Chad VanGaalen Announces Side-Project, B-Sides Comp and DVD

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Aug 22, 2008

As Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen prepares to release Soft Airplane, the much loved one-man band is gearing up for some live action. Following album number three’s September 9 release date on Sub Pop and Flemish Eye, VanGaalen will leave his hermit kingdom for a Canada-heavy tour, bringing along label-mates Women for several dates and playing with Howe Gelb’s Americana-leaning Giant Sand on a few others.

And while the dates will likely focus much on VanGaalen’s new Soft Airplane, the songwriter also has a few other musical morsels in the wings. While recently talking to Exclaim!, VanGaalen revealed he has plans for a new project, titled Black Mold, which will serve as an outlet for his growing love of electronics.

"I just recently finished recording this Black Mold record that is just my electronic stuff,” VanGaalen said. "On both of the last records, I guess there has been instrumental dance music almost, but now I have an outlet for that with the Black Mold stuff, so maybe there was a conscious decision to keep the instrumental off this [Soft Airplane] and just have, like, songs.”

At this point, VanGaalen was unsure if Black Mold would only be released for friends and family or if it will come out via his Canadian label home, Flemish Eye.

Also while recently talking to Exclaim!, Flemish Eye head Ian Russell told us there are even more upcoming VanGaalen releases planned. Russell said fans can expect a whole new album of unreleased VanGaalen b-sides, culled from the abundance of material recorded during the Soft Airplane sessions, in the coming months. He also said the label plans to release a VanGaalen DVD, which will be filled with his various animation work and short films. However, he said no firm release dates for any of the new material have been set.

While waiting for the next surge of VanGaalen output, here are his tour dates:

9/21 New York, NY - Blender Theatre at Gramercy *
10/2 Ottawa, ON - Zaphod Beeblebrox ^
10/3 Montreal, QC - Ukranian Federation, Pop Montreal #^
10/4 Toronto, ON - The Mod Club ^
10/9 Vancouver, BC, Richard’s on Richards
10/10 Victoria, BC - Sugar Nightclub
10/11 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
10/12 Seattle, WA - Triple Door *
10/17 Edmonton, AB - McDougall United Church
10/25 Calgary, AB - The Uptown Stage

* Giant Sand
^ Women
# Julie Doiron

Chad VanGaalen "Flower Gardens"

Latest Coverage