Features

Enlarge Image

The Details defy gravity. (JARED FALK )

When local indie popsters The Details headed down to Austin, Texas, in 2009 for South By Southwest, music’s biggest industry conference, they were excited about who they might meet. The band — Shaun Gibson (drums), Keli Martin (bass), Jon Plett (vocals, guitar) and Sean Vidal (guitar, vocals) — was writing its second record and was eager to get out there and network, network, network.
   
But The Details’ chance run-in with a musical legend didn’t happen at a panel or showcase. It happened in a parking garage elevator. 
   
"This extremely tall, extremely thin old man with this creepy cane that was almost Mr. Burns-esque comes up to us and is like, ‘Are you a band?’ which was funny, because everyone’s a band at South By Southwest," Gibson recalls over the phone from his new home in Toronto. "We made some small talk, but we thought he was just an old man.
   
"We wanted to make this South By Southwest count, so we had made all these promo packages to give out to people — and Keli hands him one," he continues with a laugh. "We were kind of making fun of her for the rest of the trip, like, ‘Why would you give that old man a package?’"
   
That old man turned out to be Kim Fowley — the legendary manager, record producer, songwriter and glammy cult figure who has worked with The Runaways, KISS, Alice Cooper and many others. (Remember the evil manager in the 2010 biopic The Runaways? Yeah, that guy.)
   
"We get back to Winnipeg and Jon gets a call and it’s Kim," Gibson says. "He’s like, ‘Hello, Jon — this is Kim Fowley. Do you know who I am?’ And Jon was like, ‘Well, actually, I don’t.’ So (Kim) gives him his bio and starts talking about all the things he’d do for us. He was adamant about us coming to California and working with him."
   
Fowley was persistent, prompting The Details to seriously weigh their options.
   
"We had an internal discussion about whether or not this was where we wanted to go," Gibson says. "I went to his website and there’s this picture of him with makeup smeared all over his face. It was like, ‘Is this who we want representing us — or do we want (Weakerthans guitarist) Stephen Carroll?’ I haven’t checked The Weakerthans’ website in a while, but I’m pretty sure Stephen doesn’t have a photo of himself with makeup smeared all over his face."
   
The band opted to enlist Carroll as well as The National’s go-to engineer Brandon Reid for its sophomore album. It was a good call; released on May 31, Lost Art is a striking step forward for the band.
   
"We’re very excited about it," Gibson says of the new record. "It’s been a while since the last one, but it was a necessary three years. We were able to really hone the sound we were going for. The last one was pretty produced — which isn’t a bad thing — but I think this one sounds more organic."
   
Lost Art’s organic feel has a lot to do with how it was made; the songs were given a lot of time to grow.
   
"We spent a lot of time on pre-production with Stephen," Gibson says. "We wanted to get the songs in a way that we could play them on acoustic guitar."
   
It’s understandable that The Details would want to devote a solid chunk of time to writing; after the band formed in 2006, it wrote, recorded, released and toured its first EP, Marching Sound, as well as Draw a Distance. Draw a Border. — all in an 18-month span. There’s good reason Gibson refers to the years between albums as "necessary;" the band needed to breathe.
   
Plus, the thoughtful planning proved to be invaluable. Not only was the foursome able to go into the studio with air-tight songs it was proud of, the band was also able to use its 12 recording days for, well, recording.
   
"It was a really fun record to make. I think it’s a little looser than the last one," Gibson says. "I think you can hear that in Jon’s voice, too — he sounds more comfortable.
   
"It was nice to have friends involved," he continues; in addition to Carroll and Reid, Lost Art also features contributions from Imaginary Cities’ Rusty Matyas, singer/songwriter Jenn Grant, and Hey Rosetta!’s Kinley Dowling. "It felt like a family record — especially since we had worked with Stephen in the past. And he was incredibly helpful as always. Brandon is fantastic — that guy knows his stuff. He had just wrapped up The National’s latest, High Violet. He came in with that album on the brain — which, if you’re going for an organic sound, that’s the one." 
   
Indeed, Lost Art has an effortlessness about it that its predecessor lacked — and while Reid and Carroll’s production is certainly polished, it’s far from precious. The result is a richly textured collection of romantic, heart-on-sleeve indie pop anthems that stop far short of being twee.
   
Not surprisingly, The Details have no regrets about turning down Fowley’s promises of fame and fortune in California. Instead, they made a record they’re proud of. 
   
"It’s nice that people recognize our potential, but we’re happy with how it went," Gibson says. "I don’t think I would have been able to use the words ‘honest’ or ‘organic’ if we worked with him."
 

THE DETAILS CD-RELEASE PARTY
June 11, 8 p.m., West End
Cultural Centre
w/ Royal Canoe