BIOGRAPHY

Having the courage to be open to different sounds and song ideas that come from many different experiences and inspirations is something innate from within The Joel Affair.  From songs that straight up rock, to ones that drink from that elusive pond of introspection, The Joel Affair aspires to banish expectations and allow a song to be what it was meant to be.

The name comes from a conversation while working with the producer of 2021’s  Trying To Get By EP, “have you ever thought of the name The Joel Affair?” (Clearly a play on Phair’s name).  In fact, Phair had not thought of that name, mostly due to a historical reluctance to attract attention to his music out of a deep-down fear of success.  While that might seem presumptuous or strange on the surface, especially for someone who for years, has performed music on stage in front of audiences, it has always been something that has held Phair back from archiving his thoughts and melodies of ideas into completed songs.  The completion of 2021’s Trying To Get By EP co-produced and mixed by Thom D’Arcy (July Talk, The Sheepdogs, Dear Rouge, Yukon Blonde) and mastered by Dan Weston (Shad, Classified, Dallas Green, The Weather Station) with contributions from Gregory MacDonald (Sloan, Whitehore, Limblifter) was a realization and re-emergence of bringing song ideas and melodies to life by shedding internal expectations and simply allowing the songs to become what they become.   

“One foot in and One Foot Out”, a sonic piercer that describes what life is like for someone straddling the line between writing and performing music for a living and the realities of what it takes to earn enough income to own a home for themselves and their loved ones.   “I think a lot of people out there can relate to that sentiment, in order to be true to yourself and your music, you have to be two feet in, all or nothing, to have one foot in and one foot out seemingly puts one at a disadvantage because there is something more to lose” offers Phair “my approach to making music now has been very liberating for me, I’ve shed any preconceived expectations of it, to simply create and be satisfied that the creation I have made now exists , I hope people take something from that, at the very least, feel it in the song”.

The 5 songs on the 2021 EP represent the wide range of musical stylings that Phair has garnered from bands that he has previously fronted and played in.  Influenced early on by British bands like Pink Floyd, The Stone Roses, The Verve, Spiritualized, Radiohead, Ride, Oasis and Supergrass as well as North Americans acts such as Wilco, Spoon, Sonic Youth, Broken Social Scene, The Joel Affair takes pride in going in whatever direction a chord progression or melody leads a song to.  From songs like “Trying To Get By”, a straight up banger declaring one isn’t giving up on the playing and recording music, nor should the listener, to a song like “Helping Me” that illustrates the power of new love and how it can affect someone who was in need of that last 10% to fully realign one’s self within to be free to be themselves again.

More often than not, songs and melodies are written on acoustic guitar and later transposed to electric guitar or keys, Phair says “when I sit down with my guitar, I will play a couple of established songs I have written over the years and then usually something just happens and I find myself strumming a new pattern and mumbling a new melody, and a new song idea is born.  Because I come from a drumming background, I can hear what the beat will be, I can hear a bass line, I can hear horn sections, string sections, multiple layers of vocal tracks, I can hear how big a song idea can be.  It has taken me a long time to realize that that isn’t something that a lot of people seem to be able to do, even if it seems easy or natural to me”.  The songs on 2021’s Trying To Get By EP were developed that way, as well as over 40 song ideas that are being worked through for the next recording. 

2022 is proving to be pivotal for The Joel Affair, writing and recording demos continues and a new recording is planned to begin in mid-summer.  While on 2021’s Trying To Get By EP Phair played most of the instruments, the next recording will host a multitude of musician friends in order to fill out the overall sound and explore new melodies.  The Joel Affair is slated to return to Taurus Recording to work with Producer of the year Juno nominee (2019) Thomas D’Arcy, says Phair “working with Thom is an honour, he brings such a wealth of know-how when it comes to structuring a song, on the previous EP things went really well, I learned a lot on how to work with someone of Thom’s pedigree and talent.  I look forward to coming in this time with the songs prepared and a lot of determination to dial in that big sound I am always aspiring to”. 

Be sure to check our 2021’s Trying To Get By EP and be on the look out for the next recording before the end of 2022.