Interview with CODA FACTO: ‘I think this record explores more of an indie pop/rock sound, like with ‘Body Language’ but it’s bookended by two folk pop songs, ‘Hourglass’ and ‘After Our Story Ends’, which speak to our acoustic roots’

Hamilton, Ontario rock band CODA FACTO will release their sophomore EP ‘Honey Harbour’ tomorrow (25 November), giving us their own unique blend of Americana and pop showcasing their melodic, lyrical storytelling.

The band comprises founders Alex DeRoo (vocals, guitar and piano) and Jon Harley (strings, mandolin and vocals). It turns out that Honey Harbour is a real place: ‘It’s a place on Georgian Bay (the northeastern arm of Lake Huron, in Ontario), kind of “cottage country’,’ DeRoo said. ‘I went to a similar place as a kid and my dad spent a lot of time there as a youth. It reminds me of a place called Turkey Point. I’ve never been to Honey Harbour myself. Was it you, Jon, who saw something with “Honey Harbour” on it?’ Harley starts laughing: ‘We were at a restaurant and one of my colleagues was wearing a hat with ‘Honey Harbour’ on it, I waited to see how long it would take Alex to notice it! He let us take some photos of Alex wearing the hat.’

‘Honey Harbour’ comprises five tracks, all telling very different stories: ‘This time around, we were a little more hands on,’ DeRoo said. ‘Each song told its own story, you can definitely see that it comes full-circle.’ Harley interjects: ‘That meaning isn’t made, the meaning unfolds,’ he said. DeRoo agrees: ‘We were more meticulous with the structure. We didn’t have a lot of cooks in the kitchen (laughs). We finally cracked the code on the violin by the time we finished the record.’ For Harley, the EP also comes full-circle: ‘In some sense, I think this record explores more of an indie pop/rock sound, like with ‘Body Language’ but it’s bookended by two folk pop songs, ‘Hourglass’ and ‘After Our Story Ends’, which speak to our acoustic roots,’ he said.

‘I feel it’s the kind of song that will always be dear to us, it was a nice way to start the record’

The opening track ‘Hourglass’, is an Americana classic in the making, lamenting humankind’s disregard for the planet and life and urges the listener to consider others and cherish every moment: ‘My girlfriend is Ukrainian and this conflict has touched our lives in many ways,’ DeRoo said. ‘The song itself was written many months before the war and has taken on a completely different importance.’ The track also marks the first time they have used pedal steel guitar on a track, featuring Chris “the mystic finger” Altmann. ‘It was written after watching ‘McCartney 3,2,1,’ (an 2021 American documentary miniseries starring British musician Paul McCartney and producer Rick Rubin),’ DeRoo said. ‘I thought: “What would Paul McCartney write if he had a guitar in his hand right now (laughs)?” I feel it’s the kind of song that will always be dear to us, it was a nice way to start the record.’

As the track kicks off: “Where are we going with our distant state of mind? Do we ignore the signs in front of our eyes? It’s only a matter of time. Why are we tearing our wondrous world apart? Why is it hard to see we all need, love and an open heart?”

Other songs on the EP, notably ‘Out Of Reach’, were inspired by ‘Beautiful Scars’, a book by fellow Hamiltonian author and musician Tom Wilson: ‘I knew his son from high school and I served him a bunch in a restaurant,’ DeRoo said. ‘Jon came over and we were banging around ideas – Jon contributed some very strong lines. It was exactly what we needed to jumpstart it. It was one of our favourite songs to write.’

It is also one of their catchiest to date, part 90’s pop song, part modern take on plucking up the courage to chat to someone at a bar. ‘It was creatively an interesting section in our partnership, a synchronicity,’ Harley said. ‘We come from different worlds, musically. Alex is in a pop world and I’m into darker things (laughs). Alex wanted to tap into this atmosphere of a dingy bar, the more gritty side of Hamilton battered men with suffering and bad behaviour, those extremes of emotion. The narrative of a guy trying to meet a girl but the atmosphere is different. It’s where the outcasts go, as it says in the song “battered men on barstool pews”. I was listening to Nick Cave and murder ballads at the time (laughs) and our producer Carl was like “What would Prince do with this?!”‘

As the song goes: “I make my way. She drinks her wine. My heart spills out like a desperate cry. “Hey, what’s your name? Do you wanna know mine?” It’s hard as hell, truth be told, to break into another one’s world. She’s all dressed up in diamonds and pearls. Diamonds and pearls…”

‘Every songwriter says that they’re not writing about their own experiences but they are subconsciously’

‘Everybody Knows’ has a great jangly, 70’s retro vibe, with feathery drums in the intro that pull you into the song as the strings join the fray: ‘It hints at a world in chaos,’ Harley said. ‘It delves into relationships that need to end but haven’t yet. We got more ambitious with the instrumentation and the twist with the bridges. Alex still gets a lot of inspiration from Paul Simon.’ DeRoo nods: ‘It’s about the inevitability of love and how we process that,’ he said. ‘About taking a risk and being ok with it, so essentially it’s about a guy who needs this person, this “loved one”. He’s falling in love but mistakes were made, it didn’t work out and he knows that it was inevitable that it would end. This person ends up finding comfort in the arms of someone else. Every songwriter says that they’re not writing about their own experiences but they are subconsciously.’

However, it was the closer ‘After Our Story Ends’ which was instrumental in holding the album together, a country-tinged folk song that you could imagine someone like Glen Campbell singing: ‘It set the bar for the rest of the record, it was the first one we recorded,’ DeRoo said. ‘We took our time with it. It’s my favourite song on the album to come to. It was one of the last songs to be written. I saw a poem on Instagram by a lady from Hamilton about “Bury my heart at King and James”, it’s close to where I live, I loved that line so much, I messaged her to ask her if I could use it as a placeholder for the song. I don’t even really remember writing it (laughs) but I felt optimistic and humbled by it. I had a sense of relief that the world was opening up (after COVID). The song is quite sad but with happy chords. That’s what the record is all about.’

As the song goes: “Go on and fill my heart with all your good intentions. I know I shouldn’t mention how beautiful you are. Go on and steal my heart and everything I own. Everything I know was slowly torn apart.”

They are both big fans of The Beatles and DeRoo proudly shows me his brilliant new Paul McCartney tattoo on his forearm, which he acquired on a trip to Santa Monica, California, since we last chatted. I ask who they’d most like to go for a drink with. ‘Paul McCartney, I grew up with The Beatles, he’s my biggest songwriting influence,’ DeRoo said enthusiastically. He’s also a big fan of Billy Joel and Rufus Wainwright and Supertramp is one of his favourites for their arrangements and piano parts. Harley’s love of The Beatles is evident, as he has a wall behind him full of Beatles’ photos and he’s also a fan of Broken Social Scene (a rock band from Toronto) and Arcade Fire, as well as Radiohead and Jimi Hendrix. As befits their classical training, they both appreciate Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin and Harley is a huge fan of cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

‘His music is always fresh, it’s outstanding and inspirational’

Harley picks Warren Ellis: ‘He’s the violinist who played with Nick Cave,’ he said. ‘I’d also love to have a drink with Andrew Bird. He inspires me a lot with the violin, I’d like to thank him. His music is always fresh, it’s outstanding and inspirational. His approach to lyrics, he uses a lot of science metaphors. I have a science background, I love that, and his sensibility for the linguistic nature of rhythm, of emotion as poetry.’ DeRoo tells me the story behind his Paul McCartney tattoo and how the tattoo artist drew it especially for him, even though it ended up costing him far more than he expected due to the exchange rate. It’s an uncanny likeness of the great man himself and one of the best tattoos I’ve seen recently. Even his tattoo artist girlfriend approves: ‘Tattoos are like a good song, they capture everything forever!,’ he grinned.

DeRoo recounts a funny moment at a gig: ‘I think at the time I was more in panic,’ he said. ‘But looking back now, I find it funny. We were playing a backyard Homecoming weekend show at a frat house near Queen’s University a couple of years ago. We set up a stage the best we could. The backyard filled up with hundreds of kids and here we are just standing there in awe. Just before we were about to start, I realized I forgot a capo for my guitar. This is a classic Alex move. I haven’t made that mistake since! We totally winged that set. Everything had to be played in different keys and we were all flying by the seat of our pants, as they say! We did the set and people were happy, so that is all that matters. Of course, it began to rain during the set and with all those kids, the backyard became a mud pit. Everything was covered in mud. We were wet, cold and muddy. But it was fun and all we could do was laugh. We finished the set and packed up. As we were getting in our cars to leave, a bunch of cops showed up and shut the party down. Good times!’