Category: News

From Ben Rayner’s Art Bergmann interview:
Bergmann plays the Great Hall on Friday night with an all-star band that includes Blue Rodeo’s Glenn Milchem, ex-Blue Peter members Chris Wardman and Jason Sniderman, and bassist John Dinsmore.

Also playing This Ain’t Hollywood on Thursday Oct 23 and Wakefield QUE on Saturday Oct 25. C’mon out.

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2014/10/22/art_bergmann_still_angry_after_all_these_years.html

By: Ben Rayner
Pop Music Critic, Published on Wed Oct 22 2014

You might think leading a quiet country life in rural Alberta for the better part of a decade would have mellowed Art Bergmann a little bit, but quite the opposite has happened.
Being idle on a farm in Airdrie with nothing much to do but read voraciously, watch cable news and wander the fields pondering where the world went wrong has only left the famously irascible CanCon-underground icon more outraged and defiant than ever on his vicious new EP, Songs for the Underclass.
Released in early September on sturdy Toronto indie label Weewerk, it’s the 61-year-old Bergmann’s first new recording since the late 1990s. A combination of disgust with his ongoing treatment at the hands of a music industry that’s never really had a clue what to do with him, and debilitating arthritis in his spine and hands compelled him to chuck it all at the time, but he’s been gigging on and off for the past year or so and is now threatening a full-length album at some point in the near future — not to mention some potential reissues of early punk material dating back to his days with Vancouver’s Young Canadians. Yes, please.
In the meantime, Bergmann plays the Great Hall on Friday night with an all-star band that includes Blue Rodeo’s Glenn Milchem, ex-Blue Peter members Chris Wardman and Jason Sniderman, and bassist John Dinsmore. The Star had a catch-up coffee with the legend:
Q: What exactly have you been doing all these years?
A: I’ve been in Alberta since 2007, I guess. My wife, Sherri (Decembrini), her daughter lives out there in Red Deer and she had a baby so we wanted to watch her grow up. So that’s what we’ve kinda been doing the last few years. We’ve been living on a dilapidated old farm in the belly of the economic beast of Canada 20 minutes north of Calgary, so if I want weird city life I can zip into Calgary, where I’ve found a band now. I kind of ignored the music business for all that time. And if you want to know why I did that, read that Robert Fripp story in the Financial Times two years about why he quit the music business. I just ran into that yesterday and it’s a beautiful piece. As soon as you approach success, whoever you’re dealing with want you to repeat yourself. And that’s not his or my modus operandi.
Q: Respect rarely pays the bills, does it?
A: No, no. But it’s about artistry. And artistry has nothing to with finances, really. I mean, you wanna make a living. But did Jimi Hendrix do it for money? I don’t think so.
Q: So what got you writing again?
A: I do a lot of reading and investigation into the human condition. I’ve been reading books on sexual evolution. We deny the animality in ourselves. We’ve destroyed 50 per cent of the species on the planet since the ’70s. It’s like we’re heading over a cliff and nobody cares. What are we gonna go up to? Ten billion people? I think human rights should be replaced by all animal rights, really. That’s just one of the things bugging me. And the brutality of the current freedom of the marketplace is just unbelievable. In 2008, Goldman Sachs manipulated the commodities market to such an extent that people starved to death, you know? That sorta stuff.
Q: I often think we might be better off wiping the slate clean and giving another species a chance.
A: I think that, too. I had a joke a couple of years ago: “Save the planet. Off yourself.” I’ll be the first to go. People really didn’t like it, though.
Q: Was there a catalytic moment that propelled you toward the new EP?
A: The basic, simple little nut or germ that started it was Sherri’s biological father, who she found in prison in the ’90s — that’s a whole other story — we thought he was dying, so we wanted to go to Vancouver. Well, how do we get back? Maybe I could do a show, a little show to raise some cash and get home again. And I had a sell-out show at a folk hall in Vancouver, the WISE Club. I had a great band: Steven Drake, Adam Drake, Kevin Lucks. And we followed that up with an October show and there were twice as many people, so I thought, “Oh, why not?” All these years, I’ve always been writing and taking notes while I slaughter one history book after another, so I had tons of ideas and they just started to gel so I finally picked up a guitar again and just started playing it non-stop for the last 18 months now.
Q: Which song came first?
A: “Drones of Democracy” was the first thing that I started working on. It took me a year to hone it down to what it is, lyrically. I tried to keep it un-polemical and just set the scene and kind of say to the audience: “What would you do? What kind of anger would you feel if you had to pick up your son or daughter in a plastic bag?” I listen to that song “Cortez the Killer” by Neil Young all the time . . . and I just started playing it live on July 1 of last year. That song is so awesome it makes me weep every time I hear it or sing it. I wanted to cover it, but I looked it up and saw that about 50 major artists were playing that one. So I had to write one. I added a chord and basically it’s my own “Cortez.” And the chorus is almost like the chorus in “Ohio.”
Q: It’s comforting to see that you still have the same old bile, volatility and anger at 61. It’s pretty punk rock.
A: You think? I hope so. I told Chris Wardman the other day: “There’s no point in not playing.” You do what you do, just do it. Every four or five years I used to go through whole circles of friends, people who gave up art or music and got sucked in by their f—ing mortgage and family and the career or job thing. It’s so sad. People just melt into society at large. You’ve gotta live your life to the fullest. You get one life. Why do you wanna get sucked into this brutal system? It’s just unbelievable to me.

Hey, I’m playing guitar for Art at this show.
This Aint Hollywood in Hamilton
23 October 2014 9:00 pm

thisainthollywood.ca

[Although his favorite albums are the three he did with Chris Wardman (Art Bergmann, Sexual Roulette, What Fresh Hell Is This?), he says “Drones” “is the best song I’ve ever written.”]

Full Story: beatroute.ca/2014/09/01/art-bergmann-desperate-times-call-for-desperate-songs

VANCOUVER — It’s been 19 years since Art Bergmann released his last recording, the Juno Award-winning What Fresh Hell is This? at which point he was simultaneously dropped from the label, quit music and later sold the statuette for dope money. Poignant as only Bergmann can be. The muse never left him. He kicked it out for a bit, and now he’s back, touring in support of his forthcoming four-song EP, Songs for the Underclass.

“Desperate times call for desperate songs,” says Bergmann who is in full control of his music for the first time and is also fighting for rights to his back catalogue. With that, he has created a masterpiece in “Drones of Democracy.” Although his favorite albums are the three he did with Chris Wardman (Art Bergmann, Sexual Roulette, What Fresh Hell Is This?), he says “Drones” “is the best song I’ve ever written.” Last FM recently played the track and the DJ remarked, “I don’t know who this is but he sounds like Tom Petty.” Slap.

He is widely compared to Paul Westerberg when he only needs to be compared to himself. Bergmann thinks about pre-contact Americas, the Paris Commune, the people’s history of the United States, sexual evolution and the denial of our animality. How these things have influenced the new EP is for the fans to explore. We know Dorothy Parker is a past reference. Hardly mentioned is Sherri, his partner of 23 years, who is a big part of a lot of the older songs including “Buried Alive,” which she co-wrote. Bergmann admits Sherri is not overly represented in the new songs. “Older songs I used to write were more concerned with the culture at large and the effect it has on individual lives. Now it’s more about dealing with why we are the way we are.”

Want more insight? Try reading a book. Here are Art’s suggestions: 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Contact by Charles C Mann; Death and the Dervish by Mesa Selimovic; and Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano.

And what does Bergmann want us to do? “Nothing you can do except live in your head. Can you live in your head with the crimes of man? Do the best you can. Have fun destroying the capitalist human experiment.”

Long regarded as a key figure in Vancouver punk, with the K-tels and the Young Canadians, there is the expectation these songs will be on the set list. Classics like “Hawaii” and maybe “Data Redux’”or “Automan.” The Vancouver line-up features Alex Varty on guitar, bass player Kevin Lucks and drummer Jon Card (replacing a broken-footed Adam Drake). This is a must-see concert for fans and the curious.

Drones of Democracy is a pointed attack on the irony of bombing for peace. Musically, it’s a slow, driving beat with howling guitars, leading to a crescendo of wailing instruments. Art and producer Chris Wardman have created a soundscape perfectly suited to the lyrics. It is arranged so that the final build leaves you feeling like you are standing in the aftermath of a bombing. There is no explosion of sound – There’s a slight muffling as if you just lost your hearing because of a bomb. The bass continues its ominous flight. Gently wailing guitar echoes grief. The synth and other instruments fill out the scene. This is a masterpiece of sound mixing which puts you at ground zero.

Read Full Story via Huffington Post

Good protest songs – the ones that endure – never preach to the choir. They don’t rally the converted. They never tell you what to do, just that something should be done. Good protest songs force you to think, to consider.

Art Bergmann reveals his mastery of the genre with the 4 song EP Songs for the Underclass. He shows you the screwed-up world and you have to decide how to deal with it.

Social commentary is not new for Art. From 1986’s Empty House to 1990’s Sexual Roulette to half the songs on his 1991 eponymous album, Art has never shied away from sharing his thoughts on poverty, militarism, globalization, or politics. There is a straight line from those songs to these Songs. But don’t think this is a case of a tired-old-never-was trying for a comeback. Art’s uncompromising attitude – which caused much grief for record companies – is rampant in these tunes. Songs for the Underclass is the product of a master craftsman who has spent decades honing his skills.

Songs for the Underclass is the best new music to come along in ages. It’s the emergency lights in the stagnant sewer of the recording industry. Every one of these 4 songs is carefully built and polished to perfection. They showcase Art’s gift for turning out phrases that speak volumes. The music fits like a custom jacket. The combination guarantees these songs will take root in your mind. It’s impossible to over-emphasize the quality of this work: these are top-notch, killer tunes – the best set of new songs this century.

But Songs isn’t just master songcrafting. These are proper protest-songs. It is impossible to listen and not have your mind kicked open.

Art Bergmann fans have been fretting for 2 decades, hoping desperately that Art would, someday, maybe, write another tune. Songs for the Underclass was worth that wait. And there’s even better news. There’s going to be an album soon, too.

Songs for the Underclass was released on the 26th on (weewerk) records for digital download through iTunes. It comes out on CD and Vinyl on September 5th or you can preview via livestream. Art is also touring, check his site.

ABOUT THE SONGS:
note: I am always irritated when music reviews try to equate artists; each musician is different. However, people always want to know ‘Who’s he like???’ So, without comparing Art Bergmann to anyone, here are some people this EP would get along with: Patti Smith, Woody Guthrie, Neil Young, Pete Seager, Bob Dylan, and Steve Earle. – JRM

Drones of Democracy

“From the heights of hypocrisy come the drones of democracy
To the weddings of Yemeni with homes and families
Just like ours…”

The slow-drone of this song adds a third meaning to ‘drone’. The first drone is the US Unmanned Ariel Vehicle which bombed a wedding in Yemen. The second drone is the sleeper terrorist waiting for his suicide attack. The third is laid over heart-thumping drums; an ominous combination of distorted guitar and fuzzy bass. It’s a drone that moves though, hypnotizes and drags you to the unavoidable conclusion.

Drones of Democracy is a pointed attack on the irony of bombing for peace. Musically, it’s a slow, driving beat with howling guitars, leading to a crescendo of wailing instruments. Art and producer Chris Wardman have created a soundscape perfectly suited to the lyrics. It is arranged so that the final build leaves you feeling like you are standing in the aftermath of a bombing. There is no explosion of sound – There’s a slight muffling as if you just lost your hearing because of a bomb. The bass continues its ominous flight. Gently wailing guitar echoes grief. The synth and other instruments fill out the scene. This is a masterpiece of sound mixing which puts you at ground zero.

Company Store

Everything you buy is an act
It’s gain is made from pain and that’s a fact

This is rousing electric-folk two-step which makes for an instant sing-along. Art fires surgical strikes on globalization and capitalism, but beware! You won’t get to ride the bandwagon. Fans know that Art is always generous with the blame and standing with him doesn’t make you safe.

Art’s ability to jam-pack meaning into a phrase really comes out in Company Store. Every verse is a whole novel in a few lines, and may send you researching issues. There’s no law that awareness had to be sombre; Company Store will have you jumping around and shouting the chorus. It’s a great rockin’ tune with a dagger to the brain.

Ballad of the Crooked Man

We are all hollow men
Wards of the state here on sufferance

Crooked Man hits home like nothing I’ve heard this century. It’s melodic despair and desperation driving headlong towards violent revolution. Every word in this song is carefully chosen and Art’s vocals drive them home like a nailgun.

Art’s acoustic guitar lays down a classic protest-song foundation with a generous dose of folk. Joe McCaffery’s psychedelic electric adds the depth while Tim Deacon’s mandolin flies on top like a flock of starlings. The rhythm section is as tight as a banker’s wallet. And when the revolution comes, the assault will have you cheering. This is truly a masterwork.

Your Cold Appraising Eye

Your misery has been delivered
You left enough behind to choke a river
How many will be sacrificed?
To your cold appraising eye?

Greed is a serial killer but Art knows where the bodies are. This song would be right at home on stage in New Orleans… especially in a still-mortgaged, Katrina-condemned lounge. This is a murder ballad, complete with slow drums and fantastic keyboard work by Lorrie Matheson. Emily Burrows’ vocal solo near the end will echo in your brain for ages.

What can you say about people who manipulate the market to such an extreme that people end up starving as a result? That’s murder, folks. – Art Bergmann

July 15th, 2013  |  Published in Featured Articles, Overlooked & Underrated, Rock, Pop & Folk

By Jason Motz

“Some people take everything so goddamn literally. I’m in a really stupid business.”

“I just wanted to be good, like the Beatles in Hollywood.”

– Art Bergmann

The name Art Bergmann will never appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Neither will the counterculture zeitgeist ever acknowledge this Canadian wild man. The punk son of a Mennonite family, Art Bergmann earned his comparisons to Iggy Pop the hard way: drink, drug, and danger. As the frontman for The Young Canadians (Vancouver’s greatest, shortest-lived punk band), Los Popularos and Poisoned, Bergmann was frantic, frenetic and fanatical in his approach. In an era of Kenny Loggins’ stardom, Art Bergmann was the snotty rejoinder to MTV chic. Crass. Honest. Brutal. Real. Everything a pop star should not be. Most of all, Art being Art, he did not want to be anything other than himself.

Full Story:
vivascene.com/featured-articles/overlooked-and-underrated-art-bergmann-sexual-roulette

[Sexual Roulette manages a deft trick: it’s a dark ride and a harrowing yarn, but in not a complete bummer (a la Tonight’s the Night.) Credit goes to producer Chris Wardman for orchestrating a rock sound that breathes fire. That ‘Bound For Vegas’ became a modest hit in Canada, is all on Wardman. Canadian radio listeners were bombarded with sacchrin pop (Celine Dion), bland rock (Alannah Myles) and washed-out blues (Colin James and Jeff Healey Band). Art Bergmann was like snot smeared across a the balustrade. From 1990-1994, there was more Canadian rock on the radio than ever before. (Thank you, 1971 CRTC ruling!) For every three Rush songs on the playlist, there were spasms of life from the likes of Bergmann, Sons of Freedom and Junkhouse. Canada’s on explosion of alternative bands brought a legitimacy to Canadian radio waves previously unheard: Sloan, Eric’s Trip, and the Tea Party.]