Mad Gamma brought the personal struggle to the studio and came out with three new single releases so far in 2021.  

The Ottawa folk-rock band is open on their website about their songs holding meaning from ‘lived experiences with conflict, mental health, recovery, and personal growth'. Confronting the affray in our lives can be grueling let alone writing about it, performing it, and recording it for all to bear witness.   

 

Sam, guitarist/vocalist, says, “I find sharing those kinds of experiences difficult, but that doesn’t affect the songwriting. In fact, the songs are often an engine for understanding something I went through, and often I assume that it is easier to write, the more honest it must be. Traveller, for example, was written in about a week and comes across pretty raw. I think that is part of what makes the song work. Performing those honest songs can be the tougher part, but it’s ultimately very rewarding to share that kind of personal thing. And getting to do it on stage is a privilege of sorts. So for all that, I’m excited and nervous to get back to it soon!”

 

Emma, vocalist/keys, speaks to the unshielded dangers of a writer’s heart pouring out. “I definitely find it challenging to release vulnerable songs. I was very happy to get Whirlpool out of the way because I knew that would be the hardest one for me. Something that helped me cope with it was talking to my sister about it. She’s also a singer and songwriter and I showed her our music before we released it. It was interesting because even though she knew the stories behind our songs, she told me all about the way that they related to her own experience. I think I had been worried about people listening to our songs and making judgments about us, but thankfully so far that has not at all been our experience. Being vulnerable is scary but it’s definitely getting easier the more music we release!”

 

Asked if the personal transcends to social issues when it comes to the band’s collective passions and commitments, Emma says, “In terms of social issues, the one that unites us the most is the importance of mental health. It’s something we actually talk about a lot. Between the three of us, we have quite a bit of experience on both sides of the system - as mental health professionals and also in our own experiences with mental illness. These experiences definitely have an impact on our songwriting.”

 

The visual art for Mad Gamma singles in 2021 has all been produced by band member Sam who notes that there definitely subjects, themes, and issues that are visually important or consistent in his work. “We put together the five songs for our upcoming EP, Moving On, we focussed on the themes of change and acceptance. So I knew the art I made for the singles had to reflect their stories as well as the broader theme. From there, I would try out different ideas until one was compelling, so they’re a bit all over the place. The art I made for Whirlpool, for example, was very abstract. But the art for Traveller is more straightforward, except the landscape behind the eyes of course.”

 

The song, Traveller appears to link up with previous singles’ themes of connection or loss. I asked the band to speak to the importance of this theme in their writing. 

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Emma responded, “I’m going to get a bit meta here and say that there is loss in connection, as well as connection in loss. I’ve found that in experiences of connection, like entering a new relationship as an example, there are certain things you lose. You may lose some of your independence and free time, you may neglect friendships, you gain a lot but there are also losses. On the other hand, in experiences of loss, like the loss of a relationship, or job, or even the loss of a loved one, there are opportunities for connection, opportunities to reach out to people for support, and the connections made or strengthened during those times can become very important. We’ve been playing music together throughout our mid to late twenties now – and these years have been filled with all sorts of connections and losses which is probably why the theme is so prevalent in our writing.”

 

To the same inquiry, Sam admitted that, “I know we wouldn’t be unique in saying the bad times are more compelling to write about but we find it’s true. I think the reason we play music together is we have that shared perspective, where writing a song about a bad experience is cathartic. So for that reason, the themes are pretty raw reflections of our experience, in our relationships, in our careers; twenty-somethings fresh out of university, crashing against reality like waves against the cliffs. All you can do is sing about it.”

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AA