Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist and composer to share debut album of new project, Wide Arches
Wide Arches, the debut singer-songwriter project of Juno-nominated multi-instrumentalist and composer Jacob Gorzhaltsan, shares his debut album, Farewell to All the Lovely Things, set for release on September 12th, 2023.
During the difficult times of the pandemic lockdown, songwriting was one of the only creative outlets that kept Gorzhaltsan uplifted and inspired to pursue his artistic endeavours. Gorzhaltsan would write over fifty new original compositions throughout the lockdown and was graciously awarded a grant by the Toronto Arts Council to remotely record and produce a full-length album of original folk songs. Realizing the importance of interconnection to the creative process, Gorzhaltsan began extensively collaborating with other artists through remote home studio recording. Gorzhaltsan shares:
“The entirety of the album was recorded individually by the musicians at their respective home studios. Throughout my career, I have been lucky enough to record in professional studios, but at the time it seemed like the only option to continue making music, and it led me to personally invest in learning to properly record at home. That in turn sparked a deep-dive into recording, mixing, and producing. I began studying how to mix and record, reading books and handbooks for countless hours, listening to podcasts, watching videos online, and (my favourite) trying it out through hands-on trial-and-error. The result of all this ended up being a process of over three years preparing this album for release. I ended up mixing and producing the album, and learning a lot — for which I am so grateful! I had the record mastered by Justin Gray of Immersive Mastering/Synthesis Sound, who is an absolute gem to the music scene!”
Wide Arches will host an album release show at Small World Centre in Toronto on September 12 – tickets here!
Watch the video for their latest single, “Wasting Away” below and learn more about Wide Arches via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Jacob Gorzhaltsan and I’m the singer-songwriter for the indie folk band, Wide Arches. Thanks for taking the time to listen to my music and discovering more about the band. Formed during the pandemic lockdown, this group of local Toronto musicians —featuring Meagan Luchko, Kalyna Rakel, Jared Higgins, Bret Higgins, Lowell Whitty, Molefe Mohamid-Mitchell, and Michael Eckert — began collaborating through remote home-studio recordings in an effort to continue creating art despite the unprecedented barriers of distance. Since then, the band has developed an even stronger musical connection and we’ve dedicated the past few years to diligently writing/recording a full album of new material. We are beyond thrilled to finally be releasing it all on September 12th! You can check out some of the advance singles from the upcoming album out now on all streaming services, or pre-order the new CD from our website.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
While most of the music I’ve released or been a part of to date has been as a woodwind instrumentalist, the break in normalcy during the lockdowns allowed me to explore music with a revitalized sense of perspective and helped me travel in new sonic directions. The upcoming album, “Farewell to All the Lovely Things”, takes me back to my passion for poetry, acoustic sounds, and roots music. This album draws inspiration from the snap-shots of day-to-day life and explores a vast range of emotions through imagery and lyricism. The entirety of the album was recorded individually by the musicians in the band at their respective home studios and pieced together over an extended period of time. We are so happy to have had the support of the Toronto Arts Council in helping this project take flight!
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I’m a huge fan of imagery in lyrics, and also of story-telling. Some of the songs on the album — such as “Lake Scene”, “Pictures in the Sand”, and “Your Love” — were inspired by seeing something that caught my eye, anything really, sometimes something that would be considered totally mundane or uninteresting! Maybe it’s a stranger’s grimace or smile.. maybe it’s a masterful piece of art on the wall or merely a piece of trash blowing in the wind, maybe just a phrase or sentence you overhear on the subway or your local cafe. It all can potentially be the catalyst for a new song! If it’s enough to catch my attention, I try to write whatever it is down immediately, and circling back to that idea later I find it usually ends up leading me to a song or a story. Describing an image or snapshot of life in a compelling, unique way isn’t always as easy as would seem — but I think it’s worth every minute of putting words down to paper. In the end, if you’re able to capture even one person’s attention enough for them to use their imagination and for a moment be a part of an experience that isn’t their own — there’s something truly magical about that feeling.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We are so excited for our big album release show on September 12th at 7 pm @ Small World Centre, sharing the bill with Prince Enoki and Mystery Tea. We’ve got a special night of music you won’t want to miss, including some very special guests and never-before-heard arrangements. You can find tickets to this event on our site!
Also, you can catch us at Sellers and Newel Second-Hand Books on October 30th and/or Burdock Music Hall on November 21st.
What’s your goal for 2023?
Wide Arches has a whole slew of new music that we’re looking forward to recording in the next year, as well as some exciting shows on the horizon. We sincerely hope our music will be able to reach more folks this year and inspire them to start writing down their own unique musings and putting them to music. On a personal note, I would love to dedicate more time to slowing down and taking time to just relax in nature. I love the hustle and bustle of the city, but it can also be a frenetic pace that makes it easy to forget to take a deep breath! Don’t forget to breathe!