Jonathan Pearce (JP) has been a staple in the Ottawa music scene, having played in such notable acts as Winchester Warm, Poorfolk, and Mushy Gushy. Now he is embarking on a project under his name, his first self-titled release more than 10 years deep into his musical career. In anticipate of his album release show for Systems this Saturday, June 1, we caught up to discuss the background of the project, his favourite artist in the world (!), and his favourite song on the new album.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonathanpearcemusic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ponjearce/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/winchesterwarm
BandCamp: https://jonathanpearce.bandcamp.com/
Latest Release: Systems (Album, May 2019)
Upcoming Shows:
Saturday, June 1 - Jonathan Pearce, Giant Hand. 9PM, $10. Pressed, Ottawa, ON.
SA: You’ve been active in the Ottawa music scene, in a variety of projects, for some time. How did this solo release come together, and when did you start writing these songs?
JP: The best way to describe this group of songs is that they were some orphan songs of mine that had been kicking around for a while that for reason didn't really feel like they had a home anywhere else. I had a brought a few of them to Matt in Winchester Warm and they didn't really feel right for that project. But I kept coming back to the demos and they kept bugging me bit - like they wanted to have a home somewhere but wasn't really sure where. Then on a whim about 3 years ago, in the immediate aftermath of a relationship gone wrong, I suddenly decided I needed to the record the songs. So I recorded the guitar parts in my kitchen and messaged my old friend Pat Johnson (Steve Adamyk Band, The Acorn) to see if he might be interested in playing drums for some songs he had never heard before and he jumped at the offer. I messaged my friend David Gervais (Mushy Gushy, The Gallop) to see if we could record at this studio (Swell Studios) and he agreed. So we started this project kind of backwards. The guitar demos were done before the drums and Pat came up with drums parts very much on the fly. It was a much less deliberative songwriting/recording process but it was pretty liberating to work like that for a change. Then I sat the on the demos for close to 2 years and had my friend Dave Draves (Little Bullhorn) hear the songs and he strongly encouraged me to take these songs to the next level. Which led to me finally finishing the record. So it was kind of an unintentional album which was completely new to me but also pretty exciting. And a completely different approach to making a record for me.
SA: What bands, musicians or artists would you cite as the biggest influences on this album?
JP: That's a very difficult question as I listen to so many different artists. And considering this record took something like 3 years to make it is pretty hard to pinpoint who might be the biggest influence on this group of songs.
SA: For this project, what would you consider to be your biggest success?
JP: I think that considering this was very much a studio album where I played and sang a large variety of the parts (with the exceptions of drums, violin and backing vocals) I think a huge success for me will be somehow trying to recreate this studio effort in a live performance. It's been a pretty exciting and challenging process to teach the different parts to some of favourite local musicians and to try to perform these songs live. Apart from that, I am super proud of these songs and this record and would just love for as many people as possible to hear some or all of them.
SA: In getting this release out, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it?
JP: The biggest challenge has definitely been the fact that I am finally releasing something under my own name. There is something I find somewhat terrifying and extremely vulnerable about putting my actual name on it. There has always been a comfort in masking myself and hiding behind cryptic monikers like Winchester Warm or Poorfolk, as opposed to finally stepping forward and standing behind these songs. It feels better now, but for some reason it still somehow somewhat terrifies me HA.
SA: How do you approach the song-writing process?
JP: I don't really have a specific process when it comes to songwriting - sometimes songs come when I'm super busy with other things in brief spurts and other times I will be out on my stoop or out in the country where the songs will come. But I find you really cannot force it. That's the amazing thing about songwriting for me - usually a song will kind of present itself to me and I'll just kind of have to follow it down this other-worldly musical path or try to harness it in some way. And generally my songs come together in one sitting, which I find pretty amazing. It's like they are just kind of waiting out there for me.
SA: Who is the best artist currently active in the world, and why?
JP: Oh wow once again that is so difficult. But perhaps I will go ahead and say Sandro Perri because he made my favourite record last year, "In Another Life." The first side of the record is the title track and it goes on for something like 25 minutes and just kind of unfolds and changes slightly in front of you for the entire time. There isn't really a chorus or a verse, just a set structure that continuously changes from part to part. For me it really feels like a middle finger to this short-attention span, fast-paced, immediate, click-happy culture that we inhabit at the moment. It's a beautiful piece of work.
SA: A question for fun: if you could tour with any musical act, active or not, who would it be and why?
JP: Hands down I would love to tour with Neil Young. Why Neil Young? Because it's Neil! And my father's a huge Neil fan so he would for sure come see us play. And also because Neil inhabits both sides of the sonic spectrum - loud and abrasive, quiet and soothing. And I love both sides in equal measure.
SA: What is your favourite song of “Systems”, and why?
JP: I think the final song "Know" is my favourite. That song started off a bit more theoretical than others and I kind of envisioned where it went before I went there with it. And I feel like I came pretty darn close in the recorded version to the vision I had in my head when I first wrote it. And I'm really proud of the lyrical part that is sung over and over again at the end: "How will I know it now? I'll never know it now." It's a very open-ended line. The first half of it is worrying and the second half kind of assuages that worry. Or accepts the fact that you'll never know it now. Because of course we all want to know it now. But it's totally ok not to know things.
SA: In your music career up to this point, could you specifically choose one gig as your favourite, and why?
JP: My favourite gig to date was Winchester Warm's album launch for Belle Attente at Saint Alban's Church in 2014. We packed the place and played really well. And it's quite an amazing sounding room. Our vinyl wasn't there in time but it was such a great night that that didn't even matter!
SA: What comes next this year? Good luck with everything, and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!
JP: I'm really excited for the album launch on Saturday June 1st at Pressed with my old friend Giant Hand. Apart from that I am going to work on a few more videos and also look ahead to some shows in the fall.
