Charles Spearing - The Happiness Project - NYC Nov. 28th and 29th

( Credit // Norman Wong )

About The Happiness Project

Arts & Crafts will be releasing The Happiness Project on February 14. Spearin, best known for his work with Toronto-based bands Do Make Say Think and Broken Social Scene, has been performing samples of The Happiness Project live during BSS concerts this past year, offering insight into the inspiration and concept of the album which was arranged, recorded and developed over the past few years in his home studio as well working with his long time collaborator Ohad Benchetrit at his studio, Th’ Schvitz. In the album’s liner notes, Charles took time to write a bit of an explanation on the idea behind the project. “These are my neighbours. My wife and I have two little kids and live in downtown Toronto.” Spearin explains, “In the summertime, all the kids in the neighbourhood play outside together and everyone is out on their porch enjoying each other’s company, telling stories and sharing thoughts. A year or so ago I began inviting some of them over to the house for a casual interview vaguely centered around the subject of happiness. In some cases we never broached the subject directly but none-the-less my friends began to call it my “Happiness Project”. After each interview Spearin would listen back to the recording and examine the thoughts expressed. In addition, he noticed a natural melody and cadence to the speaking voices of his neighbours as they each discussed their views on “happiness”. “It has always been interesting to me how we use sounds to convey concepts,” says Spearin.“Normally, we don’t pay any attention to the movement of our lips and tongue, and the rising and falling of our voices as we toss our thoughts back and forth to each other,“ he continues, “We just talk and listen. The only time we pay attention to these qualities is in song. With The Happiness Project, Spearin blurs the line between speaking and singing - life and art - and writes music based on these accidental melodies. With the help of some of his musician friends, Charles plays the instruments to match these natural neighbourhood melodies inspired by thought and happiness and then, as Charles concludes, “I arranged them as though they were songs. All of the melodies on this album are the melodies of every day life.

Thursday October 22nd, 2009	London, UK	Scala
Friday October 23rd, 2009	Thessaloniki, Greece	Principal
Saturday October 24th, 2009	Athens, Greece	Rodeo
Sunday October 25th, 2009	Athens, Greece	Rodeo
Monday October 26th, 2009	Leipzig, Germany	Conne Island
Tuesday October 27th, 2009	Munich, Germany	Feierwerk
Wednesday October 28th, 2009	Schorndorf, Germany	Manufaktur
Thursday October 29th, 2009	Duedingen, Switzerland	Bad Bonn
Saturday October 31st, 2009	Paris, France	La Maroquinerie
Sunday November 1st, 2009	Nantes, France	Soy Festival
Monday November 2nd, 2009	Toulouse, France	Kleo
Tuesday November 3rd, 2009	Barcelona, Spain	Sala Apolo
Wednesday November 4th, 2009	Bilbao, Spain	Kafe Antzokia
Thursday November 5th, 2009	Marseille, France	Montevideo
Friday November 6th, 2009	Nancy, France	L'autre Canal
Saturday November 7th, 2009	Esch, Luxemburg	Kulturfabrik
Sunday November 8th, 2009	Kortrijk, Belgium	De Kreujn
Tuesday November 10th, 2009	Hamburg, Germany	Molotov
Wednesday November 11th, 2009	Malmo, Sweden	Debaser
Thursday November 12th, 2009	Linkoping, Sweden	Herrgarn
Friday November 13th, 2009	Oslo, Norway	John Dee
Saturday November 14th, 2009	Arhus, Denmark	VoxHall
Sunday November 15th, 2009	Bielefeld, Germany	Forum
Monday November 16th, 2009	Berlin, Germany	Magnet
Wednesday November 25th, 2009	Montreal, QC	La Sala Rossa
Thursday November 26th, 2009	Montreal, QC	La Sala Rossa
Friday November 27th, 2009	Cambridge, MA	Middle East Club
Saturday November 28th, 2009	Brooklyn, NY	Music Hall Of Williamsburg
Sunday November 29th, 2009	New York, NY	Bowery Ballroom
Monday November 30th, 2009	Philadelphia, PA	First Unitarian Church
Tuesday December 1st, 2009	Washington, DC	Rock and Roll Hotel
Wednesday December 2nd, 2009	Pittsburgh, PA	Brillobox
Thursday December 3rd, 2009	Pontiac, MI	The Crofoot
Friday December 4th, 2009	Chicago, IL	Schubas Tavern