"I remember the first time I saw you play, said a fan to . You were with Basement Suite and it was in this gymnasium in North Van.
Whoa, my god, Mangan said, genuinely impressed that the fan knew Basement Suite, Mangans first band. Yeah, I remember those days.
This conversation was one of several that Mangan had with admirers during our interview at the screening of , a documentary on the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»singer-songwriters career leading up to a personal-hallmark performance at the Orpheum Theatre last November.
Initially, I had resisted the temptations of Dan Mangan. Mistaking sincerity with smugness, the cynic in me questioned the humility and the lets-have-a-pint aura that partially defined the man. Musically, he did not have that edge, that bittersweet sincerity I usually look for in artists.
It became, however, difficult to ignore the unavoidable hum of praises sung by friends, critics and even music snobs like myself. After listening to 2009s Nice, Nice, Very Nice and last years Oh, Fortune, I was soon singing the praises to tracks like Sold and Rows of Houses, where I found that edge in the lyrics there was real some angst and a hurting soul beneath the pop melodies.
Dan Mangan: The purpose is to be honest. Thats it work hard and be honest. Thats everything. Masked or veiled coolness only goes so far and that can be short-lived. You have to be honest because thats the stuff that allows you to have any foothold to stand in.
(Laughs) I dont put on a mask to be in the spotlight, Im just me. So maybe its in my nature to be accessible, but for me its just life. The whole goal is to be yourself. If you are yourself and that self is a compassionate and thoughtful person, then those are good things to strive for.
Its weird to watch yourself and then be in the same room as all those people also watching you speak. Its very exposing but I think [filmmakers] Brent Hodge and Jon Sidall did an amazing job and managed to tell a story, which was the purpose of the doc. Im a little bit shy about how much Im talking in it, but thats natural to me.
Well, I think when you start making a documentary, you dont know what the purpose is and thats kind of the fun part of it, thats the craziness of it figuring out what the story is when you dont know what the purpose is. I think they were really smart to grab Kenton [Loewon, drummer] and Gord [Grdina, guitarist] and Kirsten [Slenning, Mangans fiancée) to be characters in it [for a poker game] and pull it all together. And they took footage from all these different things and made into one cohesive package.
I dont really suffer from huge stage anxiety, but there was bit because we were on this big, long tour and this was the final home-coming show. So yeah, there was a lot of anticipation for it.
I guess thats what the documentarys about. I guess its just more music. None of the hoopla exists without the music so Im just going to get back to writing. In the immediate future, Im getting married and were playing some festivals and were doing a Canadian tour with Rural Alberta Advantage. And then well go back to Europe, playing a tour with Jason Collett. Next year, were going to take it a little slower with the touring and Im going to do some film scoring and stuff like that, maybe record another album.
I dont know. Im just open to the winds of the universe and if they take me in different directions, Ill just follow my gut. Ill try some film scoring and I think that my musical journey will have all kinds of different chapters in it. If one day, music isnt fulfilling me anymore, I dont have any issues going in a different direction.
Yeah, maybe. Im interested in writing fiction Im interested in a lot of things.
What Happens Next? will be aired nationally on CBC on a yet-to-be-announced date. It will then be available for online streaming at CBCMusic.ca.
