PREVIEW
Bahamas with Jason Collett
When: Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
Where: St. Ann's Auditorium
Tickets: Sold out
There's a rhythm to a musician's career beyond the actual music - an ebb and flow that will give those who recognize it peace of mind and those who don't some grief.
Thankfully for 31-yearold singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen (a.k.a. Bahamas), that's a lesson he learned from long-time friend and mentor Jason Collett.
"Some years ago, I can't remember what we were talking about, but he said, 'All the people you see on the way up, you have to see on the way back down,' " Jurvanen said. "Something about that, the way he said that, really struck me."
It has given Jurvanen a healthy perspective as he rides a distinctive swell since releasing his sophomore album Barchords in February - he's mindful that it may be fleeting and that a ruthless race to the top is counter-productive.
The Toronto-based musician returns to Victoria Wednesday for a sold-out show at St. Ann's Auditorium. It kicks off a special tour: After Jurvanen played in Collett's backing band for years before going solo and opening for him, it will be the first time Collett opens for Jurvanen.
In some ways, it's a good example of the industry life cycle - although that's not to say Collett's on a downs-lope: He will headline shows on his own tour this fall, too. The former Broken Social Scene member continues to solidify his position as elder statesman of the Toronto music scene, having just released his fifth solo album, Reckon, along with an 11-track career retrospective, Essential Cuts.
More than anything, it's a testament to their mutual respect and a celebration of their history together.
"Afie was great," said Collett in an interview, recalling his first impression of Jurvanen. "Young - just moved to Toronto from Barrie. And bold - because he had the nerve to tell me he had the band for me."
Collett was putting together 2005's Idols of Exile and typically toured with a rag-tag team of backing musicians, depending on who was available at the time. Jurvanen filled in a few times and performed on the record, before introducing Collett to his high school friends. They would per-form behind Collett together as Paso Mino, before going on to form Zeus, now rising stars in their own right.
"I went to check them out, not knowing who any of them were other than Afie. And still feeling like, man, that was a bit cocky of him," said Collett. "My mind was blown, like, halfway through the first song. Because they not only learned the material and all the parts, but they rehearsed them without me. Nobody does that. Nobody takes that kind of care, or hustle."
It was the beginning of a long friendship that has seen Jurvanen and Collett also bond over good coffee, good food and Bob Dylan. Jurvanen remained in Paso Mino until Feist's career surged - backing her, too, became too big of a commitment. But he's taken some of Collett's lessons into his own work.
"I think [Collett]'s one of the most open collaborators I've ever played with," said Jurvanen. "He's always very welcoming of people and their ideas. And that's just a positive energy to be around."
Collett credits that spirit with a few of his own influences. As a 15-year-old, he would sneak into clubs to watch seminal Toronto punk band L'Etranger perform. Member Andrew Cash, now an NDP MP, became a bit of a mentor to him. They went on to form a band called Ursula in the mid-1990s and Cash also produced Collett's early solo work.
"Andrew was very much that way, very sort of encouraging and open to ideas," Collett said.
He also learned something significant from the collective nature of working in a band like Broken Social Scene.
"No matter what kind of art you're creating - or craft, for that matter - when you're working in the proximity of other people who inspire you ... it kicks your ass," he said. "It really does force you to stretch further. I don't think competitiveness is an appropriate word for that. But it's a spirit that takes over when you're working in that kind of close proximity, and it's very healthy."
He recognized that energy in Jurvanen and in the members of Zeus. Therein lies the shrewdness, he says. He doesn't pat himself on the back for being a mentor - he just saw an opportunity and took it. They had talent and he knew their energy would rub off on him.
Another lifecycle thing also happened last weekend, when Jurvanen got married. Collett was in attendance and Zeus was the wedding band.
"I've been joking with him that we're going on a honeymoon together," said Collett. "I also told him he's totally insane for getting married in October. He has no idea the trouble he's invited upon himself - the amount of anniversaries he's going to miss or tours he's going to have to reschedule. It's the worst time of year to get married as a musician, but you know, that's sort of a testament to his romantic impulses."
It won't be the first piece of advice that Collett gives Jurvanen, nor likely his last.
But for Jurvanen's part, he says he's always kept that original piece of advice in mind about the ebb and flow. "If you're pushing to get in front of people - I don't know, it just seems very temporary," he said.
Ten years down the road, he hopes to switch back to opening for Collett - it's unhealthy to stay in one place your whole life.
"It's nice to change, it's nice to evolve," said Jurva-nen. "And it's especially nice to evolve with someone beside you."
