Maybe Smith Will Have Animals On New Album

02/29/08 6:30pm

by Alyssa Noel (CHARTattack)

Colin Skrapek has been holed up in his Saskatoon home-cum-recording studio, toiling away at his latest record, while the winter wind whips across the prairies.

"I'm happy with what I've done so far, but I've realized I've written a lot of songs about animals," says Skrapek, acknowledging that under his Maybe Smith moniker he has written several critter-themed tracks in the past. "I'm going to have to switch that up a bit, or perhaps I should go with it… Maybe Canadians are stereotypical outdoors people. I work in an office nine-to-five, so I'm not exactly a mountaineer."

Besides the daily grind, living in a province away from any real mountains might also be hindering his hiking hobby. But it hasn't stopped him from slowly rising to minor fame for his imagery-laden electronic folk-pop. Last year was a good one for Skrapek, with a trip to play shows in Japan, notable record sales and plenty of spins on campus stations and CBC Radio 3.

It's laughable, Skrapek says, that people feel the need to go east to make it in today's DIY-favouring music industry.

"The days of having to move to Montreal and Toronto and recording in a studio and changing your life are gone. I find it interesting that people still find it necessary to shake up their whole lives. I like living in Saskatoon. It allows me to do this."

Although the approaching spring threatens to ruin the image of the isolated artist, Skrapek will continue to craft his record single-mindedly until it's finished — hopefully by the end of the summer.

"Typically when I start to do a record, that's all I do," he says. "I don't set deadlines for myself because I don't have to.

"That's a nice thing about being an independent musician not on a legitimate record label. I put pressure on myself to release an album every year… I don't have to do it, but I like to."

Maybe Smith will play Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on March 8 as part of Chart's Canadian Music Week showcase with Said The Whale, Black Lungs, The Saint Alvia Cartel, White Cowbell Oklahoma, The Creepshow, The Ghost Is Dancing and Tom Fun Orchestra.