Musician Spotlight: Spencer Krug
A Glance at the Projects of Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown Keyboardist
Oct 28, 2008
Spencer Krug, the multi-instrumentalist mastermind of Wolf Parade, has a lot more on his plate than it would appear. In addition to writing and performing material for the aforementioned Montreal-based indie rock band, Krug also serves as frontman on his side project Sunset Rubdown, for which he has released three albums and an EP. With the amount of music he gathers from his massive creative flow, it is interesting to see how his influences come across in his different projects.
Krug's Songwriting and Musicianship in Wolf Parade
While Wolf Parade's creative leadership is split between Krug and guitarist/vocalist Dan Boeckner, this division merely allows each of them to imprint their individual styles onto a similar type of music. Both songwriters have a dystopic view of society, but their lyrics reflect two sides of this coin. While Boeckner's songs focus on a distaste for the “modern world”, Krug's lyrics take a more personal view, and he focuses on interpersonal relationships (of families, friends, and lovers) rather than those of society.
The band's 2005 debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary, had a very consistent, powerful style, which helped homogenize the rift in musicianship between Krug and Boeckner. However, for better or worse, their 2008 sophomore album At Mount Zoomer put less emphasis on volume and more emphasis on the message, which made the artists' stylistic differences clearer. Krug, whose primary instruments are voice and piano (although he plays guitar) contributed overall poppier, piano-based songs which flaunted his talent as a pianist, while Boeckner's were more jarring guitar songs which employed various synthesized sounds.
Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, and Krug's Other Album Contributions
In between Krug's main work with Wolf Parade, he keeps incredibly busy. Although his first musical appearance was with Frog Eyes on their debut album, 2002's The Bloody Hand, he has continued to contribute piano and synthesizer effects for three of their five full-length albums. Frog Eyes (lead singer Carey Mercer in particular) also seems to serve as a major influence for Krug's music, both in style and in delivery. Krug was also a member of indie rock supergroup Swan Lake with Mercer and Daniel Bejar of The New Pornographers.
However, most importantly is Krug's main side project, Sunset Rubdown, who have released three full-length albums to date, the first of which, Snake's Got a Leg, released only months before Wolf Parade's debut. Sunset Rubdown is the closest definition of Krug's style available; the band combines his love for classical piano and his introspective, slightly cryptic lyrics with multiple styles of songs. Their most recent album, the 2007 Random Spirit Lover, is by far their greatest achievement, loosely following a brilliant composer and his relationships with those close to him. The construction of the album is methodical, and the result is a combination of maniacal and intellectual, which perfectly sums up Krug's approach to making his particular brand of indie rock.
Krug is currently touring with Wolf Parade, but you can check out Sunset Rubdown here.
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