My Lovely Son
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My Lovely Son

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"Touched for the very fisrt time-Friday night at Rifflandia"

Satnam Minhas looked so relaxed and focused on the Goolden stage as he unfurled delicate guitar lines over his gorgeous hushed voice. The emotional climate of his hypnotic melodies was decidedly melancholy, like days I can remember as a kid, in the park, alone with just the sun and grass. Like kinda sad, but also with a sense of wonder and a quiet ache for all that lies ahead. If you’re familiar with Scottish songwriter Alisdair Roberts, and particularly his old project Appendix Out, then imagine the tender, wistful, bygone-era quality of that stuff, but not as choppy, more like a still lake, less fragile. Wow, I was really impressed with this performance. For an artist who only recently has his first album under his belt, Minhas brings a presence to the stage that feels mature and confident. This is a guy to watch, for sure. And he’s local. Lucky us! I was so into his stuff that I tracked down My Lovely Son after his set, and we shared some words:

Jay Morritt: Tell me about yourself—I don’t know anything about you. You’re local, yeah?

Satnam Minhas: I was born and raised in Duncan, and I’m working in Victoria now. This year was supposed to be the year that I made a mark on the city, because I spent a lot of time recording my album, and after I was done I was like “what am I going to do with it?” I was living in Duncan, and I decided I had to get into the city—it seemed like the next logical step. So I moved here and started playing shows. Playing here at the Alix Goolden is sorta like the cherry on top for me.

JM: Yeah, you said, onstage, that this was a dream come true for you.

SM: I saw Owen Pallett (of Final Fantasy) play here a while ago, and I remember sitting in my seat thinking “good God, what would it be like to play this?”

JM: You sounded fabulous up there.

SM: Thanks. I was thrown off a bit by the sound, because everything was so magestic, and I’m not used to playing such venues!

JM: So what are your influences?

SM: That could go every-which-way. There’s some jazz in there, classic folk, Led Zeppelin—I listened to a lot of Led Zeppelin as a kid. But melody is the biggest thing for me. I’m trying to challenge the listener, while at the same time pull on their heart-strings. And if you have a chance to listen to them, there’s some old Bollywood tracks from the 60's and 70's that are, to me, heart-wrenchingly beautiful, because I grew up listening to that stuff. That’s where the emotion comes from.

JM: You just radiate this kind of ease, or containment, on stage. It looked so natural for you to be up there. And your guitar work and vocal style weave together so comfortably—I could have listened to that all night and been happy!

SM: It means a lot that you would say that. This is the first time I’ve put together a body of work of my own, and performed something steadily for a while. I’ve played in bands before and it was so un-fulfilling—it was always a compromise. Now I’m not compromising.

JM: So you lived your dream of playing the Goolden—what’s next?

SM: I’m a social worker, but I’m getting layed off, and I’m going to take a break from that work and focus on music. I’m going to be playing some shows in what people out here called “the East”, but which is really Central Canada—Toronto, Montreal—and when I get back from that I’m thinking tentatively of a European tour.

JM: Yes. Well, please sir, keep making music. Keep doing what you are doing.

SM: Thanks, I will.

–Jay Morritt - Monday Magazine


"My Lovely Son live at Hermans Jazz Club"

My Lovely Son has a knack for rendering an audience rapt. In a variety of venues I have seen a hush fall over the crowd as the space is filled by the rich, melodic vocal and precise guitar work that define his songs and shine in his performance. From a trendy room full of young hipsters to a busy café frequented by some of Victoria’s most seasoned players, listeners consistently find themselves captivated by—and walk away humming—My Lovely Son.


- Alexis Ratz-The Phoenix News


"My Lovely Son's "The Hunt is On""

I get send quite a lot of CDs and demos every day and the My Lovely Son album not only made it onto the stereo (yes, I know its awful to say but some don't make it that far!), but it also stayed there until it was over and then was played again. Enchanting stuff. - Tom Bridgewater of Loose Records, London


"MY LOVELY SON – The Hunt Is On (Independent)"

A few years ago I saw José González play an 1,800-capacity concert hall. The flavour of the month at the time, he’d been propelled into the spotlight on the back of that now infamous Sony Bravia ad, so the show was completely sold out. There he sat, hunched over his guitar with acres of empty stage around him, looking rather overwhelmed by the occasion as he warbled his delicate tunes. “Why him?” I thought.

González is a lucky man. Let’s face it, he’s no more than a decent singer, songwriter and musician, but in the ridiculously overcrowded world of singer-songwriters and folky acoustic troubadours he does not particularly stand out as a true original like, for example, Justin Vernon as Bon Iver. So, he is lucky to have been handed a break by music placement executives that assisted him in rising above. The combination of his reflective Heartbeats and innovative marketing imagery made him a star, but let us not forget that it was the combination that rocketed him overground, not the song standing alone.

However, the thousands of musicians around the world equally worthy of exposure can and usually do struggle to find an audience, languishing in the obscurity of their own backyard - unless, like Vernon, they hit upon a sound or modus operandi not previously explored in depth, or at all. Victoria, BC’s Satnam Minhas, recording as My Lovely Son, is one who has. On his unfeasibly beautiful debut, The Hunt Is On, it is not so much the sonic composition of the music that sets him apart – nothing here screams “groundbreaking,” and there are recognizable touchstones throughout - but the extraordinary subtlety with which he delivers it.

That a sound so rich can be performed so as to arrive at the listener’s ears as if carried there by the gentlest of breezes implies a very special talent is at work here. Recorded entirely on his own in the Duncan, BC bedroom he grew up in, My Lovely Son has offered up a hushed, intimate, ambient-folk masterpiece falling somewhere between the aforementioned Bon Iver, Durutti Column, Tram, Great Lake Swimmers and, at least vocally, the more introspective work of Shack’s Michael Head. It is in fact Head’s long lost folk-rock classic, The Magical World of the Strands, as well as fellow British Columbian CS Rippin’s exquisite The Myth & the Mile I am most reminded of here. No bad thing in either instance, believe me.

Formerly of Karmetik Underground and the World Symphonic Groove Orchestra, Minhas is now creating music totally at odds with the worldbeat/electronic dance of his previous outfits. Indeed, The Hunt Is On is melancholy and pretty, understated and shimmering - an exercise in restraint built upon ethereal guitars, keyboard washes and gentle percussion. It’s a lush overall sound bearing a perfectionist’s attention to detail, the resultant dreamy atmosphere provoking reflective reverie, in this deeply satisfied listener at least.

Highlights are plentiful within its all-too-brief 39 minutes, but New Chance with its sumptuous layered harmonies and epic Sigur Ros-esque qualities is one. The crisp, chiming guitar motifs of Basho and Take My Gun are others, but as with all great albums dissection to this extent is pointless in respect of taking away from the listening experience as a whole. In short, an auspicious debut of which My Lovely Son’s father will be justifiably proud. All he needs now is a TV ad and he’s made.

DAVID MORRISON
- Facinating Rhythm


"The hunt is on"

My Lovely Son crafts painfully broken ballads that sit on clouds of reverb-drenched bliss. Amazing attention to production detail makes this stand out, but graceful, sinking hymns also posits My Lovely Son as a formidable songwriter in his own right. Think Mazzy Star meets Doves – dreamy & a bit of a downer, but rewarding & soothing at the same time. - Ditch Records


"An afternoon with Andrew Sisk"

"There is a new act from Victoria, B.C. called My Lovely Son who just released an album that is really amazing. It is yet another example of something amazing coming from the Canadian music scene that may be ignored amidst the hype of bands who have lots of money to spend on advertising. If there is any justice it will get a Polaris nod at the very least."
--Andrew Sisk of "Share" - East Coast Noise


Discography

The Hunt is On (2009)

www.myspace.com/mylovelyson

mylovelyson.bandcamp.com

Photos

Bio

My Lovely Son is the solo project of a Canadian musician named Satnam Minhas. Augmented by subtle percussion and warm bass, his lush sound is built on layers of ethereal guitar and hushed vocals. Seamlessly weaving together melodic lines like strands of colourful silk, My Lovely Son pulls the listener into a vulnerable world of minor chords and major lyrical themes to accompany them on a deeply rewarding sonic journey.

Recorded in its entirety in the bedroom Minhas grew up in, The Hunt Is On (Independent) is the debut full-length release from My Lovely Son. The songs reflect the struggles of balancing two cultures, while trying to maintain a sense of identity for oneself. Themes of romance, angst, rebellion and defeat course throughout the album’s ten beautiful songs, coming together in a world of sound that has been described as a “deep cauldron of magic.”

Drawing influences from bands and artists like Radiohead, Grizzly Bear, Beck and Beach House, while subtly incorporating his Eastern roots, My Lovely Son has crafted an ambient-folk sound certain to appeal to the discerning listener of any generation.

Based in Victoria on Vancouver Island, MY LOVELY SON is planning a showcase tour of Eastern Canada for Fall 2010. International interest is already bubbling following the inclusion of key album track NEW CHANCE on Volume 9 of the Oh! Canada compilation series from respected UK music blog, The Line of Best Fit.