Record Of The Week Club

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a member of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, a roots musician and a DJ walk into a studio ... and six hours later they've created a song available on the Internet.

OK, so it's not a joke, it's what's been happening every Wednesday for the past 12 weeks at MCM Studios, where producer/engineer Mike Petkau has been gathering Winnipeg musicians for his Record of the Week Club.

The concept of the ROTWC is to take three musicians from different genres, put them together in the studio and have them write and record a song in one night. Petkau then mixes it and posts it online immediately.

Another wrinkle to the project is that none of the musicians know who they will be playing with before they arrive.

"I try to put people together who I think will get along on a pure personality level, and people that can find some common musical ground," Petkau explains. "I want people who have already demonstrated they can think outside the box and experiment a bit on their own. I want people already interested in blurring the lines a little bit."

Petkau, 29, came up with the idea three years ago and finally honed the concept to a degree that he was able to secure funding from the Manitoba Arts Council for 16 weeks of recording. The tracks are sold online at recordoftheweekclub.com for 99 cents each, or $13.99 for a 16-week subscription. The first $1,600 raised will be donated to the West End Cultural Centre's rebuilding project.

In the first 12 weeks, Petkau has mixed jazz artists with pop musicians, country songwriters with indie rockers and blues rockers with folkies. There is no boundary when it comes to choosing who is involved and no limit to what kind of music they can make, Petkau says, noting some participants were chosen by him, and some sought him out.

"Musicians in the Winnipeg music scene make a lot of records, but my ultimate goal is that I want people to experiment more and get a little bit more adventurous," Petkau says. "I think a lot of musicians have been excited having a session where they can show up and be free to try something new and experiment. If we can open a couple doors to that process, then great.

"And hopefully people who live here will get a small sense of pride in their city, knowing that all these really great musicians are making cool stuff happen. This isn't Toronto or Montreal, this is Winnipeg, and we're going to do it here."

For Brandy Zdan, one half of award-winning roots duo Twilight Hotel, having the chance to work with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra violinist Rachel Moody and DJ Grant Paley (Moses Mayes) pushed her out of her comfort zone. It gave her a sense of freedom to just go with the flow and follow the song wherever it led.

"Writing music with someone you've never written with before means you have no idea how their process works and you have to learn very quickly," she says. "When I got there and saw who I was working with, I was excited because I knew I was going to be out of my element -- and we all were, which was great because we all took risks."

The trio ended up recording the dance-oriented track Call Me over the course of six hours. The song was built around a bass line before beats and violin were added. The track was almost complete, but there were still no lyrics. Paley joked about rapping -- which he hadn't done before -- on the track and the group liked that idea so much they got him to do it.

"I was like, 'Oh man, how do I write lyrics to a song like this?'" Zdan says. "I had no idea. I don't have experience writing a song like that, with that kind of feel. It was very light. I actually have no idea what the song is about. It sort of conjures up images and it's a fun thing that just flows."

This past Wednesday, Jay Churko, a member of indie pop-rock band Chords of Canada, was teamed up with sound artist Ken Gregory and Jesse Warkentin, keyboard player for experimental jazz-rock-fusion instrumental group Mahogany Frog. In six hours, the group created a trippy prog/indie-rock track called The Royal Canadian Lovers School, filled with Moog keyboards, atmospheric soundscapes, guitar and drums.

"It was a great experience," says Churko. "No one came in with a plan or a song. We were starting from scratch and it evolved from there and it took some interesting turns. That's always exciting, when you think it's going to go one way and it goes another way.

"Everybody got a chance to do some singing. It could have been a super progressive, instrumental, keyboard-guitar soundscapy kind of thing, but it actually turned more structured and it turned into kind of a pop number at the end."

Both Zdan and Churko believe the concept works on several levels, from providing listeners with new music created during a flash of inspiration to bringing together people who might move in different crowds to make something not easily slotted into one genre.

"Maybe it will bring the community together a bit more, because it really transcends all genres and circles," Churko says. "It's exciting for both the musician and the listener."

Petkau has some experience getting musicians to play nice together. In the past year he has helped organize the Last Waltz of the West End (a recreation of the Band's final concert) and a live production of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. He makes his living as an engineer and producer and plays in three different groups: Les Jupes, a post-rock/new wave band; the Liptonians, who specialize in catchy pop-rock; and indie-rockers Ian LaRue and the Condor.

Petkau is hands on during the recording sessions -- he helps with the arrangements, taking seemingly random ideas and turning them into something cohesive so it's not just a night of brainstorming that never ends. He also jumps in on some sessions when asked or if someone can't make it at the last minute.

"I view producing like making mix tapes in high school: ultimately finding what sounds work best together and how to make a song have an impact, so it's something that kind of came naturally out of being a musician," he says. "I've got a lot of creative ideas, so let's apply them in the studio."

When the 16 weeks of ROTWC are up, he'll explore funding options to see if he can release the sessions on CD, but for now online is the place to get them.

"I like the idea we can write and record a song and people can listen to it the next day. That was impossible 10 years ago," he says.

"I figure if I'm challenging the musicians to put something together quick, I'll challenge myself, too." - Winnipeg Free Press

Mike Petkau isn't one who's easily intimidated by hard work.

The local producer/sound engineer/musician-for-hire has helmed some ambitious stage shows, including the recent The Last Waltz of the West End and the second live recreation of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at this year's Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. (The show debuted at last year's fest.) He's a prolific producer, having lent his ears to everyone from alt-folk duo Twilight Hotel to prog rockers Mahogany Frog. He's also the frontman of art-rock/new wave outfit Les Jupes and moonlights in both The Liptonians and Ian La Rue and the Condor. (He also, somehow, has time for a girlfriend.)

Indeed, Petkau's schedule is full - but lately, he's been making waves in the Winnipeg music scene with yet another project. The 29-year-old is the creative brain behind Record of the Week Club - a collaborative weekly recording session that challenges a group of local musicians with writing, arranging and recording a track in a single evening. Every Wednesday evening, a new group of musicians meets at MCM Studios (Petkau's home base) and hammers out a song, which is then mixed, mastered and made available for download by early Thursday morning.

That's enough of a challenge on its own, but there's another unique factor that keeps things interesting: Participating musicians never know who their fellow players will be, pushing them out of their comfort zones.

It's an innovative idea - one that has been percolating in Petkau's brain for some time.

"Three or four years ago, I had this idea. I thought it would be cool to get different people in the studio and get them playing together," he says. "Initially, I thought it would be more formal, but I like how it turned out."

It wasn't until recently, however, that Petkau had the personal and financial resources to get ROTWC up and running.

"Last year, I started thinking I had the pieces in place to make it happen," he says. "I needed to become a better sound engineer to make this work, so I'd spent a few years doing that. I also needed money, so I started applying for grants and ended up getting a Multi-Arts Grant from the Manitoba Arts Council."

With funding secured and an impressive recording resumé under his belt, Petkau was ready to get the project started - which proved to be easier said than done.

"I was really nervous for a long time," Petkau says. "I got the grant in December, but I kept putting (the start date) off. I didn't want to embarrass myself or other musicians. I wanted to capture the creative spirits of all these people."

ROTWC finally kicked off in May, and Mahogany Frog's Graham Epp, Oldfolks Home's Ricardo Lopez and electronic composer Joe Silva had the honour of participating in the project's first session. There will be 16 sessions in total and the tunes from each session are available for 99 cents at recordoftheweekclub.com - or you can become a subscriber and pick up all 16 for $13.99.

"As soon as people started showing up and ideas started to flow, it just clicked," Petkau says of the Club's first night. "It's like starting anything new - you're hesitant at first, and then you get more confident with it."

Petkau wasn't the only one feeling jitters at the beginning of that first meeting. Lopez, an experimentalist who works as a solo artist under the moniker Oldfolks Home, isn't used to jamming with anyone other than Moses and Solomon - his computers.

"I was really scared," Lopez says with a laugh. "You don't want to be the one to freeze up. I was also super-nervous because it's the exact opposite way I make music."

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the trio to warm up to each other, and the session resulted in the quirky electro-pop number Laying Mortar.

"The first one definitely sticks out because I had no idea what to expect," Petkau says. "They came out with this really unique pop song almost entirely in 5/4 (time), which was interesting.

"Last week (July 23) stands out, too. The three of them were totally on the same page. I was the most hands-off on this one."

That session - which featured Anthem Red's Jo Snyder, Tele's Matt Worobec and D. Rangers' Jaxon Haldane - marked the first time three lead singers have been matched up. For Worobec, it was a unique opportunity to work with musicians far outside of his genre - after all, Anthem Red's scrappy punk and D. Rangers' banjo-pickin' bluegrass is a far cry from Tele's austere electro-rock.

"It's a great idea because it puts you in an interesting situation," Worobec says. "Musicians tend to fall into ruts. This really keeps you on your toes."

Working outside one's usual box, so to speak, certainly helps to renew creative energy - and the musicians who have participated in ROTWC have taken away a few personal things from the sessions as well.

"For me, it's the confidence in my ability to work with others," Lopez says. "Now, I want to start another project away from Oldfolks Home. I want to start writing fresh stuff - with people."

"I think you get hung up on recording that sonically perfect song," Worobec says. "Sometimes doing 20 takes isn't what's right for the song. This helps you learn when to pull away."

It's not just the musicians who have benefitted from the weekly get-together.

"I've become a lot more comfortable trusting my instincts," Petkau says. "I think that's true for the musicians as well. Sometimes it's tough to let go in the studio - which is usually a very controlled environment. I think I've learned to tap into the bigger picture as opposed to fixating on the minute details."

There are six sessions left in the series, and Petkau says the club is something he'd consider doing again - after a well-deserved break, that is.

"It's a lot of fun. Everyone's getting along great," Petkau says. "All the musicians coming down want to make something great. They're showing up with a desire to meet that challenge head-on.

"I think everyone has had a lot of fun and has felt really free. I think they're proud of themselves." - Uptown Magazine

"The Record of the Week Club is a terrific project out of Winnipeg where all sorts of local musicians get together on a Wednesday night and then have to record a song before they can leave. Many fascinating things! Though of course I am most partial to "Keewatin Arctic", featuring the Weakerthans' John K Samson, Inuit throat-singer Nikki Komakslutiksak and electronico Blunderspublik." - Said The Gramophone

Mike Petkau had his hands full in 2008.

In addition to a myriad of other projects, the Winnipeg producer/engineer/musician-for-hire was overseeing a creative musical experiment called Record Of The Week Club.

Every Wednesday for 16 weeks, three local musicians would show up at MCM studios, and over the course of one evening, write, arrange and record a track, which would then be mixed, mastered and made available at recordoftheweekclub.com by early Thursday morning.

The tight deadline was pressure enough, but there was another catch. The three participating players (usually of very different musical backgrounds) never knew their co-creators in advance.

It was an exciting, but risky, proposition — and Record Of The Week Club could very well have bombed. But, much to the surprise of Petkau, it was a huge success.

"I think the quality of the music turned out better than I could have imagined," he says. "I figured half would be duds and half would be alright — I wasn't expecting to have 16 that I loved."

While all 16 of the tracks — which feature members of The Weakerthans, The Waking Eyes, Novillero, Nathan, Tele, Anthem Red, Chic Gamine, Moses Mayes, Burnthe8track, Twilight Hotel, Mahogany Frog and many more — have been available for download since the project's completion last fall, Petkau felt the songs deserved a more traditional release. The Record Of The Week Club creations will now be available on a physical compilation disc, which comes out today.

"I went the download route initially because fewer people were buying CDs and I could publicize the download thing as a neat part of the project," Petkau explains. "It did alright, but not as well as I'd hoped. I think it's worth more than 700 downloads. And so far, [having it on CD] is working out really well. I just shipped copies to Illinois and Montreal. And I think we're No. 2 in Guelph."

Still, one download in particular snagged ROTWC some serious attention. "Keewatin Arctic," which features Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson, Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak and electronic artist Blunderspublik, quickly became the Club's most popular song.

"As soon as The Weakerthans posted a blog about it, within the second day, I'd exceeded my website allotment," Petkau says. "All of a sudden punknews.org and other sites were linking to the blog. People were downloading it in Germany."

A year later, and the momentum surrounding ROTWC hasn't slowed. Petkau has started up a new label, Head In The Sand Records, and the ROTWC compilation will act as its flagship release. The disc is being distributed nationwide through Sonic Unyon, which means hard copies can be ordered at your local music store. For those with more new-school listening habits, the disc is available at both iTunes and at recordoftheweekclub.com.

"I feel really satisfied and proud that [the project] worked and people liked it and the music's great," Petkau says. "And I'm amazed that it's getting this second push. It's great." - Chart Magazine

Pretty cool concept for a compilation album. Every Wednesday for 16 weeks, 3 musicians showed up at MCM Studios in Winnipeg ready to collaborate with each other. Their task was to write, record and mix one song. And that song would be made available for download the following morning. Talk about quick turnaround. And in all cases, these artists didn’t even know who else would be arriving to their session.

It’s called the Record Of The Week Club and was thought up by producer/musician/engineer Mike Petkau (of Les Jupes). Created were 16 inspiring works celebrating the depth, diversity and passion of the Winnipeg music community. And similar to shows like CBC’s Fuse, the focus was on inventing non-conventional combinations of artistic styles. A good example of this is the stand out track Keewatin Arctic featuring The Weakerthans John K Samson, Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak and electronic artist Blunderspublik. My favorite is the ending track, Waiting For Debates featuring three solo artists Patrick Keenan, Ian La Rue and Jeff Peters. - Indie Music Filter

48 musicians. 16 weeks. One house, one producer, one album. Record Of The Week Club sounds like the greatest reality show ever only you will never be embarrassed to admit your love for it. Mike Petkau ambitiously invited strange and varying combinations of musicians over, offering them little prior knowledge except that they would be recording one song each night.

The result, without exception, is completely astounding. If ever anyone questions whether the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, throw this CD at them and run, lest they explode immediately in musical ecstasy.

The premise sounds completely ridiculous, pretentious and scattered but through some kind of unlikely magic this album is as cohesive as its lineup is not. Somewhere in this strange premise, the artists (including jazz musicians, solo artists, an Inuit throat singer and members from many bands, including The Weakerthans) found common ground, a mysterious intersection of shared purpose and artistic vision.

From that pinnacle of unexpected combinations, Petkau has teased out song after song that is catchy, interesting, and by turns raucous and haunting but always as accessible as if you’d just happened across it in the next room. - Spill Magazine

An insanely cool project appeared in my inbox earlier this week called Record of the Week Club. ROTW Club is the brainchild of Canadian producer/musician/engineer Mike Petkau working with the help of a host of other musicians from acts such as The Weakerthans, The Waking Eyes, Novillero, Nathan, Chic Gamine, Moses Mayes, BurnThe8Track, Twilight Hotel, Mahogany Frog and many more. The idea behind the project was to have three different artists show up every Wednesday for 16 weeks and, over the course of one evening, get to know each other by writing, recording and mixing one song together. Even cooler is the fact that the artists were not made aware of who would be joining them on a given week; all of this was orchestrated by Petkau who curated and oversaw each of the weekly recording sessions.

The goal behind this procedure was twofold: first to spawn creativity by forcing artist to work outside their comfort zones, and second to bring the listener closer to the process of creating music than ever before. After hearing a handful of these tracks it is clear that Petkau has achieved both of his goals with this project. The work here is truly unique and the process by which it was created is revolutionary, especially in a day and age where record labels spend countless months remastering and mixing tracks before they hit the listeners’ ears for the first time. The lead track from the collection, “Keewatin Arctic,” is available for download below and features The Weakerthans’ John K Samson paired with Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak and electronic artist Blunderspublik. At this point all 16 tracks have been completed and released as individual downloads, but a limited edition album featuring the entire project is set to release on June 16th with proceeds being donated to the rebuilding of the West End Cultural Centre in Canada. Be sure to pick up a copy when it drops and support this incredible project. - Citizen Dick blog

Musician Mike Petkau is the sort of ridiculously well-connected guy who makes busy artists look lazy.

The Winnipeg native leads a group called Les Jupes, who are currently recording their debut with Montreal's Marcus Paquin (Stars, Arcade Fire).

He plays guitar in the West Coast Music Award-winning group the Liptonians, as well as with another popular Winnipeg act, Ian La Rue & the Condor. Day job- wise, he is a full-time recording engineer and producer who helmed the Juno- nominated Twilight Hotel album among others. His sound-design work includes the Bravo TV short film Cattle Call, for which he also co-wrote the score.

Did I mention he also runs a label, Head in the Sand (H.I.T.S., get it?) which releases Record of the Week Club on Tuesday?

One of the coolest ideas to come about in the Canadian indie music in a very long while, the Record of the Week Club is exactly what it sounds like. For 16 weeks in a row, Petkau invited Winnipeg musicians into the studio for a one- evening one-off where they would write, record and mix a song to be available for free download the following morning. Among the 48 names appearing on the 16- song CD are members of the Weakerthans, the Waking Eyes, Novillero, Nathan, Twilight Hotel, Moses Mayes and many others. Even Petkau managed to get involved in one track, the jazzy Steamed Chilis, with Novillero's Jack Jonasson and jazz pianist Jan Alexiuk.

"In every case, none of the musicians arriving knew who, if anyone, else was going to be in studio that night," says Petkau. "I sort of played puppetmaster in bringing people from different scenes together. Then it became entirely their thing.

"I would get behind the board, record the results, then stick around to mix it and post it to my web guy for the morning. Usually, by the time I arrived home, the song was up."

Leave years of session time at some exotic Carribbean studio to bloated rockstars. To get a tune from nothing to online took, on average, about 10 hours. The results are stunning in both variety and quality. The album opener, Keewatin Arctic, featuring Weatherthans' John K. Samson, electronic artist Blunderspublik and traditional Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak became an outright hit, getting downloaded across the entire planet. A former solo artist until - as he says it - he fired his band, Petkau was very intrigued to see how a band-centred artist and a solo artist would work with a traditional singer with no experience in the pop songwriting field at all.

"Watching how the three of them felt out one another's styles to develop the song was the kind of moment that I dreamed about for this concept right from the start."

In fact, it was the kind of inspiration he needed to revive his label and start conceiving new projects to mastermind in Manitoba and beyond.

Visit recordoftheweekclub.com for original mixes, more insider dope on the individual sessions, photos, trivia and a short video by Matthew Rankin taken in Week 9's session for All Answers Pending. - Vancouver Province

The whole concept of making instant singles in one-night sessions with an array of unrelated players is cool enough. But when the results are as captivating as the dubbed-out folk twang of Step Outside with members of Twilight Hotel, The Hummers and Ian LaRue or the massively popular Keewatin Arctic, with Weakerthans' John K. Samson, Bluderspublik and Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutikak, it becomes a work of genius. Producer Mike Petkau proves himself as something of a Winnipeg Hal Wilner with this CD. Hopefully, there is more to come. Grade: A - Canada.com