News Article

Burin peninsula’s Klok:Werk releases first CD


1/25/2010 2:36:49 PM


The Burin Peninsula’s newest band released their first CD Saturday night. Klok:Werk, a jazz fusion band, was originally formed as a way for founder Harvey Klok to enjoy his passion or playing.

Klok, a keyboardist and vocalist, posted flyers around the Burin Peninsula looking for interested musicians. Shortly after, Mike Graham, the campus administrator at College of the North Atlantic’s Burin campus took notice. He had met Harvey through his involvement with theatre, and even though he had not played in 30 years, Graham decided to jump on board and become the band’s drummer.

Graham then contacted Justin Hannan, a graduate of the Instrumentation and Control Technician program at the college campus, who joined Klok:Werk as the band’s’ guitarist.

“This whole thing started out as a lark, but I soon realized that the other guys were serious and talented musicians,” says Klok. “It’s been a long time since I worked with folks who used words like sustained fifth, time signature and syncopation, and knew what they actually meant.”

Graham says the CNA connection between him and Justin made it easy to play together.

“It does help how we get along – we share a bit of history and see each other as peers. I don’t know that I’d be as comfortable with the younger folk (or vice-versa) given our generation difference if we hadn’t shared the community spirit and respect common at CNA campuses.”

Harvey Klok is the musical director of the band. His vision is what sets the stage of how they should sound on each particular song. They have been practicing together for some time and even played a few charity gigs on the Burin Peninsula. However, they wanted to take things a step further, so they decided to record an album.

“The quality of the recording is a direct result of the professionalism, patience and skill of the studio owner and recording engineer, John “John-Boy” Walsh – a graduate of the Recording Arts program at CNA’s Bay St. George campus. There is no doubt that he loves his profession and was extremely well trained,” says Graham.

Walsh graduated from the Recording Arts (RA) program in 2004. He always knew he wanted to operate his own recording studio and says the RA program was the second step toward achieving his life goal.

“The first was playing in different bands for about 10 years to get experience in the music industry,” he says. “Everything helps from being able to wrap a simple cable cord to learning how a five-piece harmony works. The program and the entertaining parts were equally important to me. Without the Recording Arts background it would have been a lot harder to know exactly what was needed physically and mentally to run a recording studio.”

Recording an album was a hands-on learning experience for many members of the band. Hannon says it was really fun for him as he learned what it takes to make a good sound studio musician and hopes to have many more opportunities in a studio setting.

Walsh agrees.

“These guys were really great to work with and they expressed themselves well. Making music rarely goes as planned. That being said, when you work with good people/musicians, it often goes smoothly. The process was a wonderful one. I enjoyed watching someone's ideas come together in the form of an album. It's like watching something grow,” says Walsh.

Walsh started his recording studio, JT3 Recordings, on the Burin Peninsula to help others explore their musical talents which would otherwise be almost impossible due to the region’s geography. Because of its rural location, areas like Marystown do not have the same accessibility for up-and-coming musicians.

“I could have made a little better living opening my studio in an urban area, like Halifax, but it is more fulfilling working here with bands like Klok:Werk from my home town. It means a lot to me when I get an individual artist or a whole band recognized for their talents,” Walsh explains.

Despite a successful CD release this past weekend Graham says he and his band-mates are not expecting instant fame.

“It’s still a lark, in that I’m having fun. Playing music is a hobby that really does soothe the savage beast and provides some considerable stress relief. Being creative is very satisfying, and having people appreciate your creativity is even better,” says Graham.

Getting the CD out to the public is a great way to spread the music and also provides an opportunity for Klok:Werk to book more performances.

“I’m happy if we break even, and ecstatic if people tell me they like what we’ve done,” says Graham.

The band turned their CD release party into a bit of a fundraiser for the earthquake disaster in Haiti. Raffle tickets were sold on items donated from businesses in the community with all money going to disaster relief. The band also gave five dollars from every CD sold that night to the Red Cross for Haitian Relief.

If you want more information about Klok:Werk, check out http://klokwerkband.com/ or join the Klock:Werk group on Facebook.

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Media Contact:

Colleen Connors
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-6408
colleen.connors@cna.nl.ca