Mr. Pine
Encyclopedia
Mr. Pine are a Canadian
psych folk
band formed in 2003 from Winnipeg
, Manitoba
, Canada
.
, pop
, and several kinds of roots music, especially British folk music
. The band was formed in 2003 in Winnipeg
, Manitoba
, by Matt McLennan
and Kevin Scott. A friendship had formed between the two gentlemen after they discovered they had mutual acquaintances in the Winnipeg
music scene. Matt had been involved in bands since being in high school, and the one with the most longevity was Cone Five
who were a kind of noise-pop band. Kevin had been involved with the University of Manitoba radio station UMFM as Music Director and DJ, and had come to know Matt both through Cone Five's performances and through double-bills with the band Cheatron where he served as the keyboardist.
Matt, coming from a background of punk
, noise, pop
and folk
, and Kevin, coming from a background of college rock
, traditional folk
and especially classical music
(he has a Grade X Royal Conservatory diploma for piano), had many discussions about a kind of music that they could create, containing several disparate elements. The desire was to write in a unique, diverse style, employing everything from minimal accompaniments to lush and expansive ones, utilizing a wide array of instruments such as dulcimers and harpsichords in addition to conventional instrumentation. The idea was that each song would be treated as an individual entity without concern about how the songs would "blend" on the album - the more disjointed in fact, the better.
Recording the debut album took over two years, primarily because Matt has been temporarily based in Ottawa
furthering his education, and recordings were done in fits and starts as Matt returned to Winnipeg
for visits. The recordings employed a great many friends and guests to flesh out the desired sounds. While Matt and Kevin played the majority of the key instruments and overdubbed parts where necessary, guests were drafted to play many different string parts, drums, percussion, and occasional vocals. The track "Jack Tar," for example, scored for string quartet by Kevin, utilizes the talents of the Animata Strings.
The resulting debut album, The Gift of Wolves, was released in April, 2006 on their independent label Whiskey Lad Recordings, to great acclaim from the Winnipeg Sun
and the Winnipeg Free Press
who hailed the album as a "mini-masterpiece". It charted extensively on college stations across Canada through the spring and summer of 2006, reaching the #1 position at UMFM for a couple weeks.
To develop the band's abilities in the live arena and to solidify a cohesive recording unit for the next album, four people were added to Mr. Pine's ranks in the spring of 2006: Ken Phillips from local band The Honeybuckets was brought in for bass and classical guitar duties; Matt's former bandmate Leslie Oldham was also added as a second multi-instrumentalist and vocalist; Kevin's former bandmate Matt Hildebrand was added as Mr. Pine's drummer; and Richard Caners was added on violin. Oldham, Hildebrand and Caners all appeared as guests on The Gift of Wolves.
Prior to recording the next album, Jason Peters, also formerly of Cone Five, was brought in as a guitarist. Hildebrand, now based in Minneapolis, would be one of two guest drummers on the next album, the other being Jeremy Epp, formerly of the band Guitaro, whom Kevin had occasionally performed with in the past.
The band, now a six-piece, issued their second disc in October, 2008, called "Rewilding". It featured numerous guest players once again, including as a special guest Mellow Candle
's Alison O'Donnell
. Strings were used on two tracks and a consort of recorders on one track. It was a mixture of sparse tracks such as "Robin's Breast" which featured only voice, guitar and violin, and more lush and expansive tracks such as "Ace of Cups II" which featured 12 players in total and has a sound approaching post rock. The CD again charted extensively on college radio stations nationwide, reaching the #1 position at UMFM, and was critically praised both locally and from numerous European webzines and publications such as Ptolemaic Terrascope
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
psych folk
Psych folk
Psychedelic folk or psych folk is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s through the fusion of folk music and psychedelic rock...
band formed in 2003 from Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
History
The band's music combines elements of acid folk, classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and several kinds of roots music, especially British folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. The band was formed in 2003 in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, by Matt McLennan
Matt McLennan
Matt McLennan is an Ottawa-based musician and songwriter who grew up in, and retains strong ties to, the indie music scene in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is a member of the Grumpy Cloud Records label collective, and is currently the lead singer and guitarist in Ottawa band use every part of the...
and Kevin Scott. A friendship had formed between the two gentlemen after they discovered they had mutual acquaintances in the Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
music scene. Matt had been involved in bands since being in high school, and the one with the most longevity was Cone Five
Cone Five
Cone Five was an indie noise-pop band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, active from 1999 to 2006. The band began as a recording project spearheaded by Matt McLennan, Galaxy Jenny, Sean Pauls and Ryan McVeigh...
who were a kind of noise-pop band. Kevin had been involved with the University of Manitoba radio station UMFM as Music Director and DJ, and had come to know Matt both through Cone Five's performances and through double-bills with the band Cheatron where he served as the keyboardist.
Matt, coming from a background of punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, noise, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and Kevin, coming from a background of college rock
College rock
College rock is a term that was used in the United States to describe 1980s alternative rock before the term "alternative" came into common usage. The term's use of the word "college" refers to campus radio stations located at institutions of higher education in Canada and the United States, where...
, traditional folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and especially classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
(he has a Grade X Royal Conservatory diploma for piano), had many discussions about a kind of music that they could create, containing several disparate elements. The desire was to write in a unique, diverse style, employing everything from minimal accompaniments to lush and expansive ones, utilizing a wide array of instruments such as dulcimers and harpsichords in addition to conventional instrumentation. The idea was that each song would be treated as an individual entity without concern about how the songs would "blend" on the album - the more disjointed in fact, the better.
Recording the debut album took over two years, primarily because Matt has been temporarily based in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
furthering his education, and recordings were done in fits and starts as Matt returned to Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
for visits. The recordings employed a great many friends and guests to flesh out the desired sounds. While Matt and Kevin played the majority of the key instruments and overdubbed parts where necessary, guests were drafted to play many different string parts, drums, percussion, and occasional vocals. The track "Jack Tar," for example, scored for string quartet by Kevin, utilizes the talents of the Animata Strings.
The resulting debut album, The Gift of Wolves, was released in April, 2006 on their independent label Whiskey Lad Recordings, to great acclaim from the Winnipeg Sun
Winnipeg Sun
The Winnipeg Sun is a daily tabloid-sized newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.It is owned by Sun Media, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media, and shares many characteristics typical of Sun Media tabloids, including an emphasis on local news stories, extensive sports coverage, a Canadian conservatism...
and the Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press
The Winnipeg Free Press is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Founded in 1872, as the Manitoba Free Press, it is the oldest newspaper in western Canada. It is the newspaper with the largest readership in the province....
who hailed the album as a "mini-masterpiece". It charted extensively on college stations across Canada through the spring and summer of 2006, reaching the #1 position at UMFM for a couple weeks.
To develop the band's abilities in the live arena and to solidify a cohesive recording unit for the next album, four people were added to Mr. Pine's ranks in the spring of 2006: Ken Phillips from local band The Honeybuckets was brought in for bass and classical guitar duties; Matt's former bandmate Leslie Oldham was also added as a second multi-instrumentalist and vocalist; Kevin's former bandmate Matt Hildebrand was added as Mr. Pine's drummer; and Richard Caners was added on violin. Oldham, Hildebrand and Caners all appeared as guests on The Gift of Wolves.
Prior to recording the next album, Jason Peters, also formerly of Cone Five, was brought in as a guitarist. Hildebrand, now based in Minneapolis, would be one of two guest drummers on the next album, the other being Jeremy Epp, formerly of the band Guitaro, whom Kevin had occasionally performed with in the past.
The band, now a six-piece, issued their second disc in October, 2008, called "Rewilding". It featured numerous guest players once again, including as a special guest Mellow Candle
Mellow Candle
Mellow Candle were a progressive folk rock band. Principally Irish, the members were also unusually young, Clodagh Simonds being only 15 and Alison Bools and Maria White 16, and still at school, at the time of their first single, "Feelin' High", released in 1968 on Simon Napier-Bell's SNB...
's Alison O'Donnell
Alison O'Donnell
Alison O'Donnell is an Irish musician, solo and band singer and songwriter. Born Alison Bools in Dublin to an English mother and Irish father, raised in Dalkey and educated at Holy Child, Killiney, County Dublin.-Childhood:...
. Strings were used on two tracks and a consort of recorders on one track. It was a mixture of sparse tracks such as "Robin's Breast" which featured only voice, guitar and violin, and more lush and expansive tracks such as "Ace of Cups II" which featured 12 players in total and has a sound approaching post rock. The CD again charted extensively on college radio stations nationwide, reaching the #1 position at UMFM, and was critically praised both locally and from numerous European webzines and publications such as Ptolemaic Terrascope
Ptolemaic Terrascope
Ptolemaic Terrascope is a magazine covering old and new music, usually of a psychedelic nature. It has been published irregularly since 1989...
.
Albums
- The Gift of Wolves (2006, Whiskey Lad Recordings)
- Rewilding (album)Rewilding (album)Rewilding is a 2008 album by Mr. Pine.Personnel: Matt McLennan ; Kevin Scott ; Richard Caners ; Leslie Oldham ; Jason Peters ; Ken Phillips .Guest players: Alison O'Donnell ;...
(2008, Whiskey Lad Recordings)
Compilations
- I'm Somebody Too (2004, Conifera/Campfirecords - track: Nocturne (Lullaby)
- TEA Volume 8 (2007, Toronto Experimental Artists - track: Jack Tar
See also
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Canadian rockCanadian rockCanadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
- List of Canadian musicians
- List of bands from Canada
- :Category:Canadian musical groups