Before performing at Ritual Nightclub Oct. 27, Chad VanGaalen said he’s getting tired of writing songs.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be writing songs for, it’s really getting hard for me at this point,” he said. ”I wrote songs off and on, but everyone thinks I’m a songwriter.”
VanGaalen said he’s been thinking about past albums he believes were failures, including his exploration into electronic, folk, and rock. The Calgary native also hinted at a personal deviation from music into illustration, particularly animation.
VanGaalen hasn’t shied away from these disiciplines, creating animation for Toronto band Holy Fuck, and cover art for electronic Edmonton clan Shout Out Out Out Out. In spite of his disenchantment, VanGaalen still joked about his recent European tour, which he described as “awesome.”
He released his most recent album, Diaper Island, in May 2011.
“We always get an amazing driver there, so we can get wasted and not worry about driving,” he said. “It’s always a dilemma at the end of the night, when you have to get to a hotel. Then you have to find someone in the audience to drive you.”
VanGaalen is currently on a cross-Canada tour, which inclues a stop in his hometown Nov. 5. Although VanGaalen said he’s homesick, he said he doesn’t feel a hometown advantage when he plays in Calgary.
“Just playing to your family and friends, especially when you’re used to being a wastoid, surly pirate, and you come home and your mom’s in the crowd,” he said. “You’re having bum sex banter, and then you have to say ‘Oh, I have to try not to drink tonight.’ ”
