Accidental plan

>> Things go wrong the right way
for Miracle Fortress

IMPROPER MUSIC: Miracle Fortress’s Graham Van Pelt

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

While Montrealers Think About Life threaten to careen off the rails with their bustling energy, the dense pop sound of keyboardist Graham Van Pelt’s side project Miracle Fortress maintains a far steadier hand. Van Pelt’s self-produced Four Roses, the second release on local label Secret City (following Patrick Watson), is the culmination of a series of premeditated moves and happy accidents, with Van Pelt more than proving his worth when it comes to pop craft. The Mirror tracked Van Pelt down by e-mail as he was touring Japan.

Mirror: What are the big differences you have noticed in Japan so far?

Graham Van Pelt: Basic politeness is so important to their cultural identity. It’s so intense that you shouldn’t really do anything without asking. I got glares for eating sushi in public. Everyone is very reserved, but it gives them tremendous vitality. Westerners have basically lost touch with the decency these people thrive on.

M: Think About Life’s inspiration seems to be channelling energy through creative means, while Miracle Fortress seems more subdued and reserved. What, for you, are the differences between the two?

GVP: Think About Life is very difficult to keep under control, and thus we never really go for tightness or precision—it has a mandate of total party annihilation that wouldn’t work without an audience. Miracle Fortress is really about letting creative differences bubble up within a solo work, and being a critic who can alter the outcome of the work as it happens. I basically look for engineering accidents, trying to get somewhere new by dismantling the music as it happens. It’s very improvisational in the studio.

M: You’ve been active with the defunct DIY venue Electric Tractor—has that proven to be an influence on you as a musician and songwriter?

GVP: Hosting bands at Electric Tractor really changed my whole perspective on music. Seeing people make a mess of everything on stage every week broke a lot of taboos for me. People came there to take everything apart and it got me out of overly precious music-making. Seeing proper music in proper venues barely appeals to me as a result.

M: It seems Beach Boy Brian Wilson gets a heavy nod on Four Roses.

GVP: I think the tone Wilson etched out on Pet Sounds is basically the peak in pop recording. That’s the best blend of instruments on record I can think of. As for his actual studio practice, I depart somewhat in that I don’t really bring anything like complete compositions in. I relate more to Brian Eno in that the uncertainty of using equipment in random arrangements is more exciting than just going in to track something.

M: Was there a certain freedom in working at home, as opposed to watching a clock in a studio, that helped the composition?

GVP: There’s almost total freedom for me working from home, and I wouldn’t do a Miracle Fortress record elsewhere. Things would strike me in the middle of the night that I had to try before I could get back to sleep. Also, I made such a mess in there that just turning something on would trigger random acts of sonic brutality. I had no idea where the cables were going by the end of it

Double CD launch with Shapes & Sizes at
Friendship Cove on Wednesday,
May 16, 9 p.m., $10