IN CONCERT:听Mother Mother (with Hannah Georgas)
When: Tonight, 8 p.m.
Where: Royal Theatre
Tickets: $34.75 to 43.50 plus service charge, at rmts.bc.ca or 250-386-6121.
Also performing at Duncan鈥檚 Cowichan Theatre Saturday, Nanaimo鈥檚 Port Theatre Sunday and Campbell River鈥檚 Tidemark Theatre Monday.
听
When a Gulf Islander writes an album about back-to-the-land rejection of modern society, the connection seems obvious.
But Quadra Island-raised Ryan Guldemond 鈥� lead singer, guitarist and songwriter behind Vancouver alt-pop quintet Mother Mother 鈥� says he doesn鈥檛 see it that way.
鈥淚t would be false to say that my upbringing hasn鈥檛 found its way into my expression,鈥� he said in an interview last week. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 just that the impact isn鈥檛 substantial. At least from what I can tell.鈥�
Still, it鈥檚 hard to deny some similarities.
Guldemond鈥檚 link to Quadra Island goes back to his parents 鈥� a carpenter and a bookstore owner who moved there under 鈥渇airy tale-esque鈥� circumstances soon after marrying in Duncan.
They would separate while Guldemond was 鈥渟wimming in the womb,鈥� after the birth of his sister and bandmate Molly, but he said their initial plan to start a new life, with a new family, had an auspicious beginning.
As he lists the reasons for choosing Quadra after a stint in Victoria, he pauses between each: 鈥淛ust freedom. And originality. Staking their claim. Inventing their own story, not having someone else invent it for you, or try to fit in some kind of mould or structure.鈥�
His lyrics on Bit by Bit, the centrepiece track of Mother Mother鈥檚 fourth studio album The Sticks, may not be as direct in their intentions. But when you write about building a cabin on a little mountain 鈥� then say it鈥檚 about searching for authenticity 鈥� the similarities continue to grow.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty appealing,鈥� he says, reflecting on his parents鈥� choice. 鈥淚f I hadn鈥檛 gotten into music, I might have just had to do something similar. Because music feels like a total renegade occupation and so does moving to a feral island and starting from scratch.鈥�
Guldemond speaks with an air of reflection. But having just celebrated his 30th birthday, which he calls 鈥渁 numerical farce,鈥� he says it鈥檚 a mistake to give some things too much significance.
鈥淚 get reflective on how one shouldn鈥檛 get too reflective,鈥� he said, of how he treats the milestone.
It鈥檚 probably good he feels that way, as a 23-show tour crammed into a one-month time span doesn鈥檛 leave much time for it. Shows in Victoria, Duncan, Nanaimo, Campbell River and finally Vancouver will wrap it up for Guldemond and bandmates Jasmin Parkin (vocals/keys), Jeremy Page (bass/horns), Ali Siadat (percussion/electronics) and sister Molly Guldemond (vocal/synth).
But riding on the popularity of 2011鈥檚 Eureka, which included radio-ready tracks like The Stand, touring has become more comfortable for the five-piece. The group has graduated to a bona fide tour bus, earned a set-up crew, which gives them some down time, and enjoyed other spoils of moderate success.
In the past, for example, they would ration studio time in the face of strict budget restrictions.
This time, they set up camp at Vancouver鈥檚 Hipposonic Studios (formerly Mushroom Studios) for five weeks and 鈥渨himsically changed gears,鈥� through the recording process.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 have to feel transient or fragmented in that experience,鈥� said Guldemond. 鈥淚t鈥檚 paramount, the difference.鈥�
As they roll into a sold-out show in Campbell River, where the Guldemonds attended high school, they expect to see many familiar faces. Among them, their parents.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to them that their children are happy and not aimlessly wandering down some wayward path,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hey understand how confusing and hard it is to trot oneself into the world and make sense of it. But I think they鈥檙e very happy it鈥檚 working out the way it is.鈥�
