by LORRAINE CARPENTER

When not playing guitar with Royal City or giving a rare gig with his other, eponymous band, Jim Guthrie can be found at home, slaving over a hot Sony PlayStation. Sounds hugely boring, yes, but “home” also houses Guthrie’s Three Gut Records, a Toronto-based label with a roster boasting the Constantines, Cuff the Duke, Gentleman Reg, and, of course, Royal City and Guthrie solo. As for the PlayStation, much of Guthrie’s late-night folk, neat glitchscapes and the wondrous area he’s forged in-between are culled from “a cheap video game you can make wicked music on.” The result is two albums, A Thousand Songs and Morning Noon Night, and there’s a third on the way. The Mirror spoke to Jimmy Three Guts (his childhood nickname) about hoarding, recording and taming beasts.

Mirror: I heard you had a really influential “home rock” radio show in the mid-’90s.

Jim Guthrie: I guess I helped the local scene along. That’s also when things really started to happen for me, through meeting people and being a part of something that got pretty big in Guelph for a while. It was an amazing time.

M: And then came MTV Music Generator.

JG: Yeah, it’s just the coolest thing ever! I don’t really know how to write a song—I definitely have no rules, every song’s an experiment—but I know what makes sense and what feels good.

M: Do you play games too?

JG: I’ve got a couple of skateboard games and a chess game, I don’t really do the blow-’em-up thing. A lot of it’s lame, but sometimes it’s like magic. I think it’s the entertainment medium of the future, but they haven’t done nearly what they could do with it, a real piece of art that’s smart and beautiful. I read recently that people are waiting for the Godfather of video games.

M: Vice City is basically Scarface.

JG: Yeah, totally. That game is so satisfying in a weird way. If I sit down and hold the control, I’ll be there for an hour, minimum. It’s highly disturbing, kind of like a beast that needs to be tamed.

M: Is it true you’re hoarding PlayStations?

JG: I want to stockpile old game systems because the ones from the mid-’90s have higher sound quality. Right now, you can get a used one for about $40 or $50, so I wanna get a few to store and I’ll just use the one I have ’til it’s screwed. I wanna be able to do video-game songwriting for as long as I can.

M: Are you a compulsive home recorder?

JG: I’ve actually never done a record in one place, at one time, I’ve been so scattered and busy that I have to steal those moments for myself. But I just got a grant, so I’m gonna be recording a whole hunk of stuff in the next couple of months, and I’m pretty excited about it. I want to go with the momentum I’m feeling. I just love putting out records. :

With Arcade Fire at the Jupiter Room
on Sunday, Jan. 19, 9pm, $6

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