Gentleman Reg has friends in Guelph

Zack MacRae

"I guess I don't know what else to do with myself … I just can't stop, and I don't want to."

"Playing with Feist in Medicine Hat in a little all-ages room in 2000, you would have never known that she would be playing stadiums 10 years later." Sitting across from me in a booth in Guelph's Artisanale Café last Thursday evening, Reg Vermue, more commonly known as Gentleman Reg talks about his friends and the support that they give. "I've been lucky with the friends that I've had," says Reg modestly with arms folded on his lap.

In Feb. 2009, Gentleman Reg released  Jet Black, his second album on the independent Toronto label Arts & Crafts. Jet Black was Reg's first full length release in four years, and is his first official release outside of Canada.

"My friends," says Reg, "and the people that I have around me are a huge motivator and incentive to keep working."

Just listening to Jet Black, the influence from friends is obvious. Appearing on the album are Reg's pals, Greg Millson from the Great Lake Swimmers, Bryan Webb from Guelph's Constantines and Elizabeth Powell from Land of Talk.

The album is a collection of tracks that vary in genre, from the pop-rock fever of "How We Exit," to the almost ominous disco groove of "We're In A Thunderstorm," but remains cohesive through Reg's soft and colourful voice.

At around midnight Reg, dressed entirely in black, cuts through the audience at the Ebar and takes the stage and the spotlight in front of the narrow room. Accompanied by two women, keyboardist Kelly McMichael, and drummer Dana Snell, the trio get continuous cat calls from the audience in between songs. The pace picks up early as Reg leads a sped-up version of the single "How We Exit." Judging by the reaction of the audience, the frantic power-pop anthem is a favourite of the night, making heads bob and hips shake. 

Aside from Jet Black, Reg recently put out a single for the song "You Can't Get It Back," with "City Of Eros" appearing on the b-side. Reg is also involved with the Toronto based Friends in Bellwoods II compilation that was created and curated by his friend and singer for Ohbijou, Casey Mecija.

"They just asked me to be a part of it and I loved the idea," says Reg, with a note of admiration in his voice and a shrug of his shoulders. The album is a 40-track compilation of rare, new and unreleased songs from local Toronto artists. The proceeds from this album, currently amounting to $11, 398, going toward the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto. A previously unreleased song from Reg called "For Trust" appears on the album.

For Reg, the community aspect of the project was totally unique for Toronto. "It reminds me of something that might happen in Guelph," said Reg, who happens to be a former student of the University of Guelph.

While living in Guelph, Reg started his own record label called Three Gut, to which he released his first two albums and a number of Canadian indie favorites like Constantines' Tournament of Hearts.

"To an extent, Arts & Crafts are [focused on building community]," says Reg who tells me that he is about to go on tour with friends and label mates The Hidden Cameras.

In three weeks Gentleman Reg will tour their new album to crowds all over Canada and the States.

Later on during the set at Ebar, guitarist Francois Turenne joins the trio on stage. The band slows the room into a daze with the dark and grinding "We're In A Thunderstorm." The song teases with prolonged verses until the chorus raves: "I'm gonna dress myself up and run around," in seductive repetition.

Asking Reg about his plans to release his next album, he cites the difficulties of writing on tour. "It's hard to write on tour because it's difficult to find your own space." But he also doesn't want to take four years to put out another album again. "It took a long time in between this album and the one before it … I would love to put something out next year."

An album from Gentleman Reg usually takes on a personal tone with the listener. There is a cohesiveness and thematic line in a Gentleman Reg album that he tells me is unintentional. "My records do follow thematic lines but it is usual in retrospect," says Reg.

Listening to his first album, you almost get a snap shot of the life and emotions of Reg Vermue. "In 2002 I put a record out called Make Me Pretty and the press just called it my 'coming out album,' because my lyrics were more explicitly queer."

In true form, a solo Reg closes out the Ebar show with a double encore, telling the audience that his band doesn't know anymore of his songs.

Reg has been playing music in and around Southern Ontario for over a decade. At the end of our conversation, I asked him what keeps him going: "I guess I don't know what else to do with myself … I just can't stop, and I don't want to."

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