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| Marc Bourgon |
Until about three years ago, all of my travel was for pleasure. Before that, I wished that business travel was part of my life.
Then having done it, it sucks.
Touring Bands, literally their whole life is business travel. It absolutely drives me insane to be gone and away from my family and the comfortable life I've created for myself.
Last year, I went to six cities in six weeks in four time zones, the farthest one west being seven hours behind the farthest one east. Naturally, I do my best to occupy my time when I'm on the road, but Marc Bourgon of Cancelled (Greber, etc) has got me beat.
Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time for me today.
Marc Bourgon: No worries man, thanks for taking the time to write up these questions.
GM: I was told that Tenebrific was written and recorded in the tour van. Tell me what it was like to do that.
MB: I wrote most of the songs on tour in the van but recorded them later.
Having so much time between cities (especially in Canada) always gets me restless and I like having a way to get some shit out while I'm on the road. I would always write lyrics and ideas down while traveling but this was the first time I had really committed myself to creating music while away. After getting the basic ideas down I fleshed out the songs at home and recorded them in my little studio (MOEX Audio)
GM: When writing a song, how do you decide which project to give it to?
MB: I always write with specific projects in mind. Ideas that would be good for Cancelled would definitely not work with Greber and vice-versa. I like to have an idea of where a song will land before I really get into writing it. Where it goes from there I'm never sure but it usually stays within the margins of the band I'm writing it for. There have been exceptions in the past but typically it works like that.
GM: What I really liked about Cancelled was the set up of drums, synth, and bass. Why did you decide to leave off the guitar?
MB: Not too sure why I left it out. Just felt right I suppose. I wanted something more simplistic and impactful that wouldn’t get cluttered with all the other elements happening so I wrote most of it with just bass in mind.
GM: You've been in other bands, besides Cancelled and Greber. How do you pick up and start that again?
MB: It’s all about balance for me. I don’t like to write in one vein for too long. I find I'll get married to ideas that might not necessarily be good and then end up scrapping them in the end. Breaking up writing by doing it with a few different projects helps to keep what I’m doing exciting for myself. Once I’m in too much of a rut with one piece of music I’ll move onto another and wipe the slate clean.
GM: Who would you consider to be your biggest influences?
MB: Pretty much anyone who puts their music out into the world. It’s hard. Committing to something weird is scary and it gets me stoked when I see other people doing it. Visual artists especially. A lot of artists' work, especially on the experimental side, could easily be poo-poo’ed as pretentious and dumb but they fearlessly birth it and I really respect that. Musically my influences are all over the place. My favourite bands are Propagandhi and Steely Dan if that helps.
GM: Is Cancelled how you stay sane on the road?
MB: It really was. Anyone who has ever toured knows that it will force you into a myriad of emotion and finding a way of dealing with it is the key to not stabbing yourself or any of your bandmates. I love touring and never had a bad time of doing it but being away from home so long put me into a weird and uncertain place. Writing lyrics in particular. The cathartic nature of just blowing ideas out of your mind and into the real world has a healing property like no other for me.
GM: How do you stay sane at home?
MB: More writing I suppose. That and working out keeps me from getting too low. Listening to music and reading are great too. I really love soaking in what other people are doing creatively and am never not fascinated with how peopler create.
GM: What are the five most important albums of all time?
MB: Haha. Oh man. I’m not sure. Here are 5 that I have been listening to a lot lately but might not be overly important on the grand scale. Steely Dan- Can’t Buy a Thrill Cult Leader - Lightless Walk Bon Iver - 22, A Million Ayahuasca - Yin Nightfell - The Living Ever More
GM: What did I miss?
MB: Not a damn thing. Great interview my friend! Thanks!
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