Auf Der Maur

Melissa Auf der Maur Gets 'Screeched In' for National Parks ...

Their adventures (complete with intimate jam sessions) were captured by respected filmmakers and will be posted on the National Parks Project site from May 19 onward, with the theatrical release kicking off in Toronto the following day. On May 24, the soundtrack from the ambitious project will be released as both a 20-track CD and a 26-track double-LP. When i was contacted to participate in a Canadian film and music project in Newfoundland, I thought I was dreaming. It was a perfect opportunity to commune with a landscape I've always felt connected to in my distant Celtic roots, collaborate with new musicians and filmmakers and support the celebration of our country's most valuable asset: mother nature. The additional appeal was that the director attached to the project, Sturla Gunnarsson, was very familiar with Newfoundland, as he had shot a viking film there once. Yes, you heard me right, a viking film. Whether you know me as a bass player or a Montrealer, you should know I LOVE VIKINGS. You should also know by now, that Newfoundland was discovered and even settled by vikings, before any others. We did not get a chance to go up to L'anse aux Meadows to see the unearthed viking ruins, but i felt it near. Musically speaking, I was very curious how it would turn out, as the three of us musicians are very different stylistically from the other. I was the bass player and "heavy" rock component of the trio -- while [Montreal improv impresario] Sam [Shalabi] represented the eastern "ancient instrument" element and Jamie [Fleming of Toronto band Catl] was the Americana blues roots of it. So you have an electric bass plugged into a solar battery-powered mini Vox amp, an acoustic guitar with slide and a lute! That is a unique combination for any collaboration, especially between people who are playing together for the first time on cold windy cliffs, sand dunes and remote volcanic islands in an unknown land. In between playing our instruments, we were brought on expeditions to be "screeched in" by the natives, a ritual involving a drunken fisherman shouting at you, making you do shots of Maritime rum and resulting in a diploma-type document. We took two extremely bumpy and precarious boat rides into deep waters. One involved running out of gas and the other needing to board a deflating dingy boat to bring us into shore because the reefs would scratch the big boat.