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▲ Canadian jam-electronic band The New Deai credits much of its
success to a philosophy of keeping things spontaneous, new and fresh.
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VARIETY
Band takes alternative
direction with electronics
By JOHN BARRETT
The Red & Black
When Canadian Jam
electronic trio The New
Deal formed In 1998, there
was no conscious decision
to exclude the typical ele
ment of guitar.
Quite the opposite Is
true, In fact. According to
keyboardist Jamie Shields,
the band came together
spontaneously, with virtu
ally no premeditation. The
lineup Intact to this day
Shields, bassist Dan Kurtz
and drummer Darren
Shearer was bom of an
impromptu jam session.
“Darren had this weekly
acid-jazz jam thing going
on at some lame pool hall
kind of thing that they
wanted a live band [at] for
some reason,” Shields said.
“It was fUn music, but
nobody was listening and
nobody cared. Then one
day the guitarist couldn’t
make it, so it was just me,
Darren and Dan. We
played the show and it was
awesome. We Just made
some great music togeth
er.”
After recording their
very first show, they decid
ed on the spur of the
moment to release it to
the public via a mailing list
and tour in support of it.
This approach worked,
and over the years The
New Deal’s crowdß steadily
grew by the hundreds.
“That’s kind of the way
The New Deal handles its
operations,” Shields said.
"There’s no real conscious
decision when it comes to
The New Deal. It’s about
sort of going with what
you feel at the time is the
best thing, which is how
we approach playing con
certs as well.”
Shields’ philosophy is
THE NEW DEAL
WITH FLT RSK AND
UP UNTIL NOW
When: 9 p.m. tomorrow
Where: New Earth Music Hail
Price: sls
reflected in the band’s
name— keep everything
spontaneous, keep making
things new and fresh, and
keep reinventing oneself.
“If you don’t [push
yourself], you just kind of
become a lounge act,” he
said. "We’re trying to
improve and change and
develop through our jams
constantly, and we reachec
a critical mass about six
months ago where we
decided it was time to tak
the bull by the horns and
do what has to be done to
move on to something new.'
The trio’s most recent
shift in stylistic focus has
brought about The New
Deal 3.0. Whereas in the
past the band focused
more on the jazz-fUsion
and house elements of
dance music, it now ven
tures deeper into aggres
sive electronic music terri
tory, incorporating a digi
tal bass synth and elec
tronic drum kit into its
typically digital-free setup.
“It’s definitely getting a
little darker, it’s definitely
getting a little heavier
[and] it’s getting a little
more electronic," Shields
said. “There’s a lot more
‘umph’ to what we do, and
we’re trying to play differ
ent rhythms and styles
than what we had.”
Still, Shields who
cites Frank Zappa, Brian
Wilson, Herbie Hancock
and Miles Davis as his
chief influences is quick
to point out that he still
doesn’t loop a single sound
that emanates from his
keyboard rig. Even if a part
is repeated, he plays every
note with his fingers (and,
if his hands are fully uti
lized, sometimes his nose).
’A lqt of [dance music]
is repetitive loops pro
grammed into a keyboard,
but that’s not really our
style and it never has been
because it limits us,”
Shields said. “If you start
playing to looped bits and
to sequenced bits, then
you kind of handcuff your
self to whatever’s going on
right at that specific time.”
Indeed, collective
improvisation is still the
touchstone of The New
Deal's concerts 12 years
into its career.
“Harmonically I’m in
charge of the chords, but
the way that Dan shifts his
[bass] playing around, he’s
able to modify those
chords in ways that per
haps I wouldn’t think
about,” Shields said of the
group’s on-stage chemis
try. “One flick of the wrist
and he just changes a
note, and it completely
changes the dynamic and
the appeal of whatever
chord progression we have.”
The New Deal's unwav
ering grassroots approach
across its musical history
has produced an intimate
bond between the band
and its audience.
“The relationship we
have with our crowd is sort
of a shared experience,”
Shields said. “A lot of
times with bands that are
out there, it’s sort of
focused on the scene.
People are like, ‘Well, I’m
going to go because my
friends are going to go and
I’m going to have a good
time, but I’ll probably end
up talking in the back of
the room.’ That doesn’t
really happen a lot at our
shows because while there
is a scene, you get people
who want to dance, you
get people who just want
to listen to the music, and
then you get people who
are a combination of
both.”
What's even more
impressive is how The New
Deal has managed to sus
tain a presence in the
music world despite hav
ing not released a studio
album since 2003’s “Gone
Gone Gone.”
“We’re going to be
releasing something in stu
dio form, either an EP or a
bunch of tracks, sometime
early in the new year,”
Shields said. “[But] the
way that any band is going
to have any sort of eco
nomic viability is by hit
ting the road. The way
that we’ve been able to
maintain a fan base is by
playing a lot of shows,
playing good shows arid
allowing people to tape
our shows since the very
beginning.”