Eunoia

Degenrelization can be purchased at Red Cat Records and Audiopile in Vancouver.

What do you get when you put nine musicians together? One might assume there would be chaos, clashes, and competition, but with Vancouver band, Eunoia, it is pure collaboration. Over the years, this group of musicians has casually come together. Some have known each other for a matter of months, while others have known each other for most of their lives. Informal jams have turned into something unique and pure, giving birth to Eunoia.

The name comes from ancient Greek, meaning “beautiful thinking� and is pronounced yoo’-noy-ah. The name paints a picture quite like the band itself. When the heads of these nine musicians come together, without ego, they create beautiful thoughts and put them to music.

In English, the word refers to a state of normal health; a definition fitting for an art form that can soothe, excite, build passion, inspire, and unite people throughout the world. Despite the grand etymology, it was for a simple reason that the band picked its name. “We picked the name because it is the shortest word in the English language using all five vowels,� shrugs Cam Catalano, just one of the many members of Eunoia.

His casualness sums up the nature of a band, whose members flow on and off stage, sharing instruments and swapping roles. Mike Chadwick plays guitar, drums, and trumpet; Justin Brown plays drums and uses extended vocal techniques, Brandon Hoffman fingers the bass, guitar, piano, and vocal chords; Chad Matthews also plays bass; Rebecca Treherne toots the French horn and trumpet, plays drums and piano, and scats so high she might not come down again. Syd Beagle beats the drums, sings, and plays guitar; Jeff Beaulieu strums the banjo, guitar, and bass; Matty Brown plays piano, guitar, and sings and Cam Catalano sings and rocks the guitar, bass, and piano. It is exhausting just trying to figure it all out.

Cam reassures me that they all work well together and there is never any competition amongst the members. “It is easy because all the work is distributed evenly, with each person taking ownership of a song and being the leader of that song, so each person gets their place.� A former student of Simon Fraser University’s Semester in Dialogue, Cam is finding himself applying the many techniques of dialogue to the collaborative process of being in a band. “Its kind of funny how I am using dialogue techniques that I picked up in the program to balance people in the band,� he muses.

To see Eunoia live is a treat. They recently held a CD release party at the Cottage Bistro on Main Street in East Vancouver. With no idea what to expect, I picked up a copy of their album at the door and sat down with a whiskey and coke. A glance at the stage had me wondering how so many people were going to fit up there at the same time, but that is the genius of Eunoia. Its members are up and down, playing one song, and then sitting the next one out. The most people ever playing together were maybe six.

As the first song took off I realized this was no ordinary show. For starters, the entire band was wearing matching western shirts with music notes running across the chest. Brandon discovered them at the Salvation Army, picking them up for his band mates for six dollars a piece.

The set started with an instrumental written by Mike Chadwick and went straight into� Homeland Security,� a slow melody with a fast, off-beat chorus, normally sung by Jeff, who happened to be on a plane to Thailand that night. I was completely thrown for a loop when Rebecca’s jazzy scat singing in “Blind Date� led into a Zach de La Rocha-esque-rap called “Seeking that Which Creates�: “The circle of life, the circle of life, gives, dies, receives and consciously breathes.�

With dark, political lyrics and crisp drum rolls, this song had me sticking around for another whiskey. Eunoia went on to please the ears with a raucous, almost unrecognizable rendition of Beethoven’s Fur Elise and a salsa, referred to by one observer as a “salsa on mushrooms.�

With a goal of recording an album every three months, Eunoia is already off to a great start. Their debut album, Degenrelization was recorded in 72 hours between August 2 and 4. They just recorded their second album in an equally tight time frame. With a little cleanup, it will likely be ready for consumption in January.

By Jennifer Laidlaw - The Peak