JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on or have recently completed. Why exactly do they matter to you and why should they matter to
BLACK CREEK REIGN: Hi James, looking forward to chatting with you, hope you’re keeping safe in all this craziness.
Both of our previous releases as a band were extremely important to us, the 1st being our debut EP “Excommunicado” and a single release entitled “Culture Shock”. Our EP was the culmination of time spent in Los Angeles, Nashville, and of course, Toronto, and it was a way to showcase the best material we wrote in that time. Definitely time well spent for us going out and feeling different musician cultures. Especially Nashville, the writing that’s happening there is on another level. It’s known for its country scene, but there’s some very cool stuff happening there in rock and hip-hop as well. As for Culture Shock, that was extremely important because it was the very first song ever written by our frontman, Darren. It’s been reworked since then, but it kept its reggae groove, which we think makes it special. We’re just about ready to release our next single, a song called “The Rain”. It’s much more of a rock track and brings out what we do best, guitar rock and a strong beat.
JS: How did doing these projects change you as a person and as a creator?
BCR: The songs are always going to be a reflection of what we’re going through as people at the time so they keep a history of those experiences long after they’re gone. Even now, we can look back at some songs we didn’t end up releasing, and think, “Oh wow, I can’t believe THAT’S what I thought!”. I think they help shed the layers too. The more we write, the more it feels like the smaller more personal things come out in the music, and we can share those experiences with people and be really open about them. And that’s what it’s all about. Creating a simple human connection of “oh yeah, I know exactly how that feels”.
JS: What might others not understand or appreciate about the work you produce or do?
BCR: I think how you phrased it is great. It’s just that, it’s work. I think a lot of people have this idea that art is sort of just magically put into existence but that’s not true. The writing, editing, re-writing, arranging, rehearsal, recording, workshopping. All of it takes a long time to put together. Days, sometimes weeks, are put into a single 3-4-minute song to get exactly right. Sometimes sure, you’re right the first time and that idea is complete, but that’s pretty rare. The craft of it is much more important than raw inspiration, so to speak.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
BCR: I think the unique perspective we have on the things that have happened to us. If you get 100 artists to write about heartbreak, you’re going to get 100 different songs. We’ve come from pretty different backgrounds too, so each of us has something different to offer. I think that deep down, I feel like I’m a story-teller first and foremost, and I’d like to think the songs reflect that. These ideas are less than 3 minutes sometimes, and it can be a challenge to tell our story in a very small window. That’s what I find moving about it all, we all have the same interface as to how we get songs across (through singing and writing), but how can you maximize the effectiveness of those 3 minutes? Jason Isbell or Ed Sheeran are great at that, they’re phenomenal songwriters.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
BCR: I think for me, going in and dredging up those emotions can be a little uncomfortable to deal with. I think vulnerability is essential in good songwriting, and it’s hard to articulate those emotions in a way that the experience of writing is equal to that of listening. You have to figure that out, I’m not sure it can be taught. A good love song will make you cry, and a bad one will make you laugh. We all know the difference when we hear it. So, for me, getting in and getting my metaphorical hands dirty is always going to be a challenge, but that’s where the magic is.
JS: Imagine that you are meeting two or three people, living or dead, whom you admire because of their work in your form of artistic expression. What would you say to them and what would they say to you?
BCR: That’s a tough one. Just shooting in the dark here, having a conversation with Jimi Hendrix would be incredible. For a guy to be on the map for less than 5 years, and have THAT kind of impact on music as a whole is incredible. I’d love to tell him how he changed the game, and even 60 years later his name is still in the conversation. I’d ask him if the stories were true, about how when he played in those bars in England, people would be a mess of tears and joy, if it was true that there was dead silence when he stopped, because no one knew what to do afterwards.
The Beatles would make an obvious choice too. Paul’s still here, so’s Ringo, but Lennon and Harrison were part of the songwriting group that made pop music what it is today. I’ve gotta say, I don’t know of a mainstream pop group that did more to break songwriting rules as much as they did, and still somehow make it so listenable (maybe The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson would be another great brain to pick). When you go back over their catalog the choices they made sort of make you go “that’s what they did?!” It was just so unexpected, with some of the key changes and modulations they used. Wild stuff from a musical standpoint, and that doesn’t go out of style.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that helped to make you who you are as a creative artist.
BCR: The one turning point that stands out for us (which in turn started the band), is a story that happened 6 years ago to our frontman Darren. It’s a long story so the gist of it is as follows, his girlfriend at the time decided to leave him for an abusive ex-boyfriend. They were on again-off again, but he heard she was moving on, and he didn’t like that. He showed up at her place and demanded she take him back, but she refused. He then (and I kid you not, this really happened) picked her up, threw her in his car, and drove around yelling at her. Months later, he visited her and apologized… and she took him back. Terrible situation all around, and Darren got caught in the middle of it, he cared about her, and tried being there for her but it didn’t matter much in the end. He then wrote a song about it, then another, and that became the process. This changed everything, and introduced a positive way to channel emotions. It really showed the healing power of music, and It shaped his personality, outlook on life, and desire for musical success ever since that fateful day.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about your life as a person in the arts?
BCR: It’s hard to explain to non-artists the joy of hearing the crowd sing along with you, or the freedom of being your own boss, or the pursuit of creative perfection. And it’s a goose to chase, so to speak. I think a lot of people have this perspective of good music, or art in general, and their thermometer for sensing amateur art is miscalibrated. You’ve got to go support those artists when they’re still developing, so they can put together those works you expect when you turn on the TV or stream a top-40 song on Spotify. There’s a long journey between a first song and a song that’s actually palatable to an audience, we’ve just been spoiled by a music industry that’s gotten very efficient at pulling the cream to the top and sort of letting those developmental artists flounder around and try to put it together without any support.
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted as yet that you would like to do in the arts? Why the delay so far?
BCR: Definitely sit down and write a full-length album. I think a lot of growth that happens personally and professionally happens, sort of when it’s supposed to, whether or not you feel like you deserve it in the moment. Right now, money is an issue, and we’re also growing a fanbase in Toronto. It’ll happen when it’s supposed to, I think. And a North America and European tour, that’s a dream we’re still chasing.
JS: If you could re-live your life in the arts, how would you change it and why?
BCR: It’s a tough question. It’s hard to really want to change much, you know, the bricks we laid-down brought us to where we are, so it’s hard to complain too much. For me (Lex) definitely starting sooner. I dropped music completely and sort of did a lot of wandering and figuring stuff out and didn’t get back to it until a couple of years ago. Sometimes you’ve got to learn what you don’t want to figure out what you do want, and it’s hard to really feel like it was a waste of time.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
BCR: There is So. Much. Talent. Out there. And so much incredible music being made. And now it’s easier than ever to go find that music and have it in your ears in seconds (if you know it’s out there). It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, because streaming and social media should have, in theory, democratized the industry, but instead, what we got was a pooling at the top and a trickle down to the rest of the artists that’s unsustainable to pursue the art by itself.
I think ultimately people will find good music, and if they like it, they’ll share it, if they share it the artist grows, and gets to keep going. It’s the most human thing to share what you love with who you love. There’s just so much, I think there is, as an artist, a fear of drowning in a sea of abundance. But that’s much too depressing to think about, I’d prefer to be ignorant and just make what I think is cool. Hopefully other people will think so too.
What gives us hope is the fact that the teen pop idol era is over. In our opinion, the quality song writers are climbing the charts and are holding popularity, and that’s really important to us. Ed Sheeran is a great example as a guy who is exceptionally talented. We’ve seen him live and he’s even better on stage than in studio. He slept on couches, busked at subways, and did it the hard way, so to speak, but it shows, and he’s one of the best singer/songwriters to come along in the last two decades. That’s the musical world we want to live in, where it feels like a meritocracy, where the good music will find its place in your ears one way or another. What’s depressing is the state of the live music scene in Toronto, venues are closing. It’s gotten worse now with the Covid-19 pandemic, with the venues closed down. But I think symptoms and sickness get confused sometimes. A great band starting to come up will attract people and they’ll congregate. It just has to be worth it to them. What do we have to offer as a band that will make them choose us over a hundred other things in Toronto on a Friday night? That keeps me up at night, but we’re working on it.
JS: What exactly do you like about the work you create and/or do?
BCR: It’s ours, and we’re the only ones that can make it. As an example, I have a feeling a lot of people are going to have to process this epidemic, and how they dealt with it. And if 100 musicians wrote about that you’d have 100 different perspectives on what the experience was. I like our perspective, and I think we throw back to an era of music that’s gotten lost a bit on modern radio. The guitar-driven band sound is definitely what we’re chasing, and our internal philosophy sort of dictates that these songs work as well on a stage with a full band as a guy by himself with a guitar. A good song doesn’t need more than that if it’s really a good song.
JS: In your creative life thus far, what have been the most helpful comments you have heard about your work?
BCR: To keep going. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Friends and family that believe in us definitely help keep the spirits up when you feel like what you’re doing isn’t good enough. I think any artist will have doubts about their creativity, and having people in your corner to remind you that it’s normal to have those doubts keeps things in perspective.
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising things about you?
BCR: My musical taste is slowly becoming my dad’s. I would’ve laughed in your face if you told a 16-year-old Lex one day he’d prefer The Beach Boys to Guns n Roses, but God Only Knows is a perfect song and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees