Interview: Patrick Krief

BY PAULA GONZALEZ
PHOTOS BY VALERIE JODOIN-KEATON

Take It or Leave

www.kriefmusic.com
www.myspace.com/patrickkrief

The date was set. On his side, it was unusually snowy in Montreal, Canada, and on my side, it was a rainy day in Miami, Fla. He had just finished rehearsing; I had just finished working. On the phone it took me a couple of minutes to adjust to my own silence. I admitted to him, “I’m a bit nervous.” He said, “You shouldn’t be. I don’t hurt. Anyways, you’re too far away.” And with that, I began a phone conversation with Patrick Krief.

To know Patrick Krief is to have a passion for music as well. His story begins way before he joined The Dears in 2004. There were two key moments that directed his life as a musician. The first was his older brother introducing him to The Beatles: “I haven’t stopped listening to them; actually, I’m staring at a poster right now,” he commented as we chatted about his ultimate, favorite Beatles album. “Ooooooooo ... Tough one. I would have to say Abbey Road or The White Album—it’s just Beatles.” The second moment was when his sister gave him a Jimi Hendrix cassette, and he was blown away. These moments and influences can be heard in Krief’s new EP, Take It or Leave.

But let’s go back to just a couple of years ago, when Krief had been working on various projects. Some worked, some didn’t, but he was looking to get his own music out there in someway. He was already part of The Dears when a project came along: Lesley Lane. For Krief, Lesley Lane became a solo project plus a band. They worked together for months and did a couple of shows but ended their existence—on a good note—due to dynamics beyond their control.

Even though Krief wrote all the music and lyrics, he was still looking for someone to sing his material, since he had absolutely no intention to do it himself. After various tries, he realized it would have to be him.

PK: I didn’t assume for a second that I would sing, and then I realized that I’m going to have to do it myself.
SS: That’s torture.
PK: It’s torture when you come full circle, when it comes back to you, when you realize that you could have done it yourself. I’m not the most enjoyable person to be with when you are singing my songs.
SS: But it’s your songs; you have to be picky.
PK: I get really specific.
SS: Nothing wrong with that.

For Krief, this would be the first time he would sing his own songs on his new project. “Whenever I wrote a song, it didn’t matter what it sounded like. But this time, I was recording. I knew this is for people to hear. It was definitively more emotionally taxing. You don’t want to stand there and do a million takes. You want to do a couple so that it feels real, and at the same time, you don’t want it to sound like shit.”

For Take It or Leave to feel real, Krief recorded the album in five days. For those who have seen him perform with The Dears, it’s plainly evident how much passion vibrates from his guitar. During The Dears’ show in Miami earlier this year, I could almost say that Krief stole the show, as many were left in awe of how he played each song.

SS: Is it difficult to divide your creativity between The Dears and your solo work?
PK: No, it doesn’t work like that. Murray [Lightburn] writes the songs for The Dears. When I hear a song and when I practice guitar and when a song inspires me to do something, it stays there.
SS: From listening to some songs from your EP, there’s a love story Who’s the girl that broke your heart?
PK: Which songs?
SS: “What We Wanted,” “Black Empty Hearts,” “Worries Are Over.” Am I right?
PK: Yeah, but those three can be linked to the same thing. It’s an old story, long story, long gone.
SS: Well for a long gone story…
PK: When I write a song, it starts about something and then it becomes about other things. Those three songs encompass a lot of things.

There was something else on Krief’s plate that he had to contemplate: singing his songs live and in front of an audience in his home sweet home Montreal. He decided he must prepare. “I don’t want to throw myself on stage. I don’t expect to be amazing. I’m definitely going to do the right things.” He then tells me that he intends to practice in a small, tiny bar that can’t hold more than 40 people. “I’m just setting me and the keyboard [down] and singing for a week.” He already has a couple of shows set for next month, including his first headlining show in Quebec. “That’s making me nervous. Actually, they are all making me nervous.”

In the meantime, he is currently rehearsing with his band mates. “Songs are changing. To perform the songs live like on the record, it wouldn’t be interesting, I like to change things live. We have to get creative to make it sound big.”

SS: What do you want listeners to take away from your album?
PK: [Silence]
SS: [Silence]
PK: I don’t know. Whatever. Some kind of relief, release or happiness. That’s it. What else can I ask for? It gives them some type of satisfaction on a new level. And for the live shows, I would like people to have a good time.

There are already good signs for Patrick Krief. His EP is currently sold out and on reprinting basis. Take It or Leave is set to be available again on April 5 through www.maplemusic.com.

Take It or Leave features seven songs, some slow, some intense, some that leave you with the desire to love and some that bring relief. Bu most importantly, this EP shows the true self behind Krief, his guitar and his songs.

Comments

[paula]

i like this interview. awesome.

[Oscar]

This interview makes me smile.

[juepucta]

I think this is the dude that stole my (pretend) gf! She even took the pic that you are using here.

Bah! I am boycotting Krief (not really).

-G.