(photo: Springsteen & Andrew) If you’ve heard the incredible Wurlitzer, Rhodes and organ solos on “Dreams Of Flying” from our Night Owls album, they are performed by Andrew Arida who sadly passed away shortly after our recording session. I’d like to share a few of my memories of him. I got to know Andrew when I sat in for a year on drums with atmospheric … Continue reading Remembering Andrew Arida

I wasn’t always a fan of The Smiths. In fact, I despised them at first. My younger and cooler sister used to listen to trendy British bands like New Order, The House Of Love … and The (God-awful) Smiths. I couldn’t stand Morrissey’s melodramatic vocals and miserable-me lyrics. Then I became intrigued by Girlfriend In A Coma. I mean, really, who writes a song about … Continue reading Cover of The Smiths’ Panic

Created this Spotify playlist – Sadness + Beauty: Cinematic Music by North Atlantic Explorers.

It contains the entire North Atlantic Explorers catalog. Continue reading “Sadness + Beauty: Cinematic Music by North Atlantic Explorers (Spotify Playlist)”

My Father Was A Sailor is the ambitious new concept album from Vancouver’s North Atlantic Explorers. It’s a collection of nautical-themed songs inspired by Glenn D’Cruze’s late father’s life at sea with the British Merchant Navy. Its highlights include a full choir singing multi-part harmonies, a horn section featuring JP Carter (Destroyer, Dan Mangan) and narratives by Stuart David (Belle & Sebastian, Looper). Continue reading About The Album “My Father Was A Sailor”

Thanks for the emails and interest in our recent North Sea/North Atlantic cargo ship adventure. We made it back safe and sound, well, just barely in Greg’s case – read on … As promised, here’s an account of our wintery jaunt through northern seas.

Travelling on a container ship on the Atlantic Ocean is something I’ve wanted to do for years and seeing as we wanted to film video for our nautical-themed album, My Father Was A Sailor, now was as good a time as any for this trip. Our goal was a 3 or 4 day trip around the North Sea/North Atlantic ocean in winter, when the weather was (hopefully) at its stormiest and the seas were at their most fierce for the most dramatic footage and but also for the experience as well.

It was a trip that almost never happened.

Continue reading “Sailing To Another Planet”

A few months back, I sent a message to my director friend Greg Gillespie suggesting we shoot video on the treacherous North Atlantic ocean in the middle of winter. He replied saying “your idea of filming the open sea is crazy – and I love it!” Crazy or not, we leave tomorrow to do just that – to sail the North Sea and the North … Continue reading North Atlantic Explorers Sail The North Atlantic

The 2013 albums I enjoyed most:

Continue reading “Top 5 Albums Of 2013”

It seems like every year I listen to less and less new music, and instead discover more and more great music from the past. In 2011 I was really diggin’ Steely Dan (yeah, okay, I know …), and this past year I got massively into The Blue Nile. Actually, the albums I most listened to in 2012, regardless of year of release, were those four from The Blue Nile. I’ll even go on record and say that A Walk Across The Rooftops is a 10 out of 10 – it’s absolute perfection!

As far as albums released in 2012, these were my favourites: Continue reading “Top 5 Albums Of 2012”