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What exactly is the
SQUARE ROOT OF MARGARET?
By Anne Sulikowski
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Tell me about some of your earlier music compositions and recordings. Has your music style changed music since then?
The earliest incarnation of Square Root of Margaret began as an instrumental three-piece band. It was Po , DenDen#7 (aka Easy Reissner) and Clark Smart. They would meet together every night at The Briscotheque, and jam out psychedelic rock instrumentals in the basement, until the wee hours of the morning. People would often visit The Briscotheque just to watch the fellows mess around on their instruments. Potential singers came and went, but none of these other fellows seem to fit in with SRoMs musical mindset. The lads decided that Po should just start singing. Square Root of Margarets' earliest recordings were lo-fi, 4-track affairs, pushing the limits of what a 4-track was capable of producing. Even in the earliest compositions, one can discern a sound that is unmistakably SRoM SOUND. Satisfied with the results of their first recordings, the band began to slowly amass an impressive collection of vintage recording and music gear, with an eye towards cobbling together their own recording space (which in and of itself was an abstract safety hazard). Naturally, as the fellows' tastes in music evolved, and new members were added to the line-up, the music has evolved as well.
How do you guys write your songs? Tell me about your music process.
For the most part, Po writes the basic structure of the songs - guitars and lyrics. He then brings the songs to the other fellows in SRoM and they all work together to fully realize whatever it is that he hears in his head. For the most part, the songs arrive almost entirely
written, with small adjustments in arrangements and performance. Some things happen randomly, others require more effort.
What influences SRoM?
Musically, it's a little difficult to say that SRoM has been influenced by "this" or "that." However, we will say that the early Butthole Surfers loom large in Square Root of Margaret's own early days. We have often been compared to The Kinks, Grandaddy, and Camper Van Beethoven in the press. But comparisons in general are kind of misleading. We enjoy listening to a variety of music, which must surely influence us, if even in only a subconscious way. Currently, the lads in SRoM are very much enjoying recordings by Of Montreal, Super Furr Animals, Daniel Johnston, The Kinks (always) and early Faust. Other areas of interest include surrealist works of art, looking at clouds, fly fishing, sleep deprivation experiments, staring directly into strobe-lights, and alternate realities.
Tell me about your best live show as well as your worst.
We have had a lot of great times on stage over the years. One of our favorites was Square Root of Margaret headlining the final night of a legendary dive bar known as The Aberdeen. This place was once referred to an interview by The Tragically Hip as being the worst venue that they ever played. We called it home. The worst show was probably an evening at The El Mocambo, in Toronto , which found the lads in SRoM playing a clean-up slot for an ill-conceived rap band. It was to be the triumphant last show of an East Coast Tour for SRoM, on a bill that proved to be disastrous, as the rap band (which shall remain nameless) managed to empty the venue before SRoM took to the stage. Tour exhaustion, an ill-conceived bill, broken strings, and intense heat made for a very depressing and disappointing end to an otherwise great tour. If we had to think about it, that was probably the worst show (not discounting the time Po accidentally crashed head-first into the drumset, and was rendered immediately unconscious). We tend not to think too much about these things.
What do you guys all do when you are not playing music?
When we are not playing music, we tend to think about music and fly fish, regular fish, read books about musical fish, and eat fish. Otherwise, we might ride around on bikes, bounce the occasional ball, read an odd book, play chess, fly kites, and watch cartoons. We also enjoy helium.
So tell me about this fire. In detail. what happened?
On Halloween night, in the year 2000, Square Root of Margaret's rehearsal space burnt to the ground, while the fellow were at a friends' party, just one block away. The band lost thousands of dollars worth of largely irreplaceable musical instruments and gear. Just the night before, the fellows had played an incredible show in a bar called Beatniks, which was situated on the first floor of the same building that housed the rehearsal space. The fire was so huge, one could see reflections of the flames in the windows of the apartment where the party was taking place. The crowd emptied out into the street and watched the building burn. However, Square Root of Margaret were not the only people to be affected by this fire. Friends lost everything that they had in apartments that also burnt to the ground. Local businesses were also destroyed. Beatniks, the bar, of which Square Root of Margaret was considered the "house band" was never rebuilt, and never re-opened in another location - Which brings us to an interesting phenomenon in the musical history of Square Root of Margaret. In SRoMs earliest days, we were the frequent house band for the aforementioned Aberdeen - which closed shortly thereafter under mysterious
circumstances. The Parkview, SRoMs' next stomping grounds, was closed by the city, condemned and torn down. It is now a rather non-descript parking lot. And then, Beatniks. Anyone looking to cash in on some insurance money should seriously consider booking us for an extended live tenure at their bar and/or venue. We'll bring the marshmallows.
Visit http://www.srom.net
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