Idiopath is one part of a multimedia project from former ist frontperson Kenton Hall - consisting of Idiopath (36 original songs), Omniopath (all 36 songs reinterpreted by other artists) and Videopath, 36 short films that will make up a feature-length video anthology in December 2023. It was made entirely at home over the course of the pandemic after several years away from music (making films, writing books, keeping teenage daughters from exploding) and is long because a) no one told him to stop and b) the songs belonged together, like a lovestruck couple or a sack full of dalmatians.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Kenton Hall & The Necessary Measures. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I don't necessarily think I AM a great musician. I'm a songwriter who owns instruments and I'm definitely not a virtuoso on any of them. I do work with some amazing musicians though. MUCH better than me. My job - even when it's me playing - is to keep an eye on the story I'm telling and make sure everything is focused on that.
Who inspired you to make music?
My songwriting touchstones are those people who made me feel less alone when I was growing up listening to music. I had a pretty messed up childhood and I was a strange, bookish little thing (still am). So, hearing people playing with language and sounds, and expressing ideas and thoughts that I had believed were only on the inside of my head... I wanted to do THAT. There is a reason my favourite songwriter is Elvis Costello.
Your latest release is 'Idiopath'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
I'd been away from music for a long time. (I was previously the frontperson of the band ist). I'd been writing books and making movies, which I also love, but it's not the same. An old bandmate came back to town and demanded on pain of pain that I start writing and recording again. We started just as the pandemic hit, so the record became the thing that kept us sane(ish), flying tracks back and forth between our home studios. The project just kept getting bigger and weirder. Idiopath ended up a triple album. We added on a companion album Omniopath, with the songs covered by 36 different artists. There's a film version. A book. This is what happens when I don't leave the house.
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
I'll give it a shot - there are many.
1. Keep It Simple
Simplicity is not something that has ever come easily to me. I am, as the saying goes, a drama magnet. But sometimes, you want someone to know you’re willing to give simple a go. This is one of those times.
2. Maybe
This is a song about a ‘nice’ guy. Poor baby, just wants to find the courage to chat up the object of his fantasy. It’s funny how quickly ‘nice’ slips away with a guy like that.
3. Mediocre Mile
I wanted to write an honest Bruce Springsteen song. Sometimes you can’t make the big getaway in the fuel inefficient car. Enter Frank and Hannah.
4. Whatever This Is
Not a love story. But not NOT a love story. A ‘what the hell is going on?’ story.
5. It’s Not Over Yet
Life is full of dangling threads. If only it were easier to let them dangle.
6. Careful How You Go
This is my attempt to write something along the lines of ‘What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?’ An honest attempt to say ‘yes, the world is out to get you, but it’s out to get us all, so be kind’.
7. I Wish I Had A City
I grew up in a tiny prairie community, somewhere in the wilds of Saskatchewan. Where you longed for someone to come and whisk you into the wider world. I’ve been in the wider world for a while now. Still not sure I have a city.
8. Going Too Far
This is a song about letting fear get in your way. Possibly for good reasons.
9. The One That Got Away
I became aware, one day, that the language we use for lost love in song can sound a little creepy out of context. I decided to put it into context.
10. Unaccompanied
Directly written to stop my kids telling me to date more.
11. Put Up With Me
My attempt at a Squeeze-style short story in three and a bit minutes. Also, I believe the only song in the world that references the 1970s buddy cop movie ‘Freebie and the Bean’
12. Dumb As A Brick
The most rational reaction to falling in love, “Oh god, not again”. But it doesn’t stop you. Because you, like me, are dumb as a brick.
13. That’s More Like It
A song about the ease with which it’s possible to cross the line into being a dangerous man. I imagine it’s what goes on in the minds of Andrew Tate’s disciples, only probably with less complicated words.
14. FFS
A paean to the things that cause me to facepalm. Including myself.
15. My Turn
What happens when your heart breaks while an album by The Cars is playing? This.
16. Now You Know
This is how a bookworm talks sexy.
17. I Like You Best
A song about the things we wish we’d said. And the way in which love survives a lover’s exit.
18. We’re Not Talking Much At All
I never could get my head around people leaving. One day, you’re attached at the hip (and occasionally, other nearby body parts). The next, you don’t even speak.
19. Don’t Take My Picture
Time takes its toll and you don’t always want that commemorated.
20. Charlotte
Based on a telephone conversation I once overheard between a beleaguered gentleman and his off-screen love. The final chorus is recorded verbatim.
21. Baby, Wait
The bottle doesn’t just do YOU wrong.
22. She Sang
A story about a woman and a moment of her own.
23. I Think You Would Have Liked It Here
This is a story about a very specific what could have been.
24. Act III
Shouldn’t we have sorted out our shit by now?
25. Not Built For That Nonsense
Sometimes a story just overtakes you, without you really knowing where it came from, and this one, about an asexual bride post-WWII, is one of those. I suppose it’s about how we never really know what’s going on inside someone’s heart – and how much better it is that we talk more openly now.
26. Tell Me One More Time
Having battled with my mental health all my life, sometimes you just need someone to remind you that survival is a good thing.
27. Second Drum
In the aftermath of a broken heart – what comes next?
28. Sweet
Another story song, the tale of a relationship going off the rails in the space of a single argument.
29. The Final Hours of Those I Failed
Perhaps the strangest lyric I’ve ever written, it’s written from the point of view of a guardian angel realising how much he has misjudged (and failed) his charges.
30. I Used to Be Pretty
It’s a song about self-esteem, self-worth, ageing. Looking back and realising that the self you gave such a hard time to, in the long gone past, kind of had it going on.
31. Belly of the Beautiful
I wrote this one dark night, after watching too much CNN.
32. We Have to Go
Life’s too short and the likelihood of the world catching on fire too great to put off finding happiness.
33. The X-Factory
Tough times at the talent show.
34. Signature Mistake
You can leave me, but regret, not forget.
35. Sad Songs Say Fuck All
I wrote this in the knowledge that the one thing I may be good at – writing my feelings down – is never going to be enough to convince someone looking for something less ephemeral.
36. In Summation
This record is a letter. One its recipient may never read. But it’s addressed to them all the same.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I try to stay up-to-date with music, from all around the world, but not trends. The words 'trends' and 'music' should be kept apart from each other at all costs. Two of the worst things that ever happened to art were the invention of things being 'trendy' and the concept of 'cool'. Give me something that's individual and sincere and I'll listen. Everything else is a distraction and an obstacle to an artist actually finding their voice.
What do you feel is the best song that you have ever released and why?
"Dumb As A Brick" from Idiopath is the closest I've come to capturing what was in my head on record. There's always a tiny divide between the perfect version in your head and what your skill level allows you to create. The gap is smaller on that one than most.
Why do you want to record and release your own music?
After years of making other art - which I will continue to do - there is still nothing to match the feeling of someone responding to a piece of your music. I can't see I'm going to stop again now.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
I love talking to listeners/fans. I always have. You want to talk about the music, ask questions, tell me about your own music or something else that's moved you, I'm easy enough to find on t'Internet. I'm just honoured if someone likes my stuff enough to WANT to interact.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Oh god. Don't. What the hell are you thinking? My path has been weird and long and my feet hurt. But it has been MY path, which is the point, I suppose. So walk your own. Be patient, be persistent, try not to be a jerk and when you have been a jerk, which you will be sometimes, try to fix it.
What are your plans for the future?
This year, musically, will be all about promoting Idiopath and Omniopath - some live shows in the spring/summer - and finishing off Videopath, which is the feature-length video compilation for the album coming at the end of 2023. That's alongside books and other writing/acting. The next album's written though, so it'll begin again soon enough.