Montreal’s Resilient Multi-Instrumentalist, Dom Hemalas, Finds Musical Solace Amidst Pandemic Challenges With Fab Titled Elegance On a Nudist Beach
All you need are ears.
Like for all of us, the pandemic presented Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist Dom Hemalas aka Elegance On a Nudist Beach, with more questions than answers. Locked in his basement and isolated from the outside, he chose a path of positivity rather than wallow; Hemalas threw himself into his music, recorded songs written past and present, and relished the burden of playing all parts.
Three years later, his self-titled and fully self-created LP Elegance On a Nudist Beach is a reality.
Hemalas is responsible for the entirety of the album’s songwriting, vocals, instrumentals, mixing, and mastering. That includes the lead single from the Lebanese Canadian musician’s project, “Without a Shadow of a Doubt.”
On the fifth song of the 10-track album, Hemalas delivers a cryptic tale of time, anguish, and fear over a psychedelic instrumental rife with flavor.
“And why don’t you take a pause?
From all those strings in your heart
And I know it’s me, yeah I’ve noticed too
From the start… Ooohhhh…”
It took Hemalas three years to produce the project – which was released online on Aug. 14 – since the start of recording, but that’s not when the concept began. Undertaking such a task had been on his mind since adolescence – a combined urgency from a Crohn’s disease diagnosis seven years ago, an invasive surgery four years ago, and a COVID infection while at his most vulnerable in 2020 pushed him to fulfill his long-lost goal of a solo album.
In fact, Hemalas had planned this for so long that the album’s name was decided years before while he was touring with his previous band, Heroes & Villains.
“The title was an inside joke that came up on the nudist beach in Toronto,” Hemalas explained. “I was standing there wearing my blazer when everyone around wasn’t wearing anything. I declared right then and there, ‘If one day I get to record my solo album, it’ll be called Elegance On a Nudist Beach.’”
His friends agreed, and they snapped some pictures of him displaying his elegance on the nudist beach. The album cover comes from a photo taken of Hemalas on that day.
Doing it all by himself was a big deal to Hemalas, but there was a time when he thought about looking for outside help to finish the album.
“After stumbling on the title from George Martin’s book, ‘All You Need Is Ears,’ I felt fuelled with the faith I could pull it off,” the artist said.
It wasn’t an easy process, but Hemalas worked with what he had. His basement was his main studio, though later in the pandemic, he utilized his jam space in the east end of Montreal to record late at night, when necessary.
“The learning curve was huge – from production to songwriting to becoming more proficient on the bass and piano,” Hemalas explained. “Most of the songs were about 70 percent there early on, but once they were up for recording, occasional riffs or a whole new section had to be come up with on the spot.”
Earlier this year, Hemalas had the idea of forming a band to perform his project in front of a live audience. That meant putting together a band – he could record it all himself, but a live performance is another beast.
“After many hours putting this LP together with a lot of attention to detail, the idea of only releasing it online wasn’t fathomable,” Hemalas said.
The multi-instrumentalist has been active in the Montreal music scene for close to 20 years. If you stay in any local music scene for that long, you’re bound to know a great musician or two. Fortunately for Hemalas’s sake, he knows more than two.
Hemalas assigned the role of lead singer and guitarist to himself, then enlisted the help of Dave Lines (keyboard/piano), John Gurnsey (bass), Chuck Doucet (lead guitar), and Yoann Gasniere (drums) to solidify the crew.
Watch the video for “Without a Shadow of a Doubt” below and learn more via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself?
My name’s Dom Hemalas, a multi-instrumentalist living in Montreal for the past 20+ years! I’ll tell you in a nutshell what I’ve come to accept myself as. I sometimes jokingly say I’m Bruce Wayne by day and Batman by night. I’m a self-taught musician who always juggled university and music, then after graduating a “real” job and bands at night and on weekends. I arrived from Lebanon at 18 years old, went to business school by day, and soon after arriving here, my best friend and I formed a really cool band named Heroes & Villains. I was the drummer in that band, but always had access to a guitar lying around in my house. My older brother had bought a guitar, and not long after picking up a pair of sticks, I was fascinated by his electric guitar plugged into a wah pedal. Slowly but surely I kept getting drawn back to play the guitar, adding more chords to my arsenal all the while practicing singing. I love being a drummer, but being ADHD meant playing drums alone after my buddies left the jam space wasn’t as motivating, so I would glide over to the guitar to maximize the fun. Coming back to present times, after years of writing songs on my own, and experimenting with recording, I kept postponing the album I somehow knew I had to record. I just didn’t know it would literally take a raging obsession and determination to get it done. Beyond these two factors, the “why all of a sudden I needed to get it on tape” became much more concrete for me. 7 years ago I was diagnosed with a pretty “shitty” condition (no pun intended) called Crohn’s disease. It really put a spin on my life in an irreversible way. Long story short I became much more aware of my vulnerable health, which more concretely made me realize life wasn’t to be taken for granted… A real sense of urgency was set. Some could say this is me deciding to step up to the front of the stage and give this a shot or else I would always live to regret it I think.
Tell us about the process of writing and recording “Without A Shadow Of A Doubt”?
Like most of the songs on the album Elegance On a Nudist Beach, this one started by jamming on my acoustic guitar. I always have that guitar close by and if I stumble on an interesting combination of chords and vocals, I will usually record it on a voice memo right away. Musicians & songwriters reading this know exactly what I’m talking about. For “Without a Shadow Of a Doubt”, the chorus showed up just like that, strumming a DM to D then G, and with that melody, I started singing over it. I liked it enough that it sat in a voice memo for a few days until I decided to pursue it by adding the verses around that chorus. The inspiration and meaning behind the song are definitely rooted in my latest romantic relationship. I guess you could say we had our fair share of communication issues. Usually, when I push record to capture an idea, I don’t overthink the words. I really believe most of the message that will make a song can be found in the very first rough take! The instinct to express one’s primal feelings and thoughts is there, it just needs to be helped out a little. Most of the lyrics had been written by then of which almost seventy-five percent were captured in that first raw take. The lyrics in the chorus were at some point changed from “I will talk about it” to “We can talk about it” so it sounded more inviting and had a nice ring to it. I try to say enough to express an idea of what I feel, but I think it’s pleasant that the listener can make up their own mind when listening. Finally, when you get to the final steps of putting the song together, key moments need to be arranged including the intro, interesting drum fills, and unique sounds. I came up with the bridge while going for the final recording of the song. I felt it needed that bigger more meaningful ending with a guitar solo leading into it. The title of the song came from the lyrics; I thought it sounded interesting and looked good.
What’s it like being a musician in Montreal?
Simply put, Montreal is a music city. I can say it’s the main reason I moved here. After initially growing up in France, my family and I only moved back to Lebanon when the war was over, which is when I did my secondary school. I got the chance to visit Montreal as a teenager when my brother moved here before me. I fell in love with this city right away and knew that if I had the opportunity I’d come back to live here. The vibrancy here was so clear to me and in tune with where I wanted to be. Musically speaking, the only limits fall on the individual. It might be obvious but being in North America and very close to New York and Toronto you definitely have access to all the facilities a musician could hope for. We have festivals of international proportions, like Osheaga, M for Montreal, Montreal Jazz Fest, and Pop Montreal to name a few. I felt comfortable in a city where French and English are used every day, which makes it very interesting for the arts. On a more personal level, you have to appreciate the harsh contrast between the winter and the summer. I find the winter soothing when it’s time to barricade oneself in the studio for hours on. The summer’s ideal for playing more gigs, getting hired, and playing fun outdoor festivals and shows! To me, it’s a great contrast to appreciate both seasons to their fullest potential and I think represents Montreal fairly accurately.
Who was the first and most recent Canadian artist to blow you away?
When I first arrived in Montreal, the band that caught my attention was The Stills. Their debut album “Logic Will Break Your Heart” is still occasionally on rotation in my car on CD! Early 2000 we saw them live and their opening track Lola Stars and Stripes, which happened to be their show opener, was flawless to me! The most recent Canadian band that stood out to me is a band from the south shore of Montreal called Sauf Les Drones. I discovered them while picking up my latte from local coffee shop Atomic Cafe close to my jam space and was really drawn to their orchestral and eerie sounds. The other band is none other than our jam space neighbours, a band called Feel or Avoid. While hanging out at the studio I heard them through the door and absolutely loved their vibe. In fact, I invited them to be part of our album launch which took place August 25th at Casa Del Popolo! I’m sure we will get to hear more of them, you should check them out.
You’ve been making music for a while now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Make sure making music is fun! There will be hard work along the way, but having a good time is really up there! That includes surrounding yourself with uplifting people. Don’t let your ego get in the way if possible, keep an open mind and ear, and know when to say no occasionally to preserve yourself. Lastly, don’t take your good health for granted, and get out and make sounds, experiment, and have fun!
Connect with Elegance On a Nudist Beach:
Bandcamp