Dan Mangan + Blacksmith is a Vancouver-based band whose latest album, the acclaimed Club Meds, is available now via Arts & Crafts, and has prompted them to tour all over the world. At their recent Guelph stop, Dan and John Walsh spoke with me at length about a 1965 Höfner bass on ebay, it’s all about that bass, the Blacksmith accounting department, it’s nice to be nice, no more mr. plaid guy, creative control, media manipulation and backlash, hey’s and ho’s in the zeitgeist, artistic integrity and populism, when big time artists get weird, thinking of the fans, singing better, the reception, full Kanye, you can fail doing the thing you don’t care about, experimental jazz guys get restless, collaborating for real, debates and Spanish metal, Kenton and Gordon, family life and political lyrics, don’t question your subordinates, the state of Canada and its institutions, being trusted by Arts & Crafts, how Dave Grohl ended up playing and singing on this record, Nell Carter, Hector and the Search for Happiness, caring about your community, Madic Records, Astral Swans and Yellow Bird, maybe stripping down, the song “Kitsch,” the influence of dystopian literature on this record, Milan Kundera, birthing books, and that was nice.
Related links: danmanganmusic.com vishkhanna.com
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