Newmarket resident and musician Eric Montpool can recall spending several years creating songs while working at the town's summer camps.
The young guitarist would ask for prompts from his campers, who would ask him to work with words like “unicorns,” “balloons,” and “fun."
Now, Montpool is making music for a different crowd as part of his band Noise Hotel. But he said he will still take requests from the crowds at their gigs like he did in his camp days.
“That was always a good time killer,” Montpool said of playing for the kids, though he added that it is not quite the same doing the schtick at his gigs. “It is not PG what people shout out at shows.”
Montpool is releasing his first album with his fellow band members of Noise Hotel, Christian Strong, Matty Evans, Matthew Scharfe and Jacob Duval. On Aug. 21, the band will be releasing Poolside Fantasy on all streaming platforms.
The indie rock ban said it is inspired by '70s jazz musicians like Steely Dan and more modern acts like The Strokes and Mac Demarco.
The band was formed in Ottawa when Montpool was studying at Carleton University for history and music.
Montpool said things began at a Christmas party when a chance to jam with some available instruments emerged.
“We did some covers we knew off the top of our heads. We said, ‘Hey, this playing together thing is really fun. We should get a band going.' Pretty soon after that, we started jamming regularly together.”
From there, Noise Hotel was formed and began taking on regular gigs, Montpool said.
For himself, Montpool said he picked up a guitar when he was 13 and has been a part of his life in the nine years since.
“Early on, it was just learning songs that I like that kept me going,” he said. "Then getting in and playing with other people was huge, as well … I’ve met a lot of really cool people playing music and that’s also what kept me going with it.
“It’s just kind of become what I do. If I’m bored, I pick up mystery guitar and I’m always entertained.”
After two years of gigs, the band decided to work toward an album. Montpool said it was a way to feel more legitimate.
“The motivation was just to have an album … Each song has its own inspiration, but really, I think we just wanted to take all the songs that we were most proud of that we’ve been playing for a while and get them out of our systems and put them all on one long-form project,” he said.
Montpool was born and raised in Newmarket, to which he said he still has a strong attachment. He came back home after graduating from Carleton this year.
“I love it here. It’s a great town. I’m always comfortable in Newmarket. I guess you’re always comfortable where you know everything,” he said.
The band hopes the album can perform well and be enjoyed by many, Montpool said. Beyond that, he said the future looks good for the band going forward.
“I just want people to be able to connect with the music that we made,” he said. “We’ve been building some traction over the summer playing a few festivals. I’m hoping the album will help with that, take what we’ve done even further.”
