Interview: Folly & The Hunter
Meet You At The Show: So how did Folly & The Hunter start off as a band?
Nick Vallee: Laurie and I actually started playing together in a previous band. It was all completely different stuff; we later tried to find our fitting musically and figure what we wanted to do musically. Then, we broke up with this band and started to play my original songs, but a stripped down folk version. We played a show or two with Chris, the third core member. It went really well and we started building harmonies. The dynamic was really good between the three of us for writing songs, and we were all heading towards the same direction. Eventually, we played a couple shows and then we started recording. We sort of created the band in the studio. We started playing together in April of last year, and within a few months we were recording. “Residents” was the first song we recorded, and it was the one that kind of made our band.
MYATS: Your band name is pretty original. How did you come up with it?
NV: I seriously just made it up like that! We actually had a song called ‘‘Folly’’, and the name came at the same time as we were writing the lyrics of the song. The idea came really randomly. I think it encapsulates the reasons why I write songs and how I engage to the subject. So ‘‘Folly and the Hunter’’, it’s the cliché idea of always hunting and looking for something new.
MYATS: So far how much experience do you have as a band?
NV: With Chris and Laurie, we have done some shows here and there, about 6 or 7 shows within the last year. We’ve recorded the album; we have added two other musicians. Our album release will actually be the first time that we get together as a whole five piece band, as something that can replicate from the record.
MYATS: As a band, how would you describe your musical style?
NV: The best we have come to describe it is ‘indie-folk post-rock’, as kind of a mix. We all have fairly similar music tastes, but musically, we all come from different musical backgrounds. I myself spent my whole life in folk music and only ever wrote songs by myself, always in an acoustic tradition. Laurie was in a post-rock band called the Slowest Runner (now moved to NYC). She comes from a little more of a post-rock indie background, and I’ve been moving towards that a little bit lately. Finally, Chris, for instance has been in indie rock bands for a while now. Everything is more like a mix of the three things that we do, and it’s melding very well.
MYATS: On your website, you cite Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Sufjan Stevens, Sigùr Ros and others as bands with a similar sound to yours. How does their music relate to yours?
NV: I would say that I don’t intentionally emulate them, but I end up emulating them because I listen to them. But we do not specifically take from them, it is more like we write our music and it ends up being influenced by these bands we like and listen to.
Laurie Torres: I think that our music is definitely more influenced by what we did before; it’s a weird blend of our influences.
MYATS: Can you tell me more about your debut album?
LT: The idea of writing an album mostly took place when Chris joined the band. Everything just worked out so well, and it made the songs very interesting. It was then the perfect situation to start recording right away.
NV: The way we interacted was fairly organic; we didn’t need to have a lot of discussion about the direction it would go. We even wrote half of the songs during the recording process. Laurie co-wrote a lot of the songs and Chris contributed later as a composer. On the record, the three of us played all different parts. The recording process took about six months; everything went up real fast although we did take breaks and had a lot of time to think. “Leaving town”, the first song on the album, was recorded within the last two weeks of recording. We also definitely got some more help. The Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec gave us a development allowance, so we could actually work less and spend more time on live sound. It’s just amazing how time went by so fast!
MYATS: What will be your plans after the album release?
NV: To hopefully tour, and maybe get some recognition. Folly and The Hunter is our main focus in life, and we are really attempting to make it self-sufficient. We are currently trying to set dates in Quebec, and maybe Ontario. We are also trying to contact bands we admire in order to try to set shows with them. We have gotten positive responses so far. For instance, for our show next week, we’ll be sharing the stage with our friend Brad Barr, and Rae Spoon. We just really like them; we were amazed when he said he’d do it!
LT: We are doing everything all by ourselves, starting by contacting bands that we would like to collaborate with. It is also a whole experience to try to get rid of other primary obligations that carry us away from our projects. Responses are good so far, almost all of them are getting back to us, if it’s not for now, it will be for later. So we are booking more shows at the moment, but I cannot tell names right now!
– Interview conducted by Christelle Saint-Julien
Don’t miss Folly & The Hunter’s album release show this Saturday, March 5th at Il Motore. You can pick up the band’s debut Residents LP now via bandcamp or at Phonopolis
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