Lakeman – Progenitor (2020) (EP)
For fans of Russian Circles, Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, And So I Watch You from Afar
Publicist – Jon Asher – asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Album Title: Progenitor
Release Date: January 10, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Facebook.com/lakemanband | Youtube | Instagram.com/lakemanband | Lakeman.bandcamp.com
“Experimenting with unique atmospherics, delving deep into concepts that feature tidbits of Okanagan history and relying heavily on intuition, LAKEMAN goes beyond catchy riffs and infectious hooks to create living and breathing art that resonates.” – Kelowna Now
Album Title: Progenitor
Release Date: January 10, 2020
Label: Self-Release
Track Listing:
1. Powers Creek (8:08)
2. 25,000 + Hectares (7:12)
3. Pandosy (10:38)
EP Length: 25:59
EP Credits
All song written and performed by: LAKEMAN
Produced by LAKEMAN
Mixed by Andy Ashley
Mastered by Andy Ashley
Album Artwork by Chelsea Terry
Warryn Berry and Robert McLaren Socan Members
Band Line up:
Josh Bissonette: guitar, bass, keys/synth, drums
Josh Pym: guitar, bass, keys/synth, vocals
Warryn Berry: guitar, keys/synth, drums
Robert McLaren: guitar, bass, keys/synths, drums, vocals, fiddle, banjo
Discography:
Self-Titled (formerly: N’ha-a-a-itk) (2016)
Progenitor (2020)
List of festivals:
2016 – Hi Society
2017 – Hi Society
2017 – Arts Raising
2017 – Artswells
2018 – Tune It Down Turn It Up
Lakeman has a devoted cult-like following throughout the Okanagan Valley and British Columbia. The band’s long-form instrumental and genre-bending approach beckons audiences of various musical forms. They revel in the band’s ability to exchange instruments everything from drums to guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers and lately even the fiddle and banjo. All this happens while the music continues seamlessly through ambient soundscapes.
The overall theme of the band is a sonic meditation of the veiled and macabre history of the Okanagan valley. The group finds their sound in a deeply collaborative approach, very little composition is done apart, and there is no “songwriter”. The band starts the compositions by first improvising together, the feel of each improvisation can be vastly different based on who is playing which instrument. As mentioned earlier the band does not have assigned instrument roles as most other bands traditionally do. You can find any one of the members doing anything from turning knobs on a synthesizer to singing into a violin before they started bowing it. After finding the improvisation the band likes, they then begin the long process of composing around this initial improvisation. Once a Lakeman piece of music starts to take form the band will start considering a local myth or legend to devote the theme to, this deepens the band’s thematic composition. This is when the piece will usually take its final or close to its final form.
In the fall of 2015 the band filmed their first and only song at the time, clocking in at over 35 minutes long, they named it “N’ha-a-itk”. It was filmed and edited by Chelsea Mcevoy. Audio engineering, mixing, and mastering of the song was recorded by Mike Pederson at the much-praised music city studio. The band wanted to name their first release after the mythical serpent creature of Lake Okanagan. Locals refer to the mysterious animal as the “ogopogo”, but the members of Lakeman wanted to honour its true name of the Sylix first nations people “N’ha-a-itk”. While no members of the Sylix people spoke out about the band using the traditional name some well-meaning community members claimed Lakeman was unjustly culturally appropriating the traditional name. After a long amount of consideration, the band dropped the name “N’ha-a-itk” and renamed the piece “Self-Titled”.
Sections of “Self-Titled” were featured by peach city radio, Kootenay Co-op Radio, and dozens of online blogs across the province. The band was quickly noticed by music festivals across the province and revered as a premier live performance. Word quickly spread and the band grew popular with regional music supporters.
Lakeman has graced stages around the province since 2015. The band has been a part of a wide variety of festival since that time: Turn it up/Tune it down(2018), Artsrising (2017), Artswells(2017), Hi-Society(2017 & 2016).
Lakeman’s 2nd audio-visual release “Progenitor” was released on November 29th, 2019. The EP’s title “Progenitor” suggests a theme of fatherhood. The first single is titled “Powers Creek” is based off a local legend of an apparition of a father who died trying to find his missing daughter in the Powers Creek area. “+25,000 Hectares” and is an auditory interpretation of the devastating fires that sweep through the Okanagan Valley on an annual basis. The final track is simply titled “Pandosy”, this track is a musical contemplation of a darker side of Kelowna’s founding father: Father Jean-Charles Pandosy.
During the writing and release of this “Progenitor” EP, 3 of the 4 members of Lakeman have become new fathers.
Robert McLaren states:
“In a time when masculinity is deeply culturally examined, we too find ourselves asking what kind of fathers will we be? As we examine the themes of the valley’s symbolic masculinity and paternity, we are able to question ourselves subjectively through the art we intuitively create.”
“Progenitor” was recorded/engineered by Kaylub Burke at the Center for Arts and Technology with mixing and mastering by Andy Ashley. Visual elements were filmed and edited by Jonathan Robinson, and lighting was operated by Joshua Goodwin.
The album art for this release is individual, one of a kind acrylic pours for both CDs and Vinyl.
Last year the band recorded what will most likely be the last of their pieces of work. No official date has been set for this last currently untitled release. The band does not wish to comment on the reasons for this end, but are forever grateful for the love and support of their friends, family, and fans.
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