“When I was a kid, tapes were a big thing. The first tape I wore out from repeated listening was a compilation of oldies that included The Beach Boys, the Shangri-las, Leslie Gore, Bobby Darin. I loved that tape. I was 6 or 7.”
“When CDs started to take over from tapes in the nineties, my friends and I would go to our local record store, A&B Sound or Sam The Record Man, and look around to buy our latest favourite band’s album, mostly discovered from watching music videos or listening to the radio. I got into classic rock and vinyl when I was 16, and my boyfriend and I would go hunting for old classic records to play on our turntables that we found at garage sales.
We always chose old ’70s amps and speakers and turntables that were under $20 and that meant they were usually enormous and heavy (and possibly not working). I listened to a ton of David Bowie, The Police, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac.
Paul Simon and David Bowie in particular were big songwriting influences for me. Our favourite record store to go to during that time was called Turntable in a tiny (but charming) alley in Victoria, stuffed with used vinyl and tapes and CDs. Then in my late teens I started hanging around with some people that were into My Bloody Valentine and Elliot Smith, and I heard The Velvet Underground for the first time who changed my whole musical outlook.
I started going to Ditch Records and Lyle’s Place in Victoria and listening to the local college radio station CFUV instead of the more commercial radio stations. I started getting into bands like Sigur Ros, The Magnetic Fields, and Canadian artists The Constantines and Julie Doiron.
Fast forward many years, many tours, and many visits to independent records stores all over the continent, and here we are!”
—Kathryn Calder
Kathryn Calder’s self-titled third LP is in stores now via File Under: Music. On aqua blue vinyl.
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PHOTO: TRISTAN SHOULDICE
