Eric St. Cyr
How would you characterize the type of music you play?
It's hard to define it into a genre that you'd find in a music store, because my music is pretty all over the map. It's weird to think of this solo project as a "side" project, but that's essentially what it is. I'm going through the songs I've written in the past ten years and I'm thinking of them in a new light. They have all been fairly straight forward rock songs, so I'm trying to breathe new life into them and create a sound that you can't turn on commercial radio and hear. With all my other projects that I'm working on, the genre is pretty obvious to pinpoint, so this is my outlet to try different things.
What instrument was the first you mastered and was it difficult to play all the instruments on your album?
I don't think I have mastered any instrument yet, but the first instrument I started to learn was the piano at the age of 5. However during my teenage years, like a lot of us, I picked up the guitar and played it for about three hours each day, and that quickly became my focus. I haven't tried playing all the instruments on a recording in a long time, so it was a challenge, but you just gradually build on an existing idea. Each song is essentially a drum track, bass track, acoustic guitar and piano, and then it just develops from there with adding minor parts to create a fuller sense of harmony.
What was the process you went through as you put together your album? What songs do you choose? How do you decide the order?
Thats a really good question because since I was choosing from dozens of songs, maybe even close to a hundred songs, that I have written over the years-the selection process wasn't easy. The first two songs I chose were "Take My Hand" and "Corrupted Minds", which I wrote recently and both have the same lyric theme, originally I intended to make the EP completely political, but figured those two songs said all that I needed to. Then I remembered the song in high school that everybody used to request us to play, "Whisper Pink", so even though that is the oldest song (I wrote it when I was 16 I think) it's probably one of the strongest. Then I chose one song from each of the albums my band Ignition recorded, "Go Back", "Hang My Picture" and "Try" to give it an overall picture of my songwriting. The order was pretty random, I'm not too sure how I picked it.
How do you try and set yourself apart from other singer/song writers?
As far as the sound goes, I don't try to set myself apart from anybody, because that's when you end up with some really messed up music that doesn't sound like anything, because it's too much effort trying to be original. At the same time, I don't try to sound like anybody either, because we don't need another clone. Besides, I listen to too much different music to pick one influence to sound like. I think the main thing that I do differently, and it's even different for me with this project, is the philosophy that everything will be free. To the best of my control, the admission to shows will be free, and when you come, you can get my CD for free as well. The rational behind that is that true art should never have a commercial agenda. When a songwriter, or a band, thinks "how can I sell more CDs" they tend to write music with a commercial agenda, and while there is nothing wrong with that, that isn't what I want to do with this solo venture.
Are you a D-I-Y guy, or is it just a matter of being an independent artist in your case?
If I could find some people who would want to help promote the music, book some shows, with the same philosophy of not making money off of it, I would. However, those people are definitely in the music business, and I would be embarrassed asking one of them to work for free.
What are the difficulties/benefits in being an independent musician?
The main difficulty is trying to get peoples attention. The masses are so inundated with media flying at them every day, the amount of music that gets churned out is incredible. This is a beautiful thing, but a lot of the times it's impossible to compete with a big label artist that can afford to have their music constantly in peoples ears. I think the main benefit is that I have complete control over every aspect, there is no way that a record label would say "Sure, lets print up 10,000 copies and give them away to anybody that wants them".
Who were your musical influences growing up and who are your musical influences now?
Like most musicians I go through phases. As a young child I listened to what I could get my hands on, so a lot of 50s standards: Jim Croce, James Taylor and the Beatles. Then I got a little obsessive with Nirvana, which lead to my love for the Foo Fighters and a deep respect for Dave Grohl. Later on in my high school years I went crazy about Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Led Zeppelin, when I was starting to be able to play their songs on guitar. Lately I've been channel surfing on the radio, listening to anything that I haven't heard before, and a friend of mine has been getting me into a lot of progressive rock like Genesis and Yes.
How do you think being a musician based in Ottawa differentiates you from musicians that migrate to Toronto or Montreal?
I think both Toronto and Montreal have excellent music scenes, and seem to be the epicentre for great music lately, and I think living in Ottawa is an even better blessing. The bands that I am in have no problem driving to Toronto on Montreal to play shows, we're right in the middle. Being in the middle of three great cities with individual scenes can profit any band, because it means you can be part of all three. I know several bands and musicians that have moved to Montreal, but I doubt that living in a city will really include you in a scene, especially in this modern day when scenes can occur over the entire world because the Internet has broken down all the walls.
How do you unwind when not playing music?
Usually, in my free time, I play music, so that's a tough question. Probably by spending time with close friends and talking about anything but music. I enjoy heading out with them and just listening to them talk.
Where do you want to be in 5 years?
Lately I've been interested in going back to school to finish up my double major and become a high school teacher, so maybe that's where I'll be, who knows!
Visit www.ericstcyr.com for more information about Eric, his music, and where he'll be playing next.
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