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Dream scheme
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“I’ve been trying to book shows that are not necessarily thematic,” says Montreal saxophonist-and-more Franco Proietti, “but there’s a reason to celebrate. We played a Christmas show, a Halloween show—when people are already in a party mood, it makes the environment that much nicer.” Proietti has a decent reason to celebrate when his band, the Franco Proietti Morph-tet, plays O Patro Vys this week. It’s the night of his 32nd birthday, wrapping up a year that saw the release of the FPM’s debut disc, the Bongo Beat CD Morphology. It’s also the second anniversary of the dissolution of his previous outfit, the straightforward acid jazz act Kobayashi. Proietti didn’t want to deal with a huge band again, schedules and all that, so the FPM was initially just him and his laptop, with friends spiriting in and out for shows. “Now, I don’t like having a computer as a rhythm section, I have to say, so the drummer [Marc Béland] and bassist [Rick Rosato]—and at this point, the DJ [Andrew Kushnir] too—are all regulars now.” Beyond that, some members of Kobayashi are among the ever-shifting support crew that informs the term “morph-tet.” The etymology, though, leads back to Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, rather appropriate given the mercurial, evocative music on Morphology. “I’ve always been a very lucid dreamer,” Proietti notes, “and had the craziest dreams—I’m sure my personality and some of the music are influenced by that. Actually, one of the new songs we’re about to write is directly based on a dream I had. The songs on the album, I could tell you the influence of every single one. Dreaming isn’t necessarily a direct influence on any one song, but maybe on the overall feel.” The opening pair—the noir-ish “Lucky 13” with local sax luminary Dave Turner, and “Bushido,” with its spy-flick horn stabs and Ghost Dog-inspired rap by Omari Newton—are explicitly cinematic. “Bottle Shaped Cage,” meanwhile, is a bluesy dirge with a chain-gang vibe and Franco’s dad Ron contributing some mouth harp, while a pair of remixes—one of “The DT’s” by Proietti himself, the other a clubby version of “Lucky 13” by Milton Clark—close out the disc. “If you’d have told me five years ago that I’d have a techno-sounding song, I’d probably have laughed at you. No way!” The dream scheme is most apparent on two particular tracks. The accordion-inflected music of “Chorophobia” has an eerie carnival atmosphere, a nod to Danny Elfman, but it’s Proietti’s surrealist tale on top that seems straight out of slumberland. Ironically, it was a bout of insomnia, caused by a construction crew outside his window, that led Proietti to improvise his lurid yarn of footwork fear. “I personally hate dancing, I’m terrified of it, so that’s probably part of it. People have responded really well to that story.” Then there’s “Verte de Fougerolles,” this writer’s favourite track, a quasi-mystical exercise with tablas and a down-pitched melodica generating a hypnotic drone. “Verte de Fougerolles is a brand of absinthe that I like to drink,” Proietti chuckles, “and it was written after consuming said beverage, so it’s got a very, um, open-minded approach to it. “Sometimes I overthink things in my solos. I’m terrible for thinking things through 15 steps ahead. Now, I’m not a proponent of using mind-altering substances to create, I think it’s a bit of a cop-out. But I’ve found that just having a couple of drinks will make me stop thinking so much and just play.” WITH ARBOREAL QUARTET AT |
