On Ombiigizi’s debut, Sewn Back Together, the Canadian band’s songwriters and vocalists Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon move away from their post-punk roots, leaving behind the distortion and overwhelming volume of their previous efforts. Monkman previously fronted Zoon, a shoegaze band that featured elements drawn from his Native background that he dubbed ‘moccasin-gaze.’ Sturgeon’s band, Status/Non-Status, played their own style of indie rock, with lyrics that referenced the political difficulties faced by Indigenous Canadians.
“The album title represents our coming together with our Anishinaabe roots and community,” Sturgeon says. “Dan and I wanted to create a representation of our family histories and reconnect to our culture.
“A lot of the schooling we got was indoctrination, making Indigenous culture seem as if it only existed in the past,” he says. “They never talked about what we were doing now. They always spoke about us in the past tense, but our past, present, and future are of a whole piece. Sewing it back together means a reclaiming of our roots, our history. Ombiigizi translates as ‘to be noisy,’ but we actually stripped away the feedback and instrumental smashing we did in our other bands.”
Monkman and Sturgeon have been professionals for a long time, but both mentioned the problems often confronted playing in bands with non-Native musicians.
“In the indie rock scene we were in, there were only a few First Nation bands,” Sturgeon says. “I wanted to focus on myself, my family and the stories that are being told about our history in Canada. It’s sometimes difficult with non-Native people in the band. When I got together with Daniel; we created a safe space to tell our stories. There are three Native people in the band right now, so there are things we don’t have to say to each other when we play. Things you’d have to spell out for non-Indigenous people.”
The songs on Sewn Back Together reference the history of Canada’s First Nations population. The music is guitar heavy folk rock, with political lyrics delivered with a poetic nuance. “Ogiin (Mother/Caregiver)” is driven by acoustic guitars and a rolling drumbeat. Monkman and Sturgeon sing high harmonies in praise of parents who provide unconditional support through trying times.
Hard rock guitars and a driving backbeat, with abrupt stops and starts, give way to cinematic keyboard textures on “Birch Bark Paper Trails.” As the music swells, Sturgeon speaks softly to provide a condensed history of Canada’s Indigenous population, from forced migrations to tribal disintegration and loss of identity due to forced assimilation. “Yaweh” is sung in the Cherokee language. The duo’s harmonies join with soothing synthesizer washes and a quiet drum beat for a chant of thanksgiving.
Monkman says the songs were written and recorded during the last year’s COVID lockdown.
“Leading up to the session, Adam and I spoke on the phone and sent each other demos with ideas about the musical visions we had. We made some demos, but in the studio, our producer, Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) helped us choose what to use and not use.”
Sturgeon continues, “We all wore masks and things went fast. We did some spontaneous songwriting and arranging with our bandmates (guitar, bass, and keyboard player Andrew McCloed and drummer Eric Lourenco) in the studio. About half of the songs were created on the spot, including lyrics and music. If Eric played a beat we liked, it became a song. We started jamming and figuring things out, not knowing where we were going, each of us finding our sweet spots in every song. It was all in the moment, with each song taking on its own life.”
Watch the video for “Residential Military” here:
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Photo courtesy of Ombiigizi and Rima Sater
