Alden Penner is a curious character to begin with, thus prefiguring all encounters with him as mostly curious also. For those of you who aren't too familiar with the indie scene (I just felt a little wave of shame for using such a silly term), Alden was in a quite popular band called The Unicorns about seven years ago. He also played in a band called Clues, which was signed to Montreal's indefatigable Constellation Records
. These are only his most visible projects---he's had his hand in almost all kinds of music, as evidenced by this awesome video:
Pierre Mulumba en concert from lorraine on Vimeo.
I know Alden best as a restless creative spirit: he goes where the music guides him.
Alden and I met last year through the Montreal Baha'i community, and we currently play in a band together called The Hidden Words, along with Jamie Thompson, my brother Eric, Marie-Claire Saindon, and Neah Kelly. They're all really great people and talented musicians. Sharing time and songs with them is a joy.
Alden is the type of man who is unfazeable. He recently took a trip to Mali and people were asking me, "do you think he'll be different when he comes back?" I knew better than to ask such questions, however: wherever Alden goes, he remains in Aldenland.
Not to say of course that he's clueless---nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, there is an element of unshakability to him, an "Aldenness" that is distinct yet impossible to define. Anyway, here is a funny thing that happened to me today which involved his unique personality.
I was playing a song of Alden's on my electric guitar by my second-story window and singing in full voice. The song was "Let's Get Strong", a favourite of mine which recently was released on Clues' self-titled release. As I finished the song, I heard applause sounding faintly from the street below. I look out my window and who should I see but the composer himself, AP, dressed in a long black coat and clapping vigorously.
I had seen Alden earlier that morning. When he was over, I offered him some fruit to eat, and while he took an apple on his first visit, it seems he was back to claim the blood orange. In any event, he came in and we had a nice conversation.
It was really weird being "caught in the act" of playing his song. It's one of those uncanny moments which blends horrified embarrassment with supreme pleasure. This stiff mixture tends to mainly characterize my encounters with people far cooler than me, though, so I guess I shouldn't really be surprised.
Anyway, this was just a funny music-related moment; I'll have some more stuff up soon, including an hour-long interview I did with Jamie Thompson of The Hidden Words, previously of Islands and The Unicorns. Stay tuned.
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