It’s not a riddle it’s a stepping stone

I first heard Half Moon Run’s 21 Gun Salute and the intensely dramatic beginning to that song with lead vocals by Devon Portielje on the CBC at a live show, just a couple of months ago. It was meditative even ambient – and I was entranced –instantly inspired – including other songs like Full Circle.

Although I had not heard of them before, I felt it was a new mission of mine to share the gift of music with my family (including my preschool age children on some certain tracks (Call me in the afternoon even by one by one [x2 ]is sung around the hosue like a Christmas Carol substituting some words in for the obvious) and all my friends and social network so they too could enjoy this gift. That being said there was something sacred in hearing them for the first time. It was so different yet modern but there was a comfort in it that seemed to be missing in most modern music, and not felt by me personally, since artists like Bob Dylan, and Ballads from Simon & Garfunkel, I was introduced to in my youth.

That same day after discovering and enjoying the first album on iTunes (Dark Eyes Released June 2013) My musical journey with HMR led me to discover the second album which coincidentally was released that same day!

Sun Leads Me, Released Oct 23, 2015

It was a groovier sound and a more uplifting album than the first. It assisted in my creativity and put me in a greater mindset, having just emerged from the writing depths, after 10 years and creating again myself personally.

In researching the journey of the band, from recording in the desert (Texas) to California (For some seaside inspiration, leading up to the Second Album, and living in a dome shaped Oceanside house fit just right for a inspirational surf all day and late night magic sessions ) To experimenting in Europe in what appears to be a bit of a Rave Scene – road testing songs like Trust - it all lines up triumphantly.

I was lucky enough to experience this live set of troubadours on Dec 7th, 2015 at Sugar Nightclub in Victoria BC to a sold out show where some fans paid 9 x the door price just to get in. After staying late and meeting the eclectic mix of supporters, including a High School French Teacher and his wife who also thought their sound was as transcendent and made the journey to support them from up Island (Where most of the band hails from in Comox), to the sprawl of young woman who clearly were there for the "act" to the Lead Vocalist Devon Portielje who you could say in my excitement of après show and with my slight nerves "When a sip of gin saved an hour of speech - Nerve " I didn’t quite get the interview I thought I would - instead Briefly – you could say I found speaking with Devon clearly exhaustive from his end.

This band tours and plays almost nightly I would have asked him who "stole his Sunny Day" – but I could tell he was wiped. I asked him if the band would emerge on the Island again soon (Returning to play Rifflandia in 2016 like in 2014 but he didn’t commit to that.)

I spoke to his interests and would he get a chance to Surf the Jordan River on his visit to the Island but he said they only had 8 hours in the city and then off to Vancouver for the next nights sold out show at the Imperial.

This Band works hard – you forget sometimes when you haven’t seen an emerging act for awhile ( My last show was UB40 in the summer at the Commodore in Vancouver ) that to really put yourself forward you have to put in the hours (years ) on Tour (They actually toured Dark Eyes for three years !)

Just the fact that the Lead from the opening act for that nights show (Nick
Vallee from Folly & The Hunter) was assisting behind the counter at the merchandise booth after a long night and travel… well that’s a team of working mans bands.

More on the Music, there is huge variety in sounds on the current album, Sun Leads me – with the gritty Narrow Margins - There is a hint of Flamingo music that quickly folds into a somewhat Hip Hop beat – the sound not found anywhere else on the album, speaks like a story its very cool and soulful. It wasn’t played in the show, as I had anticipated – it’s a story of sorts that sounds very introspective.

Highlighting the further talents of Connor Molander (Harmonica being my favorite) one can find a cover done of the modern, Chvrches –The Mother we Share on the BBC Radio 1 (01/2014) then found again in the finale to the current live show touring with the Cover to Bob Dylan’s , Shall be released – seeing it live is spectacular - it was clever and mirrored the original art but with a tang of HMR.

There are confessional tones and a little sadness on both albums – and stories of what appears to be glimpse into the world of addiction – Music is a challenging business for anyone who has had this in their lives – this band however appears to live clean and is into a very healthy lifestyle from surfing to organic gardening mentioned to me by a family friend at the show about Issac’s Symonds (Mandolin extraordinaire and haunting vocalist) wishes for at organic landscaping book for Christmas.

I have heard Dylan Philips (Drummer – who has a great timing and a soulful sound as a professionally trained pianist – and always rocks the keyboard) said in other interviews that in terms of personal struggles that they have had the music guide them as a group – I noticed words formed around the struggle with being saved and loss of faith - perhaps even a loss of hope there – I hope they will continue to explore some further element of faith and that this translates to even more extraordinary music from this talented group, I am proud to call Canadian and will continue to share as their talents that will be sure to surprise us with further gifts in the future.

I clicked the you tube link on HMR’s website and watched some videos they had favored and found: TORA : and now I feel like the gifts just keep giving.

In the next feature story coming in January 2016:

　

Artist Profile: Half Moon Run

Singer Devon Portielje on vocals, guitar and percussion;

Conner Molander on vocals, guitar and keyboard;

Dylan Phillips on vocals, drums and keyboard;

Isaac Symonds on vocals, percussions, mandolin, keyboard and guitar.

P,Tinham 5.23.2018


DEAR

ROUGE

 Dear Rouge is a Juno award-winning Vancouver-based electronic rock band formed in 2012 by Drew and Danielle McTaggart.  This duo spent most of 2016 and 2017 touring while writing and recording their second album PHASES released March 9, 2018 (Universal Music Canada) 

These partners in ART and life worked with several notable producers and writers on this album, including Tawgs Salter, Sterling Fox, and Steve Bays. The Phases tour begins in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, August of this year and the band are playing the festival circuit all summer. 

We caught up with Danielle McTaggart following a whirlwind of the Juno’s, SXSW, and a recent tour in support of Lights throughout the Spring 2018.
 
SLM  We really enjoyed Dear Rouge last year, at Rifflandia for the first time. You guys had a great presence there, and it really resonated with the crowd, it was awesome.

DM: Thank you, we loved that. That was one of our favorites last summer. It was such a good crowd.

SLM:  I was just watching the CBC full concert, and hearing your evolved sound off the new album, "PHASES" Let's get into a little background, and how you guys came together, and how the journey as artists, and partners in life helped you grow towards the new album?

DM: it's been such a process, everything that's happened with Dear Rouge has been just surprising, in the best way possible. As we've gone on this journey, we've been trying to grow, and enjoy it, and take it all in. For the last three years, we decided to move to New York City, to try to expand our influences, and the peole we were writing with, and production and just writing together, adding a few more people into that aspect. 

We're just trying to take all the experiences, and grow, and write better songs, and just continue to change, and evolve through this whole process.

SLM: That's great. You guys have been touring with Lights throughout the spring. I love that remix when we were here. How was that experience of the tour together?

DM: It was amazing. She's such a great talent, and I think it was really good, because it was an audience that we don't normally play for, so it was nice to get in front of her fans, and they're awesome. Her fans are amazing, so we had a great time.

Then, also actually our drummer is brothers with the guitar player for Lights, who used to play bass in our band, so it was a really nice family vibe happening there.

SLM: You guys are playing some amazing festivals, Upstream next weekend, and then this summer, Ottawa Bluesfest, and of course, first ever SKOOKUM, in my home town too, of Vancouver. Amazing, and Rock the Shores, here on the island. You guys are so busy, how do you guys manage to keep the relationship sane, with your busy tour schedule?

DM: We just find time to do the things that we like together, and it's doing music together is basically our number one passion, so that's always amazing. I couldn't imagine doing it any other way, because basically when you're in a band, you're married anyway, so You're just kind of ... but you know that person's got your back, no matter what, so it's awesome. This summer, we definitely have been living in Vancouver. It's amazing to get out, enjoy the mountains, and stuff, so we do that too.

SLM: You guys recorded sessions in Toronto, Nashville, Montréal, New York, Vancouver, and you've got several amazing, and cleverly chosen collaborations. Tell us about working with some of the producers, and that journey working with some of those guys.

DM: It was a really cool process just the growth, and finding those next people to partner with, because in the end, it's so valuable, who you work with, and who you let into your creative circle, inner circle. We've gotten to know a couple guys that we just love now. We've always worked with Ryan Worsley who is  great, but we've added other voices. So, Steve Bays, from Hot Hot Heat, we worked with him quite a bit, and Tawgs Salter, and likewise, have actually worked with Lights, and some other really amazing, artists. Then, this guy named Sterling Fox, who worked with Lana Del Ray, amazing. So, it's just really amazing to pick their brains, and to get in a creative space with them, and to learn a lot from their experiences, and it's just such a cool journey of human connection, and creativity.

It's like a raw, open form, and its best, so for us just to be open, and real with these people who have so much experience was really an amazing opportunity.

SLM:  And digging into the album, we embark into "Phases" with "Wicked Thing". I really love this track. It's such a great lead in to the album, with your powerful vocals, you can really tell you're about to start a journey. Tell us about this song.

DM: I love that song too. I think it's my favorite on the album, because the idea around that song is just that we all have something that often we love almost too much, that it becomes not such a positive thing, if you're holding on too tightly to success, or to a relationship, or to whatever it might be, it consumes you, and it becomes that Wicked Thing, as it's called.

I often feel like we do that, and then we realize what's really important, and I think it's a good setup for the album, just because it does ask the questions like, "Does it feel right to know that I can live without you?"  It's better to know that I can live without something, than to be consumed by wanting it, you know what I mean?

The phases of life that we go through, coming to those questions is very important to grow to the next level, I guess.

SLM: I think that's imperative in any bands evolution. The darkness, and mystery around "Live Through the Night "online, you guys looked like you were shooting a video, or coming out with a video for this one?

DM: We're really excited about it! We've actually been on a crazy journey with videos, and we have a couple down the chute that we're waiting to release, but it was just the timing with the songs coming out. We decided two weeks before we released Live Through the Night, that was gonna be our next single.

Then two weeks later, we were like, "We're gonna shoot a music video." So, it's been this crazy whirlwind, but that seems to happen in the music industry, where you're like, chill, you're creating, you're just vibing, and then all of a sudden it's like, "We need everything like, now! We're going, going, going. That video's gonna be awesome. I just saw a quick cut of it yesterday, so that should be our really soon here too.

SLM: Stolen Days, another beautiful track. It's a really reflective, and deeply personal song. What can you share with us on the origin of this one? It seems like an homage, but it's still very uplifting.

Danielle: That song came to a sad season in our family's life. Our cousin Steve, had passed away from leukemia, and it was a crazy surprise. It was a two year span, so at that same time, we were going through the most positive season of our lives, that's getting to do music, and meeting all of these amazing people, and it became a really contradictory time. Polar opposites from when we were away, and when we got home, and just all of the joy, and yet sadness combined.

Stolen Days, "we've got a ways to go",  basically is, just that again those questions, but also, the nostalgia of just remembering what it's like to be young, and enjoying life, and yeah, a sort of memory to him, but in a way, it's positive, because he was such a great guy, and yeah. It's just these questions, and these rememberings, and all wrapped up in that song.

SLM:  "Boys and Blondes",  the lead single, with that great video. You get a sense of real female empowerment. I love the female Canadian tuxedo he seems to be sporting. This video is visually stunning. Who did you guys work with on this one? 

DM: Emma Higgins, who is a Canadian female director, she's amazing. Yeah, and we wrote the song, motivated by our New York surroundings, and Blondie-esque feelings here. We love Blondie. We love David Bowie. We loved those vibes of the CBGB, and the New York rock and punk movement, sort of idea.  So we just wrote the song around that kind of vibe, and then I thought it would be great to have the perspective of just a woman, just in control, walking down the streets of New York. I had this feeling of just like, yeah, fun empowerment, not like a heavy empowerment, but just owning it, and being in control, and holding the cards, and just having that confidence is really fun.

SLM: It definitely all comes down to the confidence, that's for sure. "Motion Again" , I'm really feeling the female empowerment on this funky track,  both in the lyrics, and the vocals. What kind of advice would you give to young female artists, starting out in the industry these days?

DM: I would say, "just to be true to who you are", and definitely "speak up", and just don't be afraid of your voice, your specific voice. You have so much to offer, and just stay on course. I feel like feminism can be really restricting in itself, like if you're not using it to feel empowered, if you're just using it to pick a fight, you know? Then it's like a dead end. But it you're using it to go after your dreams, and to be a positive light in the world, then I think it's an awesome thing, where there's not as many restrictions. So, just stay true, I guess is the advice, and don't be angry. Just keep on being courageous, and keeping on, you know?

SLM: I love that. "Chains", my personal favorite on the album. I love the line, "Rewrite your name, Break the chains." What can you share about this one? I heard there's also a video, which might include running with wolves. Is this right?

DM: That's the other one that we were gonna release, and then we decided we were gonna wait on that video, but that also is coming out eventually. The song is  about how you can't fully love, unless you know what it's like to fight for it, and then I think the more that you love, the more that somebody can be set free in that, that you can be set free in that. So, yeah.

SLM: "Little by Little", another hopeful track. Where did you guys write this one?

DM: We wrote that song with Tawgs Salter, and it was definitely our most poppy song on the album, and we liked it so much, that we couldn't leave it off, even though it is a little on that side of things. We just thought it was so positive, and uplifting, but also realistic in a way. Yeah, so Tawgs Salter. As soon as we wrote it, we were all just pumped. We agreed "This is such a fun and a strong song. Just that the whole message that there's good around the corner kind of thing." Yeah, we were all just dancing, and singing it out when it was finished. We were all stoked, so it's fun. It's  like you say, it's uplifting!

SLM: "Flashes'" , as well, "Take it back to the start, where I could afford this dream." I love that. It feels very high energy, New York inspired too. You mentioned your time spent in New York City, and how it contributed to the album. What do you think about now, when you look back at New York City?

DM: I love that city. I want to go back all the time.  Basically, it's like everybody who thinks the same as you, and who's going after it. I feel like New York has a specific energy that people just don't even question why you're there, because they just know that you're there for to grow, and create. There's just this synergy between all sort of people in our neighborhood, that was like, no small talk. It just like, jumping into interesting, creative conversation.

There's just like a pulse in that city, that just doesn't stop, and it encourages you to grow, and-

SLM:  I interviewed Moby last year at Rifflandia. I read his book, "Porcelain", which is a great which is an homage to New York in the 90's If you haven't read his memoir, it's amazing about New York City itself, and we chatted just about how the city has evolved, and changed as he was leaving New York, and going to California at that end of an era decade. New York does continure to be such a hub, and so it's such an amazing place, but you also went to Nashville, and Vancouver, and had some other experiences.  Nashville, t seems like an amazing place for artists as well to come together.

DM: We wrote in Nashville, though we weren't there as long. New York was the season of time for us, but Nashville is really special, just in its small town love kind of feel. It's got such good food, and such good spirit, like friendly American vibes. It was great. I definitely would like to go back. 

SLM: "Modern Shakedown", another amazing track and "The Clearing", is this beautiful book end to the album. I love the lyrics, and the chemistry between you guys on it. It sounds like you're really singing to each other, to me anyways. So, it seems sort of magic that way. What are your thoughts on that last track?

DM: When we first started writing the album, we had just got a little bit worn out from writing rocky kind of songs. We were like, "You know, we just want to write some chill songs." So, we have so many just relaxed songs, and that was one for some reason, just stood out. I think because it just had this heartfelt like ,inding the clearing, and I think for Drew and I, it wasn't necessarily singing to each other, but more so, singing what we were feeling, of just getting through it, and seeing love gets you through it, seeing the clearing in the distance, once you're through tragic times that are in life, you finally see the light at the end of the tunnel kind of thing.

SLM: What can you tell us about the album artwork?

DM: The album artwork actually did come from a couple that are good friends with that we met in New York city.  It was really cool, just to be friends with them, and to sit and vibe on the album, and what we wanted it to represent. The word 'PHASES' is printed over, and over again, and then what they did was, they scanned it, so that it's never the same, it doesn't appear as the same once on the album. 

Kind of representing the different phases  in life and that you're always evolving, and changing. Then, we used a sound wave, to show the energy that flows, or even the water sort of vibe. It represents a lot to us, and we love it, and it's colorful, but yet, it's got a moodiness to it, so that we felt was appropriate for the album.

SLM: Cannot wait to catch up with DEAR ROUGE at Rock the Shores later this summer, and at SKOOKUM in Vancouver.

Check out all the tour dates and festivals this amazing band is playing this summer.

 

 

Video out June 23.  2018

Dear Rouge, Drew and Danielle McTaggart @rocktheshores 2018

"GRIT AND GLOSS"