Toronto’s Las Venus Electric lead by Evan Sue-Ping has shared the video for his debut single ‘MiddleAgeless’. The track is the first song lifted from the forthcoming KnowNothing EP. MiddleAgeless is a middle finger to the concept of growing old gracefully. The video sees Sue-Ping staying true to his ‘90s DIY roots. Assembling and editing it himself, he weaves a narrative about the true nature of reality and the world at play in your mind. Play this one loud! Watch the video clip via YouTube below.
You can stream the track in a bunch of places here.
Sue-Ping used to hide behind waves of reverb and walls of distortion. Vocals were inaudible, buried for fear of actually being heard. A young man in his twenties he fronted Toronto shoegaze band, My Pet Genius to much critical success. After releasing the amazing ‘Might Strike Satellite’ in 1996, the band had issues coming up with a suitable follow-up and ultimately imploded, leaving behind several records-worth of material in its wake.
He decided to make more subdued electronic sounds as Las Venus Skyway. During the rise of the bedroom producer, he used samples and found sounds to create soothing atmospheres. An exercise in exorcism, he fought the urge to look down at his shoes, opting to look up at the stars instead. Again, much of the output was left on the shelf, save for a few one-off tracks that generated a bit of blog love.
Frustrated and flustered by his own procrastination, he turned to his guitars and amps as a means of expression. Driven by drum machines, he sketched out the tracks that would become his first release in over a decade. Feeling the songs could use a little punch, he made an impromptu call out through social media for a few lost souls to fill out the sound. With few takers, he found allies in the unlikeliest of places.
Developing friendships with a few fathers of his daughter’s friends inadvertently produced just what he was looking for. Musicians themselves, a jam was arranged in the basement studio of Chris Osti, songwriter / producer for Juno-nominated artists the Headstones. Sue-Ping brought some of the songs to those sessions and was surprised at how easily they all meshed together.
With Osti on bass and behind the console, the line-up Sue-Ping dubbed Las Venus Electric was completed by session drummer Roger Travassos. A jazz drummer of note, he brought a sophistication to the songs that Sue-Ping could not have imagined with programming.
The songs that make up ‘Knownothing’ EP (due out in November 2020) are true to the elder gazeman’s history. More immediate than anything he previously wrote, he sought to strip back the effects for a more visceral approach to shoegaze structures. In line with Swervedriver/Ride/Hum, he attacks issues that speak to his current condition.
While many of the tracks deal with the angst of aging, Sue-Ping admits that these songs have taken on a different tone with the unease currently plaguing the world. In what can be described as a kind of post-covid blues, he hopes these songs bring a bit of personal clarity and ultimately, healing.
A second single, Halfway Done, will be released along with another video in late September 2020.
