motel void

Anna Mernieks-Duffield, known from the Toronto band Beams, met producer Kevin S. McMahon (Swans, Real Estate, Pile, Titus Andronicus, The Walkmen) when he repaired her amp during a tour with Ace of Wands. He later recorded Beams’ album Requiem for a Planet at his Marcata Recording studio in New York’s Hudson Valley. Their collaboration developed into an ongoing creative partnership that continues with their new project, The Cross Sea.

MOTEL VOID: I was really intrigued by the story of how you got together — it all happened quite by chance, because of a broken amp… could you tell us a bit more about that story?

THE CROSS SEA: It truly was by chance! I was playing a show with Ace of Wands at Berlin Under A in NYC when my amp blew a fuse. Someone had an extra fuse for me to replace it with and it blew too. Luckily, we had a day off before our next show at BSP in Catskill, NY. We reached out to the bands that we would be playing with there to see if they knew of any amp techs in the area. It turned out that Ciarra Fragale (one of the other acts) worked at a music store that sent its repairs to Kevin. We dropped the amp off at the store and Kevin gave me a call the next day asking if he could have a little more time with it, and if so, he could drop it off at BSP to save us the trip. He seemed reasonable and sounded cool.

Anyway, he showed up at BSP, I think he was one of like, four people that actually came to the show. While we were watching Ciarra play, I asked him if repairing amps was his full-time gig, and he said that he was actually a producer. Figuring that everyone in New York calls themselves a producer, I was like “oh cool, who do you work with?” and when he told me, I tried to look cool while I had my “oh shit” moment. I used the amp for my set and I wasn’t sure it was sounding normal, so he offered to take it back for more testing and invited us to come check out the studio. We were staying up in Hurley near Kingston. Lee and Jody (my Ace of Wands bandmates) weren’t too keen on driving back down to New Paltz, but they humoured me. It was only half an hour or so back down south anyway. When we got to the barn, the door was open so we just walked in. I imagine that Kevin probably texted us permission to do that, but I can’t remember. I just remember that I immediately felt at home there. It felt a bit creepy, all of these piles of old electronics, dust, strange art projects, sound coming from no identifiable source, and no sign of Kevin.

We eventually found him, and I think he talked at me for about an hour about filter caps, which I appreciated and absorbed as much as I could, and then he invited us to come down and record something sometime. We got home the first week of March 2020 and didn’t travel again for a long time, but my other project Beams recorded an album and an EP with him, Ace of Wands recorded a couple of songs with him, and then I joined his band Pelican Movement… and now this!

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new single The Me that Waits – could you describe the circumstances of its creation and recording process? Will it be part of your debut album?

THE CROSS SEA: This one was really quite spontaneous. Kevin and I had been working, sending demos for 8 songs back and forth, before I came down to the studio in New Paltz. I had thought that we were going to re-record all of the songs from the ground up, but Kevin actually really liked the vibe of my original demos and didn’t think that we needed to. The sessions became about writing and tracking overdubs, which didn’t take all day, and because I was quite pregnant at the time, I was happy enough to cut the day short after a swim and dinner. But after Kevin left for the night, I was buzzing from the adventure I was on. I pulled out my acoustic guitar and wrote “The Me that Waits”. I laid down the acoustic guitar, vocals, and bass the next morning (with Kevin engineering) and then drove back to Toronto. Kevin wrote and recorded all of his parts later. Every now and then I’d get a text saying “check yr email” and I’d download some new version of the tune that would blow my mind. He’s an incredibly tasteful and creative collaborator! It’s the first track from our debut album. I thought it’d be great to make it seem like it’s going to be a stripped-down acoustic solo album and then let the listener get pounced on.

MOTEL VOID: What or who is your biggest source of inspiration at the moment? In your music, you’ve mentioned Big Thief and PJ Harvey – were they also an influence on these new songs?

THE CROSS SEA: Well, these songs represent about 15 years of writing, so it’s shifted over time. PJ was our guiding light for the aesthetic. For me, Big Thief is a good touchstone for a modern example of adventurous, guitar-based folk rock where song structures, point-of-view, and style are often in flux. My biggest inspiration when we were making the album, though, was the collection of experiences I’ve had in several bands over the past few years. I’ve gotten to explore different parts of my personality in each project and I really wanted to make something that brought all of these parts together.

MOTEL VOID: You’re from Toronto – how would you describe the local scene there? Do you have any favorite venues? And could you recommend some of your favorite local artists?

THE CROSS SEA: The local scene here is quite active. The punk scene comes to mind first, but we’re so rich in many types of music. Being a new mom, I don’t get out as much as I’d like to, but the Baby G and the Monarch still feel like home to me. I got to play The Concert Hall once and it was awesome, and it’s pretty great to see music there too! Some of my favourite local artists are Isla Craig, TOVI, Kali Horse, Sham Family, Skye Wallace, Heather Mazhar.

MOTEL VOID: Are you planning to tour with your new material?

THE CROSS SEA: We hope that we can at some point, but probably not right now – I have my hands full with parenting my little Francis. I’m very much enjoying that new adventure! Plus, Daniel just went back to school for social work, which I’m sure he’ll be amazing at. It takes a lot of time and money to do a cross-border tour legally, and if we do it I want to do it right. We’re planning a Toronto show at least, around the release of the full album.