Indie Weak

Oh when will I learn?!

The James Clark Institute played 'Indie Weak' at Toronto's Rancho Relaxo last Wednesday evening. We had been informed by countless Indie Weak emails during the week leading up to Indie Weak, that the evening's soundcheck would take place at 6:30 pm with the first band (that would be us) taking the stage at 9:30 pm. So, being the true professionals that we are, we rolled in at 6:50 pm. I actually felt slightly bad arriving a wee bit late for our soundcheck. I soon recovered from those feelings when we were told that the sound guy hadn't arrived yet. In fact the sound guy would not arrive until 8:50 pm! In fact, no one at Indie Weak had notified the booker at Rancho Relaxo that there would be a 6:30 sound check. IN FACT there was no sound guy even booked for Indie Weak that night!!! The booker at the club (who arrived shortly after 8 pm) began calling around, scrambling to find a tech who would work the night. Samsun came running in at 8:50 and bless his heart, got things up and running by 9:15 pm. We played an incredibly tight half hour set to a small but very appreciative audience. I believe that there may have been more people there had Indie Weak not been promoting the (real?) Indie Weak Launch Party that was happening on the same night, at another club in the city! It was as if they had too many bands booked for Indie Weak and decided to throw a few of us together for a 'less important' show. I didn't realize when I first submitted my press kit to Indie Weak, that Indie Weak is actually a glorified battle of the bands. I also didn't realize that The James Clark Institute is a country band. Yup, we were showcasing on 'country night'. Well, to be honest, since being booked for Indie Weak I'm a little confused as to what kind of band we are. You see, the genius' at Indie Weak booked us for 'country night' but if you go to the band listings at www.indieweek.com The James Clark Institute is listed as New Age!!?!! Needless to say, we didn't win the big country talent show that night.

Oh when will I learn!?

Yer pal,
james

Aaarrrrggghhhh!!!

Believe me, I do realize that I've slacked off all summer and did not post one new article here for you all to read and shake your head at. I did indeed intend to sit down tonight and bring you something new and super exciting to ponder. Unfortunately I ate far too many 'Sneaky Dee's' Nachos for lunch today. Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!!! So please forgive me. I must lie down now.

ps. 'Sideshow Unattraction' charted on the Waterloo University charts last month. 'Kangaroo' has been receiving airplay in Kamloops.

yer....ugh...pal,
james

GOD, Why doesn't Guelph like me?

It's been rather quiet and lonely around the ole institute lately. I've been wasting...er....spending a lot of my time mailing out copies of 'Sideshow Unattraction' which in case you haven't heard is the BRAND NEW SUPER EXCITING RECORD from the james clark institute. Go now and order your copy here: www.cdbaby.com. I'll wait here while you do.....dum dum di dum dum.....

Thankyou. So as I was saying, I've been wasting...er...spending a lot of money on postage as I attempt to get college radio across Canada and parts of the goof ole USA to play my record. It's early yet but so far they like me in Thunderbay and they don't like me in Guelph. That's just plain weird for me because the james clark institute charted in Guelph with the last record, 'Home is Where the Heart Attack is' a few years back. But since then they have changed music directors and obviously stopped supporting good independent music. I make no apologies here, 'Sideshow Unattraction deserves to be heard. I find it rather unfortunate that an artist can pour his heart and pathetic little soul into a project for two and a half !@#$ years only to be ignored by some when it's finally unleashed. I suppose it's all part of the ugly and nauseating territory.

But all hope is not lost. This week I was informed that 'I Wonder Where You Are Tonight Jennie Lee', a song from 'Sideshow Unattraction', hit number one on the charts of SongPlanet Radio. SongPlanet is a crazy groovy internet radio station operating out of Seattle. They have been a great supporter of my songs since I first hooked up with them 3 years ago. DJ Motmot, a dj from SongPlanet even flew from her home in Victoria BC to host my cd release party here in Toronto in May. You should check them out here: www.songplanet.com right after you order my cd from here: www.cdbaby.com. I'll still wait here while you do....

...and I'll see ya next time.

Yer pal
james

the unwanted

So the record launch event is over. Has been for a couple of weeks now. I feel both estactic that the show went over as it did and somewhat perplexed as to what to do next. Of course this is where the real work starts as I attempt to 'sell' the record. Shove it down the throats of the record buying masses. Unfortunately there really isn't a mass of people buying records...uh..sorry, cds anymore. The band played incredible that night and would love to do more shows where I can afford to bring them along. One thing I'm sure of, 'Sideshow Unattraction' is a really good record that deserves to be heard. If you know me, then you know that I don't often say things like that about my work. I would even say that getting dumped was worth it. It's that good.

So the record ended up being 12 tracks long. There were 14 songs that were mixed and mastered for 'Sideshow Unattraction' but in the end I decided to leave 2 of them off. I won't go into the reasons why here, I'll just give you the background on them and provide the lyrics so that you can sing along. Too bad you don't know the melodies. But fret not, I do plan on releasing them at some point. Maybe the gift set after I'm dead. I dunno. Anyhooo...let's start with 'Box Of You' shall we?

This song went through many different identities. I have several versions of this song. The first attempt was a straight 4/4 'rawker'. Yeah, kinda boring. The next attempt was the same bed track that was used as it went through its metamorphisis. This one had spurts of harmonica where Vince Yue's beautiful guitar ended up going in the mastered version. That is the most heartbreaking reason why I wish I had used this on the record. Vince's guitar is just as I said, beautiful. It could make any crusty old deceased grandfather weep. I was never really happy with the lyrics though. I went in to the studio on many occasions and would redo a line here or a line there. At the final moment I still wasn't happy with them. There were a few that made me slightly uncomfortable. But in hindsight that's probably a sure sign that people would have dug it. We played it at the cd release gig and I heard lots of positive words about it. So here's the lyrics. The ones that I like and the ones that make me so uncomfortable. Ugh!

BOX OF YOU

What do I do with this box of you?
“Cause although we’re through, I never threw out that box of you.
What do I do with this box of you?
Though you say we’re through, I never threw out that box of you.

Here we are last summer in Des Moines, Iowa.
On our way to Redding, California.
With your Fluevog shoes and my paranoia,
I adored ya, now I wonder what for ya!

What do I do with this box of you?
“Cause although we’re through, I never threw out that box of you.

There you sit with baby at your breast.
Dad’s Nikon capturing your tenderness.
I keep thinking here’s one for the photo contest,
So I can phone ya, don’t want to talk to your lawyer!

Christmas cards I can’t discard I’ve tried but I’m weak.
But was it really so hard for you to part with your box of me?!
Behind my face other traces of you.

I don’t recall where this particular one was taken.
And here’s my ticket from the CTA station.
Just like romance, the colours are fading.
It’s melancholia! I want to call ya!

What do I do with this box of you?
“Cause although we’re through, I never threw out that box of you.
What do I do with this box of you?
Though you say we’re through, I never threw out that box of you.
I never threw out that box of you.
I can’t throw away this box of you!

(c) James Clark 2008

The second song that didn't make the cut is a song called 'Splinter In The Soul'. This one has an interesting background, or so I think. I was chatting with my psychiatrist during one particular session. We were talking about, what else?, the breakup of my relationship which I just couldn't recover from. This was probably a year or so after the fact. He was mentioning how it is very common for the rejected to obsess over their broken relationship. When he used the term 'rejection becomes obsession' I immediately thought 'I gotta get out of here and write a song with that title!' So I went home and wrote it. Then I changed the name of it. It came really quickly. Lyrically, I mention the four records that I listened to a lot during this period. The records from artists that had all been dumped prior to making these recordings. It's pretty much a Beatles song with less positive lyrics. My drummer Gord Fynes says that it could have been on side four of The White Album. I think it's more 'Rubber Soul' but whatever, it didn't make it onto either of those records and it didn't make it onto mine either. Again, this one will probably surface at some point somewhere. Until then, here are the lyrics. You'll be all ready to join in when the song is finally released. And a one and a two and a....

Splinter in the Soul

When rejection becomes obsession your whole world is consumed,
With photographs and evil laughs and her face painted on the moon.
When rejection becomes obsession you waste away the afternoon,
Listening to Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ and stepping on balloons.

When rejection becomes obsession you’re awake in the wee small hours.
Like Sinatra in ’55, over your own Ava Gardiner.
When rejection becomes obsession your disposition turns so sour.
You lose all will to live like her fading favourite flower.

Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
You only need one good pull to be free.

Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
You only need one good pull to be free

When rejection becomes obsession your blood is on the tracks,
And the walls and the bridges and anything by Bacharach.
When rejection’s your only connection to a checkered past,
You become the forgotten forgetting nothing ever lasts.

Like a splinter in the soul,
The likeness is unbearable,
Like a splinter in the soul, like a splinter in the soul.

TV’s a drug that makes you dumb but if it helps me forget you then give me some.
TV’s a drug that makes you dumb but if it helps me forget you then give me some.

(c) James Clark 2008

Well, that's it for lyrics. What the !@#$ will I go on about now?! I'm scared.

See ya soon.

Yer pal,

james

and in the end...

This next AND last song (whew...finally!) from the new record is one that was recorded specifically with a whistling solo in the middle. I laid down the acoustic guitar track first as I always do. Then I put on a vocal track always hoping to nail it in the first attempt. Then when it came to recording the whistle track, I realized that hey!....I can't whistle! Never could! What was I thinking?! So on the day that my friend Dave was in laying down his harmony track on 'Monstrous', I asked him if he could whistle. Thankfully he could and he did. Thankyou 'Whistlin' Dave'. You made me......

....Nonetheless Happy

It’s the end of September, it’s the end of an error.
We put the game pieces away.
Attempts have all failed to get myself out of jail.
You took the money and away…

…you went tired and spent but nonetheless happy.

It seems you have a new opponent, one I have never met.
I’m not the competitive kind.
No strategy is the word; it’s why I’m always in third,
Almost every single time…

I play, a sore loser but hey you’re nonetheless happy.

While I’m nonetheless empty, nonetheless destitute.
Nonetheless bereft of anything remotely cute.
Nonetheless broken and I’m nonetheless blue,
And I’m nonetheless in love with you.

It’s August 12th, I’m back on the shelf.
Popamatic trouble indeed!
I’m off the board and your winning score
Has brought me more trouble than I need…

…today but I guess I’ll find a way to be nonetheless happy.
Nonetheless happy.

Meanwhile I’m nonetheless empty, nonetheless destitute.
Nonetheless bereft of anything remotely cute.
Nonetheless disheveled and I’m nonetheless blue,
And I’m nonetheless in love with you.
Nonetheless in love with you.

I wrestled with the 'nonetheless in love with you' line forever. I wasn't comfortable using what I felt was such a common line for a song. I tried changing it but could never find anything to replace it with. Also everyone I talked to about it said that it was perfect. No need to change it. A thankyou to my friend Ann who gave me the line 'back on the shelf'.' My line sucked! Thankfully I've forgotten what it was.

Next time we'll visit a couple of songs that didn't make it onto the final cut of the 'Sideshow Unattraction' record. Bye for now.

Yer pal,

james

the fatal mallet

Here's another lyric that was written before the 'dumping.' About a year before to be exact. I remember the day after the cd release gig for 'Home is Where the Heart Attack is' I woke up with a sore throat. It soon developed into some kind of weird virus that held on to my body and wouldn't let go for about 2 months! During the time when I was the sickest, I had become so frustrated with the situation of not doing anything but lying in bed or moping around that I decided to pick up my guitar and actually write a song. It took me 3 or 4 days to finish it but I felt that I had writen a good one. In fact people who heard it said that I should get sick more often. It was one of the first songs that I recorded for the new record. During the mixing sessions the song almost didn't make the final cut. But I put it on the record because I certainly had my relationship in mind when I was writing it. The relationship was failing at this point and I suppose I was trying to say that I needed to be rescued. So I felt that there was a spot for this song on the record afterall.

GIRL HEROINE

While flipping through the pages of “The Films Of Charlie Chaplin”,
That he acquired in 1973.
He casts his mind way back but he’s not sure how it happened,
How he came to being me.
It’s a sad and sordid script, border lining on slap stick.
It was a real pie in the face to see it turn out like it did.

I need a girl heroine.
Someone to keep the plot moving.
Someone who’ll save me in the end,
A girl Heroine. I need a girl Heroine.

While sifting through the FBI files on Charlie Chaplin,
He uncovered some lies of his own.
All in the name of keeping them laughing,
He buried his heart like a stone.
But the key required most in comedy is pathos.
He did a real double take when life became quite a joke.

I need a girl heroine.
Someone to keep the plot moving.
Someone who’ll save me in the end.
A girl Heroine. I need a girl heroine.

This must be the dream sequence because she’s dressed like angel.
If I could speak in my defense before the mallet fatal
Comes crashing down cracking on my head
Like Mabel said…..

“….He needs a girl heroine.
Someone to keep the plot moving.
Someone who’ll save him in the end.
He needs a girl heroine. A girl heroine.”

I need a girl heroine.
Someone to keep the plot moving.
Someone who’ll save me in the end.
A girl heroine. I need a girl heroine.

The original title for the record long before I decided on 'Sideshow Unattraction' was 'The Fatal Mallet' which derived from this song. That's also why I included a mallet into my sideshow banner that I painted for the cd artwork. And speaking of the cd...

The cd launch is in three days. Only one more lyric from the cd to be delivered. But I also want to present to you a couple of songs that did not make it onto the record as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Next time we visit the song that closes the album. And speaking of closing.....

So long.
Yer pal,
james

Who doesn't love a monkey?

Hey Gang!

As promised here's a lyric that dates back to 1997. Back then it was entitled 'Dexterity'. I wrote it and then proceeded to do nothing with it. I remember my friend Dave liking it but I was never really sure about....except for the part about the monkey. Anyhooooo....several years later when working on the 'heart attack' record I reworked 'Dexterity' until it no longer resembled the song whatsoever. it showed up on that record as 'Crawl And Creep'. A much improved song I thought. So when the writing for 'Sideshow Unattraction' began I found an old demo of 'Dexterity' and thought that maybe it was a pretty good song after all. But I did make some lyric changes again (except for the part about the monkey) and retitled it 'Pretty Dexterity'. So I laid down a bed track for it. Soon after I shelved it again. Still not happy with it. Months later I remember lying awake in the wee small hours of the morning (thankyou Francis) and rewriting the entire song except for the part about the monkey. So I rerecorded it, putting on 4 acoustic guitar tracks and one close mic'd vocal track. It was now entitled 'Popularity Contest'. I really liked it ....but not for long. I shelved it once again. It wasn't until Garry and myself were doing some rough mixes for the record that we came across the track and both agreed that it was a strong performance. But it wasn't until we were doing final mixes that the song actually made the final selection. Even now as I await the call from the manufacturer telling me to come and pick up my cds I question whether or not I made the right decision in including 'Popularity Contest' on the record. But then again who doesn't like songs about monkeys? Here ya go.....

POPULARITY CONTEST

She’s so curt with her words she cuts me down to size.
Despite her laconic ways her popularity rises higher, higher.

She’s so dark with her heart, it puts mine to shame.
Though she tears me apart, I keep falling just like rain.
Falling from higher, higher.

I only wish that I could be a little more popular
Like her train driving monkey, like her train driving monkey.

She’s so approachable though I can never get near.
To what she’s all about now that I’m no longer needed here by her, by her.

I only wish that I could be a little more popular
Like her train driving monkey, like her train driving monkey.
Like her drum banging monkey, like her drum banging monkey.

Mister postman please don’t bring me no more of these.
I don’t want to read about her popularity.
Mister postman please don’t bring me no more of these.
I don’t need to read about her popularity.

He wins, he’s the best in her popularity contest.


The Postman tag was added on to this song because at the time I was so frustrated with receiving mail from a certain textile museum in Toronto informing me, first that my ex was having an upcoming show that just shouldn't be missed and then secondly that my ex had won the 'show of the year' award from this same certain textile museum. So while my ex would have nothing to do with me anymore, I was being reminded of her every couple of weeks. I eventually got them back by secretly replacing all of their Hmong tribal textiles with ponchos I bought at Sears. That'll fix 'em

Yer Pal,
james