SPILL FEATURE: WE ARE ALL CONNECTED – A CONVERSATION WITH MAX KERMAN OF ARKELLS

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED

A CONVERSATION WITH MAX KERMAN OF ARKELLS

With exuberantly anthemic songs throughout their career like “11:11,” “Knocking at the Door,” “Leather Jacket,” “Past Life,” “Whistleblower,” “Years In The Making,” and countless others, Arkells have set the standard for alternative rock here in Canada. Their newest album, Between Us, is stacked from beginning to end with songs destined to become classics at their live shows. Recently, I chatted with frontman Max Kerman about Between Us and the movie Nirvanna: The Band – the Show – the Movie.

“This is our ninth record, so we just have more experience under our belt when it comes to recording in the studio, how we communicate with each other, and maybe our instincts for what feels right and what doesn’t feel great, we are a little more attuned to,” Kerman reflects. “The trick is you want to surprise yourself. You want to go into the studio with some sense of mystery as to how it will all turn out, and you want something to grab your ear that you didn’t think you could create. I think for us, the conversation we have in our band constantly is, ‘OK, how did last time go? What can be improved? What could be different? What could we return to? What should we stay away from?’ That conversation is always happening, whether that is recording the album or show to show.”

Between Us opens with the joyful sing-along tune “Next Summer.” “It feels like a very recognizable Arkells kind of song thematically and just the way we play,” Kerman states. “Somebody pointed out that the chiming piano chords kind of sound like a train coming. I found that was sort of interesting as a way to open the album, like, ‘Yeah. All aboard! Everybody get on the train.’”

Arkells collaborated with many artists on Between Us. They joined forces with Portugal. The Man for the mesmerizingly funky Talking Heads-inspired tune “Money.” “I love the way the Talking Heads are able to write about big issues that consume all of our lives, but David [Byrne] always does it with some sense of tongue in cheek, and there is also a lot of heart and a lot of questions that he’s asking,” Kerman explains. “The song was more or less finished, but I am always asking, ‘Is there anything more we can add? Is there anything that will feel like whipped cream on top?’ John [Gourley] has this very sugary voice, so we asked him to sing on it, and it felt like he was adding whipped cream to the dessert.”

PURCHASE BETWEEN US

Arkells teamed up with GROUPLOVE for the summertime-feeling indie pop earworm “Ride.” Reflecting on the song, Kerman states, “I remember listening to [the instrumental] while I was riding my bike, and I remember thinking, ‘This song makes me feel like I’m alive riding my bicycle through a city,’” Kerman says. “In this material world that we live in, and the status-driven society that is at our throats every time we look at our screens, there is something amazing about this idea of like I can be on a bicycle like a city bike, not even my bike, and I can feel more free than anything. I feel so free when I am riding on a bicycle. I felt there was something interesting about that subject matter to me, about like how we can chase after money, status, and success, but then there is nothing that really compares to this thing that anybody can have, which is like riding a bike.” Kerman shares with me that the foundation of “Ride” was very good, but that it needed a little something extra to take it to the next level. “Christian [Zucconi] and Hannah [Hooper] from GROUPLOVE, when they sing together, they inject like youthful kicks into everything they do, so when they added their vocal to the song, it was exactly what it needed.”

Poolside is featured on the ultra catchy disco jam “What’s on Your Mind.” “The special quality of dance music is that it is very hypnotic and very repetitious,” Kerman states. “There is not necessarily a lot of clever chord changes. It is all about the groove. It is all about the trance that it can put a listener in. I was listening to Troye Sivan’s last record [Something to Give Each Other], which I love, and he has a song called ‘What’s the Time Where You Are?’ It’s about really wondering what somebody is doing while they are on the other side of the planet. It’s an interesting idea. This one is like, ‘What if the person is going to sleep? Like, what are you thinking about when you are closing your eyes?’ I like the juxtaposition between a dance track and something that is really intimate. We had just gone on tour with Poolside, and they do this sort of daytime disco flavour, so they were on our minds.”

“Imagine Barcelona” features a fun fiddle interlude courtesy of Kendel Carson, who is a friend of the band. “Kendel is an amazing fiddle player and has toured with everybody from Alan Doyle to Shania Twain,” Kerman says. “The trick of that song was to just kind of make it like a simple hoedown and not get too clever. Can we just do a song that would just feel good to play at a pub – she nailed it.”

Arkells employ a Motown sound on the infectiously upbeat “What Good?” Anyone familiar with Arkells will know that Motown has always been a huge part of the band’s sound. “My dad went to university in Detroit at Wayne State University in the ‘60s, so when I was a kid growing up, I listened to so much Motown,” Kerman states. “I was really struck by how soulful, of course, the voices are, by how tender the lyrics are, and by how much expression there is in the playing. It was just a huge part of my musical DNA. I often want to lean towards a brass section. I want to lean towards those R&B grooves that are a huge part of Motown.”

PHOTO CREDIT: NATHAN NASH

Along with the new album, Arkells also played a pivotal role in filming a scene for Nirvanna: The Band – the Show – the Movie, one of the year’s most critically acclaimed and talked-about films. “One of the reasons why Tim [Oxford] is in the band is because he used to play with Jay [McCarrol], and when we were looking for a drummer 20 years ago, Jay was the one who ultimately would have connected us,” Kerman recalls. “Jared [Raab], of course, has done Arkells music videos. He’s a great cinematographer. Matt Greyson, who is part of the production team with those guys, he’s produced Arkells music videos. A couple of weeks before our show, they came to us looking to call out a favour, like, ‘We need to fill a scene where Jay looks like a huge rockstar. Can we take over your stage for a couple of minutes?’ I love any good idea, so I have a hard time saying no. In the encore, I prepped our crowd, saying, ‘Our buddies are making a film. When Jay walks on stage, you have to act like he is like Justin Bieber,’ and our fans were up to the challenge. I love the movie. I love what they do and what they represent.” 

Between Us dropped on April 17. “The thing that I’ve really been thinking about is how we are all connected and the space between us and what that space can feel like,” Kerman reflects. “Can it feel warm? Can it feel isolating? Does it feel like direct contact with the people you are interacting with? It speaks to a lot of things: the space between the band members, the space between the band and our fans, and the personal relationships that shaped the record, but it is largely about how we are all connected.”

Currently, Arkells have been on tour promoting Between Us. Be sure to catch one of their shows, as Arkells are one of the best bands to see live and always put on a terrific show that audience members will remember years later. “We just want to give these songs a chance to be heard, and the way you do that is by playing the songs live,” Kerman says. “New material connects best in small spaces, so hopefully they can start their life off strong, and then we can take them to the bigger rooms.”

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Main Photo Credit: Scarlett O’Neil