music. We argue about it a little bit, like when we mixed this album. We considered the amount of ugly distortion that\u2019s audible in the mix. I\u2019m a junkie for the distortedness, so I don\u2019t always hear how harsh it comes off to other people. It definitely needs to be tamed. I liked that Erykah Badu track more though.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> I did too. <\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: I understand the argument. I like distortion too, but I find some live sets too loud from all the noise.<\/b><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> You might be pleased with us because we\u2019re quiet. We play loud music \u2013 well, some of it\u2019s quiet and some of it\u2019s loud – but we are <\/span>all about<\/span><\/i> quiet. Then you can hear everything. And making the set quiet yet still really energetic is like a workout in a way. You\u2019re really holding back but really going for it at the same time. I like that. It\u2019s more intense.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> I try to strum it lightly yet still keep the rhythm. It\u2019s like a light strumming that\u2019s still precise. You know what I mean? So it is intense. I\u2019m flexing all the muscles in my body.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> But it\u2019s not loud. That\u2019s what I\u2019m saying. I find that, sometimes \u2013 not because the bands aren\u2019t good \u2013 live music can be so punishingly loud that it\u2019s exhausting to listen to as an audience member. By the end of the night, you feel like you just got smacked over the head or something.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> But the kids love it.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> It\u2019s also its own kind of energy, and I like that too. I just wanted to rein it in. <\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> I think we\u2019re reining it in pretty good.<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> Totally.<\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: What has been your favourite song from the new album to perform?<\/b><\/p>\n JJ & RW:<\/b> \u201cTry\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> So far, it\u2019s been \u201cTry\u201d for sure. It\u2019s fun because it starts out as a regular song and then it turns into a jam. I never solo live, but I\u2019m trying to double Renny\u2019s solo for this one. It\u2019s fun.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> We perform the album front-to-back as recorded. When we were sequencing the album, \u201cTry\u201d became a centerpiece, and it\u2019s very much the same effect live. This is the first time we\u2019ve performed a piece of music as an album before. <\/span><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> It\u2019s been really neat.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> It\u2019s like listening to the album every night, but you\u2019re performing the whole thing in the same sequence. It\u2019s weird but cool. <\/span><\/p>\n JJ: <\/b>\u00a0It\u2019s satisfying. Every night we remind ourselves of the work we did.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> Totally. All the little details.<\/span><\/p>\n Stylus: After the show tonight, where can people find your records?<\/b><\/p>\n JJ:<\/b> I\u2019m a big believer in record shops. I\u2019ve worked in them for over ten years, so I would love to see people go to the record store and ask for the Faith Healer EP. You can SoundCloud or Bandcamp if you want – I mean that\u2019s the way of the future. I just want a place where you can buy physical music, because it\u2019s a visceral experience.<\/span><\/p>\n RW:<\/b> \u2026Or you can stream it on Spotify with ads for Diet Coke.<\/span><\/p>\n For those who missed Faith Healer\u2019s reined-in performance,<\/span> Try \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/i> is definitely worth a listen, and be sure to check out Faith Healer next time they\u2019re in town (December 20).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Rachel Andershuk Just four days into touring their second EP Try \ud83d\ude09, Edmonton-based pop-rock duo Faith Healer (Jessica Jalbert and Renny Wilson) had already seen improvements in their live show. With the help of bassist Jenni Roberts, keyboardist Ross Nicoll, and drummer Mitch Holtby, Faith Healer embarked on a month-long Canadian tour promoting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1739],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10921,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10919\/revisions\/10921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}