By Nick Laugher, Staff Contributor
Afie Jurvanen is an omnipresent force in the realm of Canadian indie-rock and one to be reckoned with, but the majority of people aren’t even aware they know him. Jurvanen began in the band Paso Mino who eventually became the backing band for Jason Collett. From Collett he went on to play piano and guitar for the likes of Feist and Amy Millan. Then he enjoyed a stint with the Great Lake Swimmers, among others.
After coming off a two year tour with Feist, he decided to shift his focus to something he’d been neglecting for the better part of his career: himself.
“I had been playing other people’s music for years,” remarks Juvanen. “After I got off the tour with Feist, I said to myself, ‘You’re not taking on any other commitments,’ and I decided to pursue my own thing for a while.”
Jurvanen, better known by his stage name Bahamas, released his debut Pink Strat in July of 2009.
“The songs had been kicking around in the back of my head for years,” explains Jurvanen. “We got off the Feist tour and had all of the gear and it was kind of a ‘What are we going to do?’ situation, so I said, ‘Well, I’ve got some songs.’”
Jurvanen passed the days in a cabin with friends, recording songs between bouts of barbecuing and swimming.
“After about three or four days I realized, ‘Hey, I think we’re making a record.’ The process was just so comfortable I thought, ‘Why not?’” says Jurvanen.
“It all seemed so effortless,” he remarks, looking a bit bewildered by it all. “I think it was the lack of a typical studio and all the pressures of money and time. I just got people to come down and play on my songs, people whose instincts I trusted. It’s that spontaneity that artists like Bob Dylan and Neil Young were famous for in studio; it was all very unpracticed … usually first or second takes.”
The album is a cross-section of Jurvanen’s experiences and influences, and goes as far as featuring friends and collaborators Feist and Jason Collett. The sound is honest, ranging from alt-country to soulful indie with everything in between. Songs such as the single “Already Yours” are exercises in baring a broken heart while others such as “Hockey Teeth” are light-hearted, humourous pokes at life that still manage to gleam with that sparkle of a down-trodden, humble soul.
The last song on the album, a cover of Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World”, was a spontaneous addition at the last minute at request of the engineer.
“We were setting up the cabin for recording and he told me to play a song, just (to) test it out. For some reason, I sat down and played that song. When we were getting ready to solidify the tracklist, he asked me, ‘What about that first song you played?’ He just loved it so much (that) I put it on the record.”
The album shares its namesake with Jurvanen’s trusted sidekick: his Pink Fender Stratocaster.
“Nobody plays Stratocasters anymore,” he says. “Whenever I’m on tour I always feel awkward because I’m the only one with a Stratocaster. Plus, mine is pink.”
Jurvanen, as Bahamas, has been touring in support of the album since its release and admits the experience is alien compared to touring and playing someone else’s music.
“I felt so rejuvenated from making the record (that) I’ve just been on tour since. I’m not tired or burnt out. I’m just enjoying the novelty of it. It’s an amazing thing to be able to travel and share your music with others.”
While on tour, Bahamas is usually a fairly low-key affair. While playing at the recent In The Dead of Winter Festival in Halifax, Bahamas consisted of only Jurvanen and his famous dry, sarcastic wit. Regularly though, he’s backed by a drummer and a friend or two.
Like the guitar, the album Pink Strat possesses an aesthetic that is truly romantic, hearkening back to a simpler time.
“I’m really stuck on music before 1970,” says Jurvanen.
He says that’s why the risk of starting a solo career and releasing an album in this climate of music never entered into the equation.
“There’s this romantic vision of how music should be for me. I have this vision of people consuming music as art, as an elevation of culture. If people come to a show and they have a great time, that’s all I can ask for – that connection with the audience. I believe a lot of people out there are still looking at music as art.”
You can catch Bahamas on March 3 at the Halifax Forum with Wilco. He will embark on a “Huge, monster Bruce Springsteen style tour” with old pals Jason Collett and Zeus.
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