Neil Quin of Zeus talks Home Towns, Influences, AM Gold, and the recording of Classic Zeus

Zeus has garnered substantial critical praise from their earliest hatched-together recordings, 2009’s Sounds Like Zeus EP.  They are known as much for their guitar, harmony, and prog-driven roots as for their attachment to an ill-defined period of sound. Say Us (2010), Busting Visions (2011), and now 2014’s Classic Zeus have defined in full-length LP format the statement that they wish to put forth to the world. And what a wonderful statement it is.

Having toured extensively, continentally and throughout Europe this year, Zeus found themselves at the end of the summer in their adopted hometown of Toronto, launching their new LP in a secret back-alley show tucked behind Toronto’s Little Italy district. Before heading out on the road again in support of Classic Zeus on their “Family Affair” tour (Zeus, The Golden Dogs, Taylor Knox, also Wax Atlantic), co-songwriter Neil Quin found some time to talk about growing up in rural Ontario and making a name for yourself in Canadian rock.

Luke C. Bowden: Congratulations again on the NXNE show and the show the other night.  It must be nice after such arduous touring to be back before a hometown crowd.

Neil Quin: Absolutely. We loved playing in Toronto the last couple of times. It was a great feeling and a great sort of lettin’ everybody know we’re back in business. People are happy to see it, so it’s and it’s just a happy time.

I think we’re happy for you. Can we just start with a preliminary talk about your own biography — about your hometown and where you were born and raised?

Sure. I was born in Toronto, at Toronto East General Hospital, and then the family moved to Orillia in 1988. Yeah, you know, small town, The rest of the boys, they came from Barrie and Oro so we were all sort of from the same region, but we met each other later in life.

When abouts did you meet each other?

I met those guys probably 2006.  I met Carlin one time and I played with him very shortly after I joined The Golden Dogs. He used to be in the band as well. We did some shows together, had some fun, I met Mike later on, and Carlin’s brother (Liam) and everyone else that was involved. And, sure enough, we spent more and more time together, which was cool.

You’re anticipating my next question, which is: You’re going out on a “Family Affair” tour in support of this record with the Golden Dogs and your dear friend  — and band mate in Major Grange — Taylor Knox.  I guess what I really wanted to know is what years were you in the Golden Dogs during the same period as Carlin? 

We just sort of crossed over each other. I just stepped in as he left.

What years would that have been?

That would’ve been 2005 — [the] year I joined the band.

It just seems to me, and its just worth noting besides the play on words — one thing that’s really “classic” about this record [Classic Zeus] is you’ve returned to the classic line-up of players that were on the original recordings: Taylor Knox, Dave Azzolini, Jessica Grassia and I guess you added Peter Elkas to the mix.  Was that a conscious decision or was that just sort of hanging out in the Ill Eagle clubhouse?

It was really just the way it goes. It was all about who was around at that time. Carlin and Mike, when they were making the first Zeus record, they really didn’t know what they were doing. They were just recording songs with each other. So, it was really just celebration — whoever was around happened to be a part of the recording process. We just hung around.

This time, it was just like… Dave Azzolini was there a lot of the time. They live upstairs from the studio, so he was with us hanging out, making tea. He and Jess, they were off on Fridays and they’d come down and hang out. They were featured on some singing and clapping and stuff, but I think it was just the kind of energy that… it was our record to make and we were totally game-time on it.

You’re talking about the first one right now? 

No, I’m talking about the third one now. I’m talking about… that’s what the difference is. The people are still around but not as often. It was kind of like it was our project. That was how it felt — it happened naturally.

What about having this ensemble of players together with you on this Classic Zeus outing? Is that just an outgrowth of the sort of family relationship you all have?

I wouldn’t call it that. It’s just kind of… each band kind of hunkers down and gets down to their bottom line. It just happened to be what suited the music was  the four of us working together. A lot of me, Carlin, and Mike in the studio together, making decisions and producing together. It was very much us getting to know ourselves and each other better and not having friends around all the time, We’re all obviously buddies, but we can just get down to work and focus, and be more tedious about things. I think that we spent a lot more time on this record, and for good reason, you know. It needed to sound a certain way.

I hear what you’re saying. One thing that interests me is that a really strong song from your last outing Strong Mind started as Major Grange song, as I understand.

Yeah.

Are there other songs like on this record — others that started elsewhere and have become parts of the Zeus canon or Classic Zeus?

Let me see here. Yeah, another song of mine called “Where Is My Love?” — the first song on the record — I used to play in a band called Bad Yoga with Jay McCarrol (Brave Shores), my friend Matt Miller, and our buddy Dave Dalrymple, who’s in a band called Wax Atlantic. He’s the other half of Major Grange, to tie it into Taylor Knox. We’ve also got the Taylor Knox Band now going, and we have Wax Atlantic joining us on a few dates.

So you’re touching on what I wanted to ask you, which is: What are the bands or projects you’re currently involved in?

All of those.

(Laughs) The ones we just mentioned?

Yeah, exactly. Taylor and I did a lot of playing on the Wax Atlantic record. You know, there’s a lot of moments on that where it felt like Major Grange reunited — in the studio with the three of us, the original line up. I would do drums, Taylor on bass, and Dave on guitar, and we had some really fun nights together. It was like band therapy, you know.

Was Major Grange more of band therapy thing or was that a side project?

It was just because the band had broken up, that’s why I called it band therapy. We hadn’t played together in a few years because we had replaced… I used to play the drums in the band. We got our friend Rob Gordon involved to play the drums. That was the final days of Major Grange, and that was great and everything…

In what years was that band active? 

2008-2009, I guess. In the course of that year we played some shows and made a crack at some recordings and stuff.  It didn’t pan out and we didn’t release anything in that lineup. After that, a couple of years had gone by and Dave was writing. So, yeah, that’s what I was trying to say. We were buddies the whole time ,it was just kind of… we hadn’t got together and played like that.

I want to get into the record itself, because it really deserves some attention. But, I want to talk for a second about influences. I realize that you and Zeus are a lot more than the sum of your influences. The ones that get tossed around a lot are the Beatles, the Band, Big Star… I know you guys love the Superfriendz and Matt Murphy.  I think you admire Dr. Dog. Are there other bands that you feel are contemporaries of yours?

We have a wide range of influences. It’s kind of funny. Those bands that kind of resemble our sound seem to be the most obvious. Carlin, for instance, is a huge Michael Jackson fan. We’re all big Michael Jackson fans, We all listen to a lot of soul music.

Name some of the soul music you listen to.

Ah man, like, the whole Motown arrangement. We all really love Stevie. You know, the Funk Brothers and every record they touched. There was something magic in that Motown sound. We love Robert Palmer — “Simply Irresistible.” I really like the Eagles. The other guys don’t so much but they’re coming around. I see a lot of comparisons between the Eagles and Zeus — the hooks and how some of the songs are written.

Some eras of the Eagles more than others, maybe. 

Yeah, absolutely. You know, we dig Alan Parsons, some squiggy AM Gold. Stuff like that. We’ve been digging some Chicago as of late. Geez, let’s think of more contemporary stuff.  I love the Junior Boys. I think they’ve had a big influence.

Yeah, we talked about this the other night and I was kind of surprised, in a nice way, because the Junior Boys, as you mentioned, are Hamilton proud. They’re, you know, electronic musicians for the world and important Canadian musicians. It was a little surprising to hear you say that “Heavy On Me,” one of your songs with the most cross-over appeal from the last record… that you were really influenced by the Junior Boys on that one. 

Big Time.

 

Now here’s what I need a little education in before we just talk about the record proper… The last thing about influences…when I was listening to the Grateful Dead, my girlfriend was listening to Depeche Mode. So, I just don’t get the Dave Gahan thing.  I know he’s a big influence of yours and I just wondered lyrically and musically — can you explain how that comes out in the songs you write today?

You know… he kind of has a mystical sensitivity where he does write a lot about pain and pleasure and love and [the] awesome struggle in life. He’s one of those guys who sings about a hard path. I’m always interested in those kind of people. He seems like a magical kind of dude. He sings about a lot of different things, you know, and I always identify with that in the same way that I’ve recently started to identify with Waylon Jennings. There’s a tragedy to it, but there’s also a humour behind that tragedy. It’s kind of like, you know, the life of the wild man. Ever since I was a little kid, that’s what attracted me to rock and roll. This is a way you get to have a career. You’re permitted to live and be this way, and [you’re] encouraged to travel the world.

Professional hooliganism

Exactly, and you get respected for it. It’s great. It just sort of suited my personality type. I always knew what I wanted to do from a young age, and I always knew that I loved the night life, even before I knew what it was. So, its suitable that my career is me out playing in bars and staying up at all kinds of hours, keeping an odd schedule. I never wanted to be a nine-to-fiver. Any different type of music that hits things about that… it’s a pretty broad statement I’m making there, but that’s what attracted me to certain stuff, for sure.

I think we’re on the right page, Neil, because I’ve got the vinyl out in front of me and there’s a quality to this record… “Cathartic” is a word that comes to mind — healing, soothing, redemptive — and I feel like you just touched on some of those themes. But my question really is, what are the Neil Quin songs on Classic Zeus? What are the songs that you brought to the table on this new outing?

I brought “Where Is My Love”, “Bonnieview”, “One Line Written In”, “27 Is the New 17”, and “You Could Have a Lover”.

Could we just talk a little bit about some of those songs, then, and what they mean to you. “Where Is My Love?” Lets just start there.  What was that song about?

That was a song for my Mom, really. She’s very close to me, very dear to me. You know, there’s a lot of love in my family.  That’s kind of a tragic story. It’s about a tragic story — my dad died in 1996 and she loved him very much. We all did.  He’s missed, and everything like that, and my mom never remarried or dated anyone after that.  So, its a tribute to the feelings one might have if they lost their one true love.

That’s a beautiful tribute to your mother. Likewise, “Bonnieview” has some unbelievable melodies and lyrics. I think it goes:

When the time is right you’ll know, You’ll start seeing everything
I couldn’t lose the faith you know, You work so hard for everyone

I think that single couplet is probably one of the greatest lines you’ve ever written or sung. I think it’s healing a lot of people around the world, including myself. But, where were you going besides referencing a Pontiac vehicle? What were you going for there?

Well, that’s the thing about it. It’s very much a driving song. Bonnieview’s just kind of a phonetic thing. It’s kind of like a Paul McCartneyism, like a style [where he] picks a word and sticks with it ’cause it helps him get the other words out.  That’s what worked. It just kind of came one day while I was playing the piano. I guess it’s like a name.  It’s a song for anyone whose struggling. It’s just a little hint of encouragement, but yet again, acknowledging there’s a lot of people going through hard times right now. There are people close to me going through hard times. It was just a tribute to a couple of the ladies in my life that I guess were having troubles with depression, getting bogged down by their lives and genuinely worried about the “what’s next”kind of thing. It’s just a little “don’t get bogged down by it all you’ll get through it.”

That one comes through real clear.  It doesn’t take too much interpretation. “One Line Written In”… is that the one where (drummer) Robbie Drake comes out and plays acoustic in the live show?

No, that’s “27 Is the New 17”. That was just sort of to switch it up.  I wanted to get him out there.

Lyrically, that seems like a straight-forward song, but is it as straight-forward as it seems? 

Yeah, its pretty straight-forward. It’s referencing a couple of different things. One thing is a relationship that’s just not working out. You just love the person, but you know the deal, and both know how it is — you can’t argue with it but you can still be bummed by it.  The whole idea with “27 Is the New 17” is [that] it’s kind of like a social statement in a certain sense. My generation, living in a post-WWII time, look at the way that things have settled in for us. The Boomers — our parents — have bought us… basically we’re allowed to be teenagers til the age of 35, even to 40 these years. There’s a lot of people out there who just haven’t got it figured out yet. They’re taking their time there having children later.

It’s called post-post adolescence.

Yeah, and I feel like I’m living in an extended teenhood. The way that this world is for me and a lot of people in my age bracket… I’m 28 years old, so many of the people I’m looking at, I went to high school with. People who I can just imagine what they were like in high school. Well they’re just even more crass versions of teenagers that are just doin’ it all better. When you’re a teenager, you’re not partying right. People are doing it right now. They’re not that much older but they’re making lots of money and they’re making their teen dreams come true. That’s the point of redemption in there — you can get bummed out by love but, at the same time, you’re young, so get out there.

 

*The author publishes his work at Northern Heads