Lucid44

GutterAwl and Lucid 44’s soul on fire
Shy songwriter Markus Overland stands on sturdy legs once again
>>PREVIEW
GUTTERAWL
Friday, May 11
The Castle Pub

>>PREVIEW
LUCID 44
Saturday, May 12
The Marquee Room

Growing up cash poor, Markus Overland would spend his free time at the neighbourhood library checking out records. It was the early-’90s and the future front man of GutterAwl and Lucid 44 was getting a heat rash listening to Sub Pop bands chew up the charts.

Aching for his 18th birthday so he could pursue gigs in underground rock clubs, Overland temporarily resigned himself to the Village Square library, repeatedly borrowing releases by Mudhoney and Nirvana. It was a significant day when Overland could finally pony up the cash for his own copy of the album that changed his life – Sebadoh’s Bubble and Scrape.

"I think I bought that CD like five times over… for girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and I lent it to people. I listened to that and was like – holy. You know how you record on your ghettoblaster? It sounded like that. The lyrics were really personal. And the music," says Overland, trailing off after emphatically exhaling. "They were honest. Then, the whole riot grrl stuff came. It was like, yeah, I’m OK, I can do this. There are people doing this somewhere."

Overland began his solo project, Lucid 44, right away. Instantly, music became a vital form of artistic expression and escapism for the gentle introvert. While he delicately glosses over the details, his history is fraught with tragic losses beginning with the death of his father at age 12. Regrettably, that was only the beginning. He pensively shakes his head at the number of friends he’s buried because of drug overdoses. After Overland tragically lost his fiancée to a brain aneurysm, he became resolved to turn a page in his life.

"That happened in 1998, so I kind of lost my… uh, maybe my mind, per se. I did some travelling, came back and said, ‘I’m going to give a go at this.’ Now, it’s calmer, and I’ve got a handle on it.

"Mostly, it was my fault for being miserable all the time from not opening up. Once (I opened up), I became a lot happier and had good friends around. It’s partly your mindset, right? I had some personal tragedies… it’s not like I don’t care anymore, but I’m here. I’ve got these legs and I might as well use them."

Pulling himself together and moving on, Overland began contributing to local bands before diving into his gristly rock outfit GutterAwl in 2005. Overland’s powerfully raw songwriting and gritty vocal style quickly attracted deep respect from music scene mainstays.

"GutterAwl are awesome," raves producer and musician Cameron Hayden. "In fact, their album (Lv’er/Bismuth) may be one of my favourites, as far as stuff I’ve recorded. I got a taste of how talented Mark was when I recorded Pitchin’ Woo a few years back. Then, he rolled in with (GutterAwl) and didn’t disappoint at all. I love how ramshackle it all is while still holding together.

"His voice is great, his arrangements are great, his lyrics are crazy. If more people had a chance to hear Mark, they’d know how good he is. Looking at him, you’d never expect it."

Despite the sum of past sorrows, Overland’s brown eyes sparkle as he laughs more freely these days. There’s more to be happy about. Along with band mates Allen Pujo (bass/vocals) and Jzero Schuurman (drums), GutterAwl will be releasing a split 12" record with Damn Dirty Ape. Simultaneously, Overland is releasing a companion Lucid 44 EP CD. With a new music video on the way (created by local filmmaker Terrance Houle), it looks like the shy songwriter’s days of flying under the radar are numbered. - FFWD Weekly by Aubrey McInnis

Markus Overland

When he’s not singing dead-on karaoke renditions of “The Piano Has Been Drinking” by Tom Waits to a crowd of unfortunates left asking, “who is Tom Waits again?”, you can find Markus Overland performing in four different musical projects that include Lucid 44, GutterAwl, 2000 Wears, and the Terrance Houle Band.

Overland self-describes Lucid 44 as sad bastard death folk; GutterAwl as a three-year spectacle and fun project that experiments in punk and spazz music; 2000 Wears as pure noise with no local noise scene in Calgary to play in, and the Terrance Houle Band as instrumental music made to accompany the film works of Calgary’s most recognizable contemporary Aboriginal artist.
With musical influences like the Minutemen, Black Flag, Bikini Kill, Mudhoney, and Half Japanese, Overland says he originally got involved in music to spite boredom, and realized he had a voice and wanted to speak out.

“Really I just write songs on the spot and then refine them or I don’t,” he explains. “I write about mostly general personal experiences by just looking around, seeing stuff and getting pissed off.
I’ve been playing in Cowtown for seven years live, it’s a way to shut my mind off for 20 to 40 minutes. My music isn’t a sit and drink a beer kind of evening, I get pretty intense solo.”

“It’s hard to deal with the race card for me,” he continues. “I’m an urban Native/Métis, but I go as Canadian. I never grew up around Native culture or knew I was Native until high school, so mostly it’s been a teenage identity thing for me, but I don’t pay too much energy into it now.”

Commemorating Overland’s 16th CD release on his Tonto is Jesus catalog, the album titled Co./Mah/Coal Tij-016 is set to be released on Thursday, July 3rd for RAMP 23 at Broken City.

But why Tonto is Jesus?

“I made it up in my head,” Overland explains. “The Lone Ranger is great because he always saves the day, but Tonto always did the underlining of everything. So it’s basically like the underdog is Jesus.”

To catch this musical underdog, you can hear a healthy dose of Markus Overland performances at Broken City on Thursday, July 3rd (CD release), CJSW live on air and at The Marquee Room on Thursday, July 17th, and at The Distillery on Saturday, July 19th. For more information and late summer performance dates, check out http://www.myspace.com/lucid44gutterawl

by Sarah Scout - Beatroute Magazine