For a few years, one of our favourite Canadian artists has been David Ace Dean. He’s now come out with two albums and played shows around the country including NXNE. It’s time for some love.

His newest album, Imaginary Girls is a available as a book/CD combination. The book is handmade, available through Montreal-based WithWords Press. The limited production piece features lyrics and poetry from David Ace combined with illustrations from Stu Getz.

Handsome had the chance to catch up with David Ace and get some perspective on his influences, his decision to create a book for Imaginary Girls as well as what drives his artistic content.

HNDSM: Music is often influenced by music. Talk to me about it. Who influences you?

David Ace: At this very moment I’d say Deerhunter, Cymbals Eat Guitars, this band from Calgary ‘Women’ – but all the time, ‘Why?’, Isaac Brock, Ol Dirty, Thom Yorke… shit like that.

HNDSM: How did the Imaginary Girls book concept come about?

David Ace: The book came about basically one night. I was in the Creative Writing program at Concordia and at the end of the year we were doing a reading at a bar. Acquaintances of mine from a couple years back, former classmates Sasha Manoli and Ann Ward, had started a small press. I played a couple songs, a couple originals and a Buck 65 song I think, and then some country songs with my Prof – George Straitt – I Ain’t Her Cowboy Anymore, BIG tune – and they approached me afterward and said we should do a book and a CD. It gave me something to focus on for a summer. I re-wrote some old shit and wrote a couple new songs, recorded them all through a cold, cold, cold, March in a small apartment of an ex girl’s in Verdun, Montreal. Monk metro, second last stop south west on the Green line. Cold, cold, cold. Spring came and I left.

HNDSM: What inspires your content?

David Ace: I mostly get things going creatively by mistakenly playing some kind of chord I couldn’t name, but it makes me feel something. Then I’ll try and go from there. I guess lyrics mostly come from one image or phrase that I find compelling or think would be fun to sing. For example, if I’m fishing and keep seeing dead trees under the water – if like the image, I’ll put it down. ‘dead trees under water’, then later in the day ‘mosquitoes”, ‘bonfires’, ‘hunters jackets’ – whatever – make a list of shit like that and then pick and choose, try to fit them in when I’m stuck or something, flip back through my notebook and go ‘hey! that image there ‘bears behind outhouses’, that can fit with the i’m scared to love you so i hurt you theme of this song!’. Generally it’s more about an overall feeling rather than a narrative. Trying to juxtapose concrete images, sensory things, to evoke some kind of accessible feeling. I’d describe it all as a grade 11 essay on metaphysics – mind and body, love and death, secret selves, drunk and sober.

HNDSM: What are you working on now? What can we look forward to from you?

David Ace: Right now I’m not recording anything. I’m playing with two friends of mine – nuno and jordan – we’ve been writing songs all summer, getting ready to start performing in September. It’s fun. Guitar, drums, one monophonic (sp?) synth. Songs about teenagers in Northern Ontario, being away and back living at your parents house, waking up with strange girls on a mattress in a basement, guilt, solitary animals and winter. We don’t have a name yet but have considered ‘Azores’, ‘Colts’, ‘First Cousins’. What do you think? We’re paralyzed with the decision and will have to make it if we plan on playing a show anytime, ever.

Here’s a couple of tracks from David Ace Dean’s second album, Imaginary Girls as well as an unreleased track created prior to his first LP. Enjoy.

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Download: David Ace Dean – Hear Here

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Download: David Ace Dean – Woman No Make Me Cry

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Download: David Ace Dean – Plastic Knives (Unreleased)