Feb. 01, 2012 - Issue #850: Godot

Looks young, feels old

Harlan Pepper's music is wise beyond the band's years

Playing the kind of dusty road music that makes rust belt towns what they are, it's incredible to think that the members of Harlan Pepper are barely out of high school. Coming to Edmonton in support of the group's debut album Young and Old—recorded when the members were only 17—singer Dan Edmonds took the time to answer a few questions about the making of the album.

Vue Weekly:  How long did it take to make Young and Old from the initial songwriting through to the end of the recording?
Dan Edmonds: We had been jamming and writing together since Grade 9, but didn't get to record the songs until the following year. The recording process didn't take too much time though: we layed down the initial bed-tracks over a three-day period, then recorded vocals and some overdubs over a span of a couple months. So it took probably a year and a half to finish the whole project.

VW: When you were writing the songs, did you come at them in a particular way? Lyrics first? Music first?
DE: Usually, we come up with the music first. We try not to limit ourselves to one genre or anything, so the music usually dictates what the lyrics should say. Other times one of us will write a song at home and bring it to the band.

VW: Did the songs come from one person fully formed, or were they sketches that were then filled out as a group?
DE: It depends. We all write separately at home, but the song always changes when it comes together with the four of us. They start out as sketches, and all of us sort of figure out how we want it to sound like.

VW: What were the recording sessions like for this album? Is this the kind of thing you recorded live or did you piece it together one track at a time? Why?
DE: For this record, we tried to just create an honest interpretation of how we play live. We recorded the majority of this album live off the floor. The vocals were sung after, as well as some harmonica, piano and pedal steel. For the most part though, we just tried to capture the live performance as best as we could. If we recorded each song piece by piece I don't think it would sound as good. It may sound crystal clean and hi-fi, but we were 17 when we recorded it, so there was no way we were really incredible musicians. We've improved a hell of a lot over the last couple years. We're always trying to improve and challenge ourselves musically.

VW:  Were there any other songs written that were left off the album?
DE: Yeah, there were. We did some writing in the studio, and wrote a couple songs, but they weren't ready to record.

VW:  How did you decide which songs to include on the album? Did you have an idea of what you wanted Young and Old to be when you started, or did the finished shape emerge as the writing and recording went along?
DE: We didn't really have a plan, we just went in and tried our darndest to make it sound good. We played all the songs that we had together at the time, no cuts or anything.

VW:  If you were to trace the musical map that led you to Young and Old, what would it look like?
DE: Young and Old would not have happened if it weren't for all of us being taught how to play music by [drummer] Marlon [Nicolle]'s father Ralph Nicolle. Since a young age, Marlon and I were in a band together, and slowly we just kept working our chops and Ralph kept showing us his knowledge of music. I think the two greatest things we learned was that "less is more"—we didn't try to do too much on the record. Less truly is more—also, Ralph taught us the "1-4-5" in every key. This number method helps you play almost any song in any key. Most songs are three main chords, and the 1-4-5 helps you grasp it easily.

 

Fri, Feb 3 (7:30 pm)
Festival Place, sold out

Sat, Feb 11 (4 pm)
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