04 Feb 2014 — Andi Wilson
St. John's, Newfoundland is home for Aaron Powell who is the marvel behind the lo-fi ambient dreaminess of Fog Lake. Following bedroom-recorded releases, farther reaches and holy cross [ep], Virgo Indigo is a step into new waters especially production-wise, collecting all emotions within the tracks' clear fidelity. Powell's lyrics and moody vocals are so vulnerable, becoming immediately relatable. While still absorbing this record, it overall makes one feel like embracing a sort of visceral state of mind and losing sense of time in a hazy, beautiful surrounding.
Virgo Indigo is available to download for free through bandcamp or you can purchase one of the 50 lavendar cassette tapes via Orchid Tapes.
Listen while reading this lovely interview with Aaron himself about the release and how Fog Lake all began.
For those who aren't familiar with Fog Lake, when did you start recording under the name? Also, when did the project become to materialize for you?
AP: Fog Lake began in January of 2012 when I resurfaced some old ambient/drone recordings from 2008-2009, my high school days. I originally intended FL to be just a drone recording alias, but that drastically changed when I started tinkering around with more pop oriented 'songs'. I decided to stick with the name Fog Lake. I feel like the project began to materialize when I finished up my first record, and I got a little bit of exposure from that. I gotta say I was quite surprised and flattered that anyone would even bother to listen to what I was doing, so I decided to try pushing it further.
How did your relationship with Orchid Tapes establish? We are major fans/lovers of the label.
AP: It's an interesting one, I knew Warren way back on this music forum. This was around 2008-2009 as well. He'd always be posting about his new recording project "Foxes in Fiction" which I was heavily into and inspired by. "Swung from the Branches" remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Over the summer of 2013 Warren asked me if I would like to do a release with Orchid Tapes and it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I was so excited that I scrapped what I was working on at the time and began work on what would become "Virgo Indigo".
What does Virgo Indigo as a phrase mean to you, in relationship to the album or in general?
AP: I'm gonna keep it real here because I simply thought it sounded cool. The name popped into my head one night and I liked it. Combining words and phrases that kinda slip off the tongue is a lot of fun to me. "Virgo Indigo" sounds like some weird color you'd see in a paint shop, or some bullshit psychic hotline.
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The album's theme seems to particularly play with a notion of heartbreak and loneliness, attached to a dreamy nature and glimpses of hope. What are your current surroundings like and did they inspire your lyrics/sounds?
AP: I have to spend a lot of time by myself to make these records, which I hope can change in the future. 2013 was another bad year and I moved to the city during the writing/recording of Virgo. I tracked it in a pretty cramped room, right in the heart of downtown St Johns. You know, jelly bean houses. It was a drastic kind of change for me, so everything from the sounds of traffic at night to the orange glow of the city sky inspired the sound of the album.
Do you plan on touring for this record? I feel like you would melt many hearts / make people cry (in a good way).
AP: Aw, thank-you! Well I've only played a few shows so far in the city of St John's but touring is something I've been thinking about a lot. I've been talking to my friend Michael of The Raspberry Heaven who is based in Toronto and I can see us definitely doing a tour there sometime soon. Michael's been a great supporter of my music and I would recommend anyone to check out his. We collaborated on a track over the summer and you can find it on youtube I believe. I am also considering touring the island of Newfoundland or trying to get a gig at the Halifax Pop Explosion or something. It's definitely something I need to put more thought into.
What is your favorite genre or artist to listen to on a rainy day?
AP: That's a good question. I think my favorite "pouring rain" band would have to be Slint. I love rain and Slint goes well with that. Spiderland really does it for me. I wanna go back to 1991 every day.
