A Cacophany Of Honesty
by Stacey Seiben
From being lead vocals to the popular
local band Open Parachute to
releasing his first solo album, God
Hates a Coward, Christopher Arruda
has come a long way musically,
and is now more excited than
ever to talk about his upcoming
project. Arruda’s laid back personality
makes him very approachable,
but he becomes even livelier whenever
a subject he is truly passionate
about surfaces. As soon as we started
talking about music, it was clear
that music is his irreplaceable outlet
to which he turns any time he feels
inspired. His emotional inspirations
produce heart-wrenching, beautiful
songs such as “Slap City,” which was
written for a friend diagnosed with
cancer. His writing is eloquent and
poetic, comparatively to the likes of
Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) or Sam
Beam (Iron and Wine), and his
voice haunting and unique. Born
and raised in Nanaimo, Arruda is
already starting to make a name
for himself beyond the city, and has
started touring Victoria and Vancouver
as well.
Q: What are you working on
right now, music-wise?
Because the last stuff I was working
on was pretty produced and
big-sounding, I thought before I
did another full-length album I
would do a smaller, demo EP with
five or six songs. I’ve been listening
to a lot of music that’s really rough.
I feel like the really rough sort of
stuff done in a demo take is really
honest. A demo gives a feeling that
a full length CD just doesn’t have.
It’s going to be a six song EP called
The Swain EP. Not swine. Swain. It
means male admirer or lover.
Q: What is some of the music
you’ve been listening to that is
more rough and honest that influenced
you to make this EP?
Mostly it was Radiohead B-Sides,
some of The Beatles outtakes, and
most specifically Bon Iver, The Blood
Bank EP. Everything is in tune, but
some of it is straight up terrible, as
far as production is concerned. It’s
just so low-fi, but because of that
it’s just so much more visceral. You
can hear all the little pops and clicks
and breaths. I wanted to try that as
a change, and have it okay to make
mistakes and leave the mistakes in
there. I did go over and redo takes
and stuff; I just kind of made a commitment
to not go back and overdub
stuff over and over again. If I
did a basic song structure I would
just keep with that structure until
it was finished and just let it be the
way it was.
Q: Which aspect of making music
is most discouraging to you
right now?
Well I’m playing live by myself right
now, which is really tough because
sometimes it’s just really loud and
people don’t really give a shit about
you. Typically I like performing the
best, but recently I have not really
been enjoying it much because of
having to play by myself.
Q: Which gets you the most excited?
The thing that excites me the most
is just creating. Having an inspiration
and seeing that through to
having something you can listen to:
something that’s actually tangible.
I am doing some developing and
frame working of what I want to be
doing musically for the next couple
years. I’ve really enjoyed constructing
exactly what it is that I want to
do, starting with this EP and then
the next full length. And of course
the recording of it is really important
as well right now.
Q: I know recording has been
different for you this time. The
last solo album you recorded
with a close friend of yours, and
the new one you’re working on
you’re recording on your own. In
what ways does the place where
you record affect the music you
create, and do you think this album
will be more personal than
the last?
I don’t really think it’s possible to
get any more personal than the last
album. That album was as personal
as it could possibly get. The theme
was basically just me confronting
myself, and my fear of failing. So I
don’t think this one will necessarily
be more personal; however, I am
recording this at my parent’s place,
and at my apartment, so it’s kind of
given me the ability to record whenever.
It’s coming along a lot less rehearsed
and a lot more organic.
Q: I found a quote by Bono that
said: “The music that really turns
me on is either running toward
God or away from God. Both
recognize the pivot, that God is
at the center of the jaunt.” Your
last album was titled “God hates
a Coward.” Is God a literal being
to you or a figurative device you
just use in your writing?
Well, the record title God Hates a
Coward is not actually a reference
directly to God, because I think
if there really is a God, that God
doesn’t hate anybody. That’s actually
got me in a lot of hot water, the
title, because I know people that are
religious, and all they can see is the
title. For me God Hates a Coward is
about following what you feel you
have to do and not being scared to
fail. If you’re scared of everything
you’re not going to do anything. The
reason why I used that statement is
because it’s so powerful. Regardless
of where you stand on religion, or
God, or spirituality, saying the word
“God” still elicits an emotional response
in people. People still give
a shit about God, as an idea more
than anything. Most importantly
it really stirred up emotions in me.
I would say I am more a spiritual
person than I am a religious person.
Being locked into one school
of thought doesn’t really appeal to
me, because I think that all forms
of faith are relevant. I think it’s our
job as humans to figure out all that
is relevant and take from all the different
ideologies and all the beliefs,
and kind of form a belief system
on our own that helps us become
better people. I think if any belief
system makes you a better human,
then that’s a good thing.
Q: When was the last time you
wrote a song and what can you
tell us about it?
I wrote one two weeks ago. Well,
I’m kind of one of those people that
likes to know where I stand with
people in my life. I’ve just been in
this situation where I didn’t really
know; it was kind of ambiguous
to me. It was with a girl, obviously.
It wasn’t really figured out in my
mind, I still didn’t know what was
what. I remember just waking up
this one morning; it was in my parent’s
house. They have this huge
house overlooking the ocean and
the fog had just rolled in. It was
just a really foggy day and I was sitting
there playing the Rhodes. The
song’s called “Then There was Fog,”
and the song is just about waking
up to stifling fog and still not being
able to solve this quandary. It ends
with the line “what a damn shame.”
To hear some of Christopher Arruda’s
music go to www.myspace.com/christopherarruda or search
Christopher Arruda Music on facebook
to join his fan page.