Sean Gardner creates waves with Winter Makes Sailors
By Kelly Vormelker, Staff Writer
November 14, 2008 | 2 p.m.
Usually a guy would get slapped for working on three projects at once, yet Sean Gardner gets away with this as he plays in three bands at one time. Winter Makes Sailors is his monogamous solo project.
Columbus musical playboy Sean Gardner splits his love of music between three different bands. Gardner plays a vital role in synthy indie rock band MeltyMelty, Columbus supergroup Bookmobile and Winter Makes Sailors. “In a way each one is kind of like a girlfriend," Gardner noted. "They are all jealous of each other, and each one is kind of a relationship with ups and down." Despite admitting that this process can be stressful, he still holds a creative role in each project – most often writing lyrics.
Winter Makes Sailors is Gardner’s indie folk solo project. His songs are usually acoustic and inherently more personal, even more angst-ridden than Gardner’s other projects. “It [Winter Makes Sailors] is a lot mopier. They are songs that I write in my bedroom that are a lot slower and simpler,” Gardner said. Many of the songs are a bit downtrodden and are about tragedies Gardner has seen or heard about. Gardner jots down anything from car wrecks to horrifying ex-girlfriends. “[Writing] is a tool for me for dealing with life," Gardner explained. "It is a way of expressing myself and is a really good outlet.”
A theme of personal anguish runs through the tracks, but don’t get out the pain pills just yet. Strife may run heavy through the lyrics, but this is hidden by the simple melodies and the soft ways in which the Gardner's themes play out. This introspection has proved fruitful, as Gardner just completed his third tour as Winter Makes Sailors.
These tours are not torturous cross-country ones that stretch on inevitably – rather, they are mini-versions of such. The last was five days long and took Gardner further south than he had toured previously. He partnered with band Ease the Medic on this road-trip. To Gardner’s surprise, he was received well. “We played with some really heavy bands. I think that helped me, I was something quiet in between,” Gardner said. It was help enough to sell all the records that he toted with him on the tour.
Gardner calls Winter Makes Sailors his most personally fulfilling project. He cites the challenges that come from touring as a solo act -- the challenges of taking the stage alone, of traveling alone – as the reason. “You are the only one to motivate yourself and give another opinion," he said. "You can’t bounce ideas off anyone else.” So when Winter Makes Sailors does well, Gardner allows himself an extra cookie that day because he did it all on his own.
Winter Makes Sailors is one-part personal lyrics backed by simple melodies and one-part recycled. Composed with recycled instruments, that is. Gardner works in a used music store and has developed a love and obsession with old instruments. He said that he finds old instruments to possess a richer sound and have more personality than those that are brand new. Touring with a vintage instrument constructed in the '60s is at times risky, though, so Gardner mostly calls on these rickety counterparts during recording.
Yet another component serving to dig into the mystic music-man Sean Gardner are his lengthy blogs. Most bands don’t take the time to blog about how they have run out of clean clothes on tour, resorting to turning boxers inside-out, or how they knocked back a pitcher at Trolley in Dayton before beginning another tour. Gardner laughs when asked about these blogs and admits that he wonders if anyone even reads them. Nevertheless, he continues to write what he calls journal entries. “I like to read how things are going for a band, what they are thinking, it helps people connect with a band,” Gardner said.
Soon the blogs will have pictures as well. Gardner recently started taking pictures from the stage that he will eventually post. He notes that these give a different perspective, usually with a mic stemming from the corner. “I think it is going to be funny to look back ten years from now and think, 'What the hell was I doing? I am at a place that holds 200 people and there are five people here,'” Gardner said. Of course, there are usually more than five people in the crowd, but at least fans can tag themselves proudly in these pictures much more easily in a small group.
Gardner has the short-term goal of putting out a record for Winter Makes Sailors, which will become a reality in the very near future. Gardner will release a record consisting of songs he has already been touring with for the past year. These songs are finished, they just have not been compiled and released, he said.
Once this record is put out, Gardner has enough material waiting for another original Winter Makes Sailors release. All of the material is there, but when fans will actually get their grubby, little hands on it is a different story. Gardner would like all of the above to happen by the close of 2009, he said. Alas, he splits his time between three different bands and doing odd jobs such as teaching guitar to make a living, so compiling two records may not be as speedy as some would hope.
If fans are shaking with impatience, simply turn to one of the aforementioned projects. MeltyMelty just released a new record, so that should satisfy as a temporary fix. Gardner does not plan any immediate alterations in his work with each band. While every project is constantly in flux, Gardner will remain a steady part of the three. Seems that fix will not be so temporary -- another one is always waiting to be taken in.
Fans might not walk away with a new record in their hands just yet, but this weekend they can become asphyxiated with Winter Makes Sailors. Gardner will be playing under this surname at the Aquabear Legion show at ARTS/West show, Friday, Nov. 14 at 8 p.m. Others satisfying the urge will be She Bears and Barn Burning.
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Speakeasy profiles another band set to take the stage at ARTS/West Nov. 14, She Bears, here.