{"id":1718,"date":"2011-04-29T15:25:23","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T21:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2011-04-29T15:25:23","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T21:25:23","slug":"ken-mode-from-the-heart-of-st-vital-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2011\/04\/29\/ken-mode-from-the-heart-of-st-vital-on\/","title":{"rendered":"KEN mode: From the Heart of St. Vital on"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Photo by Chad Tremblay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Marc Evans<\/strong>
\nIn case you have literally or figuratively been living under a rock, the name KEN mode has affectionately been hammered into your cerebral cavities. For a decade plus, this Winnipeg trio has been executing their wartime strategy with eerie precision. \u00a0Gearing up for a relatively massive touring cycle in support of their fourth full-length album, I sat down over a lovely cup of Lavazza with drum ogre Shane Matthewson.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stylus: Damn this coffee is great, good call. Can you sum up the timeline of the band for those not in the know?
\nShane Matthewson<\/strong>: Well, we formed in the heart of St. Vital in 1999. \u00a0At the core we are two loser brothers [Jesse on guitar\/vocals] who refuse to quit because it\u2019s all we know at this point (and we love doing it, and all that good stuff). Our first \u201cstudio\u201d album was recorded in late 2001 but didn\u2019t come out until 2003. \u00a0Since 2002, we\u2019ve been touring whenever our busy work and school schedules have permitted. \u00a0We\u2019ve been touring and putting on our own shows locally for a long time now, so I suppose people might say we\u2019ve \u2018paid our dues.\u2019 I see it more as we just didn\u2019t quit! [Laughs]<\/em> Our newest album Venerable<\/em>, which comes out March 15, is our first with our new label Profound Lore Records. \u00a0We\u2019re really excited to be working with Profound Lore!
\nStylus: Speaking of Profound Lore, which happens to be one of my favorite labels right now, what sparked the change from Escape Artist, to your own label Arctodus Records, to now one of the hottest forward thinking aggressive labels?SM<\/strong>: Well, in 2008 when we completed our Mennonite<\/em> album, we knew that Escape Artist Records was in the \u201cwind down\u201d stage of its life. \u00a0Our agreement with Escape Artist was to do two records, which we finished with our Reprisal<\/em> album in 2006, so we began the search for a new home. \u00a0We ended up releasing Mennonite<\/em> ourselves through Jesse\u2019s label Arctodus Records, as we had booked a European tour for March 2008 and no other label would have been able to have the album ready for release in such a short period of time. \u00a0With our new album Venerable<\/em>, we really wanted to give it a solid push through marketing and touring. \u00a0We knew to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish with the album, we would need the support of an established label. Profound Lore ended up being the best fit for what we wanted to do. \u00a0They do a great job promoting their artists, and are excellent at keeping the lines of keeping communication open and keeping us in the loop.
\nStylus: There is a new member in your ranks. G. Therese Lanz, who is taking over bass playing duties. \u00a0Is she a permanent addition to the band, or is it just for the tour?
\nSM<\/strong>: Well, as far as bass playing duties go, it looks like we will have a bit of a revolving lineup in the next little while. First and foremost we are looking accomplish all of our touring goals for this record. Therese will be accompanying us on our tours in March, April, May and June, but has other commitments with her own band [Mares of Thrace] at other points during the year. \u00a0Chad Tremblay who played bass on Venerable<\/em> will be doing some of the touring with us this year, as well as Jahmeel Russell [Kittens, Malefaction, Projektor, Red Vienna] who played bass on Mennonite<\/em>. \u00a0As far as who we will be writing and recording with going forward, that remains to be seen.
\nStylus: You and your brother are much more personally involved with KEN mode than most other musicians I have met. \u00a0I know you\u2019ve mentioned in the past that in most circumstances you feel that \u2018DIY\u2019 labels are often under educated on the business side of music. \u00a0Can you elaborate on what you are doing differently?<\/strong>
\nSM<\/strong>: \u00a0Between my brother and I, we\u2019ve graduated from 3 business schools, meaning compared to most other musicians we have a bit of a leg up so to speak. \u00a0By no means does this mean that we\u2019re treating our band like any other \u2018business venture\u2019 we could be involved in, as it is most definitely a labour of love for the both of us. \u00a0If this band were an investment we would have turfed it a long time ago! [laughs] We do our best to use our collective education to help this band run as smoothly as possible, from budgeting, to filing our taxes in the most advantageous was possible for the band. \u00a0We\u2019re very involved in all aspects of running the band, so if you buy something from us through mail order, it was definitely us who stuffed the envelope!
\nStylus: Now, with the fourth KEN mode album, we have seen you guys step up to the upper echelon of the scene, if you can call it that. \u00a0Who are some of the people involved in it\u2019s creation, why are they important to you as a band?
\nSM<\/strong>: [Laughs]<\/em> Well I\u2019m not sure if we can claim to be in the upper echelon quite yet, but we\u2019ve definitely been getting significantly more \u2018push\u2019 on this record. \u00a0Working with Chris Bruni at Profound Lore Records has definitely helped get our name out there. \u00a0Also, our album was recorded at God City Studios by Kurt Ballou [Converge], with artwork and layout by Julie Anne Mann and Josh Graham [Neurosis, Storm of Light, Red Sparrows, Battle of Mice]. \u00a0Getting names like these attached to your record definitely helps in generating a bit of buzz. \u00a0We\u2019ve been big fans of Kurt, Julie Anne and Josh\u2019s work for years now, so it\u2019s great to have had worked with them!
\nStylus: I know it\u2019s clich\u00e9 to say this but the new record rips. \u00a0What is different about this album compared to the back catalogue, which continues to win over new droves of KEN mode supporters?
\nSM<\/strong>: The writing process for this album was similar to albums we\u2019ve done in the past, the exception being our last album Mennonite<\/em>, which was written and recorded in a relatively short period of time. \u00a0I suppose the biggest change on this record was recording with Kurt, who has notoriously heavy production. The songs on Venerable<\/em> are a little heavier than our last record, so having big production to back it really makes the songs pop! \u00a0One track on the record [\u201cNever Was\u201d] has up to four bass tracks and eight guitar tracks at points!
\nStylus: This tour looks massive, with stops at SXSW for the Profound Lore showcase. \u00a0How long are you gone for? \u00a0Who are you looking to forward to seeing or performing with?
\nSM<\/strong>: For this run, we\u2019ll be out for about two months in the U.S. and Canada, then home for about three weeks before we go out for another month in the U.S. We\u2019re definitely excited to get out and play this new material, see some old friends, and make a whole lot of new friends! None of us have ever played or even been to SXSW before, and have heard great things about it, so it will definitely be cool to check things out. \u00a0As far as who we\u2019re looking forward to playing with, this list is pretty long! \u00a0It will definitely be good to play with our buddies in Sulaco, Vilipend, Castavete, Gaza, The Secret etc., Engineer, Black Breath, Fuck the Facts, and the list goes on.
\nStylus: Anything else you like to say before we go get some absolutely wonderful Thai food?
\nSM<\/strong>: Thanks everyone for the support! \u00a0Our tour dates and merch can be found at www.ken-mode.com. \u00a0Our last show of this two month tour will be in Winnipeg at the Albert on Saturday May 7 with Fuck the Facts. \u00a0It should be an awesome show and a great way to end that tour!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marc Evans In case you have literally or figuratively been living under a rock, the name KEN mode has affectionately been hammered into your cerebral cavities. For a decade plus, this Winnipeg trio has been executing their wartime strategy with eerie precision. \u00a0Gearing up for a relatively massive touring cycle in support of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[518],"class_list":["post-1718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-ken-mode"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718","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\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}