BryanPotvinBreaksThrough by Barry Walsh, HMV. July, 2000

Well, Bryan Potvin is proving such wags wrong, and then some. As guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for one of Canada's most popular bands in the late Eighties, THE NORTHERN PIKES, Potvin penned a few of the group's biggest hits('She Ain't Pretty,' 'Hopes Go Astray,' 'Dream Away') and reaped the rewards. But then, the band wound up taking an "indefinite hiatus," the Pikes swam their separate ways (with Potvin going on to an A&R position with Mercury Records Canada) and many predictably thought that was that. But with a reformed Pikes hitting the studio to work on a new album (having recently wrapped up a successful Canadian tour) and a new solo album of his own to flog (the recently released HEARTBREAKTHROUGH), Potvin may not be the young fresh pup he once was, yet he's busier than he's ever been.

"On a real basic level, the volume of work now is so much higher," he says, during a conversation just prior to a showcase performance in Toronto. "It seems to be hopping like crazy. There really isn't much time to do anything else, but I don't have a whole lot of extracurricular activities."

Indeed, after leaving his job at Mercury and getting a divorce, Potvin found himself with time on his hands and songs in his head. After being away from the recording world for a period, Potvin found it somewhat daunting to re-enter the fray. But once the songs started coming, the proverbial floodgates opened and closing them was not an option. Out came songs like 'Read Between the Lines,' 'Too Late' and 'If Memory Serves' - songs that document a break-up as clearly as a camera in Divorce Court. As the title of the album suggests, 'Heartbreakthrough' is about loving, losing and coming out on the other side a new person.

"Yeah, real cutting edge stuff, eh?" he says self-deprecatingly. "I know that stuff can be horribly cliché-ridden. But every time I try to tell a story in a song without having experienced what I'm talking about, it comes out false and I don't buy it. There's gotta be a chunk of your being in the song for it to resonate. Lyrically, this record is kind of naked and I can see how it might make a few people

uncomfortable. But I didn't want to make a record that was shrouded in metaphor. I wanted to be very direct."Direct, yes. Naked, yup. But self-indulgent? Nope. As a Pike, Potvin contributed some of the hookiest tunes to their catalogue, yet he was also responsible for their more sonically dense moments. And on his solo record, the songs share those characteristics. The piano-driven textures of 'Darling, You Live In A Dreamworld' marry an ambitious arrangement with   Potvin's gift for melody, making it an album highlight. Potvin isn't shooting over anyone's head, but he isn't shooting blanks either. "I have a compulsion to write music that has those little

sonic peaks, but it is a weird blend, I guess. I want the music to be accessible. I don't want to alienate anyone. I've often read quotes from writers and artists about how they only make their work for themselves, but I've always found that quite a defensive stance, and not entirely true. Songwriting is a very communicative thing. The germ of the song is always a very personal thing but I'd say about 75 per cent is about the craft - swinging that hammer and anvil and making something."

In his old job as an A&R man, he  was starting to see less of the 'hammer and anvil' side of music-making, and more of the aspects of the industry that made him uncomfortable. It was a valuable experience insofar as it showed him what not to worry about when the time came to write and record again.

"A record company can be a very cynical, hard place to be. I found myself starting to fall into those trappings and I didn't like it. It's a competitive place, and I didn't want any part of that aspect. I used to think that music was the 'be all and end all' to this whole thing - that you couldn't jam things down people's throats and then I saw people doing just that.

But I remember one experience that was interesting - I was in a   marketing meeting, just kind of sitting in and people were listening to a bunch of songs coming from other territories. They were playing that OMC song, 'How Bizarre.' And it was incredible to see people saying 'Wow, what's this? This is great!' It was a genuine reaction to a song. Record companies know how to make someone a star, but ultimately it's the audience who decides."

Thus, the audience will decide whether 'Heartbreakthrough' actually does break through, but Potvin, as we said, is too busy to worry over such things. He's getting together with his Pike mates to write and record ("There was enough time and distance from the first book to start again," he says), and he's also taking the stage on his own for select showcase performances. It's a brave new world for Bryan Potvin, but don't think for a moment that it comes easy. "Yeah, it's weird, especially now that the record's out in stores. The kid's left home!" he says with a laugh. "And with playing a few shows on my own - you spend 10 years on a stage with three other people and being by yourself is pretty daunting. No one can hear you scream!"