It’s all about slowing down and really hearing that guitar.
About four years ago, Vancouver native Justin Klump released a highly produced album full of electric sounds. But when he hits the road, as he frequently does, it’s just Klump and his acoustic guitar that audiences hear.
So his new five-song EP, “Sticks and Stones,” is meant to mimic that stripped-down experience, he said. “I limited myself in terms of layering a lot of instruments and going crazy,” he said. He recorded the album at his brother’s house, he said, bringing in his own recording equipment and surrounding it with a soundproof booth built from blankets, pillows, bookcases and a ping-pong table.
“It was that or take out a bunch of money to record,” said the do-it-yourselfer, 29, who’s been pursuing music as a full-time career for the last six years. Hence the theme of “Sticks and Stones”, he said: “It’s about getting up every day and wondering if it’s all going somewhere. It’s about having a sense of hope even when life is kind of beating you up.”
Klump will hold a CD release concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Alberta Rose Theater, 3000 N.E. Alberta St., Portland. Tickets are $10 advance or $12 at the door.