NEELIN VIEWS: The whimsical world of Boy Golden

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This article was published 16/05/2022 (1419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Liam Duncan, a 2013 Neelin graduate, is making waves in the Manitoba music industry.

With his band and persona, Boy Golden, he has appeared on CBC’s “The Intro,” and has been booked as the support act for the upcoming North American portion of The Sheepdogs’ Live and Outta Sight tour.

We reached him in Winnipeg to ask him about musical memories, life on the road, and the anticipation of the forthcoming tour.

Q: What are your earliest musical memories?

LD: My musical memories are mostly of taking piano lessons throughout my early childhood, and alternately really liking them and then hating them. But my parents were always [saying] “You’re gonna regret it if you quit,” and, sure enough, I think I would have regretted it had I quit. My teacher was great, too. When I got tired of playing classical music, she was down to let me learn pop music and jazz music and blues and little bits of how to improvise until I kind of got into a band and then after that the rest of the path just sort of followed.

Q: When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in music?

LD: That’s a good question. I mean, I didn’t really know that it was a possibility necessarily growing up in Brandon. They’re not many people who are doing music as a career, other than teaching. So I figured maybe that was something I could go into, but then I started touring with my high school band, actually, with Roman Clarke and Dylan Macdonald, neither of whom went to Neelin, but they’re both Brandon kids and we started touring at around age 18 and 19, meeting other bands. Then some people who were just living in Winnipeg, but they were making a living at it. And I was like “Oh, I see. This is a possibility, I suppose.” [So] around 18 or 19, touring and meeting other bands. That’s when I started to consider it as a real career.

Q: Who are your biggest musical inspirations?

LD: Mostly the biggest inspirations are around me here in Winnipeg. We have a really great music community. I would count the Brothers Landreth amongst my musical inspirations. And the other members of my band, I would definitely put them up there. The community in Winnipeg would be my biggest musical inspiration. Beyond that, I’d say the music I grew up with, like J.J. Cale or Lucinda Williams.

Q: How did attending Neelin contribute to your musical development?

LD: Yeah, actually had a big effect on it I feel because I was a choir kid and I really liked [choir director] Carolyn Gwyer. We got along really well, and I was in everything that I could be in, like on the choir executive council. I think it just got me doing it a lot and singing lots and working on things. It became a really important experience, and I definitely have a ton of fun memories of the period. When I think back to high school, I usually think of the choir room and going on trips singing.

Q: How important was the space known as “The Loft” to your musical development?

LD: So that was a spot right downtown. It was really important for the community of Brandon a little bit before my time. Nonetheless, me and my first band recorded an EP there with Cody Iwasiuk, who was living there at the time, and they were a bunch of other cool musicians living there, and we all thought that it was pretty awesome that these older kids who are just all living together making music all the time.

Q: And how did your time on the road contribute to your musical development?

LD: I mean, there’s no amount of practice to replace just playing hundreds of live shows. With that one band we played over 700, so if you tally up all the other bands I’ve been with it’s getting probably close to putting in my 10,000 hours. [laughs] So I think it was huge. Just for, say, confidence, and knowing that line between treating every show like the most important show but also like it’s just another show. We’re gonna go out there and try our best, but sometimes you screw up and things happen, and you just have to move on. I think it taught me a lot. Just going up there and being a professional and putting on a great show, but then also realizing that it’s impermanent and imperfect, and sometimes things just screw up and you move on.

Q: Any misadventures you’d like to share?

LD: My main misadventures come because I’m pretty clumsy and forgetful for little things. But I was so legendary for losing the keys. We were playing a gig at Sunshine Valley, which is a ski resort in Banff. And I decided I would take my snowboard and I would ski out. Everyone else was taking the gondola with all the gear. I get to the bottom and I’ve taken a fall somewhere on the hill and lost the keys. So we get to the bottom and the whole place is clearing up to help us. We can’t get in the van. We have all our gear around our van with no way to get in. So we have to call CAA twice. Once to come in, unlock the van to get our gear in there. And then again to get a flatbed trailer to come haul the van all the way to Canmore to a Dodge dealership where I was hoping that they would have a key. The next morning, I went to down to get another key, got a key cut and drove to Saskatoon for the next gig. We didn’t miss the show, but I was not the most popular guy on the road that day.

Q: In one of your earlier bands, you simultaneously played the keyboard and the bass at the same time. How challenging was that?

LD: It was a bit of a learning curve, but really, I’m playing the keyboard and the bass at the same time, but it’s basically just playing with the keyboard. I just had two keyboards, one of them was bass noises and the other one was more melodic kind of noises. I figured it out and I really enjoyed it. I learned a lot from it, like being a good rhythm section and getting locked in with the drummer.

Q: And so now it’s moved on from playing a couple instruments at once to playing all the instruments on your own records. Can you speak to the evolution of that?

LD: It’s mostly just because I love making recordings. That’s my main passion, more than being on the road or anything, I just like spending time in the studio. So really, the amount of instruments that I can play with [was] just born as a result of recording a lot and [realizing] OK, I need this sound, [so] I’m going to do it and then really once you know one string instrument, it’s pretty easy to get yourself onto others. So yeah, now I can play the guitar and bass, banjo and sometimes mandolin. And then one time. I actually hired a drummer for a song on my LP, and then he was too good. So, then I [thought], I can just play the drums. I played the drums, and it was less “good,” but it sounded right to me. So that’s how I ended up playing the drums on the record. I’m certainly not a good drummer, but it’s just out of necessity.

Q: You’ve collaborated with and played in bands with many other musicians. What led to your creation of the persona Boy Golden and the desire to produce your own music?

LD: Yeah, good question. Well, basically just having the songs and then at a certain point I was just playing in other people’s bands and recording other people’s music. And then I was just kind of making my own music for fun in my spare time. And that’s where the Boy Golden thing came out. Because I was just making silly songs — I think my biggest “hit” is one called “KD and Lunch Meat.” It’s just really ridiculous. That’s sort of where the persona came from — we’re just having a lot of fun with it, and then I never really expected it to turn into something that was going to take up all my time. Now it is. I have to quit all my other musical commitments and just work on this and not make other people’s records on the side.

Q: Many people think that Boy Golden references a certain Winnipeg landmark, but that’s not the case, is it?

LD: That’s true. It actually came from my mom’s maiden name, Golden. And I’m her boy. And thus, “Boy Golden.” I also just thought it kind of sounded cool, but hey, if you want to reference that big giant gold statue, that’s fine with me, too.

Q: You’ve described Boy Golden as mostly yourself “without the insecurities.” What kind of insecurities does someone have who gets up on stage in front of thousands of people?

LD: [laughs] Plenty. You know my first album that I made under my own name, it just felt that because it was my own name and just plain old me on stage, there was so little to hide behind. I found that sharing that much of myself on stage kind of intimidating. So, with the Boy Golden character, I can just get into the character more. Be this cool guy creature thing and have a lot more fun with it and kind of leave Liam Duncan behind.

Q: While we’re talking about being on stage, what are your pre-gig routines or rituals?

LD: I try and take care of myself fairly well, both in my home life and while I’m on the road. I meditate, do yoga almost every day. Otherwise just spending time with my band, hanging out and joking around because they’re most of the preshow rituals these days. Although to be honest, we haven’t played that many shows lately because of the pandemic, but we’re going to play 100 shows, so maybe ask me about that after the 100 shows if I’ve developed any other routines.

Q: OK, so let’s talk about some of the tracks from your album “Church of Better Daze.” I’ve seen the song “Smoke on the Breeze” performed both with a full band and also as a solo acoustic number. How important is that to you for a song can be both complex and multilayered but also capable of being stripped down to its essence, one player with an acoustic guitar?

LD: That’s a good question. A lot of my songs are like that where they can be stripped all the way down and they still work, but I don’t really think that has a bearing on how good the song is. [If] the recording is great, and it makes you feel something, that’s what’s really important and the way some songs are just meant to be recorded and it would sound really silly if you just played it on an acoustic guitar. And I think that’s OK but a lot of my songs, just because of the genre and my influences, they’re able to be stripped right down and they still work.

Q: The song “A Little Space” seems to show a McCartney/Wings influence. How important is the ’70s vibe to your music?

LD: The ’70s influence is definitely ever-present in the music. I mean, that’s just the music I grew up listening to, ’70s country, ’70s rock, ’70s folk. Those were my main influences growing up. So that’s what mostly comes out. That song was actually a co-write. One of the only co-writes on the album, and that’s kind of where the other influence like Wings come from. I wrote that song with a couple of friends, and they definitely do both like Wings. I bet you that’s where that influence comes from.

Q: Did you really chip your tooth filming the video for the title track? What happened there?

LD: I really did. Yeah. We were shooting the scene where I’m in the back of the van and the van stopped really suddenly. And we had to do it seven times. On the seventh time. I didn’t really brace myself right, the van stopped extra hard, and I flew forward into my skateboard and I cracked a tooth in half. Actually, it didn’t hurt very badly at all so we just kept shooting because I thought it was funny. And it costs a lot of money to hire a film crew and so we can either reorganize this entire set, spend an extra $2,000 probably hiring everybody again, or I can just tough it out and keep on shooting, so that’s what I did.

Q: Your music videos are very visually appealing. What are your inspirations, especially for the video “KD and Lunch Meat?”

LD: For that one, I was trying to imitate “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” There’s a scene where they go in an art gallery. I curated the whole art gallery myself with local artists and set it all up and then actually opened up the gallery for the public. And then we shot the music video there. So it ended up being a lot of work, but it was fun.

Q: You’ve actually had to explain to Americans what KD is, correct?

LD: Yeah, that’s true. For our radio campaign, which worked out quite well, we sent out boxes of Kraft Dinner that we had made this like custom wrap for that had a bunch of Boy Golden references on it. One of the reps came back later and said, “Oh, OK, I got it. You made a song about Blue Box.” That’s what they call it down there, “Blue Box.”

Q: It’s clear with some of your song titles, lyrics and visuals that humour is an important element to your music. Why do you think it’s important to include humour in your musical message?

LD: I mean, it’s just unnatural to not have humour because it’s such a big part of our lives. That’s how it is with me and my friends. It doesn’t matter what we’re dealing with. If it’s hard times or good times, I’ve always dealt with life with a little bit of humour. All my favourite songwriters [use] humour, like John Prine — he’s the hilarious summit of all! His songs will make you laugh cry and laugh in the same three minutes, you know? Courtney Barnett, Kurt Weil. All these people, they use humour in their songs and in their messaging. My first album was so serious, sad and very self-serious and that’s really not who I am. That’s just what I was going through at the time. I’m actually just a goofy guy [laughs], so it just makes sense for me to have fun with it and not take it so seriously. At the same time, I take making it very seriously, but I don’t take myself super seriously.

Q: You’re booked to play this year’s Winnipeg Folk Fest. How important is it to return to that stage after the COVID-imposed hiatus?

LD: It’s great. It’s great to get back out in front of people. I think the audience needs it as much as we do at this point. The shows lately have been packed and people are just looking to go out and experience something. So I think it’s pretty great that we finally get back to it.

Q: You’ve also been booked as the support act for the upcoming North American Sheepdogs tour. Can you describe the feeling of getting that call?

LD: Yeah. I didn’t know I was even in the running for that until it was down to just me and one other band. And then the agent called and told me that that was a possibility. And I was like, I wish you guys would have just told me if I got it or not. Now I’m really anxious. It’s so great. That’s exactly the kind of opportunity that we’re working for and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to take the band on the road and get some work and also the opportunity to improve as a front person, as a leader of the band. I want to do a better and better job. As I said before, nothing can replace that experience of playing many live shows. That’s just the best education.

Q: What does it mean to you to have the chance to play iconic venues like Massey Hall or the Burton Cummings Theatre?

LD: It’s totally surreal, to be honest. Sometimes I just have no idea how I got here, so it’s cool. They haven’t happened yet, so I’m curious to see how it will be done. I think it’ll be a combination of feeling surreal and also feeling like, well, that’s another gig, you know, that we did. We did another gig. So a combination of business and also a bit of feeling of like wow, how is this our lives right now?

Q: What’s the story behind your motto, “Stay crispy?”

LD: Actually there’s a guy in Brandon [who made] videos and they were quite popular amongst our friend group, and that was sort of his catchphrase. I lifted it from him and it became its own thing. It just means staying on the ball, staying open, staying mindful while you’re making music while you’re going through your life. That’s just gonna help you make the best music you can. So that’s sort of the idea behind it, but it really was an inside joke that I made part of the brand.

Q: This is your project with your name, but how important is community and collaboration in “Church of Better Daze?”

LD: I mean, yeah, it’s my project, in name and just in practicality, I do all the organizing, but none of it could happen without the community I have here in Winnipeg.

Q: The Winnipeg community being largely expat Brandonites, correct?

LD: Yeah, a lot of the people that I play with are in fact from Brandon. In fact, very few of them are actually from Winnipeg. They’re mostly from rural communities around Winnipeg. We have this really awesome tight-knit group of musicians that I just think are some of the best in Canada, and my records are really all about showcasing that and the process is very open to whatever they want to do. And I sort of let their instincts guide the recording as much as mine, you know? I already feel like my instincts guided the songwriting, so I’m happy to let other people in on the rest.

Q: What’s your advice to a young person who wants to pursue music as a career in music?

LD: Focus on the music first and everything else will follow. Focus on music and community. Those are the two really important things because you can promote as much as you want. You can market, you can go beyond social media. None of that really makes a difference unless the music is really great, and you have a community around you that can support you. So, the advice that I wish I had thought of is write more songs. I try to write a new song every week, a new song every day. Just try to write as much as you can.

Q: And where can people find your music?

LD: You can find my music anywhere that you listen to any music. Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music. If there’s a physical retailer near you, you could probably find my vinyl there. You can go to my website, churchofbetterdaze.com.

Q: OK. Thanks so much for being so generous with your time with us today. Last question: Some of your songs have food titles or food references. Is it safe to say that attending a service at the Church of Better Daze could lead to a case of the munchies?

LD: [laughs] That’s great. Yes, absolutely. I love to munch.

» Sara Gilbert is a Grade 10 student at École secondaire Neelin High School.