The Unsettlers
Music that is revelatory to those who give it a good whirl
Photo by myspace.com
When Unsettlers’ bassist Ram Krishnan isn’t playing with the band, he’s a fixture at Grumpy’s, the in/famous Bishop St. watering hole that has helped launch countless amounts of delicious, whiskey-soaked evil into Montreal’s arts scene.
Of course, that’s not what he’d have you believe.
Asked what he and the rest of the Unsettlers do for money when they’re not playing music that has been described as neo-cabaret, vaudevillian gypsy folk and everything in between, Krishnan replies, “street-side juggling, freelance dentistry and other such tawdry back alley dealings of which we will not speak.”
I would usually, at this point, make some point about how my interview subject was kidding. However, being acquainted with the band as I am, I can’t do so in good conscience.
Truth told, I really don’t know.
This is, after all, a band that did a month-long residency at a carnival (Carnivàle Lune Bleue) whose mission seems to be to bring HBO’s acclaimed (and criminally under-watched) show Carnivale to life. This is a band that features about a hundred and fourteen members, all of whom bring something specific to the table.
They’re also a band that, at long last, released a debut long-player late last year. Titled Oil and Blood, that double-album debut was complex, mesmerizing, and thick with both mood and attitude. Listen to it alone in a dark room and you’re liable to get chills; listen to it with others in the middle of a sunny afternoon and you’re likely to get into some kind of macabre conversation.
Rife with dusty, dark-tinged songs about dirty deeds, desperate loves, and a whole bunch of death, Titled Oil and Blood isn’t 100% accessible, but it’s worth it. And moreover, maybe that was the point—to create music that, while somewhat inaccessible, is revelatory to those who give it a good whirl.
“Being a miscreant gang of ne'er-do-wells,” Krishnan explains, “the music tends to come naturally. Especially after murder.
“We have also been open to, and grateful for, the suggestions of Brian Dennehy.”
What other pearls of wisdom does Krishnan have?
In response to a question about hanging out at Carnivàle Lune Bleue:
“When the Strongman warns you about taunting Gordo The Wolf Boy, heed his advice. He will beat you at poker and miraculously steal your socks without disturbing your shoes.”
In response to a question about the best and worst things about being a Montreal band:
“Late night access to smoked meat sandwiches. The common misconception that lean is better than fat.”
I could go on but I won’t. The rest of Krishnan’s responses to my questions are similarly ridiculous, either because the man is making a point about how you can’t possibly glean anything about the Unsettlers from an interview—you have to see them.
Either that or he’s drunk and acting stupid.
the Unsettlers play @ Cabaret du Mile End on April 23rd
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