{"id":3594,"date":"2012-01-20T10:33:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=3594"},"modified":"2012-01-20T10:33:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:33:32","slug":"disintegration-records-building-a-formidable-indie-community-in-winnipeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2012\/01\/20\/disintegration-records-building-a-formidable-indie-community-in-winnipeg\/","title":{"rendered":"Disintegration Records :: Building a Formidable Indie Community in Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Greg MacPherson<\/strong><\/div>\n
By Sheldon Birnie<\/strong>
\nWinnipeg-based Disintegration Records<\/a> officially launched this past September, with the release of Greg Macpherson\u2019s Disintegration Blues<\/em>. The tightly knit label is also home to local acts Nova, Haunter, Slow Dancers, and Cannon Bros, whose full-length Firecracker\/Cloudglow<\/em> is Disintegration\u2019s second release.
\n\u201cA lot of the bands on the label share some similarities, so it makes some sense that we\u2019re all together,\u201d explains label co-founder Greg Macpherson. MacPherson founded the label with sound engineer extraordinaire Cam Loeppky in January 2011. \u201cWe\u2019re a lot stronger if we do that than if we try to approach it by ourselves.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re trying to build a community, for sure,\u201d explains Macpherson. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of younger artists on the label, and Cam and I are older guys. We\u2019re both in our late thirties. We\u2019ve been doing this a long time and feel we have a lot of experience and capacity to share and help these younger folks not make the same mistakes we did, or be able to learn through us rather than on their own. It\u2019s nice to be able to impart some of those lessons to people who would otherwise have to make those same mistakes, so maybe we can save them the effort.\u201d
\nFocused as it is on local acts, Disintegration hasn\u2019t ruled out releasing acts outside of Manitoba in the future. But for now, Disintegration is moving ahead with a number of hot projects for 2012. Releases for Nova and Haunter are planned for spring, and a Slow Dancers release for summer. Disintegration is also looking into a series of 7\u201d singles, and possibly the re-release of some classic Winnipeg albums.
\n\u201cThere used to be this band in town called Grand Theft Canoe. They put out this record under the name Voit for their last record,\u201d says Macpherson. \u201cThe record was really, really good. They printed 1,000 copies and it sold out in like a month or something, and then they just disbanded and no one has heard the music since. We\u2019re thinking of re-releasing that digitally for them. It\u2019s been about 10 years since it came out. It\u2019s such an important and great, classic Winnipeg record that few people have heard.\u201d<\/div>\n
\n

Slow Dancers
\nBy Janet Adamana<\/strong>
\nOne of the city’s newest amalgamations of local talent is the soft, slightly despondent and immensely poetic rock band, Slow Dancers<\/a>, fronted by 22-year-old singer\/songwriter Jesse Hill. Starting out as a solo project of Hill\u2019s, the newly inaugurated quartet began after a few encouraging ideas from Hill’s childhood friend and current bandmate Cole Woods. Hill was inspired to take his love for songwriting to a greater level, from part-time solo act to serious frontman.
\n\u201cWhen Slow Dancers started I wasn’t really in a band that I was very serious about,\u201d says Hill, \u201cbut I had all these songs that I had been playing solo. [Woods] suggested I let him play drums on some songs. It sounded really good with him so it developed from there.\u201d
\nThe official line-up incorporates the musical mastery of Cannon Bros\u2019 and Haunter’s Cole Woods beating the drums, Haunter’s Marie-France Hollier on bass and musical powerhouse Greg Macpherson adding back up vocals and guitar expertise. They played their first gig in February 2011, debuting at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church.
\nSince their formation, they’ve played other numerous shows throughout the city, making appearances at Mondragon’<\/a>s A-Zone Fundraiser, The Harvest Moon Society<\/a>‘s InFARMation event as well as gracing the stages at The Gas Station Theatre, The Park Theatre and Lo Pub.
\nPerforming has since taken a pause for Slow Dancers as they prepare to work with \u00a0Disintegration Records co-owner and producing genius, Cam Loeppky (The Weakerthans<\/a>, The Details<\/a>), this winter at Prairie Recording Company<\/a>.
\n\u201cRight now we’re just practicing a lot in preparation for recording,\u201d says Hill. \u201cI just showed the band a few new songs we’re working on for the week.\u201d
\nA Slow Dancers tour is on the back of Hill’s mind, but will entirely depend on this upcoming album. \u201cIf the recording goes well, then we’ll do a tour in the summer, but it’s very up in the air,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we tour I’d imagine it’d just be a couple weeks, just one direction or the other, but I’d really like to tour Europe sometime in the next couple of years.\u201d
\n\u201cLast August’s Labour\u201d and \u201cSince We Last Talked\u201d are two Slow Dancers demos that have already been released through Bandcamp, and showcased on CBC Radio 3<\/a> as well as on 101.5 UMFM. They are currently on the list of a dozen ready to record songs the band will work on in the studio.<\/p>\n

Nova
\nBy Victoria King<\/strong>
\nSince of the recent birth of Disintegration Records, Nova<\/a> has been one of its signees to the label. Molly McCracken, Nova keyboardist, chatted with Stylus to talk Disintegration and what the band is up to.<\/em>
\nStylus: How did you all decide to start up Nova?
\nMolly McCracken: <\/strong>We all knew each other, because it\u2019s Winnipeg. Jackie [Hogue] and Greg [MacPherson] were thinking of starting a band and they knew I played piano. It\u2019s nice to have three people, it\u2019s easy to schedule things. We\u2019re all pretty busy. You have to carve out the time for sure.
\nStylus:<\/strong> For anyone who doesn\u2019t know your band too well, could you just say a little bit about who\u2019s in the band, what you\u2019re about, what your sound is like?
\nMM: <\/strong>Hmm, well… It\u2019s three friends who are playing music that\u2019s from the heart, and Greg writes a lot of our songs but not all of them. We all collaborate on the arrangements.
\nStylus: How\u2019s it been working with Disintegration?
\nMM: <\/strong>It\u2019s great. It\u2019s like a family; a collection of people who all just want to make music. I think Cam and Greg\u2019s leadership in starting Disintegration is ideal timing, with there being all these bands around who need to have a label, and just creating some sort of supports for that. It\u2019s very forward thinking. It\u2019s really just fun to be in a world where music is changing all the time, it\u2019s good to have connections with other people.
\nStylus: At the moment, are you writing\/recording?
\nMM: <\/strong>We are doing some recording with Cam Loeppky at the end of this month. Some songs we\u2019ve had in the works and some are new, so we\u2019re looking forward to that.
\nStylus: Any shows coming up, or dates for a record release?
\nMM: <\/strong>We don\u2019t have any actual dates right now but we\u2019re planning on a show in the early new year, and we\u2019d like to have our CD release for sure by the summer, if not spring. We just have to finish the recording and then all the other stuff that needs to happen. It\u2019s good that it\u2019s such a fun process with a great group of people, because you do spend a lot of time together.<\/p>\n

\"\"
photo: Kristian Jordan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Local pair make Disintegration\u2019s second
\nCannon Bros. release Firecracker\/Cloudglow on emerging label
\nBy Michael Elves<\/strong>
\nWhile local duo Cannon Bros.<\/a> ended up releasing their self-titled debut EP last winter out of necessity, the release of their full-length Firecracker\/Cloudglow came about because the pair chanced into an opportunity.
\n\u201cThe EP we just kind of recorded with our friend and we weren\u2019t even really planning on releasing it,\u201d notes Alannah Walker. She explains, \u201cWe just recorded songs when we first started playing and then we went on tour last summer and we had nothing to sell so we were like, \u2018Let\u2019s just put all the songs that we recorded onto a CD and sell it,\u2019 so that\u2019s how the EP came about.\u201d
\nThe pair now finds their new record being tagged as the second release from brand-new Winnipeg label Disintegration Records, a move that came about organically as Cole Woods notes. \u201cI play in Greg\u2019s band and so Greg has heard our music, and the person that he\u2019s running the label with, Cam Loeppky, is the person who recorded our album, so it was kind of like a natural thing.\u201d
\nBoth Walker and Woods sing Loeppky\u2019s praises with Woods stressing that \u201cHe mostly just acted as the engineer, which is pretty nice. Not a lot of people can do that, just sit back and be, \u2018No, it\u2019s your call, it\u2019s your call always.\u2019 He had some suggestions with guitar tones and sounds but he never changed the songs.\u201d
\nWalker adds, \u201cAs far as the process goes it was really simple, relaxed and enjoyable and it didn\u2019t take us very long to record all the songs.\u201d
\nNotoriously prolific writers, Walker admits that \u201cwe have written so many songs and played so many songs together that probably no one will ever hear and we probably don\u2019t even remember.\u201d So when it came time to consciously consider what would go on Firecracker\/Cloudglow<\/em>, the pair \u201cstarted playing the songs that we liked the most and stopped playing the other ones and I think that\u2019s how the album came together with the twelve songs.\u201d Woods is quick to note that they recorded the guitar and drums live off the floor and overdubbed the vocals and were conscientious about keeping the songs \u201cstill pretty simple\u201d so the pair could recreate the album live.
\nAs to the title of the record and what exactly it means, Woods is tight-lipped: \u201cIt\u2019s kind of an ambiguous title I guess, I\u2019ll just leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
photo: Marie-France Hollier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Haunter
\nBy Elizabeth Whitbread<\/strong>
\nA couple years ago, Stylus got the skinny on Haunter<\/a> \u2013 one of Winnipeg\u2019s fiercest indie rock groups \u2013 and they\u2019ve since released the 7\u201d Lighthouse\/Great Northern and won the praises The Constantines\u2019 Bry Webb.<\/a> I asked singer\/guitarist Matt Williams a few questions via email, namely about calling their new label home.<\/em>
\nStylus: How did Haunter get signed to Disintegration?
\nMatt Williams: <\/strong>Greg Macpherson moved into our jam space after a new business opened under his, which was down the hall. It was kind of a surprise \u2013 one day we walked into the space and he was just putting his stuff in there. A few weeks later I approached him about helping me work on a recording grant. He said that it was perfect timing, because he and Cam Loeppky were starting a label and they wanted us involved. After a couple long nights of beers at Carlos & Murphy\u2019s, we all decided it was for the best. We\u2019d worked with Cam before on a demo. It helped that they picked up some of the tab.
\nStylus: How is being signed to a label different from being on your own?
\nMW: <\/strong>Before, when we were releasing our own stuff, we made up a label \u2013 it was just a name \u2013 to put out our music just for the sake of organization more than anything else. It was really just nothing, more of a common thing that held our releases together. We had a big dream to actually make it a real label but we also had no money. Now it\u2019s a totally different monster. Greg always says that Disintegration Records isn\u2019t a service for the bands: it\u2019s friends working together to support and build these things that we might not have been capable of by ourselves. They\u2019re there to help us as much as they can, but they aren\u2019t booking agents or managers. They have their own lives to deal with as well. It\u2019s an idea that we really loved. It\u2019s exciting to be part of something more like a collective than being told what to do and when to do it. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9, but Disintegration Records is a family. Some of us have been friends a long time and some have just met, but creatively, there are not many other people I\u2019d want to work with, now or ever.
\nStylus: What’s next for Haunter?
\nMW: <\/strong>Cole Woods (Cannon Bros.) joined the band a while back. It\u2019s impossible to imagine not having him at this point. We had a specific vision for where and how we wanted to record the album that we\u2019ve had ready for a couple years now. The plan is hopefully to record sometime over the next couple months and then put out an album and do a decent tour in the spring or summer. There\u2019s more of a plan in place to record now, but no real details about it yet. We\u2019ve been spending more time writing new songs so we don\u2019t get bored waiting for recording to happen. We all have different things going on and busy lives and all that, but Haunter is really important to us. I can say that therapy for me is three or four hours of music, pizza and beer with the rest of them. We\u2019re all excited to come back heavy. Haunter Forever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greg MacPherson By Sheldon Birnie Winnipeg-based Disintegration Records officially launched this past September, with the release of Greg Macpherson\u2019s Disintegration Blues. The tightly knit label is also home to local acts Nova, Haunter, Slow Dancers, and Cannon Bros, whose full-length Firecracker\/Cloudglow is Disintegration\u2019s second release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[165,267,403,423,563,681,875,1104],"class_list":["post-3594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-cannon-bros","tag-disintegration","tag-greg-macpherson","tag-haunter","tag-local","tag-nova","tag-slow-dancers","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3594","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}