SiLVER SPRiNGS should not be dismissed as a break-up song. It is a mid-tempo break-up song of sorts, yet it’s even more about that kind of tearing-yourself-apart feeling we have during, or resulting from a break-up. STEViE NiCKS, who wrote and sings lead vocals on this FLEETWOOD MAC track, epitomized the mid-seventies mystical chick. Not only did she look like a psychic ready to give a reading, but she also wrote songs about pagan goddesses and her own oceanic dreams. Her voice has one of the most insane vibratos known to pop and sometimes she doesn’t even sound human. Clearly she is human, and on SiLVER SPRiNGS she connects with a feeling of super-natural female eroticism, at least in my own opinion. “I’ll begin not to love you/ turn around, see me runnin’/ I’ll say I loved you years ago/ Tell myself you never loved me, no.” Yet again, I find myself recognizing that I too have felt that way about a love lost, or a love never fully realized. It can be painful, yet there is something both enchanting and desperate about a feeling like that, especially paired with her vocals and the accompaniment of FLEETWOOD MAC. The entire song is an experience in itself, beginning rather slowly and gentle, then building up in desperation before exploding out with her raw emotion. “Time casts a spell on you, but you won’t forget me/ I know I could have loved you but you would not let me/ I’ll follow you down till the sound of my voice will haunt you/ You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you”. Clearly, it’s never easy letting go. Not even for STEViE, apparently. Sometimes we hang on to something or someone for dear life, or at least until we have found a way to let go. A song like SiLVER SPRiNGS is really effective in reminding us all how collective and human it is to tear your self apart. I just wish I sounded this good when I was doing the tearing apart inside!
Singer/composer/instigator and founding member of THE PEPTiDES, CLAUDE MARQUiS is also a Painter and personality extraordinaire – and I ain’t just whistling Dixie. CLAUDE MARQUiS may have been responsible for producing 4 tracks off of my own ‘They Say I’m Different’ but make no mistake – he’s an artist and entertainer in his own right. After 13 or so some odd years of painting and exhibits, MARQUiS essentially traded in the easel and brush, reprogramming himself to make music with THE PEPTiDES; a band named after addictive chemical neurotransmitters.
Thanks in part to a lot of patience and the technology of a home-recording laptop purchased in 2006, MARQUiS was able to transfer his gifted skills as a visionary and painter over to the musical side of arts, spending hours perfecting his craft. By the time 2007 rolled around THE PEPTiDES released ‘I’M A SPY’, followed by ‘StereoStereo’ in 2008. With each album evolving ever so slightly (the band has reincarnated itself by showcasing different vocalists including PAM KAPOOR, DALE WATERMAN, OLEXANDRA PRUCHNiCKY, DAN VALiN, DOROTHEE ROY, MAUDE KOSTiNE, MiCHAEL STEVENSON and DEEDEE BUTTERS) they have particularly found their stride with 2010’s ‘For Those Who Hate Human Interaction’, a 60 minute/25 song concept album that spans copious music styles such as vaudeville, lounge and funk. ‘For Those Who Hate..’ explores the colossal theme of hate but as MARQUiS has said himself, “It’s not about hating humanity, it’s more about hating human behavior”, and with titles like ‘For Those Who Hate Salacious Fame’ and ‘For Those Who Hate This World’, you get the sense that his particular view of humanity – is only part of what makes him interesting and the music worth hearing. There is certainly no doubt that MARQUiS has a narrative of his own and fortunately for us he isn’t shy about sharing it. Original and known for their racy beats, baroque ballads and quirky presence in the Ottawa music scene, they’ve had quite the exciting summer, having played the International Ottawa Jazzfest, The Live Lounge and Elmdale House Tavern just to name a few.
As I’ve said – CLAUDE MARQUiS and I are no strangers ourselves. Wearing only his producer hat, MARQUiS generously invited yours truly into the recording studio in 2009 for what initially started as one-time opportunity to lay down my own music. Well, specifically a folksy cover of DOLLY PARTON’S ‘The Grass Is Blue’. Prior to this, any singing I had done was strictly in the confines of my living room. What MARQUiS did was plant the seed for me to flex my own musical muscles as well as provide a much-needed bridge to communicate with a wider audience. I’ll never really understand why – but I’ll always be grateful and I say this as someone who relates to the narrative MARQUiS presents on ‘For Those Who Hate..’. As much as my own disdain for humanity at times has kept me a relatively introverted misfit, I do also have the desire to extend my hand out to society and have my own voice be heard within the chaos of humanity. The touch he lent to ‘The Grass Is Blue’, ‘Tomorrow Is Forever’, ‘After the Glitter Fades’ and my own ‘Prairie Boy’ certainly added warmth and velvety feel to the album as a whole and are something I’m personally proud of.
Stay tuned for more from THE PEPTiDES as they are gearing up to be a part of the inauguration opening of the new Centerpoint Theatre on September 12. Most importantly you can expect their new album ‘Love Question Mark’ to come out early next summer, and straight from MARQUiS himself he promises “it’ll be packed with non-stop one-hit wonders”! Excited! I am. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open for them as they continue to record and revamp their live act.
Also included here is a selection of original MARQUiS Photos, taken in the Summer of 2005 – followed by the FOR THOSE WHO HATE SALACiOUS FAME video.
