The Organ
"the one that has those sad, sad songs"
Location: Vancouver
Website: http://www.myspace.com/theorgan
Bio: The Organ are a Vancouver quintet, formed in 2001. In a short space of time, this all female ensemble gained rapid exposure with the release ... (more)
of their first EP, Sinking Hearts; and a live show that has spirited them on stage with some of the most significant bands today. A critical and popular favourite, The Organ write melodic and introspective music based on layered interplay between their instrumentalists -- Debora Cohen, guitar; Ashley Webber, bass; Shelby Stocks, drums; Jenny Smyth, Hammond organ -- and the intimate and doleful lyrics of their lead singer, Katie Sketch. In 2003, The Organ signed a co-record deal with both Mint and 604 Records. As a result, their debut record, Grab That Gun, was released on May 25th, 2004 (distributed in Canada through Scratch Distribution and Outside Music) -- as well as domestically in the USA in November through NAIL Distribution
The Organ's "sound" has been commented on and debated over from the very beginning, so great is the fascination that it inspires. "The Organ's melancholy melodies are intoxicating," writes Cyndi Elliot of Magnet Magazine. The band is consistently compared with the best songwriters of the early '80s new-wave, writing structured songs around minimal arrangements, and creating a nuanced, textured sound that can be brooding and catchy at the same time. The best of many bands can be found here -- whether it is the weaving counterpoint melodies between organ and bass; the lean, bell-like intonation of sparkling guitars; the charmed tenacity of the snare; or the suspended lamentation of Sketch's cascading vocals -- and much excitement is borne out of the desire to name The Organ's sound in precise terms. "The Organ does it so well, it's hard to believe these kids are in their early 20s," writes John Parish of The Big Takeover. "It makes me feel better than the electronic craziness of some of those 'I love the '80s' bands, and almost as sad as I used to feel in the 1980s, and I love 'em for it." For their own part, the band accepts the associations with an amused detachment. "Originally I was trying to do something a little more rock, like Elastica," says Sketch, "but obviously it didn't work out that way."
The Organ have played with a wide variety of contemporary bands such as Interpol, Hot Hot Heat, The Walkmen, The Von Bondies, The Soledad Brothers and Bratmobile; and finished a tour across North America with Matador's New Pornographers. The band has become well-known for the somber intensity of their live performances, which they happily acknowledge as involving very little physical movement on-stage. "That's the only way we can be," says Sketch. "If I paid Debora a million dollars to jump up and down, she wouldn't. That's just her personality." "The Organ's approach is classic European detachment," writes Michael White of Calgary's News and Entertainment Weekly, "It creates an enveloping mood, and fully complements the music's soulful melancholy." And perhaps it is a testament to the saliency of Sketch's dark lyrical themes ó which range from interpersonal relationships to politics -- that The Organ is so often perceived as a wholly melancholy affair. Organist Jenny Smyth is herself caught between the band's music and its rueful subject matter: "The Organ's music sounds really happy and cheerful so I always get really shocked when people say 'your music is so sad and emotional' and I'm like *really*!? I think it sounds like *la* *la* *la*..."
With so much attention already devoted to The Organ's sound and presentation, there remains nevertheless a lasting captivation with their distinction as an all female band. "Other people tend to point it out," muses Smyth, "'Oh, an all girl band!' and I'm like, 'I'm a girl?'" "I'm just playing with my friends," says Sketch. "We wouldn't have cared if we'd found some really great boys to play with us, but instead we found some really great girls." Still, the distinction is not without significance, as drummer Shelby Stocks knows first-hand: her seventh-grade band teacher took her drumsticks away and gave them to a boy, informing her that girls don't play the drums. "There was a part of me that wanted to prove him wrong -- that girls can actually play. What an idiot."
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