Musical Influences: Winter Quarters

When I heard on the grapevine that the lead singer and guitarist from The Ruse were working on a side project under the name Winter Quarters and planned as a gentler affair to The Ruse’s normal uplifting rock, I eagerly began anticipating the result.  I also began forming some questions just in case they’d be willing to do another interview for me after the in-depth and open interview I did with them earlier in the year (Musical Influences: The Ruse).

Jim Bilus sent me over a copy of the album, called ‘Stories and Lies’ and also graciously agreed to the interview, so it was with pen in hand that I initially listened to the album a few times.   As you’d expect from an album with the lead singer on vocals it is reminiscent of The Ruse, but it has a gentler, introspective feel to it and the guitar playing is more subtle and intricate.  I noticed this most on ‘The Hunted’ which has amazing finger picking and haunting lyrics.

For those fans of The Ruse you’ll be happy to know that the band is still firmly together and producing music together, but Winter Quarters is an exceptional side project that should please you as much as any existing The Ruse albums.

How long was this album in the making?  Was it pieced together over many years or did it come out in one hit? 

 
We had the idea for a side project from The Ruse in late 2010. John Dauer (vocals) and I came together with our friend Austin Hartley-Leonard to write some acoustic, melody driven songs. Austin is a great singer/songwriter in his own account, and the songs seemed to come very easily. We are big fans of Counting Crows,, A.A. Bondy, Wilco, Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, and stuff like that. We wanted to make some music that affected people in a similar way to those guys, but had its own sound. 

The entire album was made in my bedroom on an old Macbook.  It was a really cool experience to record everything on our own, with total control over the direction.  Jorge Vivo (our favourite producer) ending up mixing and mastering the results,and that's an entirely different skill.

Why did you decide now was the time for this side project?
 
The Ruse is a wonderful band, and will always be our main project. But certain songs and sounds just don't work in the context of a traditional rock band. We need to strip it all down to the core (acoustic guitar and vocals) and start a new project to get at what we were hearing in our heads.

Was it difficult deciding what tracks to keep for WQ and which to offer for The Ruse?
 
Yes. For instance, there is a song coming out on the next Ruse EP called "Simple Grace" that started out as a Winter Quarters song. It ended up being a Ruse song because we think its going to be a big one for us, and we wanted to make sure that the most amount of people heard the tune.

Are the other Ruse band members happy to support this project or was there some trepidation about 'solo' projects?
 
Our drummer Jason has his own very cool sideproject called Heartour and has been putting out albums for years. Everyone is always supportive of each other- the more irons in the fire, the better!

What was their feedback about the album, did they like what you created?
 
They like it- Mark (our bass player) actually plays all the bass on the the WC album. So a big shout out to him for helping!

Where did the name Winter quarters come from?

We wanted to evoke an old west, civil war, frontier vibe for the project. The "Winter Quarters" is where the army used to march to and hole up for the winter. Just seemed like a cool idea, and felt right for the tunes.

My favourite track has to be 'The Hunted' where I especially enjoy the guitar work.  Is there a story behind this song?

We like that one too :) The idea of that song was to outline someone who felt "boxed in" by life- both physically (being stuck in a weird mansion and not being able to leave) and symbolically in his mind. Our friend Loghan Call (a great director) put together a very cool video with some footage of the woods/ocean that really seems to fit the idea.




Are you planning to play some gigs in support of this album?

Not yet! We need to get our act together and rehearse for a while before playing out. Want to make sure its something really special when we do make an appearance somewhere.

Have you any plans for another WQ albums or are you refocused on The Ruse's music?

We are currently focusing on The Ruse, getting ready to release a 5 song EP and 2 new videos. Hopefully we will be able to re-visit Winter Quarters with some new tunes soon. 

Do you have any forthcoming gigs or album release dates for The Ruse?

The Ruse EP will be out by November of this year.  Hoping to do some shows in NYC and LA to support it. 


I just want to thank Jim for his time and the frank answers he provided and if you want to check out more I suggest you head over to Winter Quarters Facebook page, The Ruse website and most importantly head over to itunes or Amazon and snap up a copy.