If you and all your friends just happen to be rock stars, even your more obscure efforts inevitably come to light. When Jon Samuel, keyboardist for Wintersleep, casually enlisted his friends to play on his most recent project, Dead Melodies, a lament that seems almost ironic in its reference to past failures considering his all-star lineup. The debut, and titular single, is a wild dance party, an absolute banger, in remembrance of all the singles that came before without getting the recognition they may have deserved.
“When I wrote the song, it was a couple of years after I had finished making a record that nobody listened to,” Jon explains. “I just wanted to write a song about how art and music are undervalued—it’s literally worth nothing in a lot of cases. You make a record, spend a lot of time and money on it… and then it’s basically just free. And disposable, too, because there’s just so much of it. So that was the basic idea of ‘Dead Melodies’—I’m going to put this out there, and maybe nobody hears it, and it might be worth nothing!”
The album is question was a solo release, what Samuel describes as a “scrappy self-recorded album,” from 2012 called First Transmission.
“The songs are okay,” says Samuel of First Transmission. “I think I was still figure my way around the song-writing process. Still figuring it out but I feel like I have a voice and process that works. That makes it easier to connect with perhaps.”
In the six years that has followed, Samuel has apparently picked up a few tricks, or at least has become more confident in his own abilities. He’s adapted and seems happier with the fresh material, despite the subject matter.
“I just find working on everything at once without an instrument, works best. So I tend to sit in front of a computer or with a note book and work on melody, lyrics and structure all at once kind of in my head. It also leaves a lot til the recording phase, which is cool.”
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that your band are some of the biggest names in Canadian music. For the “Dead Melodies”, Samuel recruited fellow Wintersleep band members along with a who’s-who of East Coast rockers. The album has Wintersleep’s drummer Loel Campbell producing, and Tim D’Eon on guitar. They’re joined by Matt Mays on guitar, Chris Seligman of Stars on French horn, and Walrus’ Keith Doiron on bass.
“They’re my friends who I’ve known along time,” explains Samuel. “Wintersleep guys, obviously… I’ve been going to see Matt Mays play since I was old enough to get in bars, played shows with his band and we live in Halifax. Loel produced his last record so it was comfortable and made sense when he was around the studio to ask him to play on a song he was into. “Dead Melodies” actually.
The Canadian music scene feels small once you’ve been around for awhile. We share a jam space with Stars and they helped out… and Halifax is small, so meeting a band like Walrus who are amazing is pretty easy.”
With so many big names involved scheduling it seems like touring the album would be a logistical nightmare, but Samuel says he’s keen to make it work.
“I def want to tour. I’m hoping people will kind of ask for it a little,” says Samuel, “But Loel, Tim, Keith and I already played one show and it was great. Songs work well live. So def excited to do more.”
Jon Samuel’s Dead Melodies is slated for release on February 1, 2019 via Hidden Pony Records/Believe Digital.