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It’s said that you don’t appreciate the things that come easily to you. If that’s true, Winnipeg’s The Liptonians are especially appreciative of their self-titled debut CD.
“It’s proof that you can record an album with no knowledge and do everything backwards and wrong, but it might end up okay if you have lots of friends,” singer-keyboardist Matt Schellenberg says of the disc.
Schellenberg fronts the rock-pop quintet with singer-guitarist Bucky Driedger. Their names may not be familiar to most Winnipeggers, but the two have been playing music together ever since in high school over six years ago.
In 2004, they began writing the songs that would become the upcoming album. They began working in earnest the following year, when they moved into a house together on Lipton Street in Winnipeg’s Wolseley area. In the house, which they dubbed Liptonia, they continued writing and started recording.
“The idea of being in a creative space was appealing,” Driedger says of the decision to live, write and record in the same house.
The band started amassing dozens of songs, writing and performing most everything themselves, enlisting a talented cast of friends along the way to bring certain sounds to life.
Driedger and Schellenberg are quick to point out they have different musical backgrounds which complement one another. Driedger is a self-taught musician, influenced by a steady diet of pop and rock records. Schellenberg is classically trained and knows his music theory.
The result of their collaboration is an 11-song odessy into territory previously mined by the likes of The Beatles, Wilco, and The Pets. The Liptonians aren’t content to just imitate, however, and rather, they boldly forge their own path.
The Schellenberg-sung “Charlie’s Back!” is the disc’s bouncy, horn laden piano-pop opener. A track later Driedger croons “Got Me in the Bag,” which romps through a bridge of unlinear brass and woodwind parts which grow into the tune's angsty climax. “Sing the Songs,” the album's centrepiece, draws you in with stripped down intimacy, then dramatically moves you through a huge dynamic range. The album ends with the folk-rock tune “Lay Down the Ram." The song is driven by lyrics of community and action, ending the album with a group sing-along that is charmingly out of tune.
Driedger and Schellenberg engineered the album themselves, and it was mixed by Lyndon Froese. The record was mastered by Mike Petkau, veteran Winnipeg singer-songwriter-producer. Driedger and Schellenberg are proud of the finished product.
In order to make the music heard, they’ve assembled a band. Joining Driedger and Schellenberg are Terrell Froese on drums, Darren Grunau on bass, and the album's mastering engineer, Mike Petkau on guitar and keyboards.
And what happens next? Making sure the music gets heard. The band will play a number of shows in Winnipeg and then head out on the road in April for a month of touring.
“We need to give this album some legs to stand on, or it will sit in our basement forever,” says Driedger.
“If people hear the record and like it, then I’d consider it a success,” adds Schellnberg
“It's not like we need to ‘make it or anything,’” says Driedger with a smile and a shrug, adopting a hippy's tone of voice, “I just like playing music, man.”
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