Comedy and quality music have collided on a new album, and a former local resident got to be a part of it.
Dave Dalrymple played bass and sang harmonies on a few tracks from Fog and Lasers II, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll’s follow-up to 2019’s Fog and Lasers.
Dalrymple, who has his own musical project, Wax Atlantic, and performs as part of popular Canadian band Dwayne Gretzky, lived in Oro-Medonte from Grade 7 until he finished high school.
He said being able to work with Fernandez-Stoll, whom he admires for his work in both music and comedy, was an honour. It’s an opportunity that came up thanks to Dalrymple’s introduction to both the music and comedy scenes when he moved to Toronto after finishing high school.
“These two worlds aren’t as far apart as you would think,” he said.
That is evidenced on Fog and Lasers II, a collaboration that includes musicians and comedians affiliated with Dwayne Gretzky, July Talk, Weaves, Kim’s Convenience, The Second City, Just for Laughs, The Amazing Gayl Pile and many others.
“Everybody comes together and they’re happy to do it because (Fernandez-Stoll) is so talented,” Dalrymple said. “It’s not about hiring session players. It’s more of an organic scene.”
The music on the new album is impressive and could likely stand up on its own, but a quick look at the tracklist is enough to let listeners know they’re in for a laugh, too. Some of the few song titles fit to print here are Comedy, Jar Hands Man, and Make Out with a Relative.
“It’s funny stuff that Rod takes seriously,” Dalrymple said.
Being a member of Dwayne Gretzky, which performs renditions of classic rock and pop songs, meant jumping into Fog and Lasers II wasn’t a huge stretch.
“Dwayne Gretzky has so much crossover with theatre and comedy. That was the foundation for me to meet a lot of these people,” he said.
Fog and Lasers II doesn’t zero in on a specific genre. One description of the album calls it “a 12-track exploration of human behaviour with songs that jump between pop, metal, hip hop, and straight-up ballads.”
“When you’re liberated from tying your identity to a genre and you can just focus on the comedy, you can lampoon any genre you want,” Dalrymple said.
Fog and Lasers II will be released Nov. 13 on Comedy Records, and it’s coming at a time when everyone — both musicians and listeners — could use a laugh.
“I can’t overstate how important it’s been to have these projects to focus on during COVID. Rod and people like him have been such saviours to fellow musicians,” Dalrymple said, noting many musicians have been out of work or, at least, playing far fewer gigs during the pandemic. “There’s a lot of stress, so it was nice to get that call (to work on Fog and Lasers II).”
While it’s important for people to be aware of what’s going on with the pandemic, “it’s also important to just check out with some frivolous distractions sometimes,” he said.
“This album is a great way to do that.”
Orillia played an important role in shaping Dalrymple musically and personally.
Moving from Mississauga to Oro-Medonte was “culture shock to the max,” he said. For the first year or two, attending Marchmont Public School in Severn, he didn’t have many friends, having entered the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school in Grade 7.
High school was a different story. It was during his time at Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute that he connected with others who were interested in music.
“It had a huge impact on my ability to find my voice and my identity,” he said.
During high school, in the 1990s, he worked as a barista at Café au Lait, a shop that used to be on Mississaga Street. That further fuelled Dalrymple’s passion and inspiration.
“All of these misfits from the different high schools would hang out there after school. It was huge for me, socially,” he said.
