It’s rare to find an artist who only creates music to record it. But then Jason Medwid is a one-of-a-kind singer-songwriter.
The 43-year-old St. Albert resident has recorded and released an independent 12-track titled Lovestorm under the band moniker of The Smile Syndicate. In a further burst of creativity, he’s even manufactured an entire band website that dates back to 1978.
But the band doesn’t exist. Yes, the biography, discography and reviews are all fictitious.
Only the music is real. Lovestorm was released Oct. 15 and as of last week it peaked at 20,000 listens and reached No. 3 on the popular website Reddit.com.
“It was exciting. I was really curious to see how people who are not friends and family respond to music. When you have so many people responding, it was gratifying. I needed to check feedback with people who wouldn’t worry about hurting my feelings. I was surprised at the range of people that responded positively,” says Medwid.
The Bon Accord-raised musician is a one-man band, composing, arranging, singing vocals and playing instrumental tracks. Cresting the wave of the future, the IT specialist takes advantage of 21st century technology to produce unique hybrids.
A dexterous musician, he plays guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. But it’s the software and hardware synthesizers that control and direct the sound.
“I have an electronic drum kit. It has a built-in soundboard that records data. I can play the drums and later change the data,” Medwid explains.
The first step in writing tunes is picking a silly, fun title – something such as Shout If You Want to Get Louder or The Sun is a Juke Box. At that point the lyrics flow.
For instance, Dinosaur God, originally a heavy metal number converted to cocktail jazz, is about a silly group of people in the jungle menaced by a dinosaur. Instead World War 9 trails a man determined to romance a woman while facing an apocalypse. And The Burgled is a funk piece inspired by a theft in which Medwid lost several string instruments.
As a child Medwid dove into music when his parents proposed a choice between either a guitar or violin. He chose the acoustic guitar and every week his parents drove him to Edmonton for lessons.
In his teens it was no longer cool to play an acoustic guitar, so he purchased an entry-level electric guitar and amplifier. Armed with Rush music sheets, Medwid took to rock music like the proverbial duck to water.
Along with a couple of high school buddies, they formed Oxen, a sort-of band. It was Oxen that initially recorded Dinosaur God as a heavy metal number.
“We never played a show. We’d just get together to play and record.”
At the University of Alberta, Medwid enrolled in the computing science program with a minor in music.
“At that time, as your degree progressed, the number of options you could take increased. It was probably intended so you could take more computing program courses. I chose a wide range of music courses from musical history to music theory.”
But at the turn of century, Medwid put music aside to concentrate on a growing family. Creative talent can only be submerged only so long before it bubbles to the surface. And around 2007, he tried to audition for a band without success.
“The whole experience taught me I have enough ability – that I should record my own album. I didn’t know what stopped me.”
For three years, the eager singer-songwriter took vocal lessons and writing songs without limiting any specific genre.
“It was hard work, but I could control the pace.”
Although it’s taken nearly seven years to complete Lovestorm, there’s satisfaction and pride in creating an album from scratch.
“In my next challenge, I want to prove I don’t have the same learning curve,” laughs Medwid adding that he is releasing a five-song EP in the new year.
A music video of The Burgled and songs from Lovestorm are available at www.thesmilesyndicate.com.
