Sitting on the beach at Britannia Park during the Ottawa Folk Festival, Afie Jurvanen looks like he’s on holiday, not at work. The tanned and tailored musician seems
more interested in going for a swim — but who can blame him, after the year he has had.
After releasing his first full-length album, Pink Strat, under the name Bahamas, Jurvanen spent the year touring and promoting the album.
Pink Strat was nominated for a Juno as well as on the long list for the Polaris Music Prize. After opening for Wilco and playing with Jason Collett on the Bonfire Ball tour this past winter, Jurvanen hit the studio to record some new material. But don’t let his sterling work ethic fool you; with a name like Bahamas, he knows how to unwind.
“This summer’s been basically a vacation because, with festivals, it’s pretty relaxed schedule-wise,” he said, continuing that he has been on Wolf Island just outside of Kingston during the week, and playing festivals like Osheaga and the Ottawa Folk Festival on the weekends.
But, once the weather turns cool, Bahamas is slated to hit the road again, both on his own and with Sarah Harmer.
Jurvanen said that, like his performance at the Ottawa Folk Festival, the fall tour will be a mix of both new and old songs. Where Pink Strat was more soft and sweet, Jurvanen said that “there’s definitely more rocking on the new album.” For Jurvanen, though, that does not mean shunning the knowing simplicity that defines Pink Strat.
“It can really blow you away when someone can really play guitar or is really dexterous on an instrument,” he said. “I’m more interested in emotion. There are a lot of players that can play just one note and can have so much power over you; so much more than all of the fancy stuff.” Jurvanen said that there is still a little work to do on the new album, but he is confident that it will come out early next year. So how does a man so ambitious and driven manage to balance his personal life with work? He relates it all back to going on holiday.
“When you go on vacation, it takes a few days to kind of get into the rhythm of being on vacation. I guess I kind of move through the world at that pace normally,” he said.
“[My mentality] always seems to be at odds with everybody else in my life because [for them] everything is very quick. I guess I just like slowing down. I kind of fantasize that it would be like that all the time; I think people might be a little happier.”