Bobbyisms: Goud and Hause: A study in timelessness

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: JESS BAUMUNG
Northcote performs on campus for a free show in Forwell Hall at noon on February 6.

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. Do you ever wonder how our generation will be regarded when it comes to music in the future?Ours seems quite far removed from musical eras in the past; where even the most disposable of songs can become a sensation, we've created a generation without many legitimate stars.

The landscape of music today takes oversaturation to new levels. The 1990s blew up the music industry in ways that even the MTV revolution couldn't — music was everywhere, all the time, but the '90s still pale in comparison to the unprecedented access we have now for new music and artists. As such, it's going to take years of hindsight to recognize who the true artists were, and the true stars among them.

But let me save you a little time: Matt Goud and Dave Hause should be stars. Two troubadours with their roots in hardcore and punk music, Goud — known on the stage by the name of Northcote — and Hause both made the transition into Americana and new folk some five years ago, and they're bringing their energetic show to the London Music Hall on February 5 and to Fanshawe College's Forwell Hall on campus for a free noon hour show the next day.

Although Goud released his selftitled second solo album before last summer, he remarked howtimely the music still feels to him… especially considering the opportunity to tour with Hause and take the album to cities he's never played before.

“The songs kind of change depending on your situation, on where you're at,” he said of his album Northcote, noting that even a year and a half later the music still sounds fresh. “In that way I'm not worried about getting sick of them, because as I'm changing and growing, I feel like the songs allow me to do that — you kind of live in them at different times when you're out playing them.”

Hause, on the other hand, grew up in the megalopolis that is the Northeastern United States and made his way up through work as a roadie, manager and similar positions before joining bands in the late '90s.

“There were a lot of opportunities to see a lot of music that became legendary,” Hause said, reflecting on growing up immersed in the heart of the American punk scene. “I didn't realize at the time, but it was exciting — as a kid you don't ever realize what you have, but it was a cool thing. The punk scene definitely informed how I do what I do now and gave me a great place to nestle in and get comfortable learning how to play music.”

Hause found inspiration in his parents' music collection — albums by Jackson Browne, Elton John, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen and more — but really more for the art of songwriting, as opposed to their success.

“It felt very unattainable to be someone who got up on stage and played music, because those were the only examples — being Sting was a really far cry from being me in my working-class neighbourhood,” he explained. Stardom wasn't the goal; if anything, Hause was attracted to the antithesis of stardom. “That whole [punk] scene was people who were frustrated or wanted to express themselves, saying ‘Hey, we're not going to go with the typical paradigm, we're going to do our own thing and just do it, even if we don't quite know how.' There's a lot of beauty in that, and it gives you courage when people respond to that.”

“There really is something to having to slug it out in any art form,” Hause continued. “If you've got nothing to lose, you'll risk anything, and I think for me that's the mentality that fuels me playing music. And hopefully will still fuel the lyrics and decisions I make artistically.”

Hause and Goud have already struck out on tour together; the two forged their solo careers at roughly the same time, and a stroke of serendipity saw them introduced and take the road together.

“In 2009 when I started Northcote, I recorded eight songs for an EP,” he explained. “I was looking to do a Canadian tour back then, and I was just going to hop in a car and go out and play, but an agent in Toronto that is a mutual acquaintance between Dave and I suggested that I go along with him ... We didn't know about each other, but we got put together by a common friend and we went out together on our first solo tours, all the way from Quebec City to Vancouver in a two-door car.”

In the time since, Hause has been busy nearly non-stop. But when he completed work on Devour, he reached out to Goud and asked him to support him on a massive tour across the continent, reuniting them and reigniting their passion for being on the road.

“It's quite an honour, and a throwback to that first tour in away,”Goud agreed.” I'm close friends with Dave for that reason, so it's special to me. And it's going really well.”

Goud will be appearing live on campus in Forwell Hall on February 6 — Northcote is the featured act for this week's free Music Nooner concert, which sees Goud perform exclusively for Fanshawe students.

For more on Northcote or Dave Hause, visit them online at northcotemusic.com or davehause.com respectively. Their tour is really still just beginning — before the month is out they'll travel across Canada and northern States to Vancouver, then wrap up in the Eastern U.S. early in April. Their show at the London Music Hall will also feature Chuck Coles of the Organ Thieves, doors open at 8 p.m.

And for more of the latest in music news, album streams and show previews, consider following this column on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms. I'm out of words.