Nov. 16, 2005 - Issue #526: Sex, Lust & Love

Lake placid

Tony Dekker takes things down a step with peaceful indie folk of Great Lake Swimmers

As the driving force behind Ontario’s Great Lake Swimmers, Tony Dekker has a gift for writing ethereal tunes that drift languidly but inevitably around the listener. He also has a penchant for recording his songs in unique locations in his quest to avoid sterile, studio-bound performances; the first Great Lake Swimmers album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo, and their new album, Bodies and Minds, was put to tape in a lakeside church in rural southern Ontario.

“One thing that really concerns me with the recording method and the process of capturing the songs on tape is getting the sound of a location, too,” Dekker explains. “For example, like with Bodies and Minds, with the church, it was the kind of sound that you can’t get from a box. You kind of have to be there; you have to absorb that sound to get that special reverb.”

While there are shades of traditional folk and country sounds on Bodies and Minds, the music refuses to be shackled to any one specific genre. “It’s maybe traditional in a nontraditional way,” Dekker suggests. “It ties into the folk tradition in a way, but it’s also maybe tied into indie rock. It’s kind of like it’s got both of those influences in there.”

For Dekker, even the name of the band is difficult to pin down to a single description. “It is kind of a geographical reference in a way,” he offers. “I grew up on Lake Erie and also spent some time on Lake Huron, and now I’m living in Toronto on Lake Ontario. It’s a geographical reference, but also kind of a metaphor in a way too. I mean, you can read into it as far as you want too. I just think it’s a metaphor for a lot of things, like getting across to the other side.”

That sense of exploration runs throughout Great Lake Swimmers’ music, and Dekker says that he truly enjoys the creative process of writing and recording, though he admits playing live has its own rewards. “It’s nice to be able to share the music and meet the people who are listening to your record,” he says. “It’s one thing to make music and write it and record, and it’s another thing to share it with people.”

Although Dekker is backed up on Bodies and Minds by several musicians who have settled into regular roles in the band, right now he’s out on the road solo. He doesn’t see that as being detrimental to the music, though. “I kind of approach it as something new,” he explains. “Even when we do play with the backing guys in the band, I’ve rearranged some of the songs from the first record which are much more stripped down. I kind of treat the live and the recording thing as two separate entities.

“I think it works equally as well both as a solo thing and as a band thing,” he continues. “With the band, maybe there’s just a little bit more variety instrumentation-wise, but the songs are essentially the same. The most important thing for me is to adapt those songs to different situations. It would be very, very difficult for me to recreate the sound of the record in a live setting. I don’t really worry too much about making it sound like the record; I think as long as the mood is there and as long as the feel is there, then I’m happy with the show.”

In the end, Dekker’s gentle, haunting songs are the perfect antidote to loud rock ‘n’ roll. “It’s quiet listening music,” Dekker says happily. “So if you’re into a quiet night, then maybe it’s the music for you.” V

Great Lake Swimmers
With Field & Stream and Craig Schram • Sidetrack Café • Tue, Nov 22 (8 pm)

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