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>> Chris Barry's new buzz band, Acrylic by JOHNSON CUMMINS To get even a tepid reaction out of a Toronto audience, one has to perform nothing short of self-amputation, bestiality or the utter embarrassment of wearing a Toronto Maple Loafs '94 jersey on stage. All this to garner perhaps a golf clap out of these fickle fucks. But when I walked into the famous El Mocambo bar off Spadina Ave. to see Montreal's greatest export since squeegee punks, I noticed the aforementioned dullards actually applauding. And even (gulp) rocking out to Acrylic's Stooges-style rawk. Acrylic is made up of Roger Dawson (bass), Dave Jones (drums), ex-Rise member Klaus Frostell (guitar) and head honcho Chris Barry (guitar and vocals). Although Acrylic started off with the intention of being nothing more than a home studio project for Chris, they soon went through many line up changes until finally solidifying with their current line up. Late '97 found them at Le Studio in Morin Heights with famed producer Glen Robinson (Tea Party, Voivod, Gwar) and the record should see the light of day in mid-'98. With the increased rarity of local gigs in town, Acrylic have been mainly setting their sights on Toronto and New York stages. As another band took the stage at the El Mocambo, I settled in at the bar to chat with Chris Barry to find out what the hell is up with his Montreal "buzz band" and what exactly is his aversion to playing hometown shows. "We play Toronto more often than we do Montreal simply because it's easier to get a gig and we don't have to pay to play," he said. "I guess people like us here and that definitely helps, but mainly I refuse to be part of any kind of pay-to-play thing. That's just insane." Profound, but there it is. Most amazingly, 35-year-old Chris still has that "never been kissed before" glow about him, even after his 20 long years in the music business (he's headed up such musical Montreal '70s and '80s institutions as the 222's and 39 Steps). But requisite to being an indie guy, he feels he's never gotten his due respect here in Montreal.
But despite initially instigating a minor record company battle over 39 Steps, appearing in the Woody Allan film Hannah and Her Sisters and spending time in New York with a band called Pillbox, Chris came home to find 99 cent bargain bins the main sight of his music. "When I got back from New York I really thought I'd had enough of playing music, but then I started writing these songs and things just started to happen," says Chris. Armed with big street hype this time around and a record in the can, Chris is already talking turkey with record companies to give things another go. "I guess people don't hate me as much as they used to when I was in 39 Steps," explains Chris. "The Montreal press would only begrudgingly acknowledge me throughout my whole musical career and to be quite frank, I feel kind of weird even doing an interview for a Montreal newspaper." As the stroke of 2 a.m. signalled our last swigs, Chris and I readied ourselves for the cold Toronto streets. I asked him how it felt to be acknowledged as one of the Montreal Noisemakers elite. "It's about fucking time," he muttered. Indeed. Acrylic play at Petit Campus on Jan. 15.
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The 40th step
"When I moved to New York and England it wasn't to make it big, it was just that I had no one in Montreal who wanted to play the kind of music I wanted to. You know, I was never a big support-the-scene kind of guy. If your band sucks, it sucks. I don't care if you live on my street or a thousand miles away."