© theother press

 

Culture

Interview with Alexis O’Hara

Justin Ray
OP Contributor

Words have always been spoken.
They have no choice in the matter.
However, the performing art of spo-
ken word_has not been around forev-
er, and its performers are still capable
of breaking new ground. More than a
few hip-hop acts are anchored in spo-
ken word, and even rock acts like
Cake seem to be more spoken word
than pop, where lyrics are concerned.
Alexis O'Hara is one act that seems to
defy the boundaries of either genre, at
least in recorded format.

O’Hara released a spoken
word/pop-art album on the great
Canadian label Grenadine Records
(which also released The Dears’ debut
album) entitled /n Abulia. The
recording was my first introduction
to the solo performer, and it was a lit-
tle surprising when the live experi-
ence turned out to be completely dif-
ferent. I had the chance to catch up
with Alexis O’Hara at The Sugar
Refinery on April 11 during a writer's
festival called Crash, where the cat-
hat-wearing poet-cum-rock star
descended to the land of the college
writer for a pre-show interview.

I've heard some of your recorded materi-
al, and it sounds like a lot of studio
work went into it. What does your live
show consist of?

I use a series of guitar pedals to loop
and effect my voice to create thick,
layered soundscapes inside of which I
sing and tell stories. There’s another
element to the show that involves a
sampler, and I have midi triggers for
the samplers. We'll see what happens.

I noticed you ran the Montreal poetry
slam for three years.

That was a monthly event. I slammed

    

first and was part of the Montreal
slam before when it was run by a man
named Todd Swift. Then I went to
the national poetry slam that sum-
mer. When I came back to Montreal
I started my own slam and took a
team to participate in the national
poetry slam in Austin and then in
1999 in Chicago. I participated in the

national poetry slam in Seattle in
2001. This tour that I’m doing right
now, a lot of bookings that I got were
through connections I made in those
slams. But I don’t slam anymore.

Since your show now is more than spo-
ken word, in what kind of venues do

you perform?

Everywhere I go, my stuff is well
received. But there are some venues
that I’ve performed in that I don't
want to return to like coffee shops,
strip malls, and places like that.
Generally speaking, I aim for alterna-
tive spaces where people are used to
having weirder art, although I don't
mind performing in rock clubs,
either, because then I can really sur-

Page 18 e http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca

prise people.

Do you enjoy antagonizing people’
intellect?

Yeah, for sure. Sometimes when I feel
like it’s going to be a challenge I make
it even harder by going way off the
deep end, by being wacky and weird.
It’s not like they have a frame of ref-
erence with which to compare. They
cant decide immediately whether
they like something or don’t like
something. It usually takes a moment
of them being shocked—of not know-
ing what's going on. Because I use
humour, it’s easy to win people over,
and go into — controversial
subjects—social, cultural, or personal
issues.

Youve also been involved with the side
project Jimmy Brain, and released your
solo album with Grenadine Records.
How did you go from slam competi-
tions, to sound art, to putting together a
recora?

Even though spoken word has always
come easy to me and I was able to get
on stage, it was never very satisfying
for me. I always wanted to have some
other elements attached to it, music
or something. So I began singing in a
couple of bands, Cellform and Jimmy
Brain. I learned how to do the sounds
for myself. Jimmy Brain was some-
what similar to what I’m doing now.

In Abulia is available from
Grenadine Records’ website for the
great value of $13.50 CAD, including
shipping. For the same price you can
also get Shy Child’s latest album. And
some of you thought Our Lady Peace
was the best Canada has to offer.
Hah!

May 2003

 

(This Month >
In History...

 

Amanda Aikman
Culture Editor

At a party I recently attended, I
met this guy who told me that
11 years ago Paula Abdul and
Emilio Estevez were married on
that very day. And I thought,
Wow, this guy is cool. Then |
had a vision—a world full of
people who were just as cool as
this guy. A utopian society in
which every man, woman and
child knew Simon Le Bon’s
astrological sign, and could
remember exactly where they
were and what they were doing
when Tommy Lee was first
arrested. In my efforts to make
this dream a reality, I will from
this point on be graciously sup-
plying you with useless pop-cul-
ture trivia on an ongoing basis.
No need to thank me, all I ask in
return is that you keep the dream
alive by annoying your friends
and loved ones with this infor-
mation.

May 15, 1970: Pink Floyd per-
forms at the Crystal Palace
Gardens in London. It is later
reported that a number of fish in
a nearby lake were killed by the

high noise levels.

May 18, 1980: Ian Curtis, lead
singer for the UK band Joy
Division, hangs himself in his
Manchester home. Conveniently
all of his fans were already
depressed and dressed in black.

May 5, 1986: Long-running tel-
evision series The Love Boat airs
its last episode, and so docks my
long-running crush on Gopher.
The Boat had been cruising the

 

 

high seas of romance since 1977.

Ae