The Dears’ Patrick Krief goes solo with Hundred Thousand Pieces
Patrick Krief is calling from Winnipeg, Canada, where he is beginning his first nationwide tour as a solo artist. There is rattling in the background as his crew unpacks their trailer, readyingthemselves for Krief’s first out-of-town concert. This tour concludes a dark time in Krief’s life that haunted him for months and completely consumed him as an artist.
In May 2010 Krief, anxiety-ridden and panicked about the loss of his youth and the struggles of achieving financial stability, wondered, “how did I get here?” The result of this dark time in his life was Hundred Thousand Pieces, an album reflective of this period of self-analysis.
“Hundred Thousand Pieces has a lot to do with isolation and existential questioning. It really is about crossroads: what I am and where I was at the time,” says Krief.
“I had just turned 30 when these songs were coming together. I was living alone and struggling financially.”
When Krief came back from Mexico in 2010, having worked on a record with The Dears, he was brimming with ideas for the new album. He began to write and record in his Cote-Des-Neiges apartment in Montreal; however, he didn’t necessarily have plans to release Hundred Thousand Pieces. “The album itself wasn’t a big announcement; I was working on it without letting anybody know. At the time, I was just doing an art project,” says Krief. “There was a part of me that thought ‘maybe I’ll never release this. Maybe this one’s just for me.’ ”
Most people who do art for a living know the term “starving artist.” Unless your music coincides with mainstream demands, musicians such as Krief can find themselves struggling to make ends meet. “Do you compromise your art and get another job? You don’t want to make those compromises. My goal has always been to minimize anything else I have to do in my life besides music,” says Krief. “I try really hard to not get affected by my environment and be true to my musical inspiration.”
Krief says the song that kick-started the album was “Lost in Japan” then he found that the other ones came easy. “That song really gave me the feeling for the album. Sometimes it just starts with one song.”
In Hundred Thousand Pieces, Krief works to conceal the guitar sounds that usually define him, synthesizing sounds and using the instrument in unconventional ways, which showcases his other musical abilities. His vocal talent is also evident, producing raw, moody choruses such as in “Simple Lives.” The album is filled with orchestrations, strings, and choral singers that Krief says are “meant to sound really creepy.”
Krief admits that friends like Roberto Piccioni, fellow band member of Black Diamond Bay, have been there for him through the hardest of times. “Roberto has always been a part of what I’ve been doing and was there when the whole process started,” says Krief.
He lets out a small, muffled laugh while talking about his biggest challenge on this album: the drum recordings that were done in one day in studio, which caused him physical wounds. “It was my biggest challenge, physically speaking. I was racking my knuckles and bleeding [by the end].”
“Hundred Thousand Pieces is definitely more expansive than my past albums,” says Krief. “I feel like this album is more cohesive and stronger than my other works. It’s another step for me as an artist. Whether people like the album is all subjective.”
