Spreepark

Woodpigeon offshoot pays tribute to defunct amusement park

By Michelle de Man

Spreepark was once the largest amusement park in Berlin, approximately five times the size of Calaway Park. It was opened in 1969 by owner Norbert Witte, shut down shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, re-opened in the late 1990s, and closed again in 2002 due to financial difficulties.

Mark Hamilton, frontman of the Calgary/Edmonton synth-pop band of the same name, spent a day there with a few friends after it had been shut down, taking photos and wandering through hotel rooms. The experience prompted the band’s personal lyrics, most of which are based on the park.

“There’s something so evocative about an amusement park that’s shut down,” says the six-foot-two Hamilton, also the singer-songwriter behind Calgary's Woodpigeon, who is today wearing a beige coat and prodding at his lasagna with a fork. "It propels so many images and ideas."    

Five-foot-two Jamie Fooks, also of Jane Vain and the Dark Matter, is sitting to his right at the top floor downtown Bay restaurant's Chinook Buffet. She is wearing oversize glasses and a plaid shirt, asking Hamilton if he'd like her biscotti. He makes a face and says no.

Alongside the unusual duo, the founding members of Spreepark are Annalea Sordi (also of Woodpigeon), Marshall Watson (aka. My Robot Unicorn) and Eric Cheng, who currently live in Edmonton. The band came together in March of 2006 with the original plan of recording a single, but ended up creating the 8-song album We’re Re-Inventing Music in one weekend. Hamilton sings vocals and plays drums, guitar, piano and glockenspiel on the CD. Sordi also sings vocals and plays guitar and piano. Watson handles bass, keyboard and vibraphone, with Cheng on trombone and guitar.

As other bands and distractions interfered with Spreepark, the album remained unreleased. However, when they decided to record a second album called The Gaysian Invasion in January of this year, Fooks was able to contribute vocals, guitar and keyboard to the project that differs greatly from her other heart-on-sleeve group.

“Spreepark’s pretty upbeat,” says Fooks, pulling her cream-coloured knit hat over her forehead. “It’s pretty dance-able stuff.”

“You have to write very fast in this band,” adds Hamilton. "Somebody will write the lyrics, somebody will write the music, and somebody will have the melody."

To provide some context, the vocal melodies for the songs “What Don’t Eat You Whole…” and “There’s Nothing You Can Say Now” were written at the same time by Hamilton and Fooks, respectively, in a loaned SUV en route to a recording session. “Ghosts Live In My Cupboard And Scare The Children” off The Gaysian Invasion was written and recorded at 5 a.m. in a state of sleep deprivation. Many of the songs were recorded around a ping pong table and accompanied by much laughter. It took an investment of four to five days to record both CDs. Cheng spent about a week further producing and mixing the albums.

“The first CD is the sound of people who had just met. I’d never met Eric when we went in, and within ten minutes of meeting him we were recording a song. Then two days later, we'd cut a record,” says Hamilton. “The second CD was kind of the sound of people who really love hanging out and bringing some of their friends along.”

The double album release and Spreepark's live debut is taking place November 26 at McDougall United Church in Edmonton. The albums will also be released together online at spreeparktheband.com at no cost. Hamilton acknowledges that he is a fan of releasing (and downloading) music for free.

“Spreepark is the most fun band I’ve ever been in,” says Mark. “I want to hear it coming out of every radio, so I just want to give it to people. I don’t want people to have to pay for it.”

Hamilton and Fooks agree that unlike the amusement park, they’d like Spreepark to continue “forever.” Mark says he feels Spreepark is a project that is going to continue for a very long time. The band plans to record more music and release some remixes in the future.

“I don’t think Spreepark will ever die,” says Fooks.  

Who: Spreepark (CD release) w/The Wet Secrets and Knots
Where: McDougall United Church (Edmonton)
When: November 26th