Walking With Crows Interview
Q: Can you talk about the history of band?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny has been a coworker of mine for a few years at The Ottawa Hospital. I used to hear him singing random snippets of songs at work and realized that he had a pretty good voice for someone who wasn't even trying to put on a performance. We started talking music and I ended up checking out some of the YouTube videos of him playing acoustic guitar and singing. That's when I realized that he had a really good voice and that he was also an excellent songwriter and lyricist. Johnny ended up writing a song called 'Our Fallen Hero' which was dedicated to Nathan Cirillo, who was the soldier that was shot to death at the National War Memorial in Ottawa in 2014. I really liked the song and proposed that we record a good version of it in my home studio. I convinced my friend Steve to play drums and t we got together a few times to rehearse it and then we did the recording. After accomplishing that, we decided that we would have a crack at the large amount of songs that Johnny had written in the past to see if we could create a viable band. Once we realized that this was a worthy pursuit, we decided to bring in a lead guitar player to flesh out our sound. Steve and I both knew Scott from years back and decided to approach him. I had already worked with him once before on another project. We all seemed to gel together pretty quickly and soon we were planning to record the our EP IKE.
(Johnny)
I have to say, it took me two years to persuade Kenyon to work with me musically...lol. I would throw hints that I'd like to get into a band or something but it took him a long time to take the bait. When we started to record the single ''Our Fallen Hero'' at a certain point in the song I could hear spoken words in my head. I thought it would be amazing to have the Prime Minister of Canada speaking in the song. I decided to give it a go and reach out to Steven Harper who was prime Minister of Canada at that time....I know...How the hell is a fella from Ireland going to get in touch with the Prime Minister of Canada, let alone get his permission to use a part of his speech in a song....I thought the same thing. But I did and would you believe it I did get a response and better still, I did get permission to use his voice. Yes that's right folks...if you’re passionate about something, no matter how big or outrageous you think it is, you’ll never know until you ask. Let’s just say that the lads saw that I was not messing around and wanted to do this right so that's how Walking With Crows was formed.
Q: Johnny McConnell is from Belfast but the other members are from Ottawa. How do you think that juxtaposition affected the creative process?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny had quite a different cultural experience of folk and of popular musical during his formative years. There's plenty of bands that we make reference to during conversations that Johnny has never heard of and vice versa. The rest of us are predominantly into heavier music as a rule, but nonetheless we have fairly eclectic tastes overall. Fortunately this has led us to combine different ideas together without really thinking too consciously about it. That juxtaposition has definitely led to a richer perspective overall.
(Johnny)
Lol. Yes I'm like a deer in the head lights when the lads are talking about their influences. Growing up in Ireland, the music scene and charts were so different to the North American scene. Our charts (as a kid) were dominated by boy bands and spice girls and that sort of thing. Then the biggest turning point in my life happened when I heard Oasis for the first time. That was the first time I was really influenced by someone. I do love to see the lads passion and joy for their favorite bands when they do talk though.
Q: What are some of themes that run through your EP IKE?
A:
(Johnny)
A theme running through the EP...hmmm. Maybe with “Come Alive” and “Risking It All, these songs are of hope and looking to a greater future in the crazy world of the music business. I felt really vulnerable writing these songs. They have a lot of the what if's that I may ask myself on a daily basis. I suppose the theme would be that it's ok to be vulnerable and to always shoot for the stars. no matter what the people around you may say about how hard it is to break in. And you’re a needle in a haystack. There is too much music now. How is anyone going to hear you, that sort of thing. I really believe in myself, my band mates and most importantly our music.
Q: I thought the EP captured the band playing live in a room. Can you talk about the recording process in the studio?
A:
(Kenyon)
We recorded the album in the same room that we rehearse, so that is part of the equation. I also tried to minimize the number of reverb plugins that I was using per song. It uses less of my computer's processing power and it also gives the impression of actually being in a real acoustic space. If I had used several different reverbs with different sized acoustic spaces it would have given the album a completely different feel. I may take a different approach on future albums.
(Johnny)
We really wanted to capture the real Walking with Crows. When people hear our music and then come to see us live, we want them to get that familiarity between the recording and what they have in front of them. There are not many guitar bands out there in the charts these days without the auto tuning and whatnot...we want to be as raw as we can be. We want people to feel our music.
Q: Can you talk about some of the influence musical and otherwise that went into IKE?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny has lots of experience performing traditional Irish folk tunes in the past but his main passion and influences are bands like The Stone Roses, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Garth Brooks and many others that I'm not too familiar with. Johnny's influences are more obvious in our music because he is the primary songwriter and vocalist. A couple of songs have been introduced by Scott and I, and those few songs are markedly different in style and tone. For example, the music for the song “Blu” was written by Scott and the lyrics and vocal melody were written afterward by Johnny. Steve, Scott and I are all primarily influenced by heavy music but we all have fairly eclectic tastes. Some of the bands that have influenced me greatly over the years: Metallica, Faith No More, Polkadot Cadaver, Morphine, Tuatara, Mr. Bungle, Beastie Boys, Beck, Kyuss, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Medeski Martin & Wood, Primus, Secret Chiefs 3, Squirrel Nut Zippers. Just to name a few.
Q: What else do we need to know about Walking With Crows?
A:
(Kenyon)
We are working on the next album, which will also be an EP with six songs. It will sound fairly different from IKE but will still have that recognizable Walking With Crows sound and feel. We have also toyed with the idea of bringing a keyboard player into the band. We will likely begin recording in February 2018.
(Johnny)
I feel that it's time for guitar music to be back in the charts or at least get a new start here in North America. Oasis back in the ’90s tried but only had minimal success. Maybe now is the time to change up the music scene once again. And if It does then I want Walking With Crows to be on people’s lips, minds and hearts. My dream is to play on that stage no matter the size or venue and see someone, even if it’s just one person, mouth back the words to a song that I have written. That to me would be my definition of "making it.” For someone to be touched enough to let us into their bubble and to invest themselves in us. Wow...that's it for me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who took the time to buy, stream and listen to our music. I know it’s hard to let new music into your hearts and for that I'm so thankful. May you live as long as you want. May you never want as long as you live. JmcC
Q: Can you talk about the history of band?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny has been a coworker of mine for a few years at The Ottawa Hospital. I used to hear him singing random snippets of songs at work and realized that he had a pretty good voice for someone who wasn't even trying to put on a performance. We started talking music and I ended up checking out some of the YouTube videos of him playing acoustic guitar and singing. That's when I realized that he had a really good voice and that he was also an excellent songwriter and lyricist. Johnny ended up writing a song called 'Our Fallen Hero' which was dedicated to Nathan Cirillo, who was the soldier that was shot to death at the National War Memorial in Ottawa in 2014. I really liked the song and proposed that we record a good version of it in my home studio. I convinced my friend Steve to play drums and t we got together a few times to rehearse it and then we did the recording. After accomplishing that, we decided that we would have a crack at the large amount of songs that Johnny had written in the past to see if we could create a viable band. Once we realized that this was a worthy pursuit, we decided to bring in a lead guitar player to flesh out our sound. Steve and I both knew Scott from years back and decided to approach him. I had already worked with him once before on another project. We all seemed to gel together pretty quickly and soon we were planning to record the our EP IKE.
(Johnny)
I have to say, it took me two years to persuade Kenyon to work with me musically...lol. I would throw hints that I'd like to get into a band or something but it took him a long time to take the bait. When we started to record the single ''Our Fallen Hero'' at a certain point in the song I could hear spoken words in my head. I thought it would be amazing to have the Prime Minister of Canada speaking in the song. I decided to give it a go and reach out to Steven Harper who was prime Minister of Canada at that time....I know...How the hell is a fella from Ireland going to get in touch with the Prime Minister of Canada, let alone get his permission to use a part of his speech in a song....I thought the same thing. But I did and would you believe it I did get a response and better still, I did get permission to use his voice. Yes that's right folks...if you’re passionate about something, no matter how big or outrageous you think it is, you’ll never know until you ask. Let’s just say that the lads saw that I was not messing around and wanted to do this right so that's how Walking With Crows was formed.
Q: Johnny McConnell is from Belfast but the other members are from Ottawa. How do you think that juxtaposition affected the creative process?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny had quite a different cultural experience of folk and of popular musical during his formative years. There's plenty of bands that we make reference to during conversations that Johnny has never heard of and vice versa. The rest of us are predominantly into heavier music as a rule, but nonetheless we have fairly eclectic tastes overall. Fortunately this has led us to combine different ideas together without really thinking too consciously about it. That juxtaposition has definitely led to a richer perspective overall.
(Johnny)
Lol. Yes I'm like a deer in the head lights when the lads are talking about their influences. Growing up in Ireland, the music scene and charts were so different to the North American scene. Our charts (as a kid) were dominated by boy bands and spice girls and that sort of thing. Then the biggest turning point in my life happened when I heard Oasis for the first time. That was the first time I was really influenced by someone. I do love to see the lads passion and joy for their favorite bands when they do talk though.
Q: What are some of themes that run through your EP IKE?
A:
(Johnny)
A theme running through the EP...hmmm. Maybe with “Come Alive” and “Risking It All, these songs are of hope and looking to a greater future in the crazy world of the music business. I felt really vulnerable writing these songs. They have a lot of the what if's that I may ask myself on a daily basis. I suppose the theme would be that it's ok to be vulnerable and to always shoot for the stars. no matter what the people around you may say about how hard it is to break in. And you’re a needle in a haystack. There is too much music now. How is anyone going to hear you, that sort of thing. I really believe in myself, my band mates and most importantly our music.
Q: I thought the EP captured the band playing live in a room. Can you talk about the recording process in the studio?
A:
(Kenyon)
We recorded the album in the same room that we rehearse, so that is part of the equation. I also tried to minimize the number of reverb plugins that I was using per song. It uses less of my computer's processing power and it also gives the impression of actually being in a real acoustic space. If I had used several different reverbs with different sized acoustic spaces it would have given the album a completely different feel. I may take a different approach on future albums.
(Johnny)
We really wanted to capture the real Walking with Crows. When people hear our music and then come to see us live, we want them to get that familiarity between the recording and what they have in front of them. There are not many guitar bands out there in the charts these days without the auto tuning and whatnot...we want to be as raw as we can be. We want people to feel our music.
Q: Can you talk about some of the influence musical and otherwise that went into IKE?
A:
(Kenyon)
Johnny has lots of experience performing traditional Irish folk tunes in the past but his main passion and influences are bands like The Stone Roses, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Garth Brooks and many others that I'm not too familiar with. Johnny's influences are more obvious in our music because he is the primary songwriter and vocalist. A couple of songs have been introduced by Scott and I, and those few songs are markedly different in style and tone. For example, the music for the song “Blu” was written by Scott and the lyrics and vocal melody were written afterward by Johnny. Steve, Scott and I are all primarily influenced by heavy music but we all have fairly eclectic tastes. Some of the bands that have influenced me greatly over the years: Metallica, Faith No More, Polkadot Cadaver, Morphine, Tuatara, Mr. Bungle, Beastie Boys, Beck, Kyuss, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Medeski Martin & Wood, Primus, Secret Chiefs 3, Squirrel Nut Zippers. Just to name a few.
Q: What else do we need to know about Walking With Crows?
A:
(Kenyon)
We are working on the next album, which will also be an EP with six songs. It will sound fairly different from IKE but will still have that recognizable Walking With Crows sound and feel. We have also toyed with the idea of bringing a keyboard player into the band. We will likely begin recording in February 2018.
(Johnny)
I feel that it's time for guitar music to be back in the charts or at least get a new start here in North America. Oasis back in the ’90s tried but only had minimal success. Maybe now is the time to change up the music scene once again. And if It does then I want Walking With Crows to be on people’s lips, minds and hearts. My dream is to play on that stage no matter the size or venue and see someone, even if it’s just one person, mouth back the words to a song that I have written. That to me would be my definition of "making it.” For someone to be touched enough to let us into their bubble and to invest themselves in us. Wow...that's it for me. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who took the time to buy, stream and listen to our music. I know it’s hard to let new music into your hearts and for that I'm so thankful. May you live as long as you want. May you never want as long as you live. JmcC