Marble Lion

Marble Lion are coming to this year's Sled Island on the heels of their upcoming May 18th "Clothing EP" release on Clocks and Daggers. Spending a year and half since the release of the "Foliage EP", working with Calgary ex-pats in Montreal, Marble Lion are poised to bring their gorgeous, disorienting and sometimes danceable ruminations on texture to Sled Island and an impending larger audience. This is their first Calgary show, which will see the group using traditional instruments and live electronics to engulf the listener in an unclassifiable pool of sound. - Colin Gallant

Marble Lion are coming to this year's Sled Island on the heels of their upcoming May 18th "Clothing EP" release on Clocks and Daggers. Spending a year and half since the release of the "Foliage EP", working with Calgary ex-pats in Montreal, Marble Lion are poised to bring their gorgeous, disorienting and sometimes danceable ruminations on texture to Sled Island and an impending larger audience. This is their first Calgary show, which will see the group using traditional instruments and live electronics to engulf the listener in an unclassifiable pool of sound. - Colin Gallant

"Sounds like: Goose bumps surfacing." - Alan Cross

"Sounds like: Goose bumps surfacing." - Alan Cross

"Here’s a hot-off-the-presses demo from Marble Lion. There’s a resemblance to some of their Montreal contemporaries Blue Hawaii and Majical Cloudz, but they conduct things on a more epic and grandiose scale. An extremely exciting first demo of their new material.
Their live set is not to be missed" - digits

"Here’s a hot-off-the-presses demo from Marble Lion. There’s a resemblance to some of their Montreal contemporaries Blue Hawaii and Majical Cloudz, but they conduct things on a more epic and grandiose scale. An extremely exciting first demo of their new material.
Their live set is not to be missed" - digits

"I think it's fair to say most of the Australian music industry is battling a fierce hangover today - that's if they're even awake. So we thought we'd treat them - and all of you - to a new discovery. For fans of bands like Boards of Canada, we have a new outfit from Montreal called Marble Lion, consisting of members Jeremy Jacobson, Jordan Juras, and Karl Thelen. It's a beautifully constructed piece full of ambient, ethereal vocals and instrumental loops. This is a new single from a band who released an EP at the end of 2011 and seem to have a lot on the agenda for 2013! Look forward to hearing more..." - Larry Heath

"I think it's fair to say most of the Australian music industry is battling a fierce hangover today - that's if they're even awake. So we thought we'd treat them - and all of you - to a new discovery. For fans of bands like Boards of Canada, we have a new outfit from Montreal called Marble Lion, consisting of members Jeremy Jacobson, Jordan Juras, and Karl Thelen. It's a beautifully constructed piece full of ambient, ethereal vocals and instrumental loops. This is a new single from a band who released an EP at the end of 2011 and seem to have a lot on the agenda for 2013! Look forward to hearing more..." - Larry Heath

"If you have been hankering for a much less assessable "Panda Bear" sounding band with low fi video footage of poor people doing stupid things in perfect synchronization, then today is your lucky day." - Shawn Anderson

"If you have been hankering for a much less assessable "Panda Bear" sounding band with low fi video footage of poor people doing stupid things in perfect synchronization, then today is your lucky day." - Shawn Anderson

"Montreal's Marble Lion is Jeremy Jacobsen, Jordan Juras and Karl Thelen. They have been crafting dream sounds since they met at McGill University in Quebec."
- Sjimon Gompers

"Montreal's Marble Lion is Jeremy Jacobsen, Jordan Juras and Karl Thelen. They have been crafting dream sounds since they met at McGill University in Quebec."
- Sjimon Gompers

"The fusion of melody and noise and strange textures immediately had me hooked. Then I went over to their four-song digital EP and decided that I'd found one of my favourite new Montreal bands."
- Midnight Poutine: Greg Bouchard

"The fusion of melody and noise and strange textures immediately had me hooked. Then I went over to their four-song digital EP and decided that I'd found one of my favourite new Montreal bands."
- Midnight Poutine: Greg Bouchard

An Interview with Jordan Juras of Marble Lion


This Anniversary Show is happening because of Marble Lion. They got the ball rolling. Contacted New Zebra Kid, Corridors/Bill Pond, and (shout out to) Lynne ‘Constant’ Craven. We all dig what they’re doing, and think you, reading this, will too! So come check them out tomorrow at Three Thirty at our curated Shop of fine music and movies, and a quarter past nine at the warm and cozy Craven Cottage.

Jordan Juras and his Marble Lion mates are on their way into town, and we had a chance to catch up. Here are the results.



Mike Bot: Can you describe your music to the, what I assume to be, a mostly unfamiliar London crowd?


Jordan (from Marble Lion): From the start we’ve been using a mixture of electronic and live instruments. Jeremy and I play electric guitar and Karl plays bass. I create washed out soundscapes with my guitar, using pitch-shifted loops with lots of delay and reverb effects. This sits on top of the driving force of Karl’s bass and Jeremy’s drum machine, which he plays predominantly. We take elements of witch house and post rock and just mix it all up. It’s very textural and directional and sometimes dance-y.

Can you tell me a little about the history of the band, where you guys are coming from, and how you came together?

Jeremy and I put together one song in Montreal, Foliage (in a much rougher form!), before we headed in our respective ways for the summer in 2011. I had been making music on my own for a while and one day Jeremy was over and saw a bunch of pedals and asked about them. We thought it would be fun to play together, given the similarities of our musical interests at the time. We exchanged music over the course of travelling and being at home, and upon returning to Montreal we had a good idea of what we wanted to do musically. Karl joined soon after, and leveled the whole project out with his bass lines. Karl and Jeremy both grew up in the Chicago land area and played together in a band called Orcas before coming together in Marble Lion. I grew up near Kingsville, Ontario, not too far from London. Montreal definitely has a lot to do with what we’re up to musically now though.


What's happening in Montreal in your circles?

We all went to McGill, I’m still finishing up, but Karl and Jeremy graduated last semester. Despite a lot of transitioning and lots of folks moving around, a pretty tightly knit community has been maintained throughout our undergrad. We actually totally ripped our basement up and have been hosting shows this semester, bringing in friends and newcomers who are involved in music. We’ve also been getting lots of love from our Calgarian friends, Taylor, Raphe and Austin and Benny! They’ve been helping us out a lot, from the use of their studio, to helping us with mastering, to letting us borrow their gear, its endless! They have been a really big inspiration. We watched them achieve a lot as BRAIDS in the past few years, and now Blue Hawaii is also on the verge of a phenomenal new release that will certainly have a huge impact on the musical world. Seeing bands/friends that are now making big statements in the music world continue to play small house shows and after parties is encouraging. It makes the Montreal music scene feel less abstract and detached.



What’s cooking in the Lion’s den for 2013?

We have been recording this semester. We released one track, ‘Old Man’, but have a lot more material to get down. Ideally, the plan is to release a 7-inch with another short tour and hopefully generate enough positive feedback to put an LP out with label support. That would be the best. Our shows are important to us now, as we have a lot of new, more collaborative material. What we released on the Foliage EP was four songs coming from a few separate directions, but now we have a full set of songs written together and reworked and they are a lot more fun.




Gimme 5-10 Ridiculously great albums, songs, artists, or jams in the tour-mobile er Mobile Lion!

1. Stephan Bodzin –Planet Ypsilon
2. Oneohtrix PointNever – Replica
3. Clams Casino - Natural
4. Balam Acab -Wander/Wonder
5. Tim Hecker - Hatred ofMusic
6. Mac Demarco - Ode toViceroy
7. Andy Stott - Posers
8. Dirty Projectors w/ Bjork - On and Ever Onward
9. WHY? - Chron’s
10. Wu-Tang Clan - Camp Fire

And we never drive anywhere without playing the Reading Rainbow themesong. - Hot Dog Record Shop

An Interview with Jordan Juras of Marble Lion


This Anniversary Show is happening because of Marble Lion. They got the ball rolling. Contacted New Zebra Kid, Corridors/Bill Pond, and (shout out to) Lynne ‘Constant’ Craven. We all dig what they’re doing, and think you, reading this, will too! So come check them out tomorrow at Three Thirty at our curated Shop of fine music and movies, and a quarter past nine at the warm and cozy Craven Cottage.

Jordan Juras and his Marble Lion mates are on their way into town, and we had a chance to catch up. Here are the results.



Mike Bot: Can you describe your music to the, what I assume to be, a mostly unfamiliar London crowd?


Jordan (from Marble Lion): From the start we’ve been using a mixture of electronic and live instruments. Jeremy and I play electric guitar and Karl plays bass. I create washed out soundscapes with my guitar, using pitch-shifted loops with lots of delay and reverb effects. This sits on top of the driving force of Karl’s bass and Jeremy’s drum machine, which he plays predominantly. We take elements of witch house and post rock and just mix it all up. It’s very textural and directional and sometimes dance-y.

Can you tell me a little about the history of the band, where you guys are coming from, and how you came together?

Jeremy and I put together one song in Montreal, Foliage (in a much rougher form!), before we headed in our respective ways for the summer in 2011. I had been making music on my own for a while and one day Jeremy was over and saw a bunch of pedals and asked about them. We thought it would be fun to play together, given the similarities of our musical interests at the time. We exchanged music over the course of travelling and being at home, and upon returning to Montreal we had a good idea of what we wanted to do musically. Karl joined soon after, and leveled the whole project out with his bass lines. Karl and Jeremy both grew up in the Chicago land area and played together in a band called Orcas before coming together in Marble Lion. I grew up near Kingsville, Ontario, not too far from London. Montreal definitely has a lot to do with what we’re up to musically now though.


What's happening in Montreal in your circles?

We all went to McGill, I’m still finishing up, but Karl and Jeremy graduated last semester. Despite a lot of transitioning and lots of folks moving around, a pretty tightly knit community has been maintained throughout our undergrad. We actually totally ripped our basement up and have been hosting shows this semester, bringing in friends and newcomers who are involved in music. We’ve also been getting lots of love from our Calgarian friends, Taylor, Raphe and Austin and Benny! They’ve been helping us out a lot, from the use of their studio, to helping us with mastering, to letting us borrow their gear, its endless! They have been a really big inspiration. We watched them achieve a lot as BRAIDS in the past few years, and now Blue Hawaii is also on the verge of a phenomenal new release that will certainly have a huge impact on the musical world. Seeing bands/friends that are now making big statements in the music world continue to play small house shows and after parties is encouraging. It makes the Montreal music scene feel less abstract and detached.



What’s cooking in the Lion’s den for 2013?

We have been recording this semester. We released one track, ‘Old Man’, but have a lot more material to get down. Ideally, the plan is to release a 7-inch with another short tour and hopefully generate enough positive feedback to put an LP out with label support. That would be the best. Our shows are important to us now, as we have a lot of new, more collaborative material. What we released on the Foliage EP was four songs coming from a few separate directions, but now we have a full set of songs written together and reworked and they are a lot more fun.




Gimme 5-10 Ridiculously great albums, songs, artists, or jams in the tour-mobile er Mobile Lion!

1. Stephan Bodzin –Planet Ypsilon
2. Oneohtrix PointNever – Replica
3. Clams Casino - Natural
4. Balam Acab -Wander/Wonder
5. Tim Hecker - Hatred ofMusic
6. Mac Demarco - Ode toViceroy
7. Andy Stott - Posers
8. Dirty Projectors w/ Bjork - On and Ever Onward
9. WHY? - Chron’s
10. Wu-Tang Clan - Camp Fire

And we never drive anywhere without playing the Reading Rainbow themesong. - Hot Dog Record Shop