Mark Hamilton from Woodpigeon

Mark is one of Alberta’s best kept secrets. Also one of my best kept secret interviews. It had to feel right to publish it. And now the time has come. I took this interview while Mark was touring with his band Woodpigeon and all the text below happened on the trains between Berlin, Oslo and Torino. For detailed info on Woodpigeon and a free download, click here.

What are you doing right now?

At this exact moment, I am on a train on my way to Forli in Italy. Last night I took an overnight train from Zagreb to Venice, where I had a small breakfast sitting by the water and wrote my parents a letter. Already, it’s been a rather incredibly romanticized day.

What is a woodpigeon?!

To many, a woodpigeon is a flying rat. Flying Rat also sounded like a good rock band name to me, but I like to be a little bit cloudy sometimes. Woodpigeon, if prepared correctly, is also quite tasty as a meal.

How did you guys meet and decide to do music together?

Well, there’s a lot of stories that go along with that question, as there are a lot of people who perform from time to time as a member of Woodpigeon. The first member next to myself was Kenna, and she’s always given me strength in playing music. We’re pretty much like siblings at this point, I’d say. Brothers from different mothers. As for all of the others, it was a combination of people asking and offering to play, or myself shyly asking someone if they’d like to strum along to some of my stupid little songs.

Are you working on a new record?

There are a couple of new records that are nearing the finish line. One is much closer than the other, although it’s the one that’s intended to come out second of the two. There’s also enough stuff that’s come together already for another full length LP of out-takes. Because there is so much stuff just waiting around, I told myself I wouldn’t write songs for two years. This pact with myself was made last October, and since then I’ve only finished writing one song, and this was a challenge between a couple of friends and I to write a song based on a poem in a stack of papers from the 1930s that one of them had found in a thrift shop in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By now, however, I can’t help it and there are a couple of songs that are just kind of writing themselves whenever I pick up a guitar.

Why do you call your first album the “gay album”?

Well, they’re all “gay albums,” as I’m a happy-to-be-openly-gay artist. But I think the record you’re thinking about is actually the most recent one, a 12”-vinyl-only record called BALLADEER / to all the guys I’ve loved before. It’s the most overtly gay record in that, while I’ve always sung “I love you” in addressing, in my own mind, a male lover, BALLADEER is the first record where each and every song is pointedly about a love between men, an overtly gay character, or a very direct reference to an affair or past experience from my own life. A lot of the songs came out of the writing for Die Stadt Muzikanten, which was a concept-record of sorts about leaving Europe for the new world — for most of the songs, I was writing through someone else’s eyes, whether it was my grandparents or a pair of gay pirates. Working that way for a long time, however, can feel a little as though you’re separating yourself or performing from behind a mask. I wanted to address myself on this record.

Do you find any inspiration in contemporary pop culture?

I think it would be impossible not to find inspiration from contemporary pop culture, as we’re all so totally overwhelmed by it. But that said, it usually takes me up to a year to realize what something extremely populist even is, or in some cases to even hear something. I think the only Lady Gaga song I know is ‘Telephone’, and even then I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever heard it the whole way through. That doesn’t mean I’m thinking I’m somehow above contemporary pop culture or Lady Gaga. I guess I’ve just been distracted by records by my friends and sitting outside under trees writing letters instead of tuning in to certain things.

Where are you playing next?

Forli, Italy! It’s the first night of an Italian tour. Rome is tomorrow, and I’m very excited about that one. I’m particularly excited to play Torino, however, which is at the very end of the tour. The friends I’m traveling with and myself are going to stay on for a couple of extra days, and there’s already some epic piazza-style meals planned.

How does the crowd that comes to your gigs look like?

It depends where the show is! There is typically, without fail, at just about every show, some guy I end up developing a mad crush on throughout the show. For some reason a couple of years ago, I would always address this from the stage, but at this point I’m a little more reserved about it. There’s a lot of sweet-looking indie kids who come, but there’s also a pretty broad age range too. At the merch table in Zagreb the other night, everyone who bought a record seemed to either have a mohawk or was middle-aged. I think that’s cool.

Did you feel bad when you weren’t able to be the supporting act for Jose Gonzalez?

Well, I actually felt bad for him, as I know he was very sick. The cancellation of the shows wasn’t the best news in the world to receive, but at the same time it did give me extra time in Edinburgh and Berlin with some amazing friends, and the shows will be re-scheduled later this year. Now one trip overseas has turned into two, which is actually kind of a pleasant bonus.

How do you take care of your beard – it is very pleasing to look at.

I used to trim it carefully by hand, using a small pair of titanium scissors, and a razor blade. In the past couple of years, however, I’ve become enamoured with the process of going to a barber shop and having them tidy it up. I’ve been amassing a list of barber shops here and there that I’m particularly fond of. There’s one in London near Shoreditch, down a side-street and tucked away at the end, which is absolutely amazing. My last trim was at a barber in Amsterdam, and while it cost about 30 euro, which is a bit excessive, the process of having it done was a little over an hour in length. There’s few things quite so intimate than having a beard trim with someone, I think.

Is there a special diet you are on to keep it lush?

I think that fruit smoothies and a lot of carrots keep it both soft and ginger. There’s also a few white hairs coming in these days, which I’m pretty excited about. Nothing like salt-and-paprika facial hair, I’d say.

Do you date only bearded guys?

It’s not a definite pre-requisite, but I do like the potential of him being able to grow one. My last boyfriend had an amazing beard, but he kept trimming it once it started coming in. It was strange how much even a close shave would change the entire shape of his face. On the rare occasion where I shave off my entire beard (it only takes a few days for one to be back, really), a few co-workers had trouble even recognizing me. But, back to your question, no. I don’t date only bearded guys, but they do most definitely catch my attention very quickly.

What was your experience with the beard scene in Berlin?

I’m not sure I had the proper amount of time to explore it. My friend Joel Gibb, an amazing musician whose band The Hidden Cameras is one of the reasons I make music, always tells me there’s a perfectly great bearded-guy night which seems to happen either the night before I arrive in Berlin, or immediately after I leave. That said, there are a couple of bearded fellows in Berlin who definitely get my heart racing a little bit.

When are you coming back to Berlin?

Hopefully later this year — my parents are coming along with me when I play the Barbican in London in July (happily with the Hidden Cameras, no less), and we’re going to make our way to Austria to re-visit my mother’s homeland. I’m thinking Berlin will definitely be on the itinerary then, and hopefully I’ll actually manage to coordinate my stay in the city with one of the un-missable beard nights then.

photography: Sean M. Johnson