by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Tam has been a fixture on the local scene for years, having cut her teeth in the ’90s playing rhythm guitar in Swing Dynamique, the Gypsy-jazz tribute to Django Reinhardt featuring the late, great Mike King. She later switched to rock, with Tam & the Vampires gigging around town. Having signed a contract with Thurston Moore’s label Ecstatic Peace last year, Tam releases her first CD for the label this week.

With Sonic Youth’s Moore picking various songs from her many demos, things do jump around on the self-titled debut as far as production and style go. The lack of cohesion works in Tam’s favour, though, as synth-pop blends with Britpop, while experimental noise occasionally comes up for air. Tam manages to merge Nico, Exile From Guyville-era Liz Phair, the Shaggs and her new label boss’s band with ease, but at the same time is able to get down to the brass tacks and deliver a catchy hook.

Mirror: I thought the cover of Arcade Fire’s “Nocarsgo” was a strange pick.

Tam: Well, I have been a big fan of the band since before they got famous. I jammed once with Win [Butler] and figured out one of their songs, but his wife Régine got jealous so we didn’t play together after that.

M: What was their reaction when you told them you wanted to release the song?

T: I gave him a copy of the song after I recorded it and he said he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it, but he said he didn’t mind.

M: Didn’t you also use some demos from the Unicorns that you wrote lyrics for?

T: Yeah, I did three songs. Nick [Diamonds] was subletting my apartment when I went to Manchester and the CDs were laying around when I got back, so I just asked him if I could write some lyrics.

M: How did Thurston Moore become interested in you?

T: I had met him years ago when he did a solo show at Sala and I gave him a demo, hoping I could open for Sonic Youth. I never heard back from him, so I just kept sending him demos. I went to New York to see another solo show he was doing and met up with him there, and then I started e-mailing him for a couple of years. He said he was going to shop it for me to major labels, but ultimately he just ended up putting it out on Ecstatic Peace. He took all of the songs I had been sending him over the years and picked the 17 that he thought were the best. It’s kind of weird because he picked some songs that aren’t too relevant to me now. But at the same time, I’m really grateful that he took the chance to put it out.

M: How come the record took so long to come out?

T: It’s really a blessing in disguise, because Ecstatic Peace just signed a deal to be distributed by Universal. I had four songs by [Montreal band] Daddy’s Hands on the record and Dave [Wenger, singer] was pissed off because they were going to release it at the same time. It got really messy, with Dave e-mailing Thurston, and that’s what kind of held it up. Dave and I are friends again, but we had to take two Daddy’s Hands songs off of the record and now there are only two.

CD launch with guests at Barfly on Tuesday, June 20, 9 p.m., $5

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