Wilfred Kozub Soundcloud: Recent Episodes
Wilfred Kozub
Ok. It's out NOW! The new 4-song EP of First Singles – "We'll Get There First" by Wilfred N and the Grown Men – an audio peek at what is to come on our spring 2020 release of the full album, "We'll Get There".
NEW Wilfred N & the Grown Men!! Please visit www.wilfredkozub.com for all the songs and details!!! Today, January 20th 2017, we are releasing our brand new album, "Passing Through Time". 8 vital songs – 36 minutes! I'll have some of the songs up on my SoundCloud and pretty soon they will ALL be up. Meanwhile, please check my new website at www.wilfredkozub.com where you can hear all the songs in order (because order matters to a guy like me)and also get all the lyrics, full credits, AND backstories on all the songs. Pictures and videos, too. Thanks for liking us!!! (. . . um . . . you DO like us . . . don't you??) chrs, your pal Wilfred
Here's a little extra something. We're working on a low key, lo fi version of Thunder on the Tundra (working title Thunder 2020) that will make the scene at some point before 2020 . . . not sure when, but it's a gooder.
Hey!! . . . I made a lyrics video for our new tune, "Nobody Has To Know," and you can view it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yab2dUwo6J0
It's a little like old news now, but in Spring, 2014 . . . Wilfred N & the Grown Men put out a new Spring Single!!! The A-song is "Nobody Has To Know". The B-side isn't any the lesser . . . just waaaay different. It's called "Playing In The Mud". Release date?? April 22, 2014. We think you're going to like this!!! The Spring Single Thingy comes hot on the heels of Wilfred N & the Grown Men's 2013 EP/album – “I’m In Love With The City”. This was quite a different project for us (Everything's a different project for us these days!! Who cares? . . . WE DO!!!) . . . a bit more of an experimental adventure, for sure. Find songs from the new album up on Soundcloud NOW!! Here are a couple early reviews If you want to purchase it, go to our Bandcamp at http://wilfrednthegrownmen.bandcamp.com/ . . . also available on CDBaby.com at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/wilfrednthegrownmen and iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/im-in-love-with-the-city/id635172646 plus all the other digital download sites.
Ok. Here is some info about me, Wilfred. Music is a big thing in my life . . . I’ve been tuning into radio since I was a little kid (on a crystal set – rocket radio!) and I grew up with access to a large record collection (vinyl and, later . . . everything else that followed). I was lucky to be a teen during a very musically fertile time – when the Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and tonnes of other greats were creating fresh music for my fresh ears. To this day, I like it when an artist has his own sound but doesn't sound 'all the same' , , , and this is what I try to do. Most of my own music is written for records by my group, Wilfred N & the Grown Men. I also love making experimental music. I always try to make something that's different, that turns me on, and hopefully it will turn you on, too. In my parallel life as a visual artist – the same goes for my paintings. You can see some of my art here: www.wilfredkozub.tumblr.com Please keep coming back to my Soundcloud – I’ll do my best to keep posting music that is interesting and alive. Thanks for tuning in!! chrs, your pal, Wilf
This is the opening track of the new album "The Last Vibrations of Summer" by Wilfred Kozub, due to be released here on my Bandcamp, as well as on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon, and all the others, on Tuesday, August 15th. "The Last Vibrations of Summer" will be available on 12-inch vinyl in the fall of 2023.When we die, do we get to be everywhere?
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
This album is a follow-up album to my "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub project that I did in 2015. That one was an instrumental album, and it remains one of my very favourite works that I created. It is the only album of mine that I listen to regularly.I wanted to do another instrumental album in the same vein. But a few new songs with lyrics came to me magically and mysteriously. I wasn't expecting that, but I liked them so much that I decided to change my plans and create a balance of those new vocal songs, some new instrumental tracks, and a couple others that I never really found a home for – until I finally decided to make them part of "The Last Vibrations of Summer".I like this new album very much. As an album, it hangs together very smoothly. It is very satisfying for me, and I hope it will be for you, too.~ Wilfred
"Wild Horse" – music and lyrics by Wilfred KozubWilfred Kozub – vocals, keyboardsJamie Philp – guitarI never did meet Ian Tyson, but I did have a very small connection with him. Several years ago – I think it was 1997 – I read an article in the Edmonton Journal about Ian Tyson. In the article, Tyson said something about wanting to make a jazz album. I had just written a song called "Wild Horse," and it entered my mind that Ian Tyson might be interested in hearing it. The song had a bit of a jazz flavour to it, but the lyrics had something to do with leaving the life of a cowboy behind for the big city. In the end, the character in the song expresses that you can’t really take the cowboy out of the man. I found a contact for Ian’s manager … or maybe it was his publisher. I sent him a letter about the Journal article I had read and about my song. I told him that the idea behind the lyrics in the song ‘sounded’, to me, like an Ian Tyson western song with a jazz influence. I asked for permission to send him the song on a cassette tape. He replied to me saying, “why don’t you send it to Ian yourself,” and he supplied me with Ian’s address.I did send my song to Tyson, with the same explanation that I gave to his representative. Some time later, I received a nice personal reply from him, saying the song was good and that he would hold onto it for consideration. I was so pleased that Ian sent me this kind response. I don’t think he ever actually recorded the song, but I held off on doing anything with it myself. It was certainly enough for me to get a letter from Ian Tyson. I have received rejection letters for my music so many times, and it was refreshing to receive these encouraging words from such a fine songwriter and performing talent. RIP Ian Tyson, and thank you for giving my song the time of day.So here is my original demo recording of Wild Horse as I sent it to the legendary songwriter, Ian Tyson. I have never released it on any kind of record, and I’m not sure that I ever will.
“Do You Listen to Me” was first released as a digital single in 2021 for a promised album with the working title We’ll Get There First. The album is finally coming out with a new title – Impossible World – in the summer of 2022.Life goes fast, so you gotta take a few chances now and then to create some momentum in your life. If you do nothing … nothing happens.
“Prelude to the Sun” is the opening track on the album “Impossible World” by Wilfred N & the Grown Men. The song is an introduction to the album and a preview of the full version of the song “Waiting for the Sun” that appears later on the album.
“I Guess We’re in Love” was recorded in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and was released as a limited digital single previewing its inclusion on the upcoming Wilfred N & the Grown Men album “Impossible World”.The song started as just a pleasant melodic idea around the line “I guess we’re in love”. In any relationship, there are difficulties over time. A strong relationship gets through those difficulties. We ‘follow the sun’ to find positivity and meaning in our lives. Still, there are troubling times (such as, you know … the past few years) … “the damage that has been done can be turned around; the sadness in the world buried in the ground”. I do love the line “kindness in the heart makes a life more pure” with the added messages in the song about each of us doing our part individually to promote world peace and world survival.
“Nobody Has to Know” was originally released as a cd single by Wilfred N & the Grown Men" and on a YouTube video in April 2014. A new mix of the song appears on the new wngm album “Impossible World” (July 15, 2022 release date).There is always an element of the silent unknown in the secret life of a regular person.“The two of us is magic – you and me and me and you”.“Just float down the silent streets (with me) when real life is too much like it seems.”This is a key song on the album “Impossible World”. The line “no rain, please no more rain” becomes the basis for another song on the album titled “Please, No More Rain (Seriously)” in which a portion of the bridge of “Nobody Has to Know” is significantly extended into a whole new song.
edit navigation barAwake Asleepfrom Impossible World by Wilfred N & the Grown Men Wishlist Edit Bulk Edit 00:00 / 03:14Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. $1 CAD or more Buy the Full Digital Albumabout“Awake Asleep” is a song I was eager to let people hear, so I put it out on a digital (limited) album preview release titled “We’ll Get There First” in 2019 … the first-release of songs from the upcoming full album by Wilfred N & the Grown Men – “Impossible World”. In 2020 I made the video for “Asleep Awake” using footage from the Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff, Canada and the stunning Gullfoss waterfall in Iceland.I remember how this song came about. I made and recorded the instrumental bed and then sat in front of my mic one night, very quietly, and just ‘said the stuff I said’ pretty much in one motion. I like working like this at night, very quietly and close-mic’d with the headphones fairly cranked. It feels like you’re in your head.Time spent over the past two-years-plus has been rather odd. For no apparent reason – I don’t feel I was directly affected by COVID – my creative life became quite disjointed. The album “Impossible World” seemed to take ‘impossibly’ long to complete, although it was on the verge of being complete for the whole two years. “Awake Asleep” pretty much chronicles a year of nothingness.I was awake. I was asleep. Nothing ever happens
“Knocking Down the Door” was written by Wilfed Kozub and recorded in Edmonton, Canada and first released on the digital EP “We’ll Get There First” in October 2019. This release was intended as a preview of fresh tracks that would be appearing on the full album “Impossible World” by Wilfred N & the Grown Men.Knocking Down the Door – an ambitious indie production that celebrates the triumph of the silent underdog over the bullying oppressors. ANGER … Smouldering in Silence!! They may seem gentle, but they’re dead serious.
Traditionally, the b-side of a single is the fun side, and on Wilfred N’s 2014 spring single theb-side is "Playing In The Mud". Here is what Wilfred has to say about it:"Last summer, we added a load of fresh dirt to our flower garden. Then it rained . . . and rained . . . and rained . . . and the garden turned into a soppy mess of MUD. Our grand kids were over and we let them go at it – little kids are supposed to get to do that, RIGHT??? YES! So they got totally slathered in mud: they squished it in their hands and between their toes; the smeared knees and elbows and got it up their nose. Then we washed them down with a hose! That's when I went inside and wrote this song, and that's pretty much all there is to it!""Please No More Rain" came about late last summer when there was a ridiculous amount of rain happening in Alberta. (In Edmonton it rained o'plenty, but nothing like what they experienced in Calgary – which was epic!) The rain was happening while Wilfred was recording vocals on the fly – spontaneously making up the lyrics to "Nobody Has To Know". The words 'no rain . . . please, no more rain" bubbled up right when Wilfred got to the middle-eight section of the songs, and the rest of the song just took over. Later, he says, he extracted that 'please, no more rain' section to create a new mini-version of it, complete with rain and thunder (...on the tundra), and that short piece became "Please, No More Rain". And on the new album, “Impossible World,” that piece gets the full deal treatment with an extended version titled “Please, No More Rain (Seriously)”.
“New World Coming” began its production in 2020. I wanted to get this tune out into the New World quickly because it turns out that the lyrics eerily seem to fit all that is going on right now. Will we save ourselves? Will we be saved?
This track is an extension of a little bridge section of "Nobody Has to Know" that was destined to become its own piece.lyricsNo rain . . . please no more rainI'm waiting now for sunlightPlease no more rain(Seriously)
“Disenchanted” was written in 2017 and recorded in the years that followed, bit by bit. The song was mildly released on my Wilfred Kozub Soundcloud a few years ago. The version that will be appearing on the new album (2022) titled “Impossible World” will be a new mix of the song with a few small changes here and there.Things in life are alright, but they don’t seem as good as they used to be. The seasons drift one unto the other, and what I have seen is changes that, overall, are not for the better. General malaise. Am I right?
I started to write “Immaculate Time” in 2017 and began recording it in 2018. I had some basic tracks recorded and some rudimentary lyrics. Jamie Philp came into my studio to ‘just play something’ along with my recorded outline of the song. He played a really cool plucky rhythm guitar part which contributed mightily to the magical groove of the tune. The recording wasn’t truly finished until late 2021 when it was finally mixed and mastered by Nik Kozub.Life is a mystery and the existence of the world itself is at once magical and impossible.
I wrote and recorded “Waiting for the Sun” in 2019. I released this as part of a small digital collection of songs in the same year. It was intended as one of the first singles for an upcoming album that was to be titled “We’ll Get There”. 2020, then 2021 came along, and you all know what happened. Things got delayed. The album is finally coming out in summer 2022 with a new title – “Impossible World”. “Waiting for the Sun” is on the new album, and it’s unveiled in miniature with the opening track, “Prelude to the Sun”.Waiting for the Sun – It’s retro. It’s the future. This new Wilfred N folk song gets the synth pop treatment … cheerfully mysterious with an added potion of psychedelia.“The sun that makes me feel everything more real … I’m waiting for the sun.”This is another one of those songs where I woke up one morning with the tune, complete with the words ‘waiting for the sun,’ in my head. I sang it right away into my iPhone voice recorder to capture the feel and vibe behind the song ‘right now’. I put the recording aside until probably a few months later when I rediscovered it.I came across the beginnings of Waiting For the Sun that I had recorded on my voice recorder, along with a few other little song ideas of mine that I found. I still liked it and thought it was important to get it done. I worked really hard on this particular song. It seemed so easy and folky but I didn’t want to be lazy and get lured into singing lyrics that weren’t really happening for me. I wrote and re-wrote little phrases over and over until I got something that had meaning for me and yet sounded natural and ‘real’. I feel I was successful.One day while I was recording some of the parts for my song, I found myself musing about another song lurking somewhere in the recesses of my memory – a song that I thought might have some kind of connection with Waiting For the Sun. I couldn’t remember the name of the song or who performed it, so I Googled a line or two that I thought I remembered from the song. I came up with “A Summer Song” by Chad and Jeremy. I had forgotten about them.When I heard that song again for the first time in many years, it felt like this was the essence of the sound and sentiment that I was going for in my own tune, Waiting For the Sun. The Chad and Jeremy song became a kind of template for the glistening, breezy sound I was after. It was a simple folk song, but I needed to bring in a few things – like those percolating synth parts – to capture the feel I was after.
“Thunder 2020” had a limited digital release in 2019 in its current version.Thunder 2020 is a new take on the original Wilfred N and the Grown Men song Thunder on the Tundra. It’s a little more like the way Jamie Philp and I perform it as a duo lately. Why 2020? … The title Thunder 2020 was originally my working title for a new full album, which will now be called ‘We’ll Get There’. The original Thunder on the Tundra was the title song of our 12-inch vinyl album that we put out in 1987. I987 has remained a memorable year for me because it was the year that “everything happened”. It was the year that our city of Edmonton had a devastating tornado; I bought a new van with hail stone marks on the roof (I got a deal!) from Tornado Day; our beloved Oilers hockey team won the Stanley Cup; I put out the album Thunder on the Tundra on vinyl, we made a video of the title track, and one of the album’s songs – I Could Get Closer To You – was a minor Canadian hit on over 100 stations across the country.I have a curious feeling that 2020 is also going to be another year that “everything happens”.I hope it’s good stuff. • Note: The preceding was written in 2019 in anticipation of the release in 2020 of a full album titled “We’ll Get There”. The album didn’t come out in 2020. It’s now 2022 and the album will finally be released this summer. The album title is not as originally planned. Things happened. It is now called “Impossible World”.* 2020 did turn out to be “the year that everything happens,” but it was not as I had imagined! (Not good stuff)
“Lost Time” was begun in 2017 but became fully formed in a home studio recording session during ‘the COVID times’. These were lost times but proved to be a fertile ground for some good new songs.
When I wrote this song in 2017 I fantasized that we were living in the future. Now we REALLY are. Crazy. “Living in the Future” is a song we played live a few times. It came out earlier as a digital preview of our full Wilfred N & the Grown Men album that was originally titled “We’ll Get There”. The album is finally coming out this summer, 2022, and the album has been renamed “Impossible World”.
“Moonray” was completed in March 2021, recorded in my home in Edmonton. The vacant years of 2020 and 2021 … and continuing into 2022 left me feeling like the sun had disappeared. But I still had my moonray. I’ve become accustomed to the loss of warmth and light. Who needs the sun anymore?
Life goes fast but it's still going on strong. I admit that this song is pretty irresistible. I wasn't going to release it until the new Wilfred N & the Grown Men comes out, but, honestly, we've been waiting so long with this pandemic thing going on that I just couldn't wait any longer for you to hear it. Are you following me? . . . cuz I'm following you!
This is a purely fun song of unbridled joy that Wilfred N & the Grown Men used to play live many years ago and recorded for our album "Day Off" in 1995.
NEW NEW NEW!!! I don’t know exactly what I was thinking when I was writing “Living in the Future”. I doubt that it was the usual futuristic stuff – robots . . . artificial intelligence . . . that Dick Tracy watch we’ve all been waiting for (oh yeah, sorry . . . ummm, the Apple Watch!). But I knew that living in the future was going to be something. And I guess I was right. We are living in the future. The future that is 2020. It IS something – just not what we bargained for. Yep. Nobody really signed up for THIS future. But we all try to do the right thing . . . Ok . . . Most of us try to do the right thing so that living in the future can be . . . a good thing.
We’ve played it live a few times. We finished recording this song maybe about a year ago, and Nik Kozub mixed and mastered it in the fall of 2020. Jamie Philp’s pulse on the guitar formed the bones of the recording – and check his ultra-cool and surprising little guitar solo. Unusual, hey? That’s Wilfred on vocals and keyboards.
This is a tender song of disappointment in a relationship. The song is from the album "Thunder on the Tundra" recorded in 1987 . . . "the year everything happened," according to Wilfred N. This was one of the more successful songs for Wilfred N & the Grown Men in terms of radio airplay, with plays across Canada and several stations in Europe. A version of "Sailing on a Cruiser" was recorded in live performance with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as part of "The Alberta Suite" performed at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada.
New New NEW!! This is an advance of one of the songs from our upcoming full album – "We'll Get There" – by Wilfred N & the Grown Men. "The damage that has been done can be turned around; the sadness in the world buried in the ground . . . Kindness in the heart make a life more pure, now we are so in love . . . LOVE". Yes . . . LOVE is the answer, but there's work to be done. "Do you value world peace? Do you value world survival?" Be kind. Be thoughtful. We hope this song makes you feel the good vibes!
A pulsating song that is sinister yet reassuring . . . I hope. "There is a New World Coming and it's coming down on me . . . there's a New World Coming, gonna set us all free . . . coming down from the sky, coming into your heart . . . yeah, there's a New World Coming . . . it's gonna be alright." Now available for purchase at Bandcamp: https://wilfrednthegrownmen.bandcamp.com/track/new-world-coming
Knocking Down the Door – an ambitious indie production that celebrates the triumph of the silent underdog over the bullying oppressors. ANGER . . . Smouldering in Silence!! They may seem gentle, but they’re dead serious. Wilfred Kozub - vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitars, spoken vocals Amy van Keeken - additional vocals, spoken vocals and chorus vocals Jamie Philp - electric guitars Nik Kozub - bass guitar Christine Hanson - cello Daryl Kozub, Mila Johnston and Zev Johnston - chorus vocals
Waiting For the Sun – It’s retro. It’s the future. This new Wilfred N folk song gets the synth pop treatment . . . cheerfully mysterious with an added potion of psychedelia. The sun that makes me feel everything more real . . . I’m waiting for the sun. Pleasant stuff indeed! Wilfred Kozub - vocals, synths and acoustic guitar
Awake Asleep – That’s right. You’re awake . . . then you’re asleep. Then, finally, you’re ASLEEP . . . alright now WAKE UP!! I admit I was thinking about Laurie Anderson when I was recording this song. And when Christine Hanson came in to play cello, it elevated everything. Wilfred Kozub - basic keyboard tracks, vocals, acoustic guitar Christine Hanson - cellos
Thunder 2020 – In 1987 Wilfred N and the Grown Men brought us Thunder on the Tundra and the song became a local fave in the band’s home town of Edmonton. In 2020 the song is back with a bit of a new look and a new sound, closer to the way the group plays it live today. Wilfred Kozub - basic tracks, vocals, acoustic guitar Jamie Philp - vocals Christine Hanson - cello Nik Kozub - bass guitar
When I was a kid, I loved those silly little comedy-pop tunes that used to come around on the radio once in a while – Please Mr. Custer, Witch Doctor, My Boomerang Won't Come Back . . . Stan Freberg, Charlie Drake . . . there were lots. I had this sweet little tune hangin' around called "I Could Be A Genius". It didn't particularly fit with my other music, so I decided to do a one-off. I played around with some new ideas and this turned out to be a lot of fun to put together. You may as well have some fun, right?!!!
NEW version of "I'll Never Understand Why"
When Edmonton’s Wilfred N & the Grown Men released their (tenth) album, Passing Through Time, one of the key songs on the album was I’ll Never Understand Why. Now here is a fresh new duo version of that song recorded through track sharing with my cyber-friend and now "real" friend in the Netherlands, Rob van der Plas . . . "I'll Never Understand Why" recorded by Wilfred N Meets The Hurryman.
This is somewhat of an extension of the original Passing Through Time album. And the lyrics are even more meaningful now with all the crazy stuff that has happened in our world over the past year. You know what I mean.
I’ll Never Understand Why recorded by Wilfred N Meets The Hurryman with Wilfred Kozub - vocals, guitars, keyboards and Rob van der Plas - vocals, Omnichord Mixed and mastered by Nik Kozub
Here is the back story: Rob van der Plas had a band in the 80s called The Spivs, roughly the same period of time when Wilfred N & the Grown Men were happening in Canada. Today, Rob is known as The Hurryman. We met on the internet about 15 years ago over our mutual interest in a musical instrument called the Omnichord as well as our shared pursuit of making good indie music.
A few years ago, I contacted Rob to tell him that my wife and I were planning to visit Amsterdam in September 2016 on our way to a holiday in Portugal. I thought it would be great for us to finally meet in person. Rob got back to me right away and told me about a plan he had to put on a live concert near Amsterdam in November 2016 to perform with Facebook musician friends of his in the area. Rob explained, “All these people have one thing in common: I know them through FB or the internet; they are all people I would love to play a song with sometime...” It was kind of a bucket list thing. He wanted me to somehow take part in the concert even though I would already have returned to Canada by concert time.
Rob thought it would be great if we could sing one of my tunes together and make a short movie of it to show on a big screen at his November concert. That meeting did happen in September in Amsterdam. How cool it was to finally meet Rob! When he arrived at our hotel, he greeted me with an acoustic guitar and an Omnichord slung on his back. He brought an extra guitar for me, too. We smiled and grinned and it was like we were old friends. And what a lot of fun it was to perform my song with him. We had a quick rehearsal and then got down to the business of making a movie of it on our iPhones. It was quick work. We had lunch and a walk in Vondelpark. It really made our holiday in Amsterdam special. I was back in Canada when Rob showed our movie of us singing this charming new rendition of I’ll Never Understand Why, filmed in my Amsterdam hotel room, at his concert. It was a big success.
Once I was home, I had an idea that Rob and I might share tracks over the internet to record the new arrangement of I’ll Never Understand Why. I played the basic tracks in my home studio, and Rob recorded his Omnichord and vocal parts in his town near Amsterdam. The result is our new take on the tune, performed here by Wilfred N Meets The Hurryman. With all the uncertainty in the world, I think the lyrics are even more meaningful now than they were when I wrote the song.
We hope you enjoy Wilfred N Meets The Hurryman performing "I’ll Never Understand Why" as much as we do!
~ Wilfred
A playful song with synth bits and ebow guitar that is about the time I woke my wife up with loud experimental sounds I was making in my downstairs studio in the middle of the night when she wanted to be sleeping.
I don't mean to lay a bummer on you, but here it comes. Summer is gone . . . gone for the summer. And there's other stuff too. General malaise. This is a brand new tune that I want you to hear. It won't be 'out' on a new Wilfred N & the Grown Men album until probably this time next year, but it does seem appropriate right now. I'm going to leave this tune up on my Soundcloud for a while and then take it down again 'til later. Comments welcome! I'll be back feeling bubbly in the spring.
"I'll Never Understand Why" is the first of two 'first singles' from the upcoming album "Passing Through Time" by Wilfred N & the Grown Men of Edmonton, Canada. The 8-song album, our 10th, will be released on January 20th, 2016.
This is the second of two "first singles" – the title track – from the upcoming Wilfred N & the Grown Men album, "Passing Through Time". I wrote this song when I reflected back to Jackie DeShannon singing What The World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love so many years ago. We believed it then and I thought we would have it by now. ~ Wilfred
When Pluto got de-classified and subsequently booted out of our solar system, I was kinda sad. But in 2015 the NASA scientists got some great pictures of the little guy out there in the Kuiper Belt. It turned out the now 'dwarf planet' is really beautiful, surprising and intriguing! Gee, I wish I was Pluto.
Here's another thing: that low guy voice singing "So - ho - cold" (and, in the tag, "I'm home") is Ryan Christian Anderson from Edmonton's F&M. Cool guy, COOL voice.
And that's my great old pal Jamie Philp on the sparkling guitar parts. He just always comes through with the best licks. Clint Frazier plays all those cosmic drum parts! Thank you, one and all Grown Men!
"Say Something" is the opening track of the brand new album by Wilfred N & the Grown Men – "Passing Through Time". This song makes me feel good. When I started recording it, the song definitely reminded me of the Ian Dury and the Blockheads album "Do It Yourself" that I listened to a lot. I was also thinking of Lou Reed. I miss them both! Please check my website www.wilfredkozub.com for lyrics, full credits, and backstories on this song and all 8 songs on the album.
This song was a last minute decision when I was recording my new album "Passing Through Time". I had realized that it was (roughly) 33 1/13 years since the first Wilfred N & the Grown Men album, "Riding Double" in 1984. And I wanted to have a long-ish instrumental on the album, especially if I was able to get the album pressed on vinyl as well. It turned out that I wasn't able to afford doing vinyl in addition to the cd albums. Maybe later. As for the song, I got down to business one night and worked out the whole idea and recorded the basic bed in my home ProTools studio. I played the synths and programmed basic drums and then added a few of the guitar parts. The song really came alive when I brought in Jamie Philp the following day to play his heavy rhythm guitar parts. I also asked him if he still had his old electric sitar. He did . . . and he brought it along. Jamie played all the right stuff that day with great sensitivity to . . . rocking out in the heavy parts while keeping it simple and creating some space as a relief to all the busy-ness. A few notes here, a few notes there. Beautiful. A bit of tremolo is always good. Later, I was working on the song with my mic on and just had an impulse to sing what you hear on the final mix. I have always been fond of unison singing – I used to listen to a lot of Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 music. So I was kinda emulating that sound on "33 Revolutions" by doubling the vocals and singing the Ah-oh-Wah's!! I guess it still qualifies as an instrumental song because I don't actually sing any words. A week or so later, I had Clint Frazier coming in to play some drums on a few of the other tunes for "Passing Through Time". Clint didn't know he would be playing on "33 Revolutions". I sprung it on him!! I just asked him to listen to the song once and then 'react to it'. That's what he did, and that's what I got down on his drum track. Bango bango! And that's the way we did it! This is track #7 on the 8-song album "Passing Through Time".
This is the vocal version of "It's Spring!" This is the version that appears on the new Wilfred N & the Grown Men album – "Passing Through Time". You may have earlier heard an instrumental version of "It's Spring!" already up on my Soundcloud. That version is from my debut solo album of last year – "What's Gonna Become of Us". It's interesting to listen to both of them, back-to-back, to hear what I did to turn the instrumental into a vocal song. (well . . . 'I' think it's interesting!) chrs, Wilfred
This playful electronic piece original was titled "I Don't Remember Your Name". You can call it that, if you like . . . but I changed it to Memory Bank. I don't remember why. I do know that it's on the 18-song (mostly instrumentals) album "What's Gonna Become of Us" by Wilfred Kozub on the Zönik Records label, released in late November 2015 . . . as I recall.
I originally had planned for this to be a vocal song. The main melody line sang "maybe I'm the only one" to me. Then I decided, "no, it should be an instrumental – the melody already sings the words and the words are in the title."
Do I sound like I'm singing in a monastery? Nah, it's just reverb. We listened to this song about a zillion times on the highway to wine country in the Okanagan this summer. I recorded those church bells in Rome and Siena.
Curiously rambling is what this song is. If you want to be 'in the know' then you'll want to know that there are some embryonic parts in this tune that got lifted (by me) and recycled into my song I'm In Love With The City (particularly the bass part). Kind of a two-for-one deal.
If I were a surfer (and I wish I was . . . but you have to actually be able to swim and balance on a moving surfboard), I would do it at night under the glistening light of the surfers' moon. That's my vision for this song. Pure heaven.
Do you know why I'm fond of you? . . . answ: Because you're about to play this song. I think it's a pretty fun tune. Nothing heavy . . . just pure fondness for the frivolous.
The world IS changing colours . . . isn't it? I would say this little piece is quasi-classical-ish . . . with a measure of Booker T-ness. Admittedly, it's kinda quirky but . . . friendly! Trinkles of sound and sweet bits here and there.
Do you ever wonder what's gonna become of us? I do. This song sounds like driving the city streets at night. What's Gonna Become of Us is the title track of the album bearing the title, What's Gonna Become of Us . . . the new one by Wilfred Kozub :)
Hushed, curious and a bit sinister. A bass drum softly pulses, a little Rhodes-like piano and a pizzicato something. Don't forget the quiet, quiet guiro as the tune fades.
This sounds like waves of electrons . . . I guess. I made this as one of a number of little pieces for background sound at an art show of my paintings. It seemed to fit in with the other music on my new solo album, What's Gonna Become of Us, so I put it in the lineup.
I do love this tune! It just makes me feel good. It is pure enthusiasm for spring which, up here in Edmonton where it gets pretty cold for quite long in the winter, is a welcome relief every year when it arrives. The lifeblood is running! This is the instrumental version with some wonderful trumpet/flugelhorn playing by Bob Tildesley, and some perfect banjo playing by Jamie Philp (just like I wanted him to play). I can't wait until the vocal version comes out on the next Wilfred N & the Grown Men (aka wngm) album comes out later in 2016. It's going to special. In fact, I might not be able to wait until winter 2016 for the song to be heard, so I might have to "leak" it when it starts getting melty and warm in these parts! Keep your ears perked up!
A little electronic, a little spaghetti western . . . a bit of whistling and only a smidge of singing near the end. This song is the basis for the short movie "The Weather" that Daryl Kozub and I made when the weather was real bad one day. Our movie's debut was shown on the big screen last October (2015) and now can be seen out there on YouTube. The music on the video is extended by a couple minutes with some EML synthesizer sounds that I stole from an electronic piece of mine from the 1970s.
Slinky and a little bit jazz, but still enough groove and synth/guitar interplay to qualify for rock. Blast this in your headphones for full effect.
Waltz on the Tundra is an elegant, atmospheric instrumental with a gentle melody. This is from our largely 'unknown' 2009 album Stop Go Romeo by Wilfred N & the Grown Men. I regret that I have neglected this song and the album in comes from, for so long. It's one of our very best.
This is a dreamy vocal song from our 2009 album "Stop Go Romeo". I don't know why I neglected this song for so long, and I don't know why I have neglected the entire album which, I believe, is one of our very best. It should be heard.
This is the title track from our 2009 album Stop Go Romeo. I'm very fond of this – quite a little epic tune. I really hope you will listen right through to the end . . . it gets pretty thrilling and intriguing, if you ask me! One of my personal Wilfred N & the Grown Men faves, for sure.
In 2002 we marched on the Legislature in our city to protest government cuts to education. Today – 18 years later – it's pretty much the same deal with the current government pulling the same stunt. It's nuts and we're mad all over again!
There are a lot of songs with the title "Indian Summer". This is a song that I should have put up, here on Soundcloud, a long time ago. I was just reminded of it because we are into what seems to be “Indian Summer” right now here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada – late September. It’s that time of year when things start cooling down and there is a last surge of summer to give you a little hope that it will be a long and mild autumn. It doesn’t always work out that way. It’s also a time of harvest – bringing in all the good stuff we’ve been growing in our gardens all summer. Digging up the potatoes. Cutting some of the nicer flowers to bring some of that beauty indoors.
This song is quite rare since there was only a limited number of the 7-inch vinyls pressed – and I think I may have lost the master. It never did appear on an album, but we did release the single and had a little bit of radio success with it, as well as a few nice reviews.
When we were playing live as the full Wilfred N & the Grown Men band, “Indian Summer” was one of the songs I most enjoyed playing. It just felt good with its gentle loping beat, it’s billowing sound – and I liked playing that brassy synth part before the tag. It was fun.
Heavy duuuuude . . . and noisy, too. I did an intro edit for this version of "Take Time" . . . just a little frontal lobotomy. This is the opening track for our 1987 first full album, "Thunder on the Tundra", which came out on 12-inch vinyl. The star on this song was our bass player, John Towill. I asked him to play on the tune for our basement recording, but I had no idea that he was going to come up with such a brilliant part. His articulation, as you'll hear, is impeccable! And it's such an interesting part that Jamie jumped in on guitar to double some of his well-thought-out lines. The lyrics? Well . . . "Time is all history yet we haven't gone very far . . . time is a mystery, and we're no Scotland Yard". I couldn't have said it better myself. Heh heh heh.