When Exclaim! catches up with Menno Versteeg in the office at Royal Mountain Records, the Toronto label that the singer-guitarist co-founded in 2009, he's in the midst of preparing for a string of reunion gigs with his old band, Hollerado.
"Bands break up all the time and we really had no intention of playing again," he says, adding that things changed when their friends in Tokyo Police Club asked them to join them for their final shows. "It just felt like a really good reason to play a show."
Adding to the flurry of activity, Versteeg is embarking on a concurrent solo tour — "I'm literally going back and forth between the two" — which culminates in Versteeg's first record under his own name, Why We Run dropping in December.
The record embraces the folk and Americana side of Versteeg's songwriting, though his knack for sticky hooks remains. "I grew up listening to John Prine. Like, my parents brought me to see him when I was in utero," he says. "But I never thought it was a good enough songwriter to make that record."
Versteeg made a record under the pseudonym Mav Karlo in 2020, which he calls "really depressing" and says he's glad to move on from that phase of his life. He kept writing though and eventually emerged with Why We Run, which he describes as both optimistic and hopeful: "I can stand behind these songs. They can go into that world and not make a fool of themselves."
What are you up to?
Getting back on the road again, which is so exciting, and going out solo, just with the guitar and doing my new Menno record. At the same time, I'm concurrently touring with Hollerado. And I just sent out an email the other day to the Anyway Gang guys to see if they want to do some songs. So who knows? But trying to do music. Oh, yeah, also the record label [Royal Mountain Records], but I try not to do anything there. Connor [Mackie] does everything.
What are your current fixations?
I just got through a massive Steinbeck phase. I reread Travels with Charlie, and holy moly is it good. I read it twice in the last couple of years. I think that really inspired me to want to go on the road with just a guitar, like that solo traveler vibe.
I'm also loving Bukowski lately. Are you allowed to say that anymore? The book in particular is Hollywood. That just blew my mind. Having a bit of insider knowledge into that world, Annie [Murphy] read it too, and it was just wildly so dead on. Nothing's changed. The way he plays the underdog within that framework is absolutely incredible.
Why do you live where you do?
That's a good question. Toronto is a wonderful city. It really is one of the best cities in the world. But I've been spending a lot of time in the country lately — back in Ottawa, or Manotick, where I grew up a lot. Whenever someone's got a country house I can go to or a cottage, I take it, because this city is getting too crowded and disgusting.
What has been your most memorable or inspirational concert and why?
There have been so many. A lot of my life is inspired by those moments, but seeing John Prine at House of Strombo and sitting literally at his feet. George [Stroumboulopoulos] knew what huge fans that we were. My parents came and it was just so special to have the whole family there sitting at his feet while he was singing these songs. It's the closest connection to that purest and highest level of art. Being able to be in the presence of it — it's like touching a Van Gogh or something. When you get up close and you look at the brush strokes, like, "Wow, he did that." It was just awe-inspiring.
What's been the greatest moment of your career so far?
I don't think it's happened yet. Just the fact that I'm still hanging in there, you know. The fact I still can do it is amazing, and that there's more ahead. Like, "Wow, at this age?"
I really want to make something that stands the test of time at some point. I'm not afraid to admit it. I want to keep working on art and keep getting better at it, trying to connect more. I know it's cheesy, but trying to get to the heart of the matter. Just when you think you get it, when you think you're close, you realize you're any further than you thought.
What's been the worst moment of your career so far?
We've made a ton of bad decisions. Like, tons. The fact that we made it through not only alive and also still able to do it, I think it's a goddamn miracle. I kind of wouldn't take any of them back. There's been tons of embarrassing things, being really bad at certain shows, blowing big opportunities, you name it. Just when Hollerado was going great, we made a record with 111 songs on it. It took us two years and it did not have a single. Talking about hitting the brake pedal [on your career]. But I don't regret it.
Which Canadian musician should be more famous?
One of the greatest national treasures we have, who is quite famous but should be a worldwide icon, is Stompin' Tom. People know "The Hockey Song," people could name a few songs, but "icon" doesn't even start to describe him. Tom is the realist of the real deals.
What was the first song you ever wrote?
Just yesterday, I was digging through some old notebooks. I fucking hate the idea of content, as everyone does — disclaimer — but I wanted to find the first song I ever wrote and play it now. I had this guy who was a friend in high school. He was such a character. His name was Carl, and he was just a quirky dude. He had six toes, and he also had the funniest lunches. His dad would pack his lunch sometimes and it would be like scrambled eggs in the Ziploc and a block of cheese. I remember writing a song for him, about him, about his lunch. I was probably 13 or 14. That is the first song, and I have it written down somewhere. I can picture the notebook. I'm sure it's around, so I'm gonna try and dig that up.
What do you think of when you think of Canada?
Privilege and fortunate to live here. To have been able to travel all over the world, it's not perfect, but holy geez, it's pretty close.
What's the meanest thing anyone has ever said about your art?
It's a running joke with all my friends and family that I can't sing. I'm an awful singer. But I've not only supported myself, but also helped many other people pay their bills, too, based on my singing. That's absurd. It's not even mean. It's just a fact.
What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?
The first tape was Bon Jovi's New Jersey — I grew up in small-town Ontario — and then I bought the vinyl for Michael Jackson's Bad in 1988 when that came out around the same time. I remember saving up for both of those — such a big deal. Do you remember that? Going into the store? You can't get that feeling anymore.
What was your most memorable day job?
I had an awful one. One summer, I wore a sandwich board for a kids' camp in Montreal. I was in a total stoner phase, too, and I would just get stoned and wear this sandwich board. It was awful. Kids threw rocks at me.
If you weren't playing music, what would you be doing instead?
I love cooking, and I would have loved to be a chef. But more realistically, I'd probably be cutting grass, because I always loved my summer jobs, too, and I love doing it.
How do you spoil yourself?
We spent so many years in shitty hotels and motels. When I can, I love a nice hotel. I have no problem admitting that as a 44-year-old boogie dude. Nothing crazy, but get me a Delta. We had a great one with Anyway Gang. We played the racetrack in Toronto, and they were like, "Do you guys need hotel rooms?" We all live here. I was like, "Where would that be?" "Oh, we have rooms at the Fairmont," and I was like, "We'll be taking 10 for two nights." So a bunch of us, all our friends, had a little two-day vacation. It was awesome.
What's your best piece of songwriting advice for fellow musicians?
Keep practicing, because it's a skill that needs to be practiced and learned. I don't know why people sometimes think it's not, that it's God-given or something. Keep practicing and then, when you've got something to say, don't waste it. When you've got something you need to say, don't fuck around. Say it.
Who would you want to play you in a biopic?
I would love to see Will Ferrell fumble his way through my life. I especially love the idea of there being old me in a biopic.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
If it was a ton of money, I'd literally have a hippie commune with all my friends and people I love living on it and making art all the time and cooking meals together and hanging out and swimming in a lake.
What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
Paul McCartney's bodyguard choked me out one time. We were playing in the Stills while they were opening for Paul McCartney. They cleared the backstage of everybody while he was playing. I like drinking beers all day and having the best time, and I was like, "I'm just gonna go backstage." And no one stopped me, and then no one stopped me going right up on the stage. So I just kind of walked in like I own the place and no one noticed, and I went right up on the stage as he was sitting at the piano. I didn't walk out, but I went to the side stage and I was just watching him. [I thought] "No one's gonna believe me," so I took my phone out. It was a flip phone in those days, and I took it out to take a picture, and by the time it was flipping open, I was unconscious at the bottom of the stairs with an MI6 kind of guy holding me by the vein [in my neck]. He was literally in a suit, and he was like, "If you try that again, you're gonna wish I'd killed you this time." Like, fully choked out, and rightly so. Don't do that.
Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
I think Mitch. I think just having some G&Ts with Mitch Hedberg, or whatever he's into when he's been revived. Maybe he just wants a nice cup of coffee. I think that'd be amazing. That guy fascinates me. Maybe we wouldn't say a word.
What is the greatest song of all time?
"Thunderstruck" [by AC/DC] is the greatest rock song of all time. People can put up their arguments, but I will kick and scream for "Thunderstruck." You put that on now and you feel like a teenager.