MAN AT WORK
A CONVERSATION WITH JERRY LEGER
Thereβs no rest for the wicked, or so the saying goes. With this in mind, Jerry Leger has been wickedly busy of late. The past year has been an eventful one for the Toronto singer-songwriter. From the release of his album Donlands in October 2023, to this yearβs successful spring tour of Europe and the UK, onward to some festival dates, and a couple of special opening slots, Legerβs career is a wheel that keeps on rolling. As he prepares for a major Toronto show, and anticipates the release of a new album in December, Leger took some time with Spill, for some forward and backward glancing.
In addition to the upcoming album release with his side project, The Psych Fiβs, Leger also has more goodies in store: βIβm really happy with the Psych Fiβs record, and I also did a Hank Williams covers record, that was a digital release in the spring, on Bandcamp. With a guy I know in Germany, weβre doing a few hundred copies on 10-inch vinyl, of six songs from that album, which is really neat. The packaging looks beautiful, and itβs a really tip of the hat to the original MGM 78-rpm releases of Hankβs material. And there are a few other surprises on the way, too, that will come out next year.β
βIn this day and age, with streaming being the top way that people listen to music from certain artists, thereβs an urgency to releasing a new song every few months, or whatever it is. Iβm not motivated by that. Iβm just motivated by what I feel like doing, and keeping myself happy and occupied when I want to be occupied, or creative when I want to be creative. Itβs purely based on that. Some periods are busier that others, where it ends up piling on a bit. Thatβs sort of what happened very recently, with the timing of the Psych Fiβs record, and the timing of this other Hank covers vinyl coming out. We actually recorded another record when we were in Cologne last year. We had some days off, and I just thought, βWell, weβre over here anyway, and I had the songs.β So thatβs a cool record that I think will come out next year, which I think will be the perfect time for it. Itβs a very special record to me. I think itβs going to make a lot of sense, timing-wise, when it comes out. Thatβs just in the can, waiting to come out at some point next year. So thereβs always different things. In a couple of weeks Iβm going back into the studio with [producer and Cowboy Junkies co-founder] Mike Timmins, which is really nice.β
Legerβs live appearances usually include an annual major show in his hometown of Toronto. This year, he will be playing at the east-end venue Hughβs Room, with Canadian roots-country great Lori Yates also on the bill. Leger is thoughtful when considering the subject of playing for a hometown crowd, observing, βI think that anywhere, thereβs pressure. I mean, you want the show to go well. More and more, as the years go by, Iβm trying to find the right rooms where I can come across very well. TD Music Hall was great last year. That was another one that we almost sold that out, which was great. It worked out really well… I do like playing rooms that at least have a mixture of standing and seating. I just think that Hughβs Room is very comfortable, and also, for me, when Iβm figuring out what the set list is going to be, the room changes which songs Iβll do, or how weβll do them. I think that Hughβs Room has a certain vibe. Weβll play some rock βnβ roll songs, but weβre not going to get too insane.β
Of Lori Yatesβ participation in this show, Leger is enthusiastic: βLoriβs got a great voice and sheβs a great songwriter. Itβs going to be a really nice show in a really nice venue. Iβm really looking forward to itβ¦ Iβm so happy that she could do it. Of course Iβve known about her for a long time, but I hadnβt actually met her before. But a couple of years ago, when I put out the Nothing Pressing album, she posted something online, sharing my βKilling With Kindnessβ song, saying βThis is the best song that Iβve heard in years and years.β I just thought, βWhoa! I didnβt even know that she listened to any of my musicβ. That was an honour that she felt that way. I thought that was really cool. We were talking a bit, wanting to get a show going for a little while. But Iβll just do one big show a year in Toronto, with some shows surrounding it. Last year when we put on the Donlands record, we did TD Music Hall with my friend Katie Cruel opening. That really made sense. We both had new albums produced by Mark Howard, and it just worked really well, as a show. I had done shows opening for her, as well. So, I had to take another year for it to come around, before we were doing another big show in the city. So, when I booked Hughβs Room, I thought, βWell, Iβll see if Lori can open,β cause weβve been wanting to do something for a couple of years.β
Live performance is key to Legerβs work, and is the impetus behind the artistβs soon-to-be-released album with his side project, The Psych Fiβs. Explaining the band and the record, Leger states, βThe idea is that The Psych Fiβs are the psychedelic rock version of [side project band] The Del Fiβs live shows. When certain musicians would be part of it, we would go into a different direction, where the songs would be a little bit longer, thereβd be some interesting weaving. It would get a little out there, a little spacey. In particular, playing with Nichol Robertson and Tim Bovaconti, who are two of the best. Theyβre great guitarists, and also very fearless. They know exactly what theyβre doing, so they can be fearless, which is kind of how Iβve always been, in my own way. Just having faith that itβs not going to be a train wreck. So, we played some Del Fiβs shows in that way and we would joke about it, like, βOh, weβre the Psych Fiβs tonight!β I just started thinking, that would be a really great to do a record like that. It brings the live show into the studio even more, where weβre just playing off each other even more. Iβm sort of being like a conductor, holding it together, with cues of going back into verses, endings, or pointing to which person takes a solo β that sort of thing.β
The way that Leger describes recording with The Psych Fiβs, it would seem that sessions might be a bit chaotic, since most of the musicians on the project were unfamiliar with the material. But that fact is the very essence of the project. Leger continues, βNot every musician can do that. They may get into their own heads too much, being focused on needing to know what the next turn around the corner is. I think that generally, I would start the songs, and weβd set a groove, and get into that. And if thereβs a bridge or going into a chorus, itβs just really signalling. Itβs body language coming from me, and also the way that I can play an instrument and sing, you can kind of hear if itβs going somewhere. If Iβm playing a bit harder, or thereβs a certain rhythm, itβs a signal to the other musicians that this is going into a chorus, or into a solo. Thereβs a lot of trust involved. As far as the recording sessions went, everyone is looking at me. Thatβs a big part of it. Everyone has to listen as close as possible, which isnβt always easy, because thereβs no headphones, no speakers. Itβs just like theyβre listening for my singing or my guitar to kind of guide them. Everyoneβs looking and paying attention, but on particular songs, we could just jam for a while, and it wouldnβt fall apart, or there wouldnβt be a big curve ball in it. But since Iβm guiding it, as long as I know whatβs going to happen, we can always recover from anything. That whole record was done in just a day. We just did it in a matter of hours.β
Despite the improvised nature of the performances, the finished product of the Psych Fiβs album sounds very polished. To this point, Leger credits the musicians involved, contending that, βItβs like me leading the band and the intuition of whoβs involved which is why I was a little more selective with this, than with the Del Fiβs records. I thought, βOkay who can I invite that could be into this, who isnβt going to be asking me about chord changes and what I want from it β just getting to it in their head so they donβt screw up.Β I had to ask, to see if certain friends were around that could come in. Thatβs as casual as it was: just show up, and weβre gonna make music. You donβt need to know what weβre gonna do. Thatβs part of the fun of it. Thatβs part of improvising. For a lot of musicians that were on the record, thatβs what they do anyways. They play in other bands or other club shows around, and so much of what they do is improvising anyways, and just kind of falling into the songs. So thatβs what we did on this record.β
βI donβt think thereβs a lot of records being made like that now, of just getting together unrehearsed. Thatβs the whole thing about the Del Fiβs world, is that weβve never had a rehearsal. Thereβs never been a Del Fiβs rehearsal, and every Del Fiβs show has one or two members who werenβt on the last Del Fiβs show. Itβs like a rotating cast.
Several other Canadian artists ended up on the album as well. βA bunch of the musicians are on the whole record, and other people just come by for a few hours. Don Stevenson [Moby Grape] came by for a few hours, sang on βSummerβs Right Around the Cornerβ, but he was off again. Matt Cooke is on a couple of songs, and a couple of other friends came for the last couple songs, and stuff like that. Other people were there the whole time, like Dave Clark was there the whole time, and Jason Kenemy, Angie Hilts β they were there the entire session.β
As a long-time fan of psychedelic rock, moving into this genre is a natural progression for Leger. He notes that, βThere were some later, and more recent psychedelic bands, that a lot of it is instrumental, or thereβs no real song structure. But those early psych bands had these beautifully written songs, like β805β by Moby Grape, or even looking at the first Pink Floyd record. Yes there are those jam-y songs but there are also real songs. The Beatles, too, with Sergeant Pepper[βs Lonely Hearts Club Band]. With these classic psychedelic rock records, the psychedelic part is just the vibe and the experimentation around what are essentially pop songs that just may have more, lyrically, than your traditional-sounding pop song, but musically, they could have been played that way, as well. That influenced The Psych Fiβs, because those songs would work as well, if we made a rock and roll record, or a country-rock record. We could do those songs, but we would take a different approach with them.β
With many irons in the fire, Jerry Leger has plenty of work to keep himself busy, and to make his career fun and interesting. His work is a testament to the idea of the artist doing what they want, and what they love. Legerβs audience has certainly found him, and it continues to grow. We continue to watch his evolution as an artist, and look forward to his next move.