Artist of the Day | JP MAURICE
ARTIST OF THE DAY
14.12.2021
JP MAURICE
LOCATION
Vancouver, BC, Canada
GENRE
Indie Pop Rock
CURRENT MEMBERS
Roderick Campbell
Michael Rush
Peter Robinson
With the current pandemic, the state of the music and touring industry has dramatically changed. Where were you when everything was brought to a halt?
My partner and I were actually in Europe when the pandemic hit. We left Vancouver on Feb 26th 2020 and flew to Portugal to begin a 2 and a half month trip which included 10 shows spread around the continent. We were in Madrid the day the lock down started. We got on a train to marseille to try to out run the pandemic, and France went into a lockdown an hour after we arrived. We ended up taking one of the last commercial flights available home from Paris, 3 weeks after our trip started.
How has that affected your plans for the coming year? Did you have a tour planned, upcoming album release?
I actually released an album on Nov 2nd of this year, but it was completed in the spring of 2020. My co- producer and Mixer Ted Gowans tours with Kesha, and suddenly had his tours cancelled and was able to finish the record we had been working on for the two previous years. I did however sit on the album for a year, as it seemed pointless to release an album when it was impossible to tour and play shows to support the release of the album.
What have you been doing to fill/make the most of your new-found free time at home? How are you supporting your mental health through all of this?
I am lucky to be a partner at a beautiful studio in Vancouver called Blue Light. So I actually spent a tonne of time there working on new material and a new project I started with Leisure Club's lead singer Jamie Smail. In May of this year I moved into a new place thats twice as big as my previous 600 sq. ft apartment, so I was able to set up a home studio. I do a lot of production for other bands and artists so Its actually here at home where I do most of my work now.
As things are reopening & restrictions are lifting have you booked any new gigs? Tours? Etc? If your region is still under restriction, how are dealing with the Covid third wave?
I played my album release at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver on November 6th. It was seated and at 75% capacity, but still felt pretty close to a normal show experience. Planning a tour of Vancouver Island for February of 2022 and would love to come out to Alberta in the spring to play the Starlite room! European tour slated for the fall of 2022. It's impossible to predict how Covid will develop in other places if we'll ever get back to "normal" entirely, but at some point you just have to try to start getting back to your livelihood and making plans again.
Favourite Starlite Room Moment?
I have actually unfortunately never played Starlite or even attended a show there. Lets make some new memories in 2022!
Do you have a message for everyone at home reading this?
All we can really do is just roll with the punches. Peace and love.
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