Album number five from Current Swell is on the horizon. Scott Stanton and the rest of the Swell are preparing to lay down the music tracks for the new album in mid-October.
Before they do that, their schedule includes a stop in Whistler.
From his home in Victoria, Stanton says the band is looking forward to getting into the studio after months of touring. Stops have included England, Scotland, Wales, Europe, USA and Australia to promote the album called Long Time Ago, which had its American release in October while the rest of the world got access to the album in January.
Stanton grew up in Alberta along with singer-guitarist Dave Lang, drummer Chris Petersen and bassist Ghosty Boy. They all now make their home in B.C.'s seaside provincial capital. While they call Victoria home now Stanton says they plan to record their next album at a studio in Vancouver.
The objective is to get in and get the album done as quickly as possible.
"It never works out that way," says Stanton of goals involving any effort to rush the creative process.
He expects the recording will probably take a month, maybe two. The plan is to roll into the studio with 40 songs written, then carve that down to the best 12 or so.
"That's a long process," says Stanton of the decision-making process that produces the songs that will eventually be captured in the final recording for the new album, which doesn't have a working title at this point.
"That's always the hardest and the last thing to come," Stanton laughs. "That and the cover art and all that stuff."
The band plans to lug their analog gear into a digital studio in Vancouver and lay down the base tracks for the as yet unnamed album then take those tracks and overdub in Victoria. This is a cost-effective method that works for the band.
"We have a small tour at the end of October," says Stanton. "That's just western Canada because we haven't done that since 2011."
The small tour is an opportunity for the band to test out the new songs slated for the final pressing of the album.
Stanton says this new album is going to have a bit of a psychedelic feel to it and fans will notice through the next album that the band has evolved. He struggles to answer questions about what the new album is going to sound like because the creative process the band goes through in putting together an album doesn't have a clear path.
"My manager is asking me the exact same questions right now," says Stanton. He laughs and leaves the line of questioning about the new album at that.
The band is doing what it wants to do with this next album and there's no pressure being applied to achieve a certain level of commercial success, says Stanton.
"You make small sacrifices sometimes to lend something a little more toward radio because radio is such a powerful tool but we don't by any means write a song for radio," he says. "You just make these tiny little sacrifices just to help but you definitely don't go in search."
Fans are enthusiastically embracing the band's music and the proof shows up in sales numbers. Fans are buying the band's songs through digital downloads, on CD and on vinyl. Stanton says the band also sells a fair number of CD's at their shows and Stanton is a big vinyl fan so the band plans to press about a thousand copies of the new album on vinyl for lovers of the old format. According to Stanton, the band sells some vinyl copies of their albums at shows and to collectors around the world.
"I buy vinyl and I think other people should," says Stanton of the music medium that has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity.
The Current Swell's show in Whistler is part of the Whistler Presents Outdoor Concert Series at Olympic Plaza. Jeremy Thom, Animal Nation and Ali Milner are also performing the same day.
The weekend music line-up starts out with The Once Aug 30 starting at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, Aug.31 catch Danny Michel (see story next page) and Hannah Georgas starting at 7:30 p.m.
