Eric Chenaux trio q&A PT. 2

By Ado Nkemka

Read this Q&A ahead of “Delights of my Life/In the Mirror of this Night,” the May 29th concert with performances by Eric Chenaux Trio as well as Margaret Gay and Laura Reid (duo performing Mark Ellestad). Learn more about the event and get tickets on Showpass.

For part 2 of this Q&A, you’re hearing from Ryan Driver and Phillipe Melanson.

Ryan Driver

Ado: How did you all meet?

Ryan: I'm sure I'm misremembering every detail but Eric and I met in approximately 1997(?). We were asked to play a duo set of improvised music in the back room of The Cameron House (in Toronto) and I guess we both thought it seemed like a good idea even though we hadn't met.

I don't remember much about the specifics of that music except that I may have been playing some kind of zither which I had prepared with bent table forks, or maybe I was playing my flute, and that, just a few seconds after our first improvisation began, we both suddenly stopped and sat silently for what might have been 30 seconds before reconvening. I'm not sure why the audience didn't suppose that the piece had ended and burst into uproarious applause, but they were right that it hadn't. In retrospect, I think perhaps we were taking a good healthy pause within which to contemplate the implications of our first phrase together and the many places the music could and might go next – of which there have been many indeed over the subsequent years.

Phil and I must have met around 2013, and/or shortly after he moved to Toronto from Montreal. We also met thanks to mutual friends and Toronto's vibrant creative music scene, as people do here. He has been for the last eight years (and continues to be) a member of my unconventional jazz(?) band known as The Titillators, and for that I am eternally grateful. A master percussionist and such a lovely human.

Right now, what are you inspired by?

Springtime inspires me to feel that more things are possible than in any other season, and that most things are easier and more enjoyable than usual. And even though that's not always true – often it is or seems to be – I, like many people, like the feelings of the air and the sun this time of year, and the many colours of green becoming less and less rare. The commonly shared liking of spring things and the increased comfort that often comes with pleasant weather seems to create a wider palette of possibility, ways of being engaged and distracted, ways of enjoying oneself and others, places, objects, thoughts...

Ryan and Eric, your history of collaboration goes way back, what is the most recent thing you’ve each discovered about each other's playing?

I recently noticed that Eric seems to play guitar in approximately the same way he seems to live: focused but intimately aware of his surroundings, unconventional at heart, existing within a logic largely of his own devise, and yet somehow entirely accessible, virtuosically welcoming, light-hearted, and open-minded. It's a rare combo. There is a deep warmth and a deep wonk to Eric's tone and sensibility. His particular formula for combining those often disparate elements is always fresh, fascinating, joyous, and enlightening.

What theoretical concepts or thematic ideas are you currently exploring in your work generally?

I don't play the organ at all actually, contrary to what the internet keeps saying about me in this project. I played a Wurlitzer electric piano on the album, with a few effects pedals (one of which has the power to elongate the tones for as long as the foot wishes, hence the confusion perhaps).

Theoretically and thematically, I recently started playing the kazoo. A few months ago I started bringing a kazoo to my monthly Ryan Driver Sextet performances and pulling it out for one tune per set. Even though (to play the instrument) all one really has to do is sing into it, there's a major hurdle for me. The kazoo has quite a rap for being a cheap old novelty instrument used largely for silliness. A toy, some might say. This stereotype is difficult to not conjure because the timbre is instantly recognisable, and that recognition brings to mind all that outdated wackiness with which the instrument is associated. I find it to be an exciting challenge to convincingly play kazoo with the sincerity and honour that it deserves. I'm trying.

You all are pretty far in your careers, what is there left you’d like to explore creatively?

Of course there's always anything. I have plans to play music forever and there seems no way it could ever become boring or redundant because there are so obviously infinite ways of doing it interestingly and meaningfully. I like to stay busy exploring possibilities, collaborating with others, and stumbling upon unprecedented ways of titillating the ear and mind.

What are you most looking forward to when it comes to the May 29th concert?

It will be nice to see Rebecca Bruton, the presenter of this show. I recently participated in the yet-to-be-released recording project documenting her band called Swanherds (of which I am happily a member), which you will likely soon find to be delightful if you watch for its release. I also look forward to seeing everyone else that is planning to attend the concert. I haven't been to Calgary in quite a spell so I won't likely recognize anyone I might have met before, which is fun.

Ryan Driver Bio

Ryan is a songwriter, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto, where he leads The Titillators and The Ryan Driver Sextet. Besides his own projects, Ryan has sung and/or played piano, flute, analogue synthesizer, guitar, melodica, and/or his simple homemade instruments (thumb-reeds and streetsweeper bristle bass) with frequent collaborators Eric Chenaux, Sandro Perri, Jennifer Castle, Tamara Lindeman (The Weather Station), Alex Lukashevsky, Doug Tielli, Nick Fraser, Rob Clutton, Lina Allemano, Thom Gill, Brodie West, Michael Davidson, Martin Arnold, and many others.

Philippe Melanson

Ado: Philipe, you played on “Impossible Burger” (released under Eric Chenaux’s Rat-Drifting record label). The album was recorded remotely between Montreal, Toronto, Cape Breton, and Moncton. What were the most remarkable parts of that process?

Philippe: I think what was remarkable is how intimate it was despite the distance. Sitting alone listening intently to what your friend had recorded alone felt very intimate. So covid.

What theoretical concepts or thematic ideas are you currently exploring in your work generally?

I think I’m just continually trying to make electronic percussion be as expressive as possible. I get very excited by midi possibilities, and maybe that’s a little bit sad.

You all are pretty far in your careers, what is there left you’d like to explore creatively?

Live solo dance music making in a club setting. I've long dreamt of making people dance. but maybe less and less. I think playing with people is special and a kind of sacred communion. Maybe my current goal is to let go of my mind more when playing. find that intoxicating ease more often. Yum.

What are you most looking forward to when it comes to the May 29th concert?

Any chance to play with Eric and Ryan is exciting and I’m delighted we will do it in calgary.

Purchase tickets to May 29th New Works Calgary presentation “Delights of My Life/In the Mirror of this Night” on Showpass.