Socalled, the moniker of Josh Dolgin – also known as the Jewish Cowboy, the So Called Sedar and the Hip-Hop Haggadah – is a pianist, producer, composer, arranger, rapper, singer, journalist, photographer, filmmaker, magician, cartoonist and puppetmaker, and he’s coming to Banff.
The Montreal-based artist plays The Club at The Banff Centre on Friday (Jan. 18), with the show starting at 8 p.m.
“I was in a hip hop group as a kid and I had a stupid rapping name, and one of the guys started to call me Socalled Heavy-J as my name, and eventually dropped the heavy and it became just Socalled.”
While Socalled has at least six albums under his belt, his newest, Sleepover, has been described as his first.
“It’s the fullest realization of actually coming up with original melodies and lyrics – all the other records that I’ve made have been heavily sample based, so a lot of the sounds that go into it are recorded from samples,” he explained. “But with this record I really started to come up with whole new songs, new melodies.
“A lot of stuff is still based on traditional melodies, I still steal old lyrics and put them into new weird situations. But a song like “Beautiful” is new top to bottom. There aren’t even any samples in it, it’s all live instruments. The more I do this, the more it’s going to look like that, but you never know what’s going to happen.”
This shift in style, from working with samples of other music to creating his own, came about from performing, he explained.
“In performing, I want to have material that I can really sink my teeth into, that feel like my own, and it wasn’t really a conscious decision, it just happened that as I toured more with my band, we have these beats,” said Socalled. “I had ideas that I thought were worth sharing.”
Everything is still sample-based, though, he stressed.
“There is no drummer in this band, except on special occasions, so a lot of the noise, the textures and the meat of the sound, is with this box sampler thing, and that’s where I start the process often, making beats and fun noises and references to collections of sounds that go together, and then that becomes the first layer of a new song.
“It’s a shift, but not really that much of a shift. And I still take issue with the idea of original. I mean what’s original anyway? What’s a reference to the past, what’s stealing, what’s borrowing? These boundaries between these ideas are shaky to say the least.”
While he isn’t really trying to say something with his music, Socalled’s intent is to stir feelings and emotions in people.
“I’m trying to make catchy music that makes you feel something, that makes you think – all these clichés that people use, and then you find yourself repeating them – honestly catchiness,” he explained. “I’m really into the relationship between an artist and the audience. I want to make stuff that an audience likes, I want to make stuff that many people can enjoy, making them feel and think and maybe giggle and cry and a gamut of emotions that you should go through as an audience.
“And by example I want to show that people can get along from very different places, and using music and technology and make a hybrid vigour of an idea, of not having to choose a style or genre, of mixing people together to come up with something that’s not expected, but still satisfying and catchy and super interesting, and all those very different elements in relief bring out the awesomeness of the elements, because they’re so different, the contrast is so extreme, and show the possibility that Africa and Asia, and the West and the East, and black and white and French and English and Jewish and Muslim and blah blah blah, they can get along in this track together.”
This show, in the heart of an Alberta tour, will be Socalled’s fourth time at The Banff Centre.
“I want to do shows anywhere and everywhere that people will have us,” he said. “This Alberta thing just came together and that’s cool. The Banff Centre has been real good to me, and what an awesome, amazing spot to hang out and get your sh-- together.”
Previously, Socalled attended for an indie music residency, for new work with the quartet of Olivier Messiaen’s music and to practice piano.
“When we did the Olivier Messiaen piece, it’s all about bird noises,” he said. “So after the show an ornithologist came up to us and asked us to come bird watching, so we did, and at around 4:30 in the morning we trudged around the forest looking for birds, and that was amazing.”
Socalled likes coming to The Banff Centre, especially to work, because it’s a place where he can set aside all the distractions of life.
“At hom,e there’s endless toys and tools and whatever and an endless parade of reality, and you go to The Banff Centre to play piano, and that’s it,” he said. “There’s not really anything to worry about, just this crazy womb of art practice and you go and hang out and concentrate, and then it’s in this majestically beautiful setting.
“And then they feed you, and that’s the key. It’s hard work, wiping your own a-- in life, and doing laundry and making your bed; they wipe your nose a little bit and let you practice some piano.”
