by Malcolm Petch
Very sorry, due to unforeseen circumstances Rococode had to cancel this show.
Very sorry, due to unforeseen circumstances Rococode had to cancel this show.
Interestingly, the folks of Rococode
describe themselves as ‘an evolving band of three Vancouver musicians’, yet all
their publicity shots show four distinct members. That’s pretty efficient
evolution.
The video for their song “Weapon”, posted
on August 30, does a good job of capturing the essence of Rococode’s music.
There’s an underlying darkness in the visual theme that supports the lyrical
content of the song, yet the whole thing is wrapped in a robe of accessible and
strong pop music that is engaging and enjoyable right from the start. Shades of California pop bands slip through the track
on occasion – in a good way.
Truth be told, all of Rococode’s videos are
masterful and engaging. It’s clear these guys – or, rather, lady and gentlemen
– know what they’re doing both with their music and with their visuals.
Dig a bit deeper, and it’s easy to see why
the music seems so well constructed: it actually is well constructed. Laura
Smith and Andrew Braun, founding members of the band, met at a Jazz school
where, among other things, Andrew graded Laura’s Music History papers and
played support in her solo project. And every bio that includes mutual time at a
Jazz school is usually reflected in quality music.
As Laura and Andrew started collaborating
more and began recording, the solo project transmogrified into something more
like the Laura and Andrew Band (they even referred to themselves as LAB). Shaun
Huberts (bass) and Johnny Andrews (drums) joined the line-up to help lay down
tracks during early recording sessions after crossing paths with Andrew at a
Victoria wedding where they were all faking their way through providing jazz
background music. “The evening was highlighted
by a 45-minute muzzak-inspired rendition of ‘Girl from Ipanema,’ ” says Andrew. “It
was love at first note.” Andrew started bringing Shaun and
Johnny in as backing musicians with Laura every once in a while, and when LAB
started recording it just made sense to use Shaun and Johnny to round the
tracks out.
“When
Shaun and Johnny came back [from their tour with Tegan and Sara] and we started
to play live shows it was quickly apparent that it was a project they also
wanted to be invested in,” says Andrew. “We all came BACK to the studio
after a long hiatus and recorded two (and a half) more songs… including Weapon…
to finish up the record.” Braun says it was obvious to all four of them that they’d
settled into being a band.
Rococode
credits producer Ryan Guldemond with having the biggest and most obvious
influence on Guns, Sex & Glory. Like Shaun and Johnny’s inclusion into the
family, Guldemond’s role came about after a chance meeting one day. That
serendipitous street encounter morphed into a significant time of pulling apart
the songs Andrew and Laura had written, piecing the arrangements together, and
really shaping the sound for the band.
The
final results of the whole recording project literally speak for themselves,
and Laura, Andrew, Johnny and Shaun have been touring their album together from
even before it was released. Johnny and Shaun still have to split their time
between their work with Tegan and Sara and their time with Rococode – but get
them in the right place at the right time, and the music comes together!
That
music will be coming together here at Streaming Café on October 6. And for all
those who have ever thought to themselves, “Man, why are the shows so early at
SC?”, you’ll be glad to hear that for this rare occasion Streaming Café will be
hosting Rococode at the special showtime of 10:00pm Pacific time! Yes, that’s
right: ten o’clock in the evening.
Rococode.
In person. Intimate setting. Rare opportunity.
