MALCOLM BAULD

Billy The Kid and Malcolm Bauld Fly Solo

While the holiday season is the time to gather with friends and family, the weeks immediately following hold no such rules. Billy The Kid, lead singer of punk band Billy and the Lost Boys, and Malcolm Bauld, vocalist for Montreal trio The Frenetics, are breaking free of their bands and embarking on a tour, just the two of them.

The pair will hit 10 cities in the New Year, with all of them lying in the land west of Ontario. Kicking off on January 15th in Calgary, Alberta, Billy and Bauld will head right into the next month, playing their final date on February 1st in Calgary - after making a circuit to the coast. Besides Alberta and British Columbia, the two singers will also visit the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

When she's with her band the Lost Boys, Billy The Kid is responsible for providing the vocals for some rip-roaring punk music. The last record that the Vancouver trio released was the longwinded titled 'Breaking Down The Barriers That Breakdown Your Music'; the 15-track album was released in September 2004.

When he's with his band The Frenetics, Bauld is responsible for providing the vocals for guitar-laden indie rock music. Together since 1999, The Frenetics have released two full-length albums. Their debut 'These Mistakes Took Years of Practice' was dropped in 2001, and the follow-up 'Grey Veins to the Parking Lot' was released in 2004. - Soulshine.ca

Having fronted The Frenetics for a number of years and worked closely with Yesterday's Ring, Fifth Hour Hero and others, Malcolm Bauld has been a key figure in Montreal's punk community for longer than most other members have known what punk is. With his new solo album, Covered in Dust, Bauld collects his experience and dishes it out in 10 tracks that are as much Bruce Springsteen as they are The Clash, with bits of Billy Bragg and Greg MacPherson thrown in. His new solo work is relaxed and full with an emphasis on gorgeous folk ballads, but that's a good thing this time around. Perfectly paired with the music are Bauld's experiences and outlook on life. Anyone involved in Canada's independent music community already knows Malcolm Bauld, and with Covered In Dust, there's no reason why those in the United States shouldn't, either. (Ben Conoley) - Alternative Press

by Steve Guimond
Who says the life of a budding rock star isn’t all glamour and groupies?

When we reach intrepid guitar slinger, proletarian singer/poet, and all-around nice guy Malcolm Bauld in Toronto, he’s packing envelopes that hold the precious cargo of his new release, the excellent Covered in Dust, on his new label, the Buffalo, New York based Art of the Underground. “We have a pile to get through,” he chuckles. Bauld has been a mainstay on the ground in Montreal for over a decade now, starting way back when with powered pop-punkers The Frenetics, and closer to now as a lone hawk whose wings have spread to embrace the gospels of country, ballad, folk and mellow. People in this city get in a tizzy at the mere mention of his name – rarely does an artist from here have such a fervent following. If the world holds any justice, this love will spread across the land with the imminent unveiling of the new album.

Happenstance led him to his new recording home, the DIY Art of the Underground, following a couple of self-released tour-only EP’s. “…a band called Fifth Hour Hero. They were a Quebec band, a punk band that was around for quite a few years, and they did a lot of touring in the States,” Bauld
mentions. “Their ride actually broke down in Buffalo and they were stuck there for a few days,” he continues. Fifth Hour Hero had some of Malcolm’s music on them and the crash pad proprietors also happened to be the label heads and, voila, a match made in heaven.

BAND ON THE RUN
Covered in Dust will be supported by six weeks of grueling touring across this slowly thawing land, the dates finding Malcolm Bauld being backed by Toronto-based Horses, who will also be his opening act. When all is said and done, Bauld is no stranger to a long life on the road. “I just hope the van holds up,” he deadpans. The preparation, he mentions, is simple. “Definitely I always want to eat as well as I can, and do as much exercise before I leave, because you’re sitting in a van for hours and you have no real access to your usual food.” So much for the mythical rock and roll training of beer and smokes!

The new record will satisfy the diehards with its tough, hook-laden edge, while surprising with the scope of its musicianship and laid-back tenderness. Malcolm Bauld sees Covered in Dust as the one that finally embodies the definition of an album. “It feels a lot more like one piece of work,” he says. Whereas previous records were patched together almost haphazardly, the debut full-length was carefully constructed in one studio sitting. “It feels a lot more fluid even though there are guest musicians playing on most of the songs.” The guests in question are friends Malcolm has touched with his gentle soul over the many years in the game, players from the Sainte Catherines, Pawa Up First, Darling Arms, and Snailhouse. A roster none too shabby. [

May 9th at Le Divan Orange with The Details
Info: 514.840.9090 / www.malcolmbauld.com - Nightlife Magazine

Bauld's his own boss
Montreal-based singer/songwriter trades in the pop-punk band to do his own thing
Jared Story

Bauld's his own bossMontreal-based singer/ songwriter Malcolm Bauld doesn't come from working-class roots, but that doesn't stop him from singing a very blue-collar tune.

"I appreciate music that's simple and direct and I think a lot of rock music that's considered working-person's rock 'n' roll has that in its nature," Bauld says.

Bauld, 34, grew up on '70s Brit punk and American folk, and his soon-to-be-released debut full-length, Covered in Dust, is a nod to that musical upbringing, chock full of honest and straightforward pieces that will surely please the proletariat. Speaking of grassroots rock 'n' roll, one of Bauld's biggest and most evident influences is everybody's favorite working-class hero, Bruce Springsteen.

"I, like most people, first associated Springsteen with the Born in the U.S.A, pop-sensation, headband thing, but once I got a copy of Nebraska, that blew away my whole perception of him as an artist," Bauld says. "I heard it for the first time in '99, and really took a long listen to it. I still completely really think of that as a milestone and something to aspire to as far as tone and storytelling and mood."

Bauld wasn't always able to fully embrace his inner Boss. From 1999 to 2005, he fronted Montreal pop-punk band The Frenetics, with the demise of that band partially coming from Bauld's need to branch out.

"Anne (Gauthier, The Frenetics' drummer) and I, we just felt like it had run its course and I wanted to have more flexibility in opportunities to play with different musicians and also, to be able to stylistically shift around a bit more," Bauld says.

"A lot of what I'm doing now is similar to what The Frenetics were doing, but a lot is quite different. It's a lot more folky and slowed down, with a bit of country stuff in there as well. That wasn't something I felt like she (Gauthier) was interested in pursuing or something I'd really be able to experience if we stayed as a three piece punk/pop band.

"I think it's nice to be able to slow things down and also to be able to do music that you kind of feel more comfortable with, that feels more suitable to where you're at, but also to be able to go back and still play the music that is at your roots." - Uptown Magazine

Fiesty folk-punk Malcolm Bauld is another fine example of Montreal's fertile music scene. His solo debut, Covered In Dust, is reminscent of the greats — Joe Strummer, Bruce Springsteen, The Levellers, and Billy Bragg.

Bauld will make his first Edmonton appearance on Friday, April 4 at the Velvet Underground. - Edmonton Journal

When reviewing albums at the University of Regina’s Carillon student newspaper, I had some really great times and passed harsh criticism on a lot of terrible, terrible music. Lil’ Romeo, Downset, Hair of the Dog, Guttermouth…kind of like a bad dream, in retrospect.

One of few brightly-shining exceptions was the debut album from Montreal melodic rockers the Frenetics. I greatly enjoyed These Mistakes Took Years of Practice, in particular the opening track, “Are You Waiting?” At the time I wrote something mildly hyperbolic, especially considering the mid-tempo pace of a good number of songs: ‘The energy of the band comes through immediately, causing one’s head to nod uncontrollably and their foot to tap like it’s going out of style.” Very insightful, younger me.

The follow-up, Grey Veins To The Parking Lot, did little to advance their prominence, despite being a fairly flawless album. Surprisingly, even in a year when the Arcade Fire trumped just about everything else in music as far as the attention of most people, the Punknews website lavished a tiny bit of praise on them, recommending it for fans of Ted Leo, Elvis Costello, and the like. “the Journalist” made my best songs of the year mix tape, though I would soon realize that “the Bitter Years” is the most perfect song on the album and also a flawless summation of the bands abilities.

A break-up followed shortly after, relegating the band to the list of groups I never managed to see in person before their time ended. Malcolm Bauld eventually headed out on solo tours intermittently, but I was never able to catch those shows (and I still haven’t). But as soon as I heard New York-based label Art of the Underground would be putting out his debut solo LP I got a copy. Hell, if we’re being honest I got two copies.

I haven’t been disappointed. Bauld has gone from writing mature pop rock for grown-ups to writing mature music for grown-ups. Opener “Charity” features the stomp of his former band, albeit in an acoustic manner. Pretty much the rest of the album is far more subdued, a great number of the songs gentle, hushed numbers with acoustic guitar, piano, and a smattering of cello, accordian, and harmonica. Lyrically, Bauld remains a vivid and compelling storyteller, as showcased on the lyrical centerpiece of “Royal Road,” the b-side’s first track. He tells the story of a girl who tamed a wild woman, settling down only to one day discover that she hasn’t quite settled. Fleeing her infidelity, she enlists in the army, serving in an unspecified desert conflict for years before returning to New Brunswick’s Gagetown military base. It’s there, late one night, her wife emerges from the darkness, inexplicably, returning to her arms. It might sound a bit sappy, but the telling of the tale is rich and compelling.

“Royal Road” also leads off an incredibly somber hat trick of songs with gorgeous, minor key melodies about searching for lost love and trying to find your way home. The final track is a elegiac piano-only closing number that closes out the album in a very appropriate fashion, some downright funereal trumpet and cello offering the perfect accompaniment for such a sad tune.

I really can’t recommend this album enough. One of my favourite all-time Canadian songwriters has only gotten better with age. - Sound Salvation Army