F. Scott Creates a Beautiful, Sweeping, Discordant Teen Snapshot on “Lakes”
A person’s teen years are so important in defining who a person is and who they’re about to become. Fortunately, Canadian alt-rock artist F. Scott has a sonic snapshot of that time in the form of his single “Lakes,” which he wrote while attending an outdoor camp on John Island at the pivotal age of 17.
“Lakes” is sweeping, orchestral, head-bopping, and gorgeously, discordantly chaotic in the way being a teen is, or should be.
“When I wrote this song I was greatly inspired by the beautiful landscapes of northern Ontario that surrounded me, and the friends from all over Ontario that I made there,” F. Scott divulges. “The cover art showcases a picture of my friend, standing on Front Beach on John Island.”
The song is the third single off of Scotty Season, an album of 10 songs released in five parts over three months. All the songs were written in different locales in Ontario over the course of eight years of F. Scott, a.k.a Gabriel Burke’s life.
“’Lakes’ was one of the hardest songs on this record to make,” he says. “With almost 150 tracks, it uses a variety of string samples, synths, and takes.”
The tentpole song of Scotty Season, “Lakes” was recorded in part by violinist Shawn Fisher in British Columbia during the pandemic, when F. Scott suddenly had a lot of time on his hands to go through old demos and recordings.
“The project started as a sort of renovation of these old songs,” he says, “updating and rewriting lyrics, splicing new musical sections in, and reproducing them with more modern influences, introducing pop and hip-hop elements, in a way that these songs were never originally intended to sound like. It felt like I was bastardizing my own previous work, which was incredibly exciting.”
Listen to “Lakes” below and learn more about F. Scott via our mini-interview.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Well, hey there, my name is Gabriel, but I go by F. Scott when we’re talking music. F. Scott is my dad’s name. I named myself that cause he’s a pretty cool guy. I grew up in Creemore, Ontario, but now I’m based in Guelph. I make music with my friends and record in shoebox closet vocal booths. The music is a strange mix of alternative, pop, hip-hop, and folk, but I think it’s pretty fun.
Tell us about the process of writing “Lakes.”
I wrote Lakes when I was 17, on acoustic guitar, on an island in north Georgian Bay. I know that sounds ridiculous. But that was more than ten years ago. I found some old demos of this song during the pandemic and figured I would spruce it up: it spiralled out of control and became this orchestral trap pop song. I had my friend Shawn Fisher record a lot of the violin featured on this track out in BC: he is absolutely amazing, btw. Anyways this track was actually a pain in the ass to make. It has almost 150 individual tracks layered. I’ll never do that again… but it was worth it.
What’s it like to be a musician in Guelph?
Honestly, it’s pretty sweet: there’s such a solid group of musicians/artists here. We got Shebad, Animal Boy, Excuse Me., Silas Chinsen, James Florio, who goes by Flo. He co-produced, mixed & mastered my entire Scotty Season project. There’s just a good art scene in Guelph in general, not just music. I think Guelph punches above its weight in terms of talent. We just need more/better venues here. That’s my only complaint.
Who was the first Canadian artist to blow you away?
Oh, 100% it’s The Weakerthans. A family friend played ‘Reconstruction Site’ at a party when I was 13, and I instantly became obsessed. Nobody writes lyrics like John K. Samson, and I’ll never forget my pop-punk roots cause of them.
You’ve been making music for while now. What’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
Don’t be afraid to put out music that isn’t perfect. I’ve spent so much time obsessing over the music, production, audio, etc when I otherwise could’ve been putting out music, learning from the process, and getting better at all aspects of music-making through that journey. Lower the stakes for yourself. It’s gonna be ok.