2. Recording in the studio VS Touring I love recording. If I could only do one thing, it would be record. It has it’s challenges, but it’s so much fun to take a song from your brain and see it take shape. I like touring, and sometimes touring can be really really fun, but other times it can be difficult. I love performing, but I also love the comforts of home. I’ve been lucky to have always toured with people who I get along with really well. That is crucial! 3. Immaculate Machine VS The New Pornographers It’s just not possible to pick one band over the other. I grew up in Immaculate Machine. We were best friends, we fought, we had inside joke after inside joke, we did everything together on tour, and once we even went on vacation together after tour! I learned how to record, how to tour, how to perform in Immaculate Machine. Joining The New Pornographers was a huge deal for me – it opened me up to a different perspective on the music industry and taught me all kinds of things about recording and song writing and working as a musician. I love the music and the people. So you see, I can’t pick one over the other. Both were huge influences in my life. 4. Solo project VS Bands In the solo project there is total creative control. I can do whatever I want (within reason) with the music and no one is going to argue! I’m glad I get to play in a band too, though, because in a band, you share things. You share creativity and you share responsibility, for better or for worse! I love working with people, so I try and rope people in to help me with my solo project all the time. It’s more fun with a community around you! 5. Are You My Mother? VS Bright and Vivid Are You My Mother? was my first solo album. It was recorded in my mother’s living room, and was a relatively low key affair. It took a year to write, a year to record, and a year to be released. I took my time figuring out how I wanted it to sound. Bright and Vivid still took a year to record, but I knew what I wanted when we started. I wanted something bigger, bolder, with more instruments. I was really just having a good time trying things out… again in the living room. Like I said, I love the comforts of home! [video:http://vimeo.com/user5077383/who-are-you] Want more? You can follow Kathryn on Twitter! We also recommend checking out her live show. Here’s her upcoming tour dates… 11/30/2011 Ottawa ON Raw Sugar Cafe
1. Playing a small intimate show VS Playing a festival
I love both for different reasons. The festival is big, lots of space, my band mates are often tiny specks in the distance on the stage, and there are usually tons of people. The festival is fun because of it’s size and there are often other great bands on the bill that I want to go see. Big crowds, big fun.
The small intimate show, as long as it’s not so intimate that you’re only playing for the staff at the bar, is great because we’re usually piled on top of one another on stage, the audience feels like it is witnessing something special and the band plays better when the crowd is excited. It’s usually sweaty.
12/1/2011 Montreal QC Casa del Popolo
12/2/2011 Quebec QC Le Cercle
12/4/2011 Hamden CT The Space
12/5/2011 Boston MA Church of Boston
12/6/2011 Brooklyn NY Knitting Factory
12/7/2011 Philadelphia PA Johnny Brenda’s
12/8/2011 Arlington VA IOTA Club & Cafe
12/9/2011 Durham NC The Pinhook
12/10/2011 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
12/11/2011 Knoxville TN Pilot Light
12/12/2011 Nashville TN The Basement
12/13/2011 St Louis MO Cicero’s
12/14/2011 Chicago IL Double Door
12/15/2011 Grand Rapids MI The Pyramid Scheme
12/16/2011 London ON Call the Office
12/17/2011 Waterloo ON Jane Bond Restaurant
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- Song Of The Day: Kathryn Calder’s “Arrow”
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- Immaculate Machine Tour With, Without Calder




