A Conversation With Grim Slim on "Reflections of Death; Phase One"

It was a blustery February night when I last visited Grim Slim in his downtown Vernon apartment. Wet snow fluttered to the damp asphalt streets as I scurried up the wood-stepped stairwell to bang on his window (I don't have a key yet). As I waited, I inhaled the moist, airborne grease that floated from the open door of the sushi restaurant which is part of the building. Then, after I heard a rustling from inside, I saw the door swing open and I was invited in. I was immediately greeted by the scent of Nag Champa and the allergenic caress of his lovely cat, Sage. Wonderful. I love cats.

We both knew we had an interview to conduct so we got right to it and rolled some jazz cabbage in a zigzag and lit it on his coil-top electric range (a real 80s style beauty, damn). He showed me some of his newest recordings and I noticed a demarcated shift from everything else he'd ever recorded. He was working with some experimental sounds and some heavy effects that clearly pulled away from the pure folk and indie sounds I had heard from his earlier live shows. Very neat.

We were having a great time, and so was his cat; earlier I had administered a liberal dose of catnip to her via a small plastic bag Slim keeps in his refrigerator. So we weren't quite ready to start the official interview. Instead, Slim put on Sonic Bloom by Night Beats and we watched the 1934 horror classic Maniac with no sound (30s women are fantastically beautiful). Okay, nice. We were ready to start.

I asked him these questions:

What is it you are trying to accomplish artistically with your new album Reflections of Death; Phase One?

"Artistically I wanted to progress. I just laid to rest the old moniker I used to perform and record under and I felt the urge to start making new sounds, move in different directions. I wanted to change from a solid to liquid, take on a new form and fill my surroundings in a different way."

So how does this album differ from previous projects you have worked on in the past? 

"The sound is completely stripped back. It’s almost the antithesis of every other recording I’ve ever put out. I’ve always been unsatisfied with having a very vocal-forward, dry style of production, but it was time to grow and accept the voice I’ve been given. As for the songwriting itself, the songs have taken on a more mature approach. The lyrics resonate on a much more personal level; it's not a filler for a melody, but rather an idea that's been stretched out and spoken. " 

I’ve noticed that a lot of what you do as an artist relates thematically to death and the supernatural. Am I crazy for seeing this? If not, how does this dark imagery fit into your new album?

"You’re probably crazy for other reasons [cheeky], but as for this one, you’re spot on. I personally have always been drawn to the imagery presented in death. It’s almost timeless in a sense. It is the thread that ties us to our past, and inevitably, to our future as well."

Where do you feel your tastes are being drawn today in terms of genre? In other words, what kind of music moves you these days?

"I’m so attracted to so many different styles of music, it's usually very hard to pinpoint anything. I’m very excited about the Fleet Foxes, as well as Father John Misty’s upcoming releases. I would reckon that any music that is pushing the envelope of the labels given is music that I enjoy. If I am reaching to put on a record these days though, I’m often grabbing for Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Duane Eddy, or John Coltrane." 

How do you feel about musical purism—that is, the insistence on maintaining and abiding by the values associated with certain genres of music?

"I used to adhere very strongly to that notion, but as I've grown up I’ve realized that recycling an entire sound gets frustrating and difficult to do. The influence of that classic era of music is most certainly apparent in my songwriting, but I’ve been learning to cut back the purism or the need to replicate those vintage sounds. It’s much easier to draw on a broad spectrum of influences rather than box myself in to what I imagine folk or country music to be."

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

"I’ve always wanted to see the great pyramids in Egypt. I’ve often dreamt of a great awakening taking place there within myself. I don’t know exactly what that entails, but I would very much like to find out."

Around this time, Sage attacked the back of my chair and seemed to be peaking. I tried to pet her, but her three-year-old claws were sharp and eager. Oh well. I continued the interview, asking:

How do you like your eggs?

"I enjoy my eggs much in the same way that wildlife rangers do not prefer their inhabitants. Poached." Good lord.

Do you draw inspiration from other forms of media? For example, do movies or books ever influence your songwriting? If so, tell me about it.

"I’m so influenced by aesthetic ideas it's almost hard to call myself a musician. Pictures, thoughts, and feelings in my head dictate the songs I write nearly as much as melodies and lyrics. It's so satisfying to reference notions and ideas that were handed to you from the movies you’ve watched and the books that you’ve read." 

If you could perform anywhere, where would you choose?

"Either in space or at the bottom of the ocean, something nobody or not many people have done. If I get to pick, why not pick something brand new?"

Do you like cilantro?

"A taco is not truly a taco without cilantro, so suck it cilantro-haters. You don’t intimidate me. Get a palette already."

Where do you ideally see yourself in five years?

"I’d like to be on some balcony in California, sipping on an old fashioned in the sun. As long as I’m still making music it doesn’t really matter."

So, you’re a bartender when you’re not grooving mad riffs, correct? 

"You bet."

Tell me a bartending story.

"One of my first days as a bartender, I had to figure out how to change a keg. It just so happened that nobody had taught me how to do it, and also that the tap on this keg had a bit of an air leak. When I tried to tap the new keg, I got one hell of a beer shower, as well as laughed at by all my new co-workers. Nothing like working your first shift looking like a drowned rat, and smelling like an alcoholic."

What’s your favourite drink?

"I’m somewhere between a good Pale Ale, an Old Fashioned, and the classic G&T. I do love my bourbon though." 

What’s your least favourite drink?

"I mean liquor is liquor, but I’m not a huge fan of vodka drinks. I also can say that I do not enjoy drinking (or making) our house recipe Negroni."

With this, the night and our interview was over. Sage lay drowsing on top of Slim's guitar in the living room and the Nag Champa lay in cool ashes in the burner. I noticed the snow had stopped falling I could tell Slim was eager to get back to sorting his almanac collection; it was time to go.

If you're unsatisfied with this interview, maybe you should conduct your own, for Christ's sake. See if you can find him! Slim works at a bar in Vernon and enjoys casual conversations with the local liquor-participants. But if you want the conversation to go smoothly, don't order a Negroni. 

DJG.

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Keep your wits sharp for the release of his brand new album Reflections of Death; Phase One.

The Cover of Grim Slim's Reflections of Death; Phase One.