The Slow, Sad Waltzes of Margo Timmins Back to the Cowboy Junkies unofficial fan club
The Slow, Sad Waltzes of Margo Timmins |
Some years ago, I passed an evening with Margo and her brother Michael in a small restaurant in Milan. I still remember their kindness, Margo's fascination, and Michael's intriguing character. Between one dish and the other, me and Guido have chatted a lot with the two Canadians. Some years passed, but the memory of "that evening" is still vivid. When I asked her whether she still remembered that dinner in Milan, even Margo stated that she did indeed. Sweet, free, with a beautiful voice which sometimes becomes even sensual, Margo is one of the most original singers in today's music scene: she and her band have never "undersold" themselves, and never will; they have a precise idea of what they want to do, and they carry on on their road, even at the cost of putting something of their own. The choice of becoming independent and to publish records with their own efforts is a consequence of the fact that major labels are blind with profit and don't listen to the music anymore. There's no interest in quality music, but only in "use it and then throw it" rubbish giving immediate profit: long-term projects with small revenues are not interesting anymore for the big labels. For them it is much better some filth which cashes thousands of dollars and then everybody forget, than a quality record which lasts for long but it sells slowly. The recent publishing of the wonderful rarities anthology, Rarities, B-Sides and Slow, Sad Waltzes, was the opportunity for a new chat with Margo. Unfortunately we were not one in front of the other in a small restaurant in Milan, but there was an ocean dividing us, and a telephone wire uniting our voices.   |
Hello Margo, it's Paolo from Italy... How are things? Fine, very fine. Do you still have a contract with Geffen? No, we left Geffen last December. We signed a distribution contract, only for the US, with Arista. While for the rest of the world we are working independently with our own label. We've given up with major labels, we are tired of them. And with Arista we have signed only a distribution contract, we have a complete control on our own music. From now on, we will sell our records time by time, nation by nation, using distribution contracts according to each market. Was the decision to leave a major made by you? Yes, we are tired of working with people who don't listen to the music. Nowadays majors more and more seek for profit, and don't care about music. Today images sell more than music: I'm not discussing about the quality of this or that product, it's not me to say that, but, on the other side, I have the right to manage my own music according to what interests me. Today, at labels they only talk about money, there's no place for music: it's not a good time for music. We have our own opinion, labels have another one. The last two studio records were very different one from the other: Lay it Down was more relaxed, Miles From Our Home was more rockish. Was it your own choice? Every record we made was depending upon our own choices. That is why we fighted for long with majors, every record we made depends on ourselves, not on others. We have always been very proud of our own music, and our music has always been our own choice. Was the choice of the two different producers therefore due to the kind of music you wanted for each record? Yes, that was the reason. While for Lay it Down we have chosen John Keane since he is more adapt to bring us up to a soft and rarefied sound, when we had our songs for Miles From Our Home ready, we had to choose a different producer, since Michael wanted to structure those songs in a different way. |
We wanted a more electrical sound, different vocal harmonies, enhanced guitars; that is why we chose an English producer, John leckie. Leckie proved to be a very free and affable person: he helped us to perfect certain sounds and he contributed to strengthen the songs. We have worked very well together, and we also enjoyed ourselves. Miles From Our Home is a very well produced record, but I don't think we will do another record like this one: at the end of the story it is the one which satisfied us less. Me too, I prefer Lay It Down between the two records, its quiet atmosphere, the beauty of the songs creating a splendid ensemble. Miles From Our Home does not reach this perfection I prefer Lay It Down too. We are working on a new record, and the sound is very similar to the one in Lay It Down. It is a very laid back record, with several instrumental jams, and atmospheres very near to our debut on Geffen. It is a return to the past, also to the sound of The Trinity Session. Is your new album a studio record then, or does it also include live songs? No, it is a studio record so far. We are working on several songs, since weeks, and, even if we have recorded in different places, we are now recording in a small studio here in Toronto. It is almost under our homes. In this way, it happens that as soon as we have some spare time, we go down and record something, and put on tape ideas and suggestions, short jams, strophes, melodies, finished or incomplete songs. It is a new way of working which is really intriguing us, and sometimes it is even more appealing than the typical way of working with majors, that is two three weeks closed in a studio and that's it. In this way the record comes out in a more naive way, but we can create without pressure, and most of all without anybody looking at their watches. If the song comes out, we stop and we complete it, otherwise go back home. Who's producing the record? Us. |
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