This article was originally published on Exclaim.ca.
North of America Offshoot the Got to Get Got Wrap Album One, Already Begin Eyeing Number Two
7/20/2009 By Jessica Lewis
Photo by Mat Dunlap
Halifax-based pop rockers the Got to Get Got released their first full-length album titled Sahalee this past Tuesday (July 14), and front-man Mark Mullane (aka Band Dad) is feeling optimistic. In fact, he’s so optimistic that he’s already thinking about their second record.
“We’ve got a bunch of new songs that we’re going to write on tour,” Mullane, formerly of East coast math rock wizards North of America, said in a recent interview with Exclaim! “Then we have a lot more that are going to be coming soon. We really want to record them pretty much as soon as we get home. I know that I just want to make sure that we record them so we keep the momentum of the band going. This was the most enjoyable record I’ve ever done, so I can’t wait to get back into the studio.”
Mullane credits his band’s newfound cohesiveness to a new Halifax practice space, which they recently moved into after being forced to rehearse in an old factory with 18 other bands.
“It was really hard to even talk about song structures much less hear what the cello was doing,” said Mullane of the band’s old space. “We actually stopped, it was quiet [in the new space] and we could talk to each other and figure out arrangements, so that makes it way more of a band than it was before because it was me dictating things and we would record them in the studio and be like, ‘Oh, wow, so that’s what you play here. That’s great, I’ve never heard that before because there was a metal band screaming in my ear.’”
To focus back on Sahalee, strangely enough the album is named after a golf course outside of Seattle, though one that comes boasting a secret double meaning.
“I heard of that name a long time ago,” said Mullane of the title Sahalee. “I tried to write a song called that many times, and for some reason it never worked out, I mean, how could you ever write a song about a golf course? Even though one of the songs on the record is called ‘Bethpage Black,’ which is a golf course.
“Anyway, I always just thought Sahalee was a really good word and when I had to think about titles for the record, I typed that into Google and I found out it’s a Native American word that means ‘high heavenly ground.’ I thought that had a good ring to it, kind of a double meaning. But I would be lying if it wasn’t first named because it was a golf course.”
Even though Mullane will still fondly look back at his bygone days in the now-defunct North of America, he’s interested in what else he can do now with the Got to Get Got.
“[North of America] never had strings, never had keyboards or anything like that,” he said. “It’s actually kind of a treat to arrange those parts and sort those things out. It’s a new thing for me and it’s really enjoyable to think of many different features. If a string part will play the vocal melody here, the string will play a melody that plays off the vocals or plays off Brad [Lahead]’s guitar part or whatever. That kind of stuff is making me really interested in continuing to play music.”
Here are all the Got to Get Got’s upcoming tour dates:
7/25 Halifax, NS – Gus’ Pub
7/29 Ottawa, ON – Café Dekcuf
7/30 Montreal, QC – Il Motore
8/1 Hamilton, ON – Absinthe
8/5 Windsor, ON – The Phog Lounge
8/6 Guelph, ON – E-Bar
8/7 London, ON – Call The Office
8/8 Toronto, ON – Theatre Centre for the Summerworks Festival
8/11 Kingston, ON – The Mansion
8/12 Montreal, QC – Il Motore
8/13 Quebec City, QC – Le Cercle
8/14 Saint John, NB – Akhord
Anyways, here’s their comprehensive list on the just released 
