Joel Plaskett Interview

"You fucking suck!" Comments like this can be discouraging to anyone, let alone to a musician trying to connect with a room full of people. For Joel Plaskett, audience discontent (or apathy) while playing in Kelowna, BC, was the inspiration for "Love This Town," one of the most memorable verses on his 2005 record La De Da. This ode to Halifax, his hometown, is Joel Plaskett at his most reflective; yearning for home and familiarity while lost on the road in hostile environs. Characterized as both an ironic arena rocker and a soulful balladeer, the Haligonian musician is able to write lyrics that are at the same time hilarious, and heartfelt. It is these contrasting elements which have earned him and his band the Emergency a die hard following and growing mainstream attention, as seen by his Juno nomination for songwriter of the year and his winning the same category at the East Coast Music Awards.
Joel is proud of the recent accolades he has received but tends to view them as accomplishments along the long road in his career, as opposed to a goal which he was working towards. "There’s been a lot of momentum behind what I’ve been doing in the past couple of years, but I’ve been at what I do for so long, both with the Hermit when I was younger, and with the Emergency…but every year has these little things that are encouraging and mark the work that we’ve done as a band. At the same time when you’re in the midst of touring and recording and writing songs it kind of an acknowledgement of the work you’ve put in all year."
When asked what he feels characterizes a good songwriter Plaskett offers what appears to be a description of his own approach to the craft. "I like personality and idiosyncrasy, I like people who reflect their own experiences and where they’re from" he says. "But also a bit of humour for me is always welcome. Its not necessary…there are certain people who are very serious and I love it, but often the people that you think of as being very melodramatic and serious often have more of a sense of humour than you realize."
Though recognition for all this work is starting to find its way to both Plaskett and his band, it has been a long road. His original group Thrush Hermit played their first gig when he was 15 in 1990. They would go on to record two albums for Elektra Records before disbanding in 1999, the same year Plaskett’s solo debut In Need of Medical Attention was released. He would go on to record 2001’s Down at the Khyber and 2003’s Truthfully, Truthfully with the Emergency before taking the solo route for 2005’s La De Da, for which he received the songwriter nominations.
Although Plaskett says that songwriting is something he takes a lot of time and pride in doing, he is quick to dismiss the singer songwriter genre; "People say it’s a song based record and yes it is, but the records I’ve made with my band are equally as song based." He feels that riff rock gets a bad rap in some circles. "I always find it interesting that you don’t think of Led Zeplin as great songwriters, but they were and they were incredible band performances. People say Jackson Browne has great songs and the Who were a great band, but I liked the Who’s songs better than I liked Jackson Browne’s.
Plaskett is currently back on the road with the Emergency promoting their new DVD Make A Little Noise, which includes a hometown performance by the band at the Marquee Club in Halifax, a solo performance by Plaskett in Saskatchewan and all of the post Hermit music videos. As an added incentive the group traveled to Toronto last fall to record a three song EP with former Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson. "The whole band really enjoyed working with him, he brought a lot to the table. I was really impressed."
The resulting tracks move away from the seventies riff rock of the Emergency’s first two albums and present a more fuller, Phil Spector rhythmic feel. "I’m really pleased that these came out different than anything we’ve done. My mandate for these three songs was to create something that was a little bit more 50s in its references. I wanted that rock and roll edge as opposed to the late 60s or 70s thing that I’ve mined a lot. I was also kind of freaking out on Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run."
Plaskett has just finished a solo tour of Australia, which included an opening slot for Russel Crowe’s band at one gig, but is returning to Canada at the beginning of the month playing gigs with the Emergency. He expects to tour to the East Coast this summer while writing songs for an album he hopes to record in the fall. "This maybe the only chance you have to see Emergency on the West Coast this year. But it really just depends on when I’m going to make the new record. I think I’m just going to have to set the date which means I’m going to be busting my ass to get the tunes together all summer." If this is the case, be sure to check out Joel Plaskett and the Emergency as the Commodore Friday, May 5th.