Greenpointers Cameo Showcase Preview – Canon Logic

Greenpointers, along with Pancakes & Whiskey and Buzzchips, is putting on a show at Cameo Gallery this Saturday 1/18. There are four great bands on the bill: Adios Ghost, Youngman Grand, Folding Legs, and Canon Logic. All week long, we’re featuring one of the bands to get you even more excited to come party with us this weekend.  The series closes today, and our final installment features Canon Logic.

Before I share the interview with the band, here’s what you need to know about the show. Cameo is at 93 North 6th Street in Williamsburg. The doors are at 7:00 PM and music begins at 7:30 PM. It costs $10. You can RSVP here and buy tickets here. Hope to see you there.

There are five members of Canon Logic: Tim Kiely on vocals and keys, Mark Alu on guitar and keys, Josh Greenfield on guitar, Sean Enright on bass, and Zach Jordan on drums.  According to the band, most of them go “way back” and have been playing together for a while. However, the band as it exists now didn’t really come into full form until just before the release of their Rapid Empire EP (on Engine Room Recordings) in 2011.

It’s an exciting time for the band. Their new full length album WYLD comes out next month. Says Mark, “I feel like we really stepped it up. We took our time with it and really fleshed each song out, working with some amazing people. I can’t wait to get it out there. The shows so far have been getting better and better.” I have been able to sample the album and I like it a lot. Probably the biggest draw is the clear passion and emotional yearning, which you can hear in the already released singles like “Mountain” and “Crocodile,” and it’s present on the rest of WYLD. I haven’t seen the band live, but I have no doubt that energy will be even more palpable.

Here’s what Canon Logic had to say about the questions I asked them:

GP: If your band were characters from the TV show Community, who would each member be? I’d love to hear a brief reason why each choice was made so we can get to know you all better.

Mark: Let’s say Tim would be our Winger. I’ll give myself Abed since I’m kind of a pop culture nerd. Zach is the youngest and such a positive dude so he gets Troy.  Sean is usually the butt of Zach’s old man jokes, so he can be Pierce (sorry buddy).  And Josh can be Chang, because he’s the whackiest.  What our band really needs is a Magnitude. POP POP!

GP: What was one of your favorite musical discoveries of 2013? Doesn’t necessarily have to be a 2013 band or release, just something new to you in the past year.

Mark: Well there’s been a handful, but a recent one that made a big impact on me was the new ARMS EP.  Its just so good front to back, and “Up & Up” is one of my favorite songs in a long time.  We just played a show with them recently. Excellent band. 

GP: I have to compliment you on your music videos. “Mountain” and “Crocodile” were both really impressive and well-made. I’m pretty amazed you set a piano on fire and also got it out in the woods in the first place in “Mountain.” But I’m going to focus more on “Crocodile.” How much of it was planned to be shot during a storm or was it a spontaneous decision? Was it all at the same time? 

Mark: Thanks!  We actually got to set two pianos on fire! That was a really fun day out on the farm.  

The “Crocodile” video was totally spontaneous.  Right after Sandy, Adam Saewitz, who also co-directed the Mountain video, called up Tim and they biked over the Williamsburg bridge to see what the city looked like.  Tim ran through some takes of the song against blacked out buildings and down on the subway tracks while they were totally deserted.  It turned out to be some really eerie stuff and fit the mood of the song, especially with all the water imagery.  The live show stuff was a look at some of what Adam had accumulated.

GP: As for the song, I feel like there is an interesting play between the message of the words and the uplift of the music. What I wondered, though, was what drew you to the crocodile as a symbol or image. Any reason for that?

Mark: I can’t say why necessarily, but the song started from the crocodile image and that first verse.  I really liked how visceral it felt and built it out from there to kind of capture simultaneously the trepidation of “if you tip your hand, its going to get violent” and the kind of exhilaration of saying “fuck it” and throwing yourself into something, body and soul.  Hopefully that comes across.

Mark: We just set up a residency at Pianos in February, so we’ll be there on the 10th, 17th, and 24th.  We’re curating the line-up each night, bringing along some friends, so the shows will be great.  After that we’re looking to hit the road a little bit to support the record, and we’ll have another new video premiering on The Wild Honey Pie this month. [Keep an eye on the Canon Logic website. It seems as if they might be releasing a video for each song. Besides the two already linked here, there’s another for “Black Sun” that is a really fun spin on the classic Cake video “Short Skirt / Long Jacket” – SF]

GP: Finally, our site is all about Greenpoint, so I have to ask, what are some of your favorite things about Greenpoint?

Mark: Zach and Sean actually both live in Greenpoint.  So many good bars and restaurants.  I just checked out Little Dokebi this weekend, which was great, and I love Lomzynianka for Polish food, even though I definitely have no idea how to pronounce it.  And Tim got me hooked on Permanent Records, those guys are great.