Jeremy Fisher Riding To Fame With Home-made Video

Jeremy Fisher is that guy who could get away with wearing a bath robe to class and still remain the most popular kid in school.

Whether it means riding his bike clear across the country in support of his last album, Let It Shine, or filming his own claymation-style music videos, the Vancouver-based singer/songwriter can do pretty much anything nutty and continue to be seen as one of Canada's top emerging talents.

Fisher's DIY ethic is as fierce as the tempestuous curls on his head, a quality the young buck has to thank for his successes, like his recent signing to Wind-Up Records. But while the rest of us are busy raising an eyebrow at how he's managed to garner so much attention with his unconventional approaches to music, Fisher's already looking ahead towards his next challenge.

"I can really speak to what I try to do make [my music] stand out. I have a pretty wide array of influences. I grew up listening to a lot of hard rock — AC/DC, Van Halen and Rush, and a bunch of other bands that I'm too embarrassed to mention — and that's a fundamental part of who I am musically.

"Lately, though, I've gotten into a lot of singer/songwriter stuff and a lot of classic blues, so what I try to do is make a sound that is timeless, but is contemporary at the same time. That's all I can hope to try to do — make something that will last and is refreshing. The record that I made, Goodbye Blue Monday, is a real throwback to a lot of '60s folk revival stuff. But at the same time there are a lot of pop hooks in there, and modern song structures. So that's what I was trying to achieve, I guess, something that was new but also harkened back to the stuff I used to listen to."

Goodbye Blue Monday is Fisher's latest musical creation, a collection of striking folk tunes drenched in pop melodies and sincere emotions. The record is set to be released in the States in August, but Fisher plans on heading down in June to support it ahead of time. A European tour is also in the works.

Fisher has also been catching the attention of YouTube frequenters with his wildly inventive music video for "Cigarette." With more than 1.4 million views and counting, the video — involving a plasticine cigarette and delayed filming techniques — has been an interesting marketing tool for Fisher. But from his perspective, it was just another one of those crazy ideas that left judging eyes so intrigued that full marks were in order.

"I'm really into the videos," Fisher says. "They're fun."It's kind of a creative outlet for me. Whether they're good or bad, it doesn't really matter to me, because if they're bad and I put them up on YouTube or something, they'll just go away. They'll just kind of fade from existence. It's kind of me working on my music while I take a break from it at the same time."

Here are Fisher's Canadian tour dates:

May 18 Hamilton, ON @ Westside Theatre
May 21 Barrie, ON @ Barrie Waterfront Festival
June 21 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
July 15 Montreal, QC @ Olympia