The smile on Evangelos Lambrinoudis II’s face is almost radioactive.
You can understand why.
Here he sits on this afternoon at the National Music Centre’s Studio Bell, in a production room among an assortment of keyboards and instruments “so rare most general human beings will never get to touch it.”
In fact, most musicians, let alone us mere general human beings, likely wouldn’t even know what they are, what they do, what sounds they make.
But he does.
“Years of being a nerd,” he says when asked how, smile beaming, before he erupts into laughter. “It’s an obsessive passion.”
That passion is being rewarded with an ability to touch, play, experiment and use these pieces as part of his two-week residency at Studio Bell.
The Calgary electro producer and artist who performs under the moniker Corinthian is one of the songwriters being granted access to the NMC’s astounding and priceless-on-every-level collection during the fall 2017 program, which has also seen the team of Woodpigeon and Kathryn Calder, collectively known as Frontperson, and Luke Doucet, one half of Juno winners Whitehorse, bring their visions to life.
As to how he was accepted, what pitch he gave the NMC, Lambrinoudis says it really wasn’t that hard of a sell.
“It was really simple, it was really short,” he says. “I think I said in my (pitch), ‘Give me three days and I’ll make the craziest album. Any time — just let me work and I’ll do something amazing with the time that you give me.’
“I guess that was enough.”
He was accepted and set up shop in Studio Bell a week and a half ago, understanding the magnitude of what that meant.
“I feel so lucky and so grateful to have this opportunity,” he says.
And he was making the most of it.
On this, the fourth day of his residency, Lambrinoudis already had eight tracks that were in a somewhat “concrete” form, which just needed layers added by all of those incredible instruments to “get that extra vibe going.”
He had something of a headstart, stepping into the studio on Day 1 with “15 or 16 patterns on a little box that saves notes and chords,” ones that he knew, or hoped he could bring to life with all of the wonderment that was at his disposal, eventually creating an entire album.
“Hopefully I can try and transpose them to these keyboards and all this gear and see what happens,” he says.
“So I’d say half of what I’m using is from that and the other half is I try and spend the last hour or two from the day just picking the weirdest thing that I can find,” he laughs, “and trying to make a sound out of it.”
The snippets he played on this day were already sounding remarkable — gorgeous ambient instrumentals that were dark, foreboding yet soothing and pretty. To help take it to that next level, he was also planning on branching out from the purely electronic realm in which he normally resides, and bringing in local pianist Mark Limacher, a lover of atonal jazz.
Lambrinoudis admits that was one of his main goals, to create soundscapes, “an atmosphere, a feeling.”
But he also wanted to tell a story exploring the theme of disappearance — connecting both sides of the spectrum of those wanting to just get away from it all and those who actually do go missing under mysterious or tragic circumstances.
All of those initial plans, though, became much grander when he actually set foot in Studio Bell and began work on the project.
“I came in here with a vision but the scope of it has entirely changed,” he says. “I think as far as my stuff goes this is going to probably be the most accessible or melodically interesting. I usually do very dark stuff and I feel like there’s a lot of redemption in these songs. And that wasn’t something I considered when I was creating this vision, it was something that has just come from the life in the machines. They make you want to play beautiful chords, they make you want to do something that sounds huge.
“So instead of writing this minimal brooding thing, I’m writing this thing that’s turning into something that’s pretty huge — at least from my standards.”
Perhaps that’s because Lambrinoudis planned on and already had fully immersed himself in the experience, making the most of the collection and the eight-hour days he was being afforded over the two-week period.
“Technically I’m supposed to take an hour for lunch, but I mean that hour for lunch has been turning into 20 minutes or 10 minutes or just some gummies,” he laughs.
“If I could squeeze nine or eight-and-a-half out of eight I’ll do it. The crunch and the feeling of wanting to get it done, it’s crazy.”
But now time is ticking. The artist will perform a showcase on Thursday night at the King Eddy, give a live sneak-peek of the album that will be, before one final day at Studio Bell to wrap things up.
Well, that is if they can actually get him to leave.
He laughs again.
“After the last day I’m going to show up on the following Monday and just see if anyone lets me in.”
Corinthian performs Thursday night at the King Eddy at the National Music Centre’s Studio Bell. Tickets are available at the door.
Mike Bell has been covering the Calgary music scene for the past 25 years with publications such as VOX, Fast Forward, the Calgary Sun and, most recently, the Calgary Herald. He is currently the music writer and content editor for theYYSCENE.ca, and the co-host of the show Saved By the Bell, which airs Wednesdays from 4-6 p.m. on CJSW 90.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter/@mrbell_23 or email him at mike@theyyscene.ca. He likes beer. Buy him one.
