“We’ve
been compared to everyone from Saint-Germain and Björk to Edie
Brickell,” offers Doppelganger’s singer and main lyricist,
Elizabeth Powell. When pressed to describe her band’s elusive sound,
she finally admits that they make “kind of anthemic, epic songs
that tell stories. Because we have two drummers, the beats used to be
more math-rock complicated, but now we’re more poppy.” Rounded
out by founders Bill Welham (guitar) and Tyson Schallmann (drums) with
F.J. St-John-Nash (of Jazz Pharmacy, keyboards and bass) and Tony Spina
(drums, percussion), this formation’s been in place for a year
now (though the name dates back to ’99). With a self-titled, independently
produced debut EP and some pretty high-profile gigs under their belts
(Montreal jazz fest, T.O.’s Harbourfront festival), the band has
quickly had to face the more money-minded side of making music.
“It’s hard to just feel the magic when you’re dealing
with business stuff—you have to control it and not let it control
you,” Powell insists, obviously still struggling with these issues.
“You have to do that if you want to be global and be able to play
shows in Japan, which I want. ”
Powell, who’s been writing and performing music since she was 14
(back in Guelph, Ontario), is used to the trials of live shows, including
the occasionally staggering stupidity of certain audiences. Like the
time Doppelganger played a three-floor keg party at a university bar
in Fredericton. “One of them shouted, ‘Play something we know!’
So I asked, ‘Like what?’ And they said, ‘I don’t
know, Dave Matthews, or Metallica?’ So I was like, ‘Okay,
this next one’s a Dave Matthews song,’ and we just played
one of our songs. But they were so hammered, I don’t think they
noticed.”
2002 sees Doppelganger playing a lot of local shows and taking off on
a cross-Canada tour in March. Get a sneak preview in MP3 form at www.dganger.com.
:
“We’ve
been compared to everyone from Saint-Germain and Björk to Edie
Brickell,” offers Doppelganger’s singer and main lyricist,
Elizabeth Powell. When pressed to describe her band’s elusive sound,
she finally admits that they make “kind of anthemic, epic songs
that tell stories. Because we have two drummers, the beats used to be
more math-rock complicated, but now we’re more poppy.” Rounded
out by founders Bill Welham (guitar) and Tyson Schallmann (drums) with
F.J. St-John-Nash (of Jazz Pharmacy, keyboards and bass) and Tony Spina
(drums, percussion), this formation’s been in place for a year
now (though the name dates back to ’99). With a self-titled, independently
produced debut EP and some pretty high-profile gigs under their belts
(Montreal jazz fest, T.O.’s Harbourfront festival), the band has
quickly had to face the more money-minded side of making music.