Duane Hicks
Perseverance and patience are starting to pay off for Alex Marusyk, who has unleashed his creativity in song over the past four years while keeping his feet on the ground.
The 23-year-old singer-songwriter is making a name for himself on the Vancouver music scene, but always has been in touch with his roots here.
In fact, he’s back in town for a visit and will perform a concert this Friday (Nov. 22) upstairs at the Legion.
Marusyk took some time out Friday to talk about his journey over the last four years—and where’s he heading now.
In September, 2009, the Fort High grad decided to move to Vancouver to study at the Harbourside Institute of Technology.
“I went out there to take an audio engineering course, which is a live sound recording/engineering course—it was a pretty all-encompassing course,” Marusyk noted.
“It covered a lot of things, including the film industry, which is booming out there right now, so that was sort of the intent.
“If I was going to go somewhere for that type of schooling, I might as well as go somewhere where it’s relevant, and there’s only a handful of places, like Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, where that would be beneficial to take schooling like that,” he reasoned.
“So Vancouver appealed to me at the time, and with good reason I love it out there.”
Marusyk completed the intense nine-month course, but wasn’t deterred by the fact he couldn’t get a job in the field right away.
“I knew you can’t just jump right into a job,” he remarked.
“It’s almost like any schooling—you can’t go to acting school and then expect to be in a Hollywood film as soon as you graduate.
“So I did the realistic thing and found a part-time job, like a lot of musicians, bartending, and going to a lot of local shows and meeting people who didn’t have recordings because by this time, I had accumulated quite a bit of a home studio,” noted Marusyk.
“Basically, from that point until now, it’s been this slow-but-sure shift of more work in the field I like—recording, engineering, playing shows—and less grunt work,” he added.
“There’s nothing wrong with bartending but slowly but surely it’s been phased out.
“And that’s actually why I am here now,” Marusyk said. “I’ve managed to feel confident enough to quit that job.
“When I get back, I’ll be working things out but it’s gotten to the point where there’s been a steady enough income in the arts, including visual arts, but mostly playing and recording, that I can ease off other types of work, which is a nice thing to realize,” he remarked.
“But it does take a lot of time and you do have to do quite a bit of work to get to that.”
Marusyk said he’s focused on creating and performing music, but pointed out his engineering skills have enabled him to record his own songs and sell them at shows.
“I haven’t needed to spend a ton of money or time on getting someone to do that for me, which wasn’t the initial intent of going to school but it’s definitely a huge bonus,” he noted.
“If you can record your own music, and spend a couple hours burning your own CDs and selling them, then it saves you a ton of money.”
Formerly performing solo under the name “Treebeard” for the first few years on the West Coast, Marusyk underwent a rebranding—emerging as Alex Marusyk and now backed by a full band.
“More recently, shows have been getting a little better,” he admitted. “Instead of playing open mics and smaller gigs, I’m starting to open up for artists that are little more reputable or recognizable in the community.
“And, of course, exposure and, as much as it is isn’t important to me, money does come along with that.”
Marusyk said it isn’t widely known, but he’s about three-quarters through recording his first full-length album with a band.
“We’re doing it right this time,” he stressed. “My favourite instructor from the school is engineering the record.
“It’s your standard band set-up—drums, guitar, bass, vocals, and such, but we’ve also brought in strings and horns,” said Marusyk, further explaining that many of the sounds on the album are being played back and re-recorded inside a church to give it a fuller sound.
Marusyk described his musical style as folk rock that often has a dark edge.
“Melancholy is not the greatest word but it’s real,” he said. “A lot of my songs are written around alcoholism, darker issues like death.
“It makes it sound bad but . . . they all have a positive message,” he noted.
“I’m not singing about daisies and baking pies, or anything like that,” he chuckled.
Marusyk always has made his music available online, and will e-mail songs to anyone who asks.
“At this point, it’s about getting people to hear it,” he reasoned. “It’s not about being famous or anything like that.”
You can listen to his music by searching for “Alex Marusyk” on Facebook or YouTube.
Marusyk, meanwhile, said he remains in touch with everyone he’s played music with, and who has an interest in his music, including those he went to high school with here.
In fact, the trip from Vancouver to Fort Frances was punctuated with stops in Calgary, Lethbridge, and Winnipeg to see friends.
He also may continue east to Montreal, Ottawa, London, and Toronto before returning to Vancouver.
There’s no doubt Fort Frances and area boasts a wealth of musical and artistic talent, which was evident at the two Fort Frances Folk Festivals held in 2009 and 2010, the first of which Marusyk organized along with Joelle Barron.
Marusyk credited the arts department at Fort High for being very supportive of him and others he knows during their high school years, namely John Dutton, Rob Donaldson, “Mr. J” (Owen Johnston), and the late Betty Anne Coulter.
“They’re fantastic teachers; unbelievably talented people,” he lauded.
As for advice to other young musicians and artists, Marusyk said they must “be realistic” about following their dreams.
“I’ve never, ever said to myself that I wanted to be a musician solely as a means of income,” he stressed.
“It’s extremely difficult, and audio engineering, oddly enough, is about as hard as becoming famous.
“Not a lot of people work in a big-name studio unless they’ve worked there for free for three years,” he added.
“But I would say, as corny as it sounds, if it’s something you enjoy, keep doing it.”
Marusyk recalled he was terrified of performing in front of people at first.
“But oddly enough, you get over it and it becomes something you enjoy,” he noted. “And people notice that when you’re on stage.
“You are clearly enjoying yourself . . . they can feel that, and there’s a connection with the crowd.
“When people like that, people that can get that connection, have a good rapport with their crowd, it gets better from there,” Marusyk added.
“There will always be people that aren’t interested in you, but for every one that isn’t interested at a show, there’s usually two that are,” he said.
“As long as you keep at it.”
Marusyk, who played a gig at the Little Beaver Cultural Centre here last December, which, much to his surprise, drew a full house, said he’s looking forward to this Friday’s performance at the Legion.
The show will feature special guests Brittany Hayes, Larissa Desrosiers, and Benjamin Sletmoen.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m. All ages welcome.
Tickets cost $10, which are available at From the Grind Up here, The Coffee Landing over in International Falls, and at the door.
Marusyk also will be playing this Saturday (Nov. 23) at the Little Falls Community Centre in Atikokan.
