DOUBLE THE SZABO

By Neil McDonald

    There was a time in rock and roll history when the double album was perhaps the most fashionable accessory that any self–respecting musician could sport. Everybody had one. Hell, even Joe Cocker.  Those days might be long gone and double albums about as rare now as six uninterrupted minutes of commercial radio, but one face familiar to fans of the local rock scene is back with a clever twist on the concept. 
    Rob Szabo, veteran singer/songwriter and guitarist for such much–beloved Kitchener–Waterloo mainstays as The Groove Daddys, Marigold and Plasticine is returning to the area to release his second solo album in two years. Entitled Late Bloomer/Sore Loser, it’s a double ep combining two separate three–song collections that allow Szabo to showcase the pop–rockin’ smarts of his earlier work as well as the acoustic introspection of last year’s solo debut, A Battery Of Tests.
    It’s an interesting and unique idea that, as Szabo explains when contacted at his home in Toronto, reflects well his musical journey to this point.
    “On the one hand it was just a flippant title off the top of my head that sounded cool and looked good in print,” he admits, “but on the other hand, it has a kind of fundamental significance for me in my life.”
    As far as the Late Bloomer aspect of the title is concerned, Szabo relates that he “never really had the self–confidence early on to take myself seriously as a musician. I think I only actually admitted to myself that I was a singer and a songwriter around the time of the first Plasticine cd. By then I’d already recorded two full cds and an ep [and] toured the country a bunch of times. So, now that I’ve recorded two solo cds and things seem to be falling into place, and everything seems obvious and natural, I’m feeling like ‘hey, why’d it take me so long to do this?’”
    As far as the Sore Loser thing,” he continues, “that’s kinda the opposite side of the coin — the same idea, but the negative aspect of it…feeling like, ‘Jeez, maybe if I’d been taking myself ‘seriously’ all this time, things would be different.’ Maybe if I’d been more arrogant or something. I guess I’ve always felt resentful of the fact that the whole music thing has so much to do with selling yourself, at every level. I always had the ideal that it should be about the music first and foremost and the whole cult of personality aspect shouldn’t be involved, that it should be pure. But then you see it time and time again, and you realize that’s just not the way the world works.”
    “The double ep format came about,” explains Szabo, “because I’ve always been an eclectic writer. People in the
industry have often told me that that’s a weakness, but I disagree. I think music lovers appreciate the diversity. I know it sounds clichéd, but I always try to serve the song. I think some people may discard songs that don’t fit into their definition of themselves as a performer, but I tend to just go with what I think are the best songs and everything else be damned.”
    With Plasticine currently on indefinite hiatus, Late Bloomer/Sore Loser finds Szabo revelling in a new sense of musical
freedom and unafraid to mix things up musically. Opting to use the unconventional baritone guitar, an instrument “halfway between a guitar and a bass,” on the louder Late Bloomer songs, allowed Szabo to capture a super–loud “fat guitar” sound for songs such as standout track “We’re All Alcoholics” —something that, he admits, “I’ve been wanting to do for years.”
    Such eclecticism and willingness to experiment is not usually music to the ears of the cookie–cutter music biz, a situation with which Szabo is all too familiar. He sees possibilities in new technology, though, that may provide an outlet for indie artists not willing to play the corporate game.
    “I think it’s obvious the music business is going through a huge change,” offers Szabo. “The question that I’m interested in is ‘will this new era be better or worse for artists and music lovers?’ I think the answer is that it will be better, and the reason that I say that is because of the convergence of technologies that is allowing artists to build a one–on–one relationship with their fans, without any middle–man. And the same goes in reverse…[technology is] allowing music lovers unprecedented choice and control over what they listen to instead of the narrow playlists on radio and music television that have existed for the last few decades. I’m really interested in internet radio on this account —the idea that, like FM radio in the early 70s’…internet radio deejays with adventurous tastes and wide playlists will become a legitimate source for new music for music lovers.”
    It’s a refreshingly optimistic outlook and, with Late Bloomer/Sore Loser about to be released on Hamilton indie Basement Bar Records, an upcoming tour of Ontario and the US booked (during which Szabo will, as on the record, alternate between acousticand electric sets) and with other projects already on the horizon, Rob Szabo has every reason to look to the future with confidence.

ROB SZABO
cd release
w/ Dayna Manning
The Boathouse (K/W)
Friday Nov. 19
Tix: $10
www.robszabo.com