FIVE QUESTIONS WITH HAMILTON FOLK LEGEND WAX MANNEQUIN

Hamilton Indie Folk Legend, Wax Mannequin, Announces Hometown Show December 7th at Vertagogo Hamilton. 

Posted By Ben Rispin 

Hamilton Folk Legend Wax Mannequin plays Vertagogo Hamilton on December 7th

LISTEN TO WAX MANNEQUIN

11/21/2024 - For many of us old heads in the Hamilton music community, Wax Mannequin will go down as one of the greats like C.A. Smith, B.A. Johnston or Lee Reed. A true original. 

Admittedly, when I first heard of Wax Mannequin I didn't get it. I had my head so far up my own ass that I didn't realize that what I was witnessing was the dawn of one of the coolest indie artists Canada has ever seen (in my opinion). Wax Mannequin, who's real name is Chris Adeney, has suffered being a head of his time almost his entire career. A true creative visionary, Wax opened the door for so many artists in the Hamilton indie scene that the list is too great to mention. 

A few years later, I began to understand what Chris was doing. It was punk. It was art. It was sometimes silly. It was tragic. It was honest. It was everything an indie artist should be. 

Wax Mannequin quickly began to be known as a work horse. Constantly touring and unapologetic in his devotion to being himself. I had the pleasure of playing a show with him with a band I was in called The Saint Alvia Cartel one time in North Bay. We were on tour with The Reason and it was the dead of winter.  A storm had hit and Chris / Wax hadn't showed up yet. The promoter and bands began to worry. This was around 2007 so cell phones were more unreliable. Especially up North.   

Sure enough, the scruffy, bearded, one man show eventually wandered into the pub. Soaking and covered in snow. He was a little disheveled. He had been in a car accident and had crashed his car into a ditch or snow bank and was stuck for hours. Somehow he still made the show. 

I was blown away.  That day I saw a different kind of artist. One with incredible spirit, commitment, and work ethic. To this day I use that show as a benchmark in what an indie artist should be and how one should carry themselves. 

I was thrilled that Wax Mannequin agreed to answer five questions for our Fannablog. Make sure not to miss his show December 7th at Vertagogo in Hamilton, Ontario. He'll be joined by Beef Boys, Day Drunk and The Clarkies. Get tickets here or click the image below. 

WAX MANNEQUIN BIO (Taken from Wikipedia)

 Wax Mannequin is the stage name of Chris Adeney,[1] a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter. His style has been described as "a hybrid of Bruce Cockburn and Frank Zappa",[2] "Tom Waits and Type O Negative jamming on the early Beatles catalogue",[3] and "Rheostatics via Savatage".[4] Carl Wilson of The Globe and Mail noted that "crowds are often baffled whether to be awed, irritated or amused by Wax's all-rockets-flaring, un-Canadian-like extravagant performances" (2004).[2]

Part of the Hamilton, Ontario scene, Adeney released his first self-titled album, a solo album in the psychedelic folk genre, in 2000. He followed up with and Gun in 2002, before putting together an eponymous band for his third release, 2004's The Price, which was supported by national tours across Canada and Australia. His best known single to date is "Message from the Queen".

His fourth album, Orchard and Ire, was released in 2007 (an EP titled Orchard was released in summer 2006).[5]

His fifth full-length album, Saxon, was released by Zunior on 4 August 2009.[1] It was the first of Wax Mannequin's albums to prominently identify his backing band, Black Blood (Aidan Campbell on percussion and Mark Raymond on bass),[6] and was followed by extensive cross-Canada and European touring.

He is the brother of financial blogger Mr. Money Mustache.[7]

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH HAMILTON FOLK LEGEND WAX MANNEQUIN

WHEN AND WHERE DID YOUR LOVE OF MUSIC FORM? 

My dad played jazz piano while I was growing up. He was really good but mostly self-taught and never performed with a band or for anyone – except us. Often he’d play when we were getting ready to go out for a special family night – to a movie at Limeridge Mall or to Red Lobster for unlimited popcorn shrimp. Hearing my dad play piano – Duke Ellington, Albert Amnons, Cole Porter – always meant he was ready to go and we should hurry the hell up. 

Then when my older sisters went off to university, they brought home the Real Frank Zappa book. I think that book broke me. I started collecting all of his records, Beefheart too. The Residents, Turtles, Zombies, Arthur Lee, Diamanda Galas, Esquivel, Kinks, Bowie, Waits, Mr. Bungle. I could only ever get into music that was a bit… off.

Then a buddy of mine introduced me to Fostex 4 track recording. He had busted open his machine and sped it up so the tape whipped by stupidly fast. This improved the resolution. It made the sound super clean and warm. We bought microphones from Radio Shack and a Casio SK1. He “circuit bent it” – meaning he took a soldering iron to the circuit board to make it sound all glitchy. It churned and popped. It made noises that were alternately upsetting and oddly soothing. Then we recorded my first record. This was around 2001, so I’ve been at it a while. Touring gave my music and performance a heaviness and a kind of immediacy. Sometimes I delve back in that deeply experimental direction. Usually I just like to fuckin rock. 

WHAT WAS THE FIRST CONCERT YOU WENT TO? 

Lollapalooza 1992...  I think. The one where Eddie Vedder climbed all over the scaffolding. I remember being super confused when the audience of white suburban kids booed Ice Cube for singing Fuck tha Police. That was weird. It was a good concert. I was barely a teenager and very drunk. 

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST “BIG SHOW”? OR YOUR FIRST SHOW EVER? 

My first show: I got a phone call late one night and a creepy voice asked “Is this Arcade?” (my old solo project name – not sure why I ever changed it). The voice asked if I could drive to Ottawa (from Hamilton) to play a show with him and some friends. He had heard a cassette tape of my early glitchy, fingerstyle guitar songs and thought we could be pals. I did the show. It was a packed little club called the Whippet or the Whipping or something. The next morning the dude paid me $100 bux! I was speechless. I think I’d never been paid that much for anything. Anyhow the guy’s name was Corwin and we’ve remained good friends and collaborators ever since. Some of the other guys from that night went on to be in a super famous and not particularly interesting band called Arcade Fire. I got to open for them in Halifax one time. That one was my first Big show. 

WHAT WAS YOUR WORST SHOW OR FUNNIEST SHOW MEMORY?  

In Charlottetown, dead of winter, I locked my keys in my 92 Civic. My guitar was in there too and it was time for me to hit the stage. Frantic, I smashed my window and grabbed my guitar. It really threw my nerves but made for a good story on stage. After the set I found my keys behind my amp. The next morning I cut a piece of plywood into a window shape and bolted it to the space where the window used to be. I toured around in my little Wooden-Window-Civic for eight months straight. The blindspot was fucking terrible. 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? 

My solo show is off the hook these days. I think I’ve reached my final form – or something approaching my final form. I’m kickin’ a drum machine again and my devilish Gibson. Weird projections. People have brought me countless golden necklaces. I collect them. I play out a few times a month in Ontario. I usually fly out to a couple festival gigs throughout the winter and spring then I tour steady every summer, usually with a new album or a new shirt or something.   Occasionally I still do the candle thing when I play outdoor festivals and am not likely to burn the place down. I expect I’ll keep touring and stuff until I’m 70 or 80 or so. My band is fucking deadly too. They’ll probably be backing me up on Dec 7. Might do some solo shit too. It’s going to be a monster night.

GET TICKETS TO WAX MANNEQUIN, BEEF BOYS, DAY DRUNK & THE CLARKIES

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