On transitions, xylophones, and wrong notes
- Denisa Kraus
- Jun 21, 2015
- 6 min read
A chat with the man behind Ah, Venice. In a room with a skylight.
“Xylophone isn't really a good background noise”
Photo Denisa Kraus
You just finished your new album, Go To Hell, Chris Thompson. How does that feel?
Weird. I'm still floating on the cloud of just finishing it. I feel happy but a little anchor-less . I knew what I was doing every day until today. I've been doing it full time for months and I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. It's been my number one priority and I've always had a million other things to do, but there is typically six hours a day that I'm working on it. I started in February two years ago. I had a bunch of songs which I was happy with and I decided to make an album.
You quit your job in order to work on the album. How does that work?
I have some money saved up. It will run out, but for now I can afford to focus on the music. I figured I was worth the chance to make a go of it while I have a chance.
I remember interviewing another musician who said that the number one obstacle to creativity is working a day job.
Tell me about it. The second I quit my job I just felt so good about making music. Eight hours of your day, you're putting energy into something that you don't want to.. It's such a huge tax on your creative effort. Even the decision to quit made me feel great.
Ah Venice has a rich history of transformations as a band...
It started off about eight years ago as a side project to an aggressive pop band I was in called Hot Fuck. Initially it was just me and Natalie Germann, (now Sponaugle). The second version was me on acoustic guitar and a full horn section which was super fun but also really difficult to maintain. I had to write all the horn arrangements, so it wasn't very spontaneous. Next version was three bass guitars and two drummers, really loud and took away from the heart of the lyrics. I had to be screaming in order to keep up with all the noise. After that, I went the other direction – two violins, clarinet, french horn, bass guitar and drums. That was one of my favourites, but ended up breaking up because people moved away. Now I'm forming another band. I can't say for sure who's in it yet, but there's going to be Natalie again.
Who told you to go to hell?
A girl. The subject of the album. Said it to me when we started talking after a period of not talking when we broke up. She said it a few times when we were fighting. Then she called me up and said she had written two songs about me, both titled “Go to hell, Chris Thompson,” and she played them for me. They were really good.
So the album is a way to figure things out in real life?
Most of the songs were written while I was processing the break up.
Funny that you seem to have surrounded yourself with other people (musicians) on the album.
Yeah, there are a lot of people on the record. A lot of the songs were just me, but it felt a little bare. I have a style I'm not aware of all the time, and that means there are gaps in the sound. So it's good to have other people in there.
How would you describe your style?
Usually well thought out but frantic in the execution. I often use the first take. I like the spontaneity in music – when there are mistakes in music.
You don't like when there are no mistakes?
Yes. Unless it's a very particular type of music. Justin Timberlake has a genius album with no mistakes on it.
How do you find mistakes in music?
You don't look for them. You just hear them. Sometimes you don't even register them; at least not until you've listened to them for the tenth time. Then you hear somebody talking in between parts, or things that could have easily been cut out but weren't, or a wrong note – that can sometimes take away from the music but adds to the humanity of it.
How often do you make mistakes?
There is one song on the album [“Devil Rum”], where I very purposefully play the wrong notes. I know a lot about piano; it's my favourite instrument, and the one I'm the most trained on. [In that song,] I hit notes that are not in the proper key really hard at the wrong times, just to keep it interesting, to keep the humanity in it. I didn't choose the notes; I didn't look.
What album do you listen to the most, over and over?
Now, More Than Ever by Jim Guthrie. I first heard it 11 years ago, and it's the only album I listen to consistently. A month won't go by when I wouldn't listen to it. It's very well composed but also very dry – there's not a lot of effect. It's mostly guitar and drums and string arrangements, which are just wild. It seems like it is a very brash solo that was then orchestrated for four strings. It's very deliberate and loud. And he's not a good singer but he does it anyway – goes beyond his range, which I like.
Do you do that?
Yeah. The second thing I have the most training in is voice, and have a very large range, but I'll often ignore the training to get that strain in my voice, because people who sing very well are boring a lot of times. So there are a few moments where I'll go very low and my voice just craps out, or where I'm just screaming.
What's the drive behind putting out six Christmas albums?
I started doing them for two reasons- firstly because I was devastatingly poor and could not afford to buy anyone Christmas presents, and secondly because although I love the Christmas spirit I hate Christmas music. so i wanted to make new Christmas music, songs that would hold up as songs and not just the novelty of being about the holidays.
Do you collect anything?
Not on purpose. But I do have more than one xylophone. Wanna see one? [takes out a xylophone out of his cabinet]. It used to belong to an elementary school. It passed through many hands before it got time. It's slightly out of tune, and I like it.
You seem to have a real attachment to it.
It is a beautiful thing. I guess you've never seen me play a piano, though. Certainly not my own piano.
What was the first thing you learned to play?
I took some lessons when I was 11 or 12, but I didn't like it. But at some point in high school I learned Ben Folds Five and realized it could be good. I taught myself.
How come everyone plays either popular or jazz here in Nanaimo?
There's not a lot of history in classical music here. And I think it might be the teachers. The conservatory style of teaching is boring.
What things are you good at?
I took an aptitude test last year. I'm very good at spatial things. Seeing where things should go and designing things. I'm good at math and learning, I pick up stuff real quick.
What are you bad at?
I have a terrible memory. It used to frustrate me a lot but now I keep a lot of notes.
You grew up in Parksville. Tell me about your favourite recollection?
When I think of Parksville, I think of the beach. Parksville is beautiful, but all the stores close at 4:30. So you spend a lot of time on the beach. When I left, there weren't any big businesses, but there are now. Any time I go, it's really weird. There's Boston Pizza and Tim Horton's and everything like that. I used to know everybody in my age group which was weird. It meant you couldn't get away with anything unless you were very good at it. We all had to be on the same page. So my favourite memory of Parksville is fucking around on the beach and skipping school.
What do you picture as your next job when you have to get one?
I don't want a day job, I want to make money with music.
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