SPILL FEATURE: TO SCRIBBLE OUTSIDE THE LINES SOMETIMES IS A GOOD THING – A CONVERSATION WITH IAN BLURTON

TO SCRIBBLE OUTSIDE THE LINES SOMETIMES IS A GOOD THING

A CONVERSATION WITH IAN BLURTON

Ian Blurton has been part of the music scene since the 1980s. Over time he has been in several bands, including the original drummer for Cowboy Junkies, and A Neon Rome. He soon graduated to being the front man for the band Change of Heart. Other bands followed, but by 2009 he was ready to forge a solo career. He also established himself as an in-demand producer. Some of the bands he produced include  The Lowest of the Low, Rheostatics, The Mark Inside, Skydiggers, Weakerthans, and Attack in Black.

Since 2019 he has been working with Ian Blurton’s Future Now, which features Anna Ruddick (bass), Glenn Milchem (drums) and Aaron Goldstein (guitar). Blurton and his band are set to release a brand-new album, Imperial Filth, and to launch the album there is going to be an extravaganza show at St. Anne’s in Toronto. Besides Ian Blurton’s Future Now, the show will feature Ace Of Wands, Tonnerre, and Lego Money.

I recently had the chance to have a chat with Mr. Blurton about the show, the album, and his band. Our discussion took us back to the beginning.

“I made a solo record in 2019, called Signals Through The Flames, and I put together my favourite rhythm section from Toronto and had them back me up,” said Blurton. “Anna and Glenn, both of whom are in Future Now, were on that record. So, when I started doing live shows I automatically got them. It just seemed they were perfect. And I played with this guy named Aaron Goldstein in a band, Happy Endings, that I had for a short period. I thought he was perfect for the band. It just sort of dropped together and that is how it happened. As soon as we started playing together, I thought, ‘this is the band I want to be in’. I just love playing with these three people.”

IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW: IMPERIAL FILTH ALBUM RELEASE SHOW TICKETS

Blurton’s band all have a distinct history and are as busy as him. His drummer, for example, has a well-known day job. “Glenn is also in Blue Rodeo, and his day gig is very very very different from this band. Here he gets to unleash the beast and kick the shit out of his drums. He is one of the most awe-inspiring musicians I have played with. So dedicated to the craft and the song. It is very tiring to play with him.

The Future Now sound is not an easy one to describe. It is hard and heavy music, but there are layers to their sound and their songs. I think it is just who we are. When we are writing, we try to discard the mellow stuff. We write what we think Future Now should be. There are more dynamics on this album, but the template for us is early 70s hard rock but we don’t want to be a throwback 1970s band. There is some later metal stuff, some punk. One of my favourite bands is The Groundhogs, and we sort of tapped into their dynamic. But we want to be our own entity.”

Which brings to the discussion about the new album, Imperial Filth and , and the sneaky influence of prog rock. “I think this is our most prog record,” agreed Blurton. “To scribble outside the lines sometimes is a good thing.” And while Imperial Filth is not a concept album, there are some themes that prevail throughout the music. “I think it is not getting too down about some things in the world. Politics aside, taking care of people and having an open heart. So much of social media is manipulating people and being a human should be loving things instead of hating things. I think ‘love’ is one of the overarching themes.”

Perhaps not the theme that one would expect when listening to the album, but this kind of dichotomy appeals to Blurton. “I like that juxtaposition of heavy and light lyrics or vice versa.” In other words, there is a lot to discover about the band and the new album. For example, a song such as “You Better Get Ready” which looks at social issues, especially in a city like Toronto.

“I live in Parkdale and there are a lot of homeless and drug addicts who have been pushed out onto the street by the government,” said Blurton. “This is a song about living in the cracks and wanting to find a way to fight your way out of it.”

PURCHASE IMPERIAL FILTH VIA BANDCAMP

It is important to Blurton that each album is different and stands on its own merits. “We have this thing where we react to the album before it. Crimes Of The City was our straight-ahead rock record. And a lot of the arrangements were the same for each song, because they were in that Pop-rock structure and I think we just wanted to bust out from that. We did have a sort of proggy record called Second Skin. So we wanted to bring some of that in and combine it with the last record, so I guess that is where the prog rock came from. We react from the last record and make the new one different.”

According to Blurton, each album has had a different manner of production and recording. For this album, there was a ‘live’ element. A click track is a steady, metronome-like audio cue that helps musicians play and record at a precise, consistent tempo, and it is a standard in the recording industry. “This record was Glenn and I playing live off the floor with no click or headphones. Just the two of us in a room. I like recording that way, with no click, I think it is a lot more fun. There were a couple of songs that required it, but for the most part, no click. The songs tend to breathe better, and the time moves around a little bit, and it is not regimented.

That was something we didn’t want to do. Fix every little bit. That was something we didn’t want to do. Use samples or AI or a click or modern things that people do. That can be very tedious. Because I am a producer, I read a lot about other producers, and some people will spend 50 per cent of their time editing the record so it is all gridded up, so everything is perfectly in time. Your heart doesn’t do that, or your emotions aren’t all gridded up. I feel like it is something that needs to go.”

The band will be showcasing their new album on October 24 at St. Anne’s in Toronto at the official launch party. Ian Blurton’s Future Now will be playing alongside Ace Of Wands and a couple of surprises.

“Tonnerre, who are from the Ottawa area – I absolutely love them. A pair of 10- and 12-year-olds, Lego Money, whose record sounds pretty cool. So, it is going to go from 10-year-olds to a bunch of crusty 60-year-olds by the end of the night.”

“Once the record leaves your hands as an artist, you don’t own it anymore. I wouldn’t want to force someone to have my opinion about it. I just hope they think we are a good hard rock band with catchy tunes. I don’t know, it is a tough question.”

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Photo Credit: Rick McGinnis