City And Colour: Sleep When You're Dead

11/12/08 1:47pm

by Liisa Ladouceur (CHARTattack)

Dallas Green may be the Canadian songwriter of his generation and he's definitely losing sleep over it

There are no tattoo parlours on Dallas Green's street. No record or skateboard stores either. I shouldn't be noticing this, as I'm rushing to his house for an interview, and I suppose I should be keeping my eyes peeled for his address. But the mind wanders when counting the blocks of upscale coffee shops and spas, navigating around the well-coiffed locals strolling in the winter sunshine and wondering what a guy like him is doing living in a place like this.

Green is a punk rock star, after all. He's the most famous member of internationally acclaimed, Warped Tour-sanctioned, St. Catharines, Ontario heroes Alexisonfire. And thanks to his successful MuchMusic People's Choice-approved solo project City And Colour, he could be the King Of Kensington, or Queen Street West, or some other hip downtown Toronto 'hood where artists hang out and make a scene.

Instead, it turns out he lives on a quiet street in North Toronto, in a rather ordinary house. And once inside, I suspect Green isn't all that concerned with who he is — only with who he isn't.

"Nice Junos." I've noticed straight away the two glass trophies in his living room, perched atop a modest upright piano. In 2005, AOF won a Juno for new group of the year, Green later scored alternative album of the year for City And Colour's Sometimes debut. The singer would rather talk about the newly acquired piano.

"I've always wanted one," he says. Of the Junos, he seems
embarrassed to have displayed them. "That's not what inspires me, what I've done before. I wouldn't have those out here at all, but my girlfriend likes them."

His girlfriend is Leah Miller, famous in her own right as a MuchMusic VJ. This is their new house, sparsely furnished in shiny new black things. She's not here, but her heart is. In the kitchen, someone has written, "I love you more than ever" on a chalkboard. There are freshly baked brownies. Green is in his at-home best, which includes moccasins, but not eyeglasses. He offers to make tea (after he rings Miller to find out where they keep it). It's endearing, and I instantly flash to one of his solo concerts and realize how many of the young female fans that call out "I love you Dallas!" would swoon to be here right this second.

There's a better reason for the visit than Sunday tea, though. Green is about to release a new album upon the world, City And Colour's Bring Me Your Love. And host/guest pleasantries duly done, we settle by the fire to peel back its heart and look inside…

CONFESSIONS
First, I need to know about its cover: a hand drawing of Green's face in repose. Is he supposed to be sleeping? Dead?

"Both," he says. "My friend Dan [Romero, of labelmates and pals Attack In Black] did the artwork and I asked him to do a painting. He made one that really looked like I was dead. I liked it, but everyone else was kinda, 'I don't know if that's the best one. We don't want you with a dead face.' He made another that was more lifelike, with my eyes open, but I really liked the idea of the eyes shut."

No doubt, since Bring Me Your Love is practically an ode to getting shut-eye. The nods to both insomnia and death are quite overt, from the song titles ("Sleeping Sickness" "Body In A Box") to a steady flow of lyrics about endless nights, in this world and the next. These aren't the product of the random-emo-song-title virus that seems to be going around. When Green sings "my nerves will be the death of me," it's literal.

"We've never had a good relationship, me and sleep," admits the 27-year-old singer. "I've been like this since I can remember. Every night, knowing I had to get up for school at seven and being up 'til three or four in the morning, I'd just play guitar really quietly and not wake my parents up. I just can't seem to relax. I don't really know why and I don't know if I want to, either."

Green's condition has an upside: many late hours spent songwriting. It's why he had so much extra material apart from Alexisonfire that he decided to put out the first City And Colour recording. He tried to do so quietly, like footfalls on the steps at night. But these simple acoustic songs were too good to go unnoticed. Soon, "Save Your Scissors" and "Comin' Home" became bonafide hit singles, and Green a new kind of Canadian idol. Between these two successful projects, Green has about as much street cred and crossover appeal as any musician in the country. And yet he still lies awake at night fretting about it.

"Mostly I worry about if what I'm doing is good," he says. "I have a really, really big problem with having faith in myself. I listen to other bands or musicians and think, 'Why would anyone listen to what I'm doing when they could listen to this?'''

Green gestures around him, to album covers by Bruce Springteen and Bob Dylan he has propped up above the mantelpiece. There's also the Springsteen photo book On Tour resting on the piano, cracked open to a page of the Boss on stage in front of tens of thousands, larger than life, rapturous in their applause. I ask Green if he thinks these musical legends also have self-doubt.

"I hope so," he says. "I think that's what makes the great artists better. If Bob Dylan liked everything he did, I don't think he'd still be making records. As soon as you believe that what you've done is great, there's no buffer zone. Everything you put out you'll think is awesome. So my goal is to always write a better song than I did before, but I have a problem with thinking the one I wrote right away is good enough. I struggle with that."

Listening to Bring Me Your Love is proof that Green's late-night struggles have paid off. It's a beautiful record filled with small observations about big things. Recorded in a church in Hamilton, it's both intimate and grand, handclaps and harmonies echoing about simple acoustic guitars. Some extra star power comes from guest Gord Downie, who he first met at a pre-Juno party in Winnipeg while AOF were still an underground phenomenon and were surprised to find in him an admirer. Green had been working on his song "Sleeping Sickness" for about 10 years, searching for the right way to complete it, then he heard the Hip's "Thompson Girl" and had an eureka moment on how to adapt the rhythm.

"When it came time to record, I thought I'd ask Gord to sing on it. I emailed him and asked, and he said yes. So I sent him a demo and he loved it."

Downie visited the church-turned-recording studio and nailed his vocals in 45 minutes.

"I couldn't look at him while he was singing. I was producing, so I had to tell him what I thought. But I can't tell Gord Downie what to do! You know he doesn't have to do stuff like that. He doesn't have to be nice, but he was."

AGAINST THE GRAIN
Like Sometimes, this new record bares little resemblance to Alexisonfire's anxiety-driven fury (what some kids call "post-hardcore," apparently), beyond the recognizable sound of his non-screaming vocals. The singer/songwriter admits it's hard to write personal lyrics with the band. Here then, are his late night confessionals made public, snapshots of his fatalist but sensible heart.

"I wanted it to be like when I play the guitar in my room because those songs are not larger than life. They're supposed to be from me to you — just me and acoustic guitar, singing. I don't want it to come across like it could be in an arena. I'm not trying to craft these three-and-a-half-minute pop gems that can be played on every radio station and be loved by millions of people."

Of course, City And Colour songs are pop gems, albeit of a modern, alternative variety. And that's exactly where Green is headed: radio and stadium stardom. Already, his live shows are sell-out love-ins, attracting AOF diehards and also fans of his — dare I say — emo guy image. After all, you don't beat Avril Lavigne in a MuchMusic People's Choice vote without a lot of young people pinning your picture up in their bedrooms.

"Yeah, and it's a bummer," he acknowledges. "I don't want to be heartthrob guy at all."

Luckily for the reluctant pop star, Green's music has also been taken seriously. He's seen as the "real deal," a songwriter with skills to be a "heritage" artist around for the long haul. Some of his most ardent supporters (this scribe included) see him as the latest in a proud tradition of our best world-class singer/songwriters going back to Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Young. While he might not pen epic poems to the nation, Sometimes' road-weary love note "Hello, I'm In Delaware" shouts out Saskatoon and is named for a line in Wayne's World — making it as close to classic Canadiana as anyone in his generation has managed.

Although Green keeps company with Downie, contributed "Cowgirl In The Sand" to last year's Young tribute compilation, Borrowed Tunes 2, and has also covered Ron Sexsmith, he's the last one to consider himself part of this esteemed pack. For all his tattoos and talent, Green sees himself as an ordinary guy with a good life, playing his guitar alone in the middle of the night.

"I'm not sure I'm part of any great tradition or scene," he says. "Just like Alexisonfire gets lumped into being 'screamo' because we have screaming and singing, but doesn't actually relate to those bands. I really like all those other songwriters, but I'm not into the 'next this or that.' There will never be another Neil Young, another Bob Dylan, another Bruce Springsteen. There will probably never be another me, but there will be people that are better than me."

Perhaps, but not this year. For now, Green is "that guy." With his new record, he asked the world to bring him love. He'd best get ready to receive it.

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Insomniacs Of The World Unite

Dallas Green is in good company when it comes to snagging a Gord Downie cameo. It seems Downie only comes out of his igloo to support things that have iconic Can-content value. Take, for example, his two feature film appearances:

Trailer Park Boys: The Movie — Downie played "Cop #1," who was at odds with everyone's favourite two-bit criminals.

Men With Brooms — He and the rest of the Hip were a curling team.

The following feature is the cover story from the March 2008 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, complete with a full City And Colour photo spread, head on over to the Chart Shop.