How did you get into producing ? Do you have any musical background ?
vitaminsforyou : I first got into electronic music through a good friend who was composing with his home PC about 10 years ago or so. I had experimented with sound and computers prior to this, but it wasn’t until I had heard the way in which computers could be used to compose music through this friend that I really became interested in "electronics". But before this encounter, I played in a few indie rock bands (mostly guitars and keyboards) and also some saxophone in jazz ensembles.... So the major impetus behind making music with computers, was to keep on making music the way I had always had even though I didn’t have time to practice in bands or jam with other people. I also wanted to do things musically that I couldn’t as a musician (ie. have all kinds of new instruments), as well as create sounds that I couldn’t acoustically ... More than anything it was less about making "electronic" music and more about an extension of what I had already been doing for a long time...
What’s your first musical souvenir ?
I think perhaps by souvenir, you are referring more to the French use of the word then the English one ... so like a memory ? If that’s the case then I can’t think of a first... But music has always played a big role in my family, specifically in the car on the radio. Both my parents always listened to music in the car (my mom had the biggest collection of 8 track tapes in the world I think, until someone stolen them out of our car, this was about 10 years after they had stopped making them) and we were always allowed to listen to music in the house, including playing with my parents record collections.

Where does the name VitaminsForYou come from ?
My hometown.
Can you introduce the label Sfeericle ? How did you sign with Mitchell Akiyama’s Intr_Version own label ?
Sure thing, I would be glad to. Sfeericle Records was set-up by my pal blunderspublik about 6-7 years ago to release not only his stuff, but also work of other Winnipeg based artists like Duul_Drv (12k/LINE, And/OAR, Aperstaatje), Blue T-Shirt, 3x3is9, and VitaminsForYou. It is sort of a DIY label with real punk ideals, we do everything ourselves so in most cases the packaging is really handcrafted and most of the releases are fairly limited. I think my 3" was the most we made of a release which we capped at 300 copies. I believe we are up to our 11th or 12th release. The 10th release was a compilation of artists (mostly friends) from across Canada. We’ve recently talked about taking the label to the next level with distribution and limited pressings ... But we are really busy with other projects, so that is on hold for awhile.
As for Intr_Version, I met Mitch when I came to Montreal. I had played a festival here in the summer of 2002 called Mutek, and then later in the summer moved here to live. I was familiar with Mitch’s stuff and the label through friends in Winnipeg and had recently become good friends with Ghislain (Poirier), so I decided to check out a summer show that the label was having (Désormais’ debut performance). I gave Aaron (Mitch’s partner in crime) a copy of my Sfeericle 3" CD, and then heard from Mitch a few days later saying that he really like what I had given him...

I’m very interest in I’m Sorry... because it seems there’s an overall concept behind the release and its cover artwork. It’s like a puzzle of memories that you have, like a personal story you’re telling. Is it the case ? How did you conceptualise it ? Do you often use musical collages ?
Thanks !... It is a concept album, but not really. It is more like an unoriginal concept album, or better yet, the concept album that is exactly like other albums that are not concept albums... It’s a concept in the sense that is a personal story about being me. And also not a concept album because of this very reason, because I think most music people make is really personal... That probably didn’t make any sense. All the songs have a very personal meaning to me that probably doesn’t (and couldn’t) translate to everyone else. But I still wanted people to feel like they could relate somehow to the music (like I imagine most artists do)... And yes they are all stories, some more specific than others, but a narrative in composition is really important to me... I think the way I work, the people I spend my time with, the music I listen to and the way I live my life really lends itself well to "musical collage". I don’t know if I could make music in any other way... I also love the freedom I have with my music and the genre in general, if there is even a genre that would take me...

You like to compose songs with drawers, with kinds of new parts opening one after one. What’s your method ? Do you have a ritual creation process ? Is it a necessary for you to explore different music directions, even if the album sounds often like a musical and full of life bazaar (in a good way) ? How do you write the lyrics ?
I have some friends in Vancouver called Coin Gutter that use the term "trial and error sound". I am not sure if they coined the term or not, but it seems to suit what I do in a lot of ways. I think my method is like taking all your musical knowledge, all your instruments, everything you own, throwing it down the stairs and then tripping over it until things start to sound good, or at least interesting... Almost all the songs on the album came about in a different way, but they all were about solving the problem of how to get what I hear in my head into the song. Sometimes it would happen by accident, other times it took forever to figure out how I was going to do what I wanted to do... I am not sure I am really exploring all kinds of musical directions. I think if I was to do that I would force myself to make a minimal glitch-core micro house record, or record a lofi indie rock record, or hip-hop record, but just one of those genres. I don’t really set out to incorporate all these things into my music, it is just how I make music. Sometimes I will have a piano riff that I think would sound great with a bit of a clicky beat and then half-way through it I’ll think that I need to have a string section, or even some clapping... It all just sort of progresses naturally for me... Sometimes I like it, other times it fails miserably and I start all over again... As for lyrics I am not sure they usually come with the melody.

The artwork reminds me both of Sebadoh’s or Pavement’s ones & Manual’s (Ascend) or Fennesz’s (Endless Summer) ones. Is it a reference to those other artists ? What kind of artists influenced your music ? Whom do you feel close to, musically speaking ?
Well.. If we are going to name names, the album artwork idea is a bit of an homage to Canadian band called Eric’s Trip (who were on Subpop back in the day, but definitely their album artwork was in the vein of some of Sebadoh and Pavement’s artwork). They released some of the most personal music that I have ever listened to (not mention some of the best records ever). Anyways a lot of their art had this collage/cut & paste feel to it, and i really liked how humble and personal it looked, even though I know i am one of a million people who owns the album. That’s how I wanted my album to appear, like it was the only one that existed. I guess that’s not really ideal for marketing, but I wanted it to seem as though that were the case. So in short for me the Eric’s Trip albums were less about an aesthetic of "indie cred" and more just what the music was all about, something I also wanted to achieve....
My influences are many and scattered. This would take a long, long time. I try to listen to at least 3 albums a day, be that indie rock, hip hop, jazz, experimental, electronic, rock and roll, pop etc. I feel an affinity to many artists out there who make music, and who don’t necessarily fit into the same genre as me. I think this a growing interesting in mainstream music to incorporate ideas that have been worked through in the indie-electronic scene for a long time (which is not really a new statement on the state of affairs of popular music), so I begin to feel that there is a growing number of artists who are interested in doing things with music that I am interested in sorry if that sounds dumb.

Why did you choose such a title (I’m Sorry...) ? Is it a personal dedication to someone in particular ? Or more something like a general message ? How much personal is this disc ?
Yes it is personal and for someone in particular. I like to think that all music I make is personal. I am not a good enough musician or songwriter to fake it, or at least figure out an equation to distance myself from writing music. Most of the songs are stories and have specific meanings for me, but I hope that doesn’t stop people from making up stories for themselves.

Do you play live ? Do you have visuals ? Acoustic instruments on stage ?
Yes I play live, and sometimes I have had visuals, but haven’t really had a chance to explore them the way I would like to and incorporate them into my live set. As for acoustic instruments on stage for sure ! Whenever I play somewhere close to home, I usually drag 3 or 4 friends with me to play guitars, bass, lap steel, recorder, glockenspiel and sing. When I am alone I usually have my guitar or my electric piano or a keyboard. I would love to incorporate more musicians and instruments on stage.

Would you like to be remixed ? Would you like to remix someone ? Is it someone you’d like to work with ?
I am a child of the remix generation. When I first really got into music I was really excited to hear the way people re-interpreted each others songs, whether that was remixing or covering. I think the idea of remixing has lost a little bit of its innovative edge over the last little while, but the idea I think is still really exciting, especially when it comes to songs that I have listened to so many times and really want to re-hear them again. I love the idea of being remixed there is a Venetian Snares remix that he just finished for me that I think will be released sometime soon, as well as some other friends that did some remixes for me. I also really enjoy remixing songs too (as well as doing cover songs), and would love to do remixes for music that I really love to listen to. I think it would also be fun to do remixes of songs that I am not a huge fan of and perhaps remake them into something I like.
It’s funny that you ask me about working with other artists because that is exactly what I am doing right now. I am putting together a whole bunch of new material with guest vocalists and instrumentalists. After I did a track with a friend of mine, Mike Feuerstack who played in an amazing Canadian band The Wooden Stars for an Intr_Version records compilation (Saturday Morning Empires), I thought it might be nice to work with a bunch more of my friends that make music so that’s what I am doing. Right now I am working on another song with Mike, as well as songs with Greg MacPherson (G7 Welcoming Committee), Jay Churko (Transistor Sound And Lighting), Sook-Yin Lee (Bobs Your Uncle, Slan), The Unicorns (Alien8 Records), Emm Gryner, and some others for the most part Canadian artists. I am really hoping that Richard Buckner and Julie Doiron accept my invitation to sing as well

What are you going to do now that you’ve recorded your first album ? What will change ?
Well I am working on those collaborations, as well as some new material. Me, Ghislain Poirier and Montag (Gooom Records) are heading out on tour in the summer, and then I might play some dates in the United States. As for the new stuff, not much will change in terms of song writing, but I would like to incorporate more sounds and instruments and really explore how I can make it all work.

interview by stephane
by email
01-02/04