by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

By now it's long since official. Tricky Woo, a longstanding local band that had been gradually drifting away from its roots in sweaty, sexed-up garage blues-punk, is no more. In its place, frontman Andrew Dickson had gathered a quartet of capable locals and formed Soft Canyon, now signed to Alien8 for the planned summer release of their debut CD. Soft Canyon's sound, which they qualify under the "goodtimes" heading, owes a debt to the top-shelf jangle-pop of Badfinger, the early (meaning reasonable) days of prog rock and the gentle, mildly-baked roots-rock Gram Parson's once called "cosmic American music." The Mirror hollered across the Canyon to Dickson, and here are his echoing replies.

Mirror: So check this out - in proper hack music journalist style, I've coined a term for Soft Canyon's music: sweetrock. One word. Sweetrock. Should I run with this or file it under Bad Ideas?

Andrew Dickson: Sweetrock is fine. Thanks for the heads up.

M: While Soft Canyon is clearly what Tricky Woo was evolving towards, it's nonetheless light years from what the Woo was getting at in its initial days. If some time-traveller were to have shown you, back then, where your music would lead to, how would you have reacted?

AD: I have always admired artists whose careers have been marked by progression and musical search, whether it be Arthur Lee's work with Love or perhaps even David Bowie's ability to change direction yet maintain his central persona. Many recipes race through my mind but it often takes years for me to find the ingredients.

M: I note that not one but two members of the Local Rabbits, bassist Ryan Myshrall and drummer Jay Tustin, are in Soft Canyon. Then there are your two beta males, Jason Kent and Phil Burns, both ready to bring the sweetness, be it with guitar or with that sweetest of keyboards, the Rhodes. Where'd you scare up these cats?

AD: I have searched out all of the members of the band - they are the ingredients. The Rabbit brothers are both wonderful players I've known for years, and Phil and Jay are songbirds that came down from the mountain to join the cause.

M: Another interesting turn is your signing with Alien8, known more for experimental and frequently difficult music - although the Shalabi Effect releases suggested a gradual thaw on their part toward traditional rock. With the Soft Canyon, that thaw is complete. What brought you to Alien8?

AD: A part of Tricky Woo's demise was my dissolution with music as a populist medium. I had chosen to work in the medium of rock 'n' roll, which makes swimming in shit all the more frequent. Soft Canyon is my contribution and effort to breathe life into rock music, therefore I need to be involved with a label that has a musical vision. I have found this relationship in Alien8.

M: Your albums and Web site have for some time now been graced by your own paintings, richly textured and idiosyncratic works of psychedelic wonder that strike a remarkable balance of calm and chaos. Do your music and painting feed each other in any way?

AD: Usually coming after the music, my attempts at painting are deeply connected to what I wish to throw into the universe.

With the Datson Four at la Sala Rossa
on Wednesday, April 30, 9pm

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