ARTS & CULTURE A Word with Rob Szabo TABATHA LUNDHOLM ARTS EDITOR Rob Szabo a Canadian music staple, starting out when he was thirteen in a band called “A,’ moving on to be in the Groove Daddys, Marigold, and Plasti- cine. I recently sat down to talk to him when he called me from his laptop in Toronto about his current cross Canada tout from Winnipeg to Vancouver with Peter Katz. T: On your tour, what are you driv- ing in? R: Peter's car. Normally travel in my van when I'm traveling alone. My van is an 89 Dodge Caravan and I’ve been touring a lot in it lately. I’ve got close to half a million kilometers on it. I tour in the states, too, T: What are some of the best tours? _ R: I've done some crazy tours over the last couple summers. I wanted to do this festival in West Virginia, and they were in the same time frame, and I wanted to do both, so I drove down. It was three days straight driving, Crazy. I wouldnt Stuart McLean, Continued... Lately you've been expanding your stor- es away from Dave and Morley and their amily and focusing on other characters in their neighbourhood. Te began that way, if you look at the earlier stories, I started with these people, and Dave and Morley elbowed heir way into the forefront, burt if you ook at the first book only half are about Jave. and Morley. Are there are any new characters that sarticularly stand out for you as perbaps being the new focal point? I find Eugene, the old Tralian guy very interesting. I find Kenny Wong an inter- ssting guy. I find Rasheeda and Ahmir, vho appeared one Christmas, interest- ng, too... 1 was particularly proud of hat one, in 2001, when there was a lot f anti-Muslim feelings, that they came long. Do you ever have a desire to write abou omething completely different than the OVER THE EDGE NEWSPAPER. NOVEMBER 8, 2006 recommend it. The summer before I did cross-Canada from Toronto to Prince George, and then San Francisco, then to Salt-Lake city and Chicago. T: Have you always been into music and being in a band? R: It’s what I do, Iove it. I play music and I've been doing it since I was out of high school. I played in bands all throughout the 90s and I played all across Canada. It’s natural to me; I don’t know what else to do, I never stopped to think about it, I just love to do it, I love playing music for people, I can’t wait, I'm excited about it, I don't know; people are passionate about music, Last time I went to Prince George I had a great time, it was in the summer at Café Voltaire. T: So how do you feel about being a solo artist now? R: There are pros and cons to both, and I love playing with the bands, and I play with bands around Toronto, but it's kind of hard to sustain sometimes, it’s like being married to three of four people who are in the band. Being solo Vinyl Cafe stories? Say a science fiction novel? Thave thought it would be fun to write about Dave's days on the road, go back to the 60s. Writing a book about that would be interesting, because it would be him, bur when he was in a different time and place, I could do it slowly. Bur I haven't given it serious thought. Do you see the Viriyl Cafe being trans- lated into another medium, stich as TV? We've got a Christmas special coming on TV. There's always talk about movies and animations, which I fend off. I don’t want to be diminishing that world [of my stories}, because it exists in imagina- tion, and I have to honour that. We don't do mugs and umbrellas and keychains... any commerce that we do I try to keep as pure as we can to the core of the work. You're in the story business, and the world has enough mugs, has a lot more freedom, It’s lonely some- times, but I'm loving it right now. You meet the craziest people; with a band you're a bit more tied down. I’ve always been the writer in any band I've been in. Creatively there are no boundaries. I'ma bit of a control freak. I self-manage, self- book. I record my own music, write it, and do it all. Peter Katz and I hit it off so well musically and personally that we decided to tour. I got into this to play music with people that I love. It couldn't be better. T: If you could have written one song, which would it be? R: Under Pressure by queen and David Bowie. That song just kills me every time I hear it. It's so true and emo- tionally gripping, and if you don't listen to the lyrics, it's still a snappy pop song. It works on every level. T: If you could have opened for any- one, who would that be? R: I would love to have seen Jeff Buck- ley live when he was alive. I would also loved to have opened for Black Sabbath when Ozzy Osborne was in his right Hilarity TABATHA LUNDHOLM ARTS EDITOR ’ Have you ever laughed so hard that you were sure that you were going to pee yourself? If so, then you know exactly how I felt on Sunday October 22 at the Ramada Hotel when the Yuk Yuk's tour came through Prince George starring the insanely funny Damonde Tschritter. A night of comedy, good people, and good food is exactly what Prince George needs more of! It was a fabulous recep- tion that the Ramada Hotel puts on often as part of the Yuk Yuk's tour cir- cuit. Damonde Tschritter was excellent, simply put. From his confessions of get- ting a drunken tattoo of a greyhound on his arm, pestering a poor guy who was just trying to go to the bathroom, acoustic ‘nartative yee he handicaps himself fecranmnies and: fr, VO nae in a world where pop culture is driven EDHORTNACAIEF The curse of the singer-songwriter is chat unless theit musicis listened to in the proper context it often fails to reach the audience on a personal level. Otherwise their music can be put on in the background and ignored-- not disturbing anyone, but noe making mutch of an impression either, In ‘this..sense, Toronto-based Rob Szabos ninth and latest album, “Like a Metaphor,’ is perfect for rainy days and coffee shops. He's been an undis- coyered Canadian talent for years how, both as a solo artist and in groups like ine and the Groove Daddies, oe to — Hos By focusing. on mind, I saw faust of them when he was young and he was so. passionate about music, and. I'm interested to see what he would have said. T: Which performers do you think need more media attention? R: Shara Wardon who just released My Brightest Diamond. She is unbeliev- ably good; she's one of the best perform- ° ers I've ever seen in my life. I can't say enough about her, T: What are some crazy things that happen to you? R: On my site if you go to my blog pages it's just the stuff that people wrote to me about that I thought was intet- esting. Not really day-to-day stuff like I woke up and ate Shreddies, it's inter- at the and an uproarious anecdote about Bella Coola he had the audience in stitches. The part with the poor man was when he got up to leave the room Tschritter decided that we should all play along in a little game. The game was that we would all laugh hysterically when he said the words “peanut butter” in a very lame joke. Then the man would laugh, and we would all laugh at him. Slightly by youth, image, and shock-value, Bur just becanse he won't be tearing up the charts on MuchMusic doesn’t mean he / should be ignored either, He's clearly a talented songwriter even if he doesn't break any new boundaries, and. his teal bed-and-butter’ comes from the tour circuit, meaning that he relies on his own chops more than any studio- produced special effects. Some songs, such as “Beautiful” and “Johnstown Kids" are upbeat enough to appeal to ‘Ted Leo fans, while others fall more into a more upbeat Nick Drake car- egory. However, even if the album doesnt resonate now it probably will one day when after some sort of heartache ot heartbreak, you suddenly realize the songs arent just cliches but based on real experiences. Then it will be ready to’ comfort you, heal you, until you again forger about. You get the impression that hell remain ob- scure until one of his songs turns up in the latest’ Wes Anderson film or OC episode i in the exact right moment _ to-put the song into context for a mass si audience. Uneil chen, enjoy oe PHvy ‘toan n undiscovered Blane aD esting stuff. Like when I was rT thorough Nevada and my window was sucked out of my van. T: Do you have a musical credo or motto? Rs I don't really have a credo, I just feel lucky to keep doing what I’m going and loving it. I haven't had a job since out of high school. It's surviving day to day, but not in a negative way, I meet so many amazing people. You can see Rob Szabo this upcom- ing November 15th at Artspace, and be sure to check out his website at www. robszabo.com, where you can read all about his window getting sucked out of his van, and other insane mishaps. mean, maybe, but still fun and the man took it in stride and had a good chuckle to himself over it. You can't go to a com- edian without expecting someone to get slightly roasted! ‘The night was a smash hit, and if you . want to know what it’s like to laugh until you can't breathe remember to check out the next Yuk Yuk’s night at the Ramada on November 19, Lake m0 Was Wes Aree WW av Volunteer for Over the Edge! Stop by the Over the Edge office in the Wintergarden for more information, e-mail over-the-edge@unbe.ca or call 960-5633.