At a cottage property out in Hackett’s Cove on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Menno Versteeg sounds like he’s thriving. The former Hollerado frontman and head of Royal Mountain Records has been enjoying a cozy stint of self-sufficiency for his two weeks of isolation amongst the soothing cottage surroundings. Every day he writes, plays guitar, cooks and explores the waterfront — all while staying keyed in as the head of his record label.
The usually Toronto-based artist has been preparing for a solo tour in support of his new album, Strangers Like Us, and two weeks of quarantine aside, the exceptional circumstances of the Atlantic Bubble have made it possible. These are Versteeg’s first shows since debuting under the name Mav Karlo earlier this year, and they are more than welcome after such a lack of live music.
Versteeg is most widely known for his role as frontman for the now-defunct indie rock band Hollerado. From 2007 to 2019, the high-energy and endlessly fun group toured the world with a devoted fan base across the country. Nominated for multiple Junos across their career as a band, Hollerado’s sound encapsulated much of the Canadian indie rock vibe over the past decade. And while it spanned a large part of his artistic career, Versteeg’s current work has a feel all its own.
Over the past year, there have already been two Mav Karlo releases. The most recent is Strangers Like Us, an album as catchy and clever as it is sincere, with Versteeg showing John Prine levels of plain-spoken beauty in his lyricism; words that can lift your heart as easily as break it. Delivered in Versteeg’s uniquely comforting voice, the songs rest comfortably between indie and folk roots, highlighted with captivating pop accents.
The other release is Reno Tapes, a beautifully intimate affair that swirls with quiet thoughtfulness, captured swiftly on a 4-track in true lo-fi folk tradition. The warm, ever-present whirring of the aged recording device layered atop blunt emotions is reminiscent of the earliest work of The Mountain Goats. Versteeg’s bright nature shines on these tracks just the same, but there’s a solemn quality to them- no surprise given the context of the recording.
Recorded right after Hollerado’s final concert, with Versteeg holed up in a hotel in Nevada over Christmas 2019, the Reno Tapes sessions sounds like a big shift coming off of a farewell tour.
“Yeah, it was such a change,” says Versteeg. “I mean, that band has been my best friends, my identity, my source of income, my creative outlet, my family. And at the risk of sounding like a cheeseball, everything revolved around it for almost fifteen years.”
And even though the sendoff with his longtime group was a sweet one, he half-jokes that “at the end of it, the bottom just kind of falls out and it’s like: who am I?!”
The veteran musician hasn’t let the end of a chapter, or the tough new context of COVID-19, slow him down though. While his own plans might have been stalled, he says that it was harder to see the artists on his label, who he counts as “dear, dear friends,” struggling with their own setbacks. Evidenced in Royal Mountain Records’ Mental Health Initiative that started last year, Versteeg has made it clear that he places his artists’ welfare first, knowing Mav Karlo would happen when he wanted it to.
“Unlike a lot of the bands I work with at Royal Mountain, I’ve done my thing,” says Versteeg. “With Mav Karlo, I don’t give a shit about momentum, or success, or selling any records. I hope this comes through in a quote the right way, but I’m the boss of the record label, so I don’t have to worry about getting dropped or disappointing myself. So, it really is just an exercise in continuing to be an artist and trying to grow myself.”
With the pandemic hitting those in the performing arts especially hard, Versteeg says that he has had to “talk a few bands off ledges. I’ve had great, real heart-to-heart chats with people about how they’re doing and getting through this and reevaluating goals.” Even with this wealth of responsibilities, Versteeg speaks with an infectious positivity and comfort as he waits for the tour to begin.
The I Drove Here And Slept In My Car And Also Slept At The Side Of The Road And I Quarantined For Two Weeks Oh! And The Shows Are All Socially Distanced Tour is aptly named, and takes the cake, as far as tour names ago. The tour is a first in a lot of ways for the seasoned artist. Not only is it his first tour under his solo name Mav Karlo Mav, but it’s his first solo endeavour.
While these will be the first Mav Karlo shows, they’re not the first attempt at them.
“My first tour cancellation — I had a month in Europe with Tokyo Police Club in May cancelled, but my plan was to just go by myself and play Reno Tapes start to finish. I was gonna bring my 4-track that I recorded it on and use that to put in any backing stuff and just mix it on stage. So that was the idea, but then I put out a full-length album that’s a full band.”
The current tour’s format will be a “hybrid” of the plans for the Reno Tapes tour and what Versteeg needs for the current album’s sound, combining his acoustic performance with select backings from the Strangers Like Us tracks. With the instrumental backings from Strangers Like Us emanating out of the 4-track on which Versteeg recorded Reno Tapes, the mental image seems like a perfect fusion of these two works
As Versteeg tells it, the actual planning of this tour went surprisingly smoothly. After testing the idea online to positive reception, he phoned up some east coast friends — including Tim Baker and Matt Mays — and was told to jump into the two-week quarantine and do the tour.
“The thing that was funny was that I came up with this idea at the beginning of October. No band has ever booked a seven-day tour on three weeks’ notice.”
And it seems the prep period has been positive so far. After his quiet isolation in Hackett’s Cove, Versteeg will be hopping from friend to friend on his journey along the east coast. With the entire tour ahead of him, he sounds relaxed and motivated for what’s to come.
“It’s pretty amazing. There’s no one to blame, there’s no one to argue with; there’s something kind of empowering about it. And I haven’t even played a show.”
But the tour isn’t just a fun escape to the east coast for the artist; the solitary undertaking of it means something more to him.
“All of my art is a form of therapy I’ve realized, and I know that can sound a little cheesy… It’s always little tests, you know? Proving you can pass a test. And this one was: can I go on tour by myself? And learn how to play these songs well enough without a backing band, and learn how to engage an audience alone, and load in every day by myself, and load-out at the end of a show without any help?”
Versteeg has one primary takeaway for people with this tour and Mav Karlo at large. “The main thing that I’d like to do is to show people another side of my music. I’ve always considered myself a lyricist first.”
He explains that throughout his career he has had trouble with being valued for his words – something that Tokyo Police Club’s Dave Monks had warned him about early on. “Unless you start playing an acoustic guitar, no one’s gonna give a shit about your lyrics,” recalls Versteeg of Monk’s warning, laughing it off. “But I’d love people to see that more intimate side of me, and to convey some stories and hope they see them on that level.”
And it feels like he’s already done just that. It’s irrefutable that Reno Tapes and Strangers Like Us have highlighted a powerful side of Menno Versteeg’s talent. There is a passionate insight into the everyday, a beautifully understated draw that may have been missed by some in the vibrant sounds of Hollerado. Clear imagery, emotional wisdom, and a playful hope all shine across his songs.
So, if you’re along the Mav Karlo tour path, do yourself a favour and get lost in his words for a night.
Because who knows when the next tour will be?
Tour Dates:
11.11.20 – Charlottetown, PEI @ Trailside Music Hall
11.12.20 – Halifax, NS @ The Derby Show Bar
11.13.20 – St. John’s, NL @ Bannermans Brewing Co.*
11.14.20 – St. John’s, NL @ Bannermans Brewing Co.*
11.15.20 – St. John’s, NL @ Bannermans Brewing Co.*
11.11.20 – Moncton, NB @ The Timber Lounge**
11.11.20 – Fredericton, NB @ The Cap
*with Adam Baldwin
**with Don Levandier