Ohbijou Can't Shake The Big City

Those familiar with Ohbijou know the seven-piece are heavily influenced by the city they live in.

Songs on their debut, 2006's Swift Feet For Troubling Times, were marked by an undeniable Toronto stamp, and directly and indirectly referenced its streets, neighbourhoods and people.

Even in the band's down time, singer Casey Mecija finds herself affected by her home. In 2007, she curated a compilation album called Friends In Bellwoods, which featured contributions by musicians that had passed through her west-end Toronto house (a second installment is being prepped for this August).

While Ohbijou's sophomore disc, Beacons, carries that same big city watermark, its genesis can be traced backed to the woods of southern Alberta.

Mecija talked to CHARTattack about the album's creation and the allure of isolation.

CHARTattack: Why Beacons as the title?
Casey Mecija: We had a really hard time figuring out what to call the album, so we started looking at the lyrics of some of the songs. There's a song on the album called "Jailbird Blues" and [it has] a lyric that sort of alludes to the word beacons.

When I was trying to figure out a name for the album, I was looking at that song, and was thinking about how the whole recording process has been pretty sick and interesting, and had its highs and lows and Beacons was kind of a nice way of leaving it on a hopeful note and encompassing the whole experience in a positive, hopeful manner.

Its release, earlier this year, was delayed. Was that because of upcoming label signings?
It was mostly because we were trying to figure out the best way to release it.

Before you hooked up with Last Gang, had you been planning on making it an independent release?
We were planning on releasing it by ourselves, yes, and then Last Gang showed a really nice interest in it, so we considered that approach.

Some of these songs came together while you were in residency at the Banff Centre [For The Arts], right?
When we went to Banff, it was the first residency that they did specifically for indie bands... I know Bell Orchestre and all of them [such as Montreal's The Adam Brown and Vancouver's Gigi] were there, with classical backgrounds or jazz backgrounds. None of us are very versed in classical music and stuff like that, so it's pretty amazing that they let us go there and record.

Was that an inspiring locale?
I think the isolation — the opportunity to be away from the city and the distractions of the city — was such a privilege.

We often get caught up in being Toronto dwellers, and that encompasses so many different socialities. Being able to have a log cabin in the middle of the woods to write and record in was such a treat, so we definitely benefited from it.

You just recently finished your first overseas tour, yes?
It was pretty exciting. I'd never been to Europe before. I think the best part about going overseas was getting to share my sister's first trip to Europe. Getting to share that with her and play music with her was pretty awesome.

Was there a most memorable show?
Yes. We played this show in London with The Acorn. It was memorable because we had no idea how big they are in Europe. They had sold out this 500-plus venue in London, and we watched in the audience. It was very foreign from what we're familiar with in Toronto — fans glazed over by these friends of ours.