New Release – Protect the Cubs (EP) by Jason Pilling

Jason Pilling (Toronto, Canada) was a coming-of-age indie folk singer-songwriter, who took a responsibility break to start a family. As his life fell into place, he eventually discovered his niche writing lyrics that mined the details of a so-called normal life. It’s about the concerns and feelings we share that make us friends. The lyrics are then packaged up with some interesting sounds and a strong vocal to feel like a good conversation: stories, jokes, empathy, and sometimes some politics.

Jason has multiple releases of singles, EP’s, and albums wherever you listen to music. His new EP ‘Protect the Cubs’ will be out 5th October.

Is ‘Protect the Cubs’ concept album? What’s it about?

“Yes. These songs all express concern for where we are as a society and where the future is headed. The title track was inspired by a friend revealing on Facebook that he had attended an environmental protest. This would normally be un-exceptional, but for the his particular personality this was the last person you could imagine pumping a fist in public, but had gone out to do so anyway “on behalf of my kids”. Also being a parent who doesn’t pump fist, this conflict of duty and introversion resonated with me deeply. I promised – he thought I was joking – to make my friend a folk hero and wrote the ‘No Pants’ version of the title track the next day to his surprise. The final version of ‘Protect the Cubs’ got a little more serious, but still the same basic story. ‘Lists’ is about unraveling social fabric. ‘Daddy’ is about equality of opportunity. ‘Gold Star’ is about constant busyness and losing track of things we actually care about.”

Is it different from your previous releases?

“I love building detailed layered arrangements in the studio, but this time I wanted to make the recorded version true to what I might put on stage at the local club. It’s all one finger-picked guitar, with a meticulously consistent microphone setup to preserve a single tone. All tracks also have the same person, playing the same accompanying Rhodes electric piano. The mixes are presented to give a “live in a nice room at a small club” feel.”

What are you hoping to achieve with this release?

“I want the listener to hear these songs and think, “I care about those things too!”. We’re sad to agree the world has these problems, but we’re happy that someone else cares as much as we do.”