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    Concert Preview: Coleman Hell at A&R Music Bar

    Growing up listening to Canadian radio, I experienced a somewhat different pop music palate than my friends to the south. If I rattled off names like The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Honeymoon Suite, 54-40, The Matthew Good Band, or Sloan, there may only be a handful of you reading this that would actually recognize them. Some of our exports, like the Bryan Adamses, the Céline Dions, The Barenaked Ladies, and the Nickelbacks of the bunch, were almost as popular Stateside as they were at home – for better or for worse. The distinction between the two music markets has blurred over the years thanks to digital music; currently charting Canadian artists like Drake, The Weeknd, and Shawn Mendes have gone almost undetected as cross-border commodities – assimilating almost instantly into US music consciousness.

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    Still, there are a lot of Canadian artists who remain discoveries for American audiences, breaking down the international boundary a little more gradually. That’s by no means a deprecating statement – especially for Thunder Bay, Ontario’s Coleman Hell. Having just released his first (self-titled) EP last year, Hell’s stock has been rising steadily. First was his eletro-pop single “2 Heads” cracking the Canadian top twenty chart – and making a top five appearance on Billboard’s Alternative Songs survey late in 2015. Next came multiple award nominations, including a Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy equivalent) for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. After inking a contract with Columbia Records, Hell recently embarked on his first US tour in anticipation of a full album release on the horizon in the next few months. He’ll make a stop in Columbus at A and R Music Bar on March 23 before returning home to Canada to join local radio darlings Twenty One Pilots for a series of dates.

    Just prior to a show in Denver, Hell and I chatted about his big year and his path to what’s shaping up to be bona fide international success.

    Tell me what it was like growing up in Thunder Bay and how you first found your connection to music.

    “Well, I was first off introduced to music through a collection of cassettes my mom had, ’cause she worked at a record store. So, she would copy them onto these cassettes; there was the big box full of different albums – like Prince, and Van Morrison, and The Police, and all these different bands. That’s how I first fell in love with music, I think, as a kid. And then growing up in a smaller town, you know, you don’t have a lot of options – there’s lots of classic rock radio and stuff playing. I first fell in love with old music even as a kid – I was really into older music.”

    Are you mostly self-taught as a musician, or do you have some formal training?

    “Not really. I think what happened with me was that I was so obsessed with music. I never went to a music lesson, but I would listen to things by Steely Dan or Supertramp or something and I’d hear a weird jazzy chord or strange phrasing that would appeal to me. And then I’d read the lyric booklets and I got so into it that I’d have to become part of it in some way. So, I went and bought a Casio keyboard and a Radio Shack mike and I started trying to make my own music in my room. The first (music software) program I ever bought was Ableton – and I was making what was probably terrible at the beginning. But, that’s how I kind of learned how to make music was just making tracks in my room – and making beats and playing keyboards. A lot more of an introverted, nerdy way of learning how to play music.”

    You’re finding a lot of success with your new EP – and congratulations, by the way, on your Canadian Music Week Radio and Juno Award nominations. I know this certainly hasn’t developed overnight, but a lot is happening to you rather quickly. What have these past several months been like?

    “I like how your former Canadian-ness makes these awards mean something to you! (laughs)”

    They definitely do!

    “You have a point of reference of what they are at least! Because if you say ‘Juno’ to the average American, they’re like ‘what is that?’ I don’t know – it’s been overwhelming, but in the best possible sense. I think – I mean, I’ve never traveled this much in my life. I’ve never performed this much in my life. I get to meet so many new people and connect with so many fans. It’s really just, like, on a roller-coaster right now, so it’s hard to have much perspective on it. I’m just taking in a day at a time and trying to maximize the opportunity I have right now. I’ve just been working on this album – hopefully everyone likes all the new music just as much as the old stuff.”

    So what sort of direction is the new album taking? Is it similar to what we’ve heard on your EP, or something completely different?

    “The EP was really sort of a handful of songs that weren’t going to make the album that I really liked a lot. I made sure I found a way to put them out. Once I had all these tour dates lined up, I needed something to play for people and give to them. So, that’s kind of how that came about. But, a lot of the album material is closer to “2 Heads”, I guess. Just sort of taking the electronic style of music that I make, but then fusing in organic, rootsy instruments. There’s banjo on “2 Heads” and there’s harmonicas and lap steel guitars and stuff like that that’s all sort of sampled or synthetic. I guess just sort of trying to recreate the older music I loved growing up, but kind of do it in my own way.”

    Since you’re essentially a one-person show – what does your creative process look like when you don’t work with a band or musicians in the traditional sense? Who are ‘your people’ that serve as your sounding board when you compose songs?

    “I travel on the road and perform with my two roommates – and band mates, I guess. My one roommate, La+ch, is a producer and we make all the music together. So, I’ll write the song and we’ll get together and start shaping a beat around it – or something – typically. That’s the one guy I pretty much make all of my music with. I’ll start it on a piano or something and record a demo, and then try and turn it into something more unique-sounding and upbeat.”

    I was reading a bit about the music collective you started in Toronto, Sideways. Tell me a bit more about what that is.

    “It’s kind of almost been put on the back burner a bit lately just because my project took off so quickly. It’s essentially just me and three of my friends – La+ch, Michah, and Shan Vincent De Paul. And they’re all sort of their own individual artists. We kind of just collaborate within that group – we help each other with music videos, photo shoots, and producing and writing music. It’s a group of people I’m living with in Toronto – although I haven’t been back there in months, now. But it sort of started as all of us living together and working on each others’ music, and we decided to brand it all as one thing. It’s a group of friends helping each other make their art.”

    You’ve been on your first US tour for about the past month or so. Have you discovered any differences or nuances as you’ve played for American audiences that are likely hearing you for the first time?

    “I don’t know – I’ve lived a pretty sheltered Canadian life and I’ve always wanted to travel to all these places. It feels like anywhere I go – maybe it’s just that the music I’m playing attracts similar-minded people – but everyone I meet is just great. Nice people who just want to come and dance and have fun. I’m definitely seeing a lot of different landscapes and experiencing a lot of different traditions and stuff here and there. But, for the most part, it feels like a pretty universal vibe at our shows no matter where I go.”

    Coleman Hell takes the stage at A and R Music Bar, 391 Neil Avenue, with special guest Ria Mae on Wednesday, March 23 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $12.00 (plus taxes and service charges) and are available via Ticketmaster.

    Looking for more upcoming live music events? CLICK HERE to visit our Events Calendar!

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    Grant Walters
    Grant Waltershttps://columbusunderground.com
    Grant is a freelance writer for Columbus Underground who primarily focuses on music and comedy. He's a Canadian transplant, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and schooled in Vancouver, British Columbia. Grant is also the co-author of two internationally acclaimed books: "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1960s" and "Decades: The Bee Gees in the 1970s." He has also penned numerous articles and artist interviews for the nationally recognized site, Albumism.
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