Panurge Come Out Of The Fog On New Album

It's noon on the west coast and Jon Schubert, the bassist for Vancouver band Panurge, speaks to me from his bed. This by no means suggests that he's lazy, however, as Panurge have been working hard to prep for the August 1 release of their second album, Walking In The Fog.

"The lulls are necessary between hectic times, but I am most excited when we're really into it and getting ready and playing lots," explains Schubert. "That's it for me."

The band are no strangers to Vancouver audiences, as they've been performing for almost 13 years. Singer/guitarist Chris Lovell, electronics master Daniel Byrne and Schubert have been friends since they lived with their parents in Vancouver's suburbs. They used to play together casually on a weekly basis, and eventually decided to record a couple of songs. After guitarist C.L. McLaughlin joined, Panurge were fully formed and ready to take on the world.

For Walking In The Fog, Panurge made a massive U-turn and altered the way they did things, resulting in their best work thus far.

"Now we all write songs and lyrics and we all demo them at home," explains Schubert about their more focused approach to recording. "We try not to pile too much into them so that, when we bring them in, there is room for everybody else to contribute."

The result is a multi-faceted album mixing folk-influenced music with electronic samples to create a nice melange of old and new.

"I think it's really cool that we recorded this thing and we oversaw the artwork," says Schubert. "I loved writing the album, arranging it, producing it, putting together the packaging and getting the final results for it."

Panurge's Throw Down The Reins debut came out on Nettwerk, but the new disc will be released by the fast rising Toronto label, Last Gang. The band couldn't be more thrilled with being on the same roster as Metric, Death From Above 1979 and Tricky Woo.

"We love it," enthuses Schubert. "Last Gang for life.

"It's a great label. The owner is a big fan of us, which is nice. We are very happy."

Panurge are hitting the road in support of Walking In The Fog. See them here:

August 3 Vancouver, BC @ Railway Club
August 4 Nelson, BC @ The Royal On Baker
August 5 Lethbridge, AB @ The Tongue & Groove
August 10 Montreal, QC @ La Salla Rossa w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 11 Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 12 Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 13 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah w/Run Chico Run
August 14 Sault Ste. Marie, ON @ Downbeat Lounge w/The Old Soul
August 17 Winnipeg, MB @ West End Cultural Centre w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 18 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo's Cafe w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 19 Edmonton, AB @ Sidetrack Cafe w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 21 Lethbridge, AB @ Tongue & Groove w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 22 Calgary, AB @ Broken City w/Run Chico Run
August 23 Red Deer, AB @ The Vat w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 24 Canmore, AB @ Canmore Hotel w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
August 25 Nelson, BC @ The Royal On Baker w/Run Chico Run
August 26 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club w/The Old Soul and Run Chico Run
September 1 Vancouver, BC @ The Plaza