Kingsway

It was in Montreal when RC Joseph discovered his artful knack for writing good tunes. He has hundreds of songs stored away that he has written. He started out playing in Mahoney, a rock group and some ten years ago they recorded an album that had never been released. During the recording process RC found himself in the midst of creating very exclusive scene (without even knowing it) of artists who also record analog. This collective of people inspire and assist in many projects for each other. Their whole operation is very community-based.

The community- Profile Studio is/was home to artists like: The Be Good Tanyas, Teagan & Sarah, Ida Nilsen (Great Aunt Ida), DOA, Ox, Jessie Zubot and Radiogram.

While cutting tape, the collective of musicians started projects like Mooncussers, Three Hills, The Great Outdoors and Kingsway. Being influenced by alt-country, rock, roots and folk were people like: Chon, Terry Murray, Ida Nilsen, Steve Wegelin, Ken Beattie, Mossy Vaughn, Chris Carlson, Brian MacKenzie, Colin Funk, Adam Nation, Steve Wells, Kent McAllister, Shaun Brodie, Bill Battery, Jojo Darling, and Randy Forrester.

From this community, birthed a new independent label DDG Records (Duck Duck Goose) owned by Jon Raw, and managed with the help of Adam Nation.

Kingsway releases were always color coded:

There’s the Green Album – The Typical or Universal Human Event (2003): Written by RC Joseph; produced by: Chôn; and performed/ arranged by: Mossy Vaughn, Steve Welegin, Chris Carlson, Brain MacKenzie and RC Joseph.
The Purple Album – U.F.O.L.P. (2005): Written by: RC Joseph; produced by Colin Funk & Chôn and performed with the Mooncussers as the backup band.
The Red Album – Brand New Golden Oldies (2006) Written by: RC Joseph Produced by: Chôn and was performed by: RC and the Counterrevoluntionaries.

During my meeting with the man behind Kingsway, I found myself getting very excited about talking with RC Joseph. I spent one hour learning about his projects and another about the specific music on his latest collection, “Brand New Golden Oldies” and his experiences in the Vancouver scene… and I must start out by saying that this guy was so very interesting. I would consider a 2 hour interview long… which means he’d have to be interesting for it to take me that long to do!

Section 1- Atmosphere

Kristen: Tell me what you think about the Vancouver music scene.

RC: The mid 90’s was a hot bed for music, there were lots going on. It was around then that there was a DJ craze happening as well. Tours died down in the later 90’s and around 2000 it started picking up again.

When focusing on the scene now, he mentions, "I think there are a lot of shitty bands that get a lot of credit. The problem with Vancouver is that it’s so segregated. There are so many pockets of little scenes everywhere, if you took the better of every one of the pockets, it could be very notable."

Kristen: I’ve spoken of you before in my feature a few months ago during my concert review for Ox, what other peer’s do you have in the scene you fit into?

RC: Ox, Adam Nation, Steve Wells, Kent McAllister, Ida Nilsen, Shockk from Mongoose, there are so many…
(…These are all artists in various groups or solo acts) "Ida is a star" RC mentions about Ida Nilsen aka. "Great Aunt Ida." Shockk is a great guitar player in Vancouver’s Mongoose and has an ambient solo act Interior Design.

Kristen: How does Kingsway go about promoting their music?

RC: We don’t promote very much. It’s not the end all for me be all for me.

…RC comments about the money making aspect of the music, then he jokingly says. "I like making music. I’d like to be 50 and have 10 records and then maybe someone discovers it and puts it in a movie or something and then I could buy a pool."

Kristen: I find that there are two schools of thought happening right now with the music industry. There are people who make music for the commercial aspect and hope to make the money and fame and there are people who do it to share with others and see that realistically it is like winning the lottery. Where is your stance on this scale of thought?

RC: For me, it’s really just about making music. I mean, it was only until really recently that people started making music to get rich and famous. Before that, people only made music for the sake of art; to share with others, like you said. Well, that and probably to get girls, too. That hasn’t changed. But making music for the wrong reason – the rich and famous reason – well, you have to be pretty talented to have that as your motivation and still make honest music.

Kristen: How do you think money is really made in this industry?

RC: The esthetic factor… it’s good looking people. I have a friend who makes videos for big bands; he doesn’t even like music anymore from being inside that… I don’t know if Theory of a Deadman or Hedley know that they’re not as good as Ladyhawk.

Section 2- Starting Out

Kristen: When was the first time you felt that you would be taking the music making thing seriously?

RC: After I came back from Montreal in ’96. I think I knew my songs were good enough… I didn’t go out until I had a bunch of good songs that I was really happy with though.

Kristen: Who did you look up to musically growing up?

RC: Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Nirvana- I saw Nirvana at the NY theatre with Sonic Youth when they were just starting out. The grunge era was an era of interest to me.

Kristen: Who’s in your stereo now?

RC: Cat Power, her third record. Refused, Barkmarket, and Old Seed from Winnipeg.

Kristen: How many releases have you put out as a band?

RC: With Kingsway, three. We’re recording another with Chon next year.

Section 3- The Record

Kristen: Which song on this "Brand New Golden Oldies" record do you have to closest connection to?

RC: "Batista’s Lullaby", it’s about Castro, I wrote it in ’96… also "No Follow-Thru" was one I wrote in about two minutes, it’s the most honest one, a spiller."

Kristen: I really enjoy the lyrics to "Joke Shop" especially, you have great lyrics. Can you tell me the motivation behind some of your songs and your songwriting?

RC: Real things- history, stories, imagist poetry like TS Elliot, Yates. Good song writing… Blind Melon was one of the best bands of the 90’s, and Shannon Hoon always said to write a good song you just need to give people a great line, a hook, and a melody. It’s pretty simplified, but I think he was right. Honesty is a big part of it, too. If you’re not afraid to be honest, you’re create good art. The downside is, everyone close to you might end up hating you for being so honest, but hey, at least you’ll be cool.

Kristen: I hear really great things in "Batista’s Lullaby", beautiful textures and the tone of your vocals- it’s quite a grungy sound which I like. What is this song all about?

RC: I got idea from a book I read about Castro. I wrote it as a love song from him to his ex-wife. Batista was the leader of Cuba before Castro - a dictator also. Castro opposed him and was jailed. His wife ended up aligning herself with Batista while Castro was in jail, throughout his exile, and while he was up collecting people through the mountains to start a revolution. It’s really just a break-up song with a more famous antagonist than most.

Kristen: Is this an analog record as well?

RC: Ya, 1/2inch tape. It sounds warmer and it forces people to be…well, I suppose people. Today’s techniques just hold no soul. There’s a place for digital, the computer’s our friend but our enemy too.

Kristen: Describe your song writing process…

RC: Sometimes it comes fast, a melody or a line. It doesn’t come forced. I know everyone says it, but it’s really hard to just sit down and write a song when you want to. The song, good songs anyway, kind of dictate their own timeline as to when they’ll come out.

Kristen: Do you or any other members of the band have any other projects going on at the moment?

RC: Yes, as far as the projects are concerned, it is very incestuous. Everybody has different bands with different members. If we were smart, we’d pool all our resources and make a super group. But maybe that’s the easy way out. I’ll have to ask New Pornographers.

Kristen: What scene do you feel you’re breaking into at the moment?

RC: Not any scene. We’re involved within our own little community. Maybe if we increase our numbers we’ll start referring to ourselves as a scene.

Kristen: What’s it like to see Kingsway live?

RC: It can range from a gig in a quiet room, like a coffee house, to a drunken bar full of people singing and dancing. It depends on who I am playing with. That’s the nice thing about having a flexible line-up – it keeps it fresh. And makes it easy when you want to be lazy and just show up with an acoustic guitar and play solo. Then, instead of splitting the fourteen dollars we make at the door five ways, I can keep it all for myself.

Kristen: What venues do you prefer in town that seems to suit your style?

RC: I like a lot of venues. The Railway is probably my favourite. We have also been hosting shows at our jam space, East Van Eden Studios, the last little while. That is, by far, my favourite place to play. Homefield advantage. And the beer’s a whole lot cheaper."

Kristen: I love the chord progressions in "Car Roof Style"; this song stands out quite a bit to me. It’s like Hayden, Radiohead, and Neil Young. What do you think of these comparisons?

RC: It’s the 1st song I ever wrote in Quebec. It’s inspired by a story I saw on the news about a cheating husband who was being dropped off by his mistress. When his wife found out she jumped out of the window onto the mistress’ car roof and killed all three of them. Another light and fluffy love song.

Kristen: Mmm… I like RC’s Beliefs! Tell me what it’s about. It’s very 90’s grunge and I love that! I can feel a lot of depth to your voice and the lyrics are so easy to relate to.

RC: A good friend of mine lost a baby to a miscarriage. He was especially hurt and angry because he had already told everyone he and his wife were going to have a baby. He thought he might have jinxed it all by telling everyone too soon. It was weird to see him so convinced he owned some of the blame. You know, my friends and I all grew up as athletes and, as you probably know, athletes can be very superstitious. I guess a lot of us have held on to that into our adult lives and, even though it probably never really helped anyone, we still hold on to it. I guess the song just kinda examines why we take comfort in something so discomforting.

Kristen: Where are you bringing your music to next?

RC: I’m recording a more stripped down record with Chon; mostly just acoustic instruments. It’s going to be called ‘Stories of the Avalanche’.

Kristen: If you were to compare your sound to someone, who would it be?

RC: I guess it sounds like Neil Young, but I want to sound like Sam Cooke.

Kristen: What sort of advice would you give to artists who are striving to get to the level that Kingsway is at now?

RC: Don’t be concerned about whether or not you are going to make it. Have drive, but don’t be too focused on the success factor. Just concentrate on writing good songs. Good stuff does make it to the top eventually. I really believe that. Sure, in this cookie-cutter band era, there’s a lot of shit out there, but there are also bands like Radiohead and the Killers that are huge simply because they have good songs, good riffs. Not because they have good mid-riffs.

Kristen Cudmore