Interview with Willie Stratton: ‘The album was inspired by my desire to create something that wrapped a lot of my influences together into one package – from folk, to surf, to rockabilly, electronic music, blues, everything’

Halifax, Nova Scotia-based rock ‘n’ roller Willie Stratton brought out his debut album Drugstore Dreamin’ last week, an album that feeds into his love of 50’s classics, surf rock, Americana and blues.

‘The album was inspired by my desire to create something that wrapped a lot of my influences together into one package – from folk, to surf, to rockabilly, electronic music, blues, everything,’ he said. ‘It’s definitely about moving forward from defeat, in various ways, and moving on with your life and coming out of the blur of your early 20’s (laughs). Your emotions are in a different place. It’s a reflection of a lot of things over the past few years. I hope the songs on the album get played on road trips this summer and some memories are made jamming out to them. I’ve spent time in the past trying to nail different styles like surf rock, rockabilly and older stuff. Now, all I want to do is mix those things together and make something new.’

Those influences are evident throughout the 8 songs on the album, which are, nonetheless, very different sonically, ranging from an Elvis vibe on tracks like ‘Need Your Love’ to the serene and almost hymnal closer, ‘Chasing Rabbits’.

The title track, ‘Drugstore Dreamin’, has a 60’s, summery, nostalgic feel, and was inspired by everyday tasks, according to Stratton: ‘This song was inspired by just doing my regular errands, daydreaming, walking through the aisles in my own world,’ he said. ‘I find myself doing a lot of thinking in those situations. I wanted to emulate the landscape of a middle class North American suburban town in the 60’s, with a slow and floaty vibe.’

As the song goes: “I’m an Aqua Velva man, you better believe I’ll be drugstore dreamin’, dreaming all that I can.” 

‘This is not a political song but just about this strange story, the feeling of defeat and moving on from things not going your way’

Other tracks have been inspired by political events, such as ‘Caroline’, which was inspired by the story of William Lyon MacKenzie and the Caroline affair which was a political crisis in 1837 when Lyon MacKenzie tried to start his own country called the Republic of Canada. He was supplied with a steamboat called ‘Caroline’ by the Americans to help with his efforts but Canada seized the land back and sailed his steamboat down the Niagara Falls. ‘I didn’t learn about it in school but I’m really interested in history,’ Stratton said. ‘It’s a ridiculous story, MacKenzie knew it was never going to work out for him, he was just kind of throwing a tantrum. This is not a political song but just about this strange story, the feeling of defeat and moving on from things not going your way. I had the melody but I didn’t have the words for the longest time. The music is uplifting but there’s a melancholy to it. When I was reading about it, I found out that the guy went back into politics. How do you come back from that unscathed?! It’s a fun one to play live.’

The opening track ‘The Way She Holds Me’ has an alt-country feel, conjuring up the Wild West and saloons: ‘The organ and the guitar intro, that riff comes from my love of surf music, it’s got that twang. Johnny Cash is also a huge influence on me. I wanted to capture that old sound. I was obsessed with Spaghetti Westerns for a while. It paints that artificial picture.’

‘Cruel’, which opens with a beautiful organ melody, is one of the most raw tracks on the album and is, essentially, about still loving someone who has moved onto someone else: ‘That was one I wrote a couple of years ago,’ he said. ‘Then, it was just a bunch of pieces. I didn’t want to revisit it at first because of that time in my life. When I write about emotional things like that, I like a degree of ambiguity. It ended up being a composite story of events from my life. My goal when I write a song most of the time is to capture a feeling rather than a moment in time.’

‘I wanted a moment like that on the album, a song that represents fun’

‘Need Your Love’, with its bluesey, high energy Elvis feel is the polar opposite and is one of the most upbeat and joyous songs on the album. The key riff reels you in, it makes you want to twirl around with someone and when I tell him that he grins: ‘I wanted a moment like that on the album, a song that represents fun. I listen to a lot of rock ‘n’ roll. I’m obsessed with T. Rex. I listen to a lot of Elvis for the feel good feel, I don’t read a deep meaning into those songs, they’re just fun. I wanted to make a song that represented the culture of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s such a big part of my life. It’s not that I’m a reckless rock ‘n’ roller ALL the time (laughs) but it’s an offering to the rock ‘n’ roll god. Me and Carlsen, my producer, wrote it together. I had that riff. I love talking about love and automobiles together, that whole 50’s thing. Elvis sang about that, so did Bo Diddley. It was such a rock ‘n’ roll thing then, the primal side of machines and love. I love the anti-intellectual side of that, tapping into that rock ‘n’ roll energy. I’m trying to bring it back!’

Growing up, Stratton was exposed to a diverse music collection, courtesy of his dad: ‘He was a huge fan of The Clash and people like Hank Williams. He was living in England in the 80’s for a little bit, he was influenced by Elvis Costello and a lot of that alt-70’s stuff. I heard Jimi Hendrix and thought “Oh, he’s weird and different” (laughs), you start there and end up on Robert Johnson (an American blues musician) and you think that’s basically rock ‘n’ roll, you realise that what defines genres is both the aesthetic and sonic qualities.’

As such, this represented a marked contrast to the more traditional music that surrounded him as a child: ‘In Nova Scotia, there is a big roots tradition that’s Irish/English folk-based,’ he said. ‘With ‘Chasing Rabbits’, the goal was to write an Irish folk ballad. Here, you almost only want to do that kind of music or have nothing to do with it. I pushed it away for a very long time but I really do love English and Irish folk music, it feels like time travel music where you’re the connection to the music of your ancestors. ‘Chasing Rabbits’ is rootsey, it’s just me and the piano with a fiddle later on, it’s a nice ending to the album, bringing you back down to earth.’ I say that I agree and that it has a peaceful, hymnal quality to it. ‘I wrote that song on the piano, it was the idea of trying to write something I felt I already know, if that makes sense? To connect with some of those mindsets. Folk music around here is very different to American folk music and I think this song shows that.’

‘It has really nice imagery of a timeless Nova Scotia scene of rabbits rushing through grass’

The song is also about lost love and I say I am seeing a pattern and he laughs: ‘It is about a lost love but it’s about making peace with it and realising that it’s not going to happen,’ he said. ‘It has really nice imagery of a timeless Nova Scotia scene of rabbits rushing through grass. A lost love is like a rabbit, it’s pretty hard to catch it by running after it (laughs).’

Even as a child, he was fascinated by music, spending time in the local archives listening to folk music: ‘I’d get lost in it,’ he said. ‘Those songs are about the places here, even though they’re adapted from English and Irish traditions but I didn’t want to write lyrics about being on a mail ship with the technical references to running a ship (laughs). I wanted it to feel applicable to modern life. A cappella (without any musical accompaniment) is such a traditional part of folk music but I didn’t want to do that. On the fiddle, we’ve got Ashley MacIsaac. He was a big deal for me, I grew up listening to him, it was a big deal for me to have him on the album.’

Stratton got into the guitar at a young age: ‘Neither of my parents played an instrument but for whatever reason, I was completely obsessed with the guitar,’ he said. ‘Jimi Hendrix, Led Zep, Guns N’ Roses, anything blues-based I was obsessed with. I saved up the money to buy my first guitar, it was a Yamaha F3-10 or something. I’ve still got it. It was $120, it was a good deal!’

‘A riff might come out of nowhere and I’ll sit with it for years’

His songwriting process can vary a lot, although he typically writes on either the guitar or the piano: ‘A riff might come out of nowhere and I’ll sit with it for years, ‘ he said, laughing. ‘Sometimes, I love to write on the piano. I wrote ‘Caroline’ and “Chasing Rabbits’ on the piano. I like co-writing, like on ‘Caroline’ and on my own. With ‘The Way She Holds Me’, I wrote the first verse on my own, then it sat there for a couple of years.’

Locally, he is a big fan of rock musician Joel Plaskett, formerly of rock band Thrush Hermit: ‘He’s super good,’ he enthused. ‘Matt Mays is really good, too, he’s very much like folk rock, roots rock, he’s almost got a Tom Petty vibe but greasier. A lot of his stuff was on the radio when I was 13-14, it hit me at the right time. He made me think I could make music, it didn’t feel so far away.’

Stratton has some interesting and unexpected hobbies: ‘I built a dory (boat) over lockdown. I do a bit of carving, leather work, like wallets and belts for friends. I needed a hobby that wasn’t a business. A few years ago, I got into archery, that’s the ultimate meditation. It’s such an ancient thing, it’s really cathartic. You have created this kinetic energy that you’re releasing. I just set up a target on the side of a hill in the woods where it’s quiet.’

I ask him what his dream line up would be and he gets very animated: ‘Oh man, it would be crazy! I’d have The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Hank Wiliams, Elvis, ‘cos I’m obsessed with him! And The Shangri-Las (an American pop girl group in the 60’s) and T. Rex. Elvis to headline, ‘cos he was one of the first to fully encapusate rock ‘n’ roll. And Esquerita, he was very strange with big cat-eye glasses, he was like a Little Richard. He’s got an album Rockin’ The Joint, that could be the main theme (laughs). I’ll have to do a seance to bring them back!’