The Miniatures Keep Growing

THE MINIATURES KEEP GROWING

“Song-writing comes very naturally to me,” says Miniatures’ singer-guitarist-songwriter Ian Smith, without exultation. “I never force them. Dead Flowers showcases my latest songs which have come a long way through much practice and experience. Travel and different scenery have definitely inspired a new direction to my writing. All the songs on this record are, to a degree, a diary of my life. Lyrically, I try to address the highs, lows, and struggles of being a musician and an artist.”

Smith should know. He and the Miniatures, have been pressing their noses to the rock ‘n’ roll grindstone for nearly a decade and a half now; since they were just a bunch of long-hairs with impeccably left-field music taste in high school. Their earliest incarnation specialized in instrumental guitar freak-outs, (early fans will remember the live favourite, “Rumple Foreskin”, fondly). The band became something of a ‘house-band’ for the one-time epicenter of the local scene, the Volcano, though the band had to sneak into their own shows because of their age. They kicked down many doors opening for established acts and built a sturdy fan-base in lovers of Pavement-esque weirdo-pop. Then, about six years ago, the band changed radically. Smith and co. started taking their art a little more seriously and morphed into probably the most prolific and talented band that this city has ever produced. Smith was turning into a songwriting machine, churning out song after song and bettering himself with each effort. The melodies became richer, the band became tighter, the shows got bigger, and people started to notice. In 2002 the band secured a producer, a manager, and a record deal. Maple Music Recordings, (home to Joel Plaskett, Pilate, Danny Michel, and many others), released the first fruits of the Miniatures’ labours with 2004’s Coma Kid. Their major label debut took the band across Canada, to Britain, the U.S.A., and earned them shows with the likes of Jane’s Addiction and Matthew Good. It was an intense time for the band, rich with staggering successes and frustrating disappointments. Though the album was well received and sold respectably, it did not make them superstars, and that failure alone will get you chucked off most any major label. Luckily, Maple Music was more interested in the potential for growth and set the Miniatures, (rounded out by drummer Nick Skalkos, bassist Ryan Allen, and keyboardist-guitarist Kevin Hundt), to the task of creating their next record, an endeavour that Skalkos remembers with both pride and trepidation.

“Our goal with Dead Flowers was to write the best possible collections of songs that we could. We wanted a cohesive record that represented our coming of age in regards to where we’ve been and where we’re at. Our songs are sincere, honest, and from the soul. We feel this is primarily what sets us apart from other acts who simply base songs around melodies and senseless lyrics. In order to accomplish this task, we went through the grueling ordeal of writing a record, disposing of it, rewriting another one, and traveling back and forth to England to collaborate with other very talented writers who could challenge, contribute, and invite us into unfamiliar territory, both musically, and mentally.”

The Miniatures’ closest collaborator in the U.K. was Scott Shields. Once a member of Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros, Shields is better known as the producer of the Mescalero’s best work. His happenstance meeting with the Miniatures led to him eventually co-writing several tunes and producing the album at London’s Townhouse recording facility, and at Hamilton’s Catherine North Studio, (where Coma Kid was committed).

“We hooked up with Scott after he attended one of our shows in London,” says Smith. “Dead Flowers is the first album he’s recorded since the last Joe Strummer record, Street Core. After Strummer passed away, Scott took a couple years off, so it was a huge treat to have his comeback be our record. This album was different, (from Coma Kid), because we wrote the record over the course of a year, back and forth between here and England. We wanted to record the songs over a short period of time so there would be a cohesive sound with very minimal over-dubs and experimenting, which happened a lot doing the last album. These songs were extremely focused going into the studio, with a lot more attention being paid to the drum-and-bass groove.”

Album namesake and first single, “Dead Flowers”, (which currently sits at #38 on the national charts), is a departure for the band, but very indicative of the album as a whole. The increased attention paid to the record’s rhythms lends the songs a danceable quality that would not be out of place in U.K. clubs where kids dance to the baggy sounds of Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party. But this isn’t simple dance music. Part Bowie, part Muse, bursting with soul and energy, Dead Flowers truly is the total package. It’s real fucking rock ‘n’ roll! The ballads, (“A Life I Had In Mind”, “Could You Kill If You Had To?”), are Smith’s introspective bests, questioning love and morality with the poise of a seasoned poet. The rock anthems, (“Dead Flowers”, “Sleaze Radio”, “Actors and Soldiers”), are larger than life calls-to-arms, careening with funky, marching rhythms, rolling synthesizers, and Smith’s masterful, tasteful, and reckless guitar squalls. It’s serious stuff, and nary a moment of the record is wasted on filler. Dead Flowers is eleven potential hit singles that come directly from the hearts that created it. Will it be a smashing hit record? Who knows? The Miniatures know they’ve bettered all their previous efforts and built a stunning album, and that’s all that matters to them.

Says Skalkos, “We just feel the pressure to create the best possible work of art we can. There are too many factors that are simply out of our control to anticipate a ‘hit’. Besides, we know better than to set ourselves up for a letdown. What could tank in Canada could be huge in the States. We know that we’ve created the best possible team we could to convey our music to the masses, the rest is up to the people.”

The story of the Miniatures is no simple “local-group makes good” tale. That sells the band short. The Miniatures may be somewhat of a K-W institution, but their history is still being written. In 1996 people may have thought “Rumple Foreskin” was their masterpiece. Today someone may think it’s “Dead Flowers”, and tomorrow Smith may write something that puts their latest album to shame. What matters is that the Miniatures are a band that refuses to halt their journey, or their growth. They will be holding their local CD release party at the Starlight on May 27th and you should be there. Not just to hear vital local artists proving, once again, that they’ve got the goods, but to hear one of the finest groups that exists in contemporary rock ‘n’ roll spilling their guts and kicking some ass in pursuit of something greater. That’s what rock ‘n’ roll is about.

“Dead Flowers is simply a depiction of our struggle to achieve an ambitious goal,” says Skalkos. “We want to leave our listeners with a realistic account of our journey to get here and highlight the dark side of something beautiful. Hence, “Dead Flowers.”

(originally published May 2006. Echo Weekly. Kitchener)