vancouver review

DAVID USHER STAYS REAL

Author: Diana Novoa
Source: e.Peak - Simon Fraser
Date: November 17, 2003

What makes David Usher different from the slue of other alternative soft rockers? The fact that he was at one point a full time SFU student. "The drive up is a bit of a pain," he says "but its kind of nice to be away from things." I think most of us would agree with him.

After spending four years majoring in political science, David obtained his degree. When asked about his experience up at SFU all he had to say was, "I had a really good time, I liked the fact that I was isolated," he interrupts himself with a laugh. "But sometimes I hated the fact that it was isolated, depending on the day."

David has been playing music since childhood, but his career took off with the formation of Canadian group, Moist. We can all remember the fresh-sounding rock band and some still mourn its current hiatus status. With no plans to get back together David still contends that he and his former bandmates "are good friends."

David Usher just released his third solo album Hallucinations and performed at the Commodore last Thursday.

"Its definitely different," David says of Hallucinations. Morning Orbit was an infectious reflection of David's past, present, and future. With songs like Black Black Heart and A Day in the Life, he was able to show us the pop sounding David. With Joy in Small Places, he reminded us of his undeniable capability of capturing stories by taking a risk and experimenting with sounds that were completely different from his previous album, Little Songs. Songs, his first solo album, took a radical turn away from his career in Moist with songs like St. Lawrence River and Forestfire. He slowed down the beat, took it to an acoustic level, and showed the world very personal sounds.

"I'm not sure what kind of record [Hallucinations] is." He laughs a bit and pauses before continuing. "It doesn't have a category. Some of the criticism I've gotten for this record is that it doesn't sound like Moist and it doesn't sound like Little Songs," as he explained this, I could see that he was frustrated but he veiled it behind a layer of cool.

The use of metaphors throughout his new record has led critics to call Hallucinations "too poetic," but David doesn't let criticisms affect what he wants to do and the message he wants to get across. "Sometimes you do what you want - people love it or sometimes they hate it. The point of being a musician and an artist is that you just make the music that you want to make and you're willing to take risk. With risks comes criticism, some valid, some not - but whatever."

Perhaps a lot of new artists only now emerging would benefit from this advice. Nowadays, bands sound more and more alike and its difficult to pinpoint the original ones. David Usher will never have a problem standing out. How does he do it? He keeps his feet well attached to this planet, and keeps his individuality and integrity as intact as possible, "I, like everyone else, am affected by things that happen in the world," he says. "I write about the things that affect my brain."

Through his songs, David has reached audiences across Canada, Europe, and Asia. "I don't really try to attract a specific audience. I make a record that I want to make and then people come to it. I assume that if people enjoy music like I do, then they'll enjoy music that I make." That's probably why Hallucinations has been criticised more than its predecessors. The last two were not as politically charged as this. Considering Usher's inclination towards political issues and international current events, it's easy to see why he writes songs like Devil By My Side. "That song is about choice, patriotism, and war," he says. And as he has been happily married for six years now, he can focus on what truly matters to him and not just intangible dating songs.

As Morning Orbit captured past, present and future, David wanted to make sure that the main focus of Hallucinations remained present at all times. Having used three different producers (Ieston Polsan, Mark Makaway, and Byron Wong), Hallucinations is really different in the way the tracks flow. The theme that gets carried throughout the 12 songs on the album is the "difficulty of capturing moments in time."

Toronto band Pilate warmed up the audience for Usher. They played well and with style. Their sound is derivative of Coldplay and Radiohead. Among their songs was Into Your Hideout, a rhythmic catchy tune which is currently on rotation at MuchMusic.

To introduce themselves, they used King of the Road, which was quite unexpected. The moment David stepped on stage, all eyes were focused on him. Tracksuit and jean-clad, he was full of energy and began the show with the title track off Hallucinations. As he bounced around stage, he took off his jacket to reveal a shirt with a pig holding a bouquet of flowers with the tagline "don't eat me, I love you." It was a nice touch.

They worked their way through songs from all three albums in their set of only forty-five minutes. It felt like a short concert, but he finished his second encore with a version of St. Lawrence River that simply ended the night in the most perfect way.

Hopefully David decides to come back to Vancouver soon. Hallucinations is in stores now.

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