Congratulations to Mike Edel for winning #5 in the Peak Performance Project 2012! We are so happy for all friends of the VMR being in Top 5, and I’m pretty sure that this may have been the most exciting tour of Mike & Jordan’s lives because of the announcement. Our Song of the Day is his newest video, “The Country Where I Came From,” which is such a beautiful picture that we can hear more about in our interview below. Take a look & listen.

Normally people say that tour is a whirlwind and you’re so busy, but I had mine before the tour even started.

Jess: How was tour?

Mike Edel: Tour has really good. It was pretty even cue, nothing crazy or bad happened. We had some good shows, it was a good tour to meet a lot of people and meet fans and stuff. We got back last Thursday for the Peak finale and we’ve had a few days to breathe and get to play a few shows again this week.

Jess: How was being on tour with Klassen and finding out the Peak Performance Project top 5?

Mike Edel: Jordan and I were planning this tour in the midst of the PPP. The question was always “What if one of us gets in the top 5?” or ”What if none of us get in the top 5?’ It was always on the back burner. But it obviously worked out. Our upcoming Vancouver show is a bit of an after-party celebration show in a way.

Jess: Was the first half of the tour stressful before the announcement?

Mike Edel: We were definitely thinking about it. The start of the tour for me was a little bit crazy. I flew to Alberta because I was picking up the tour van. There was a big snow storm the day I was there. I was also finishing building these wooden frames that I could slip my seven-inch in. I only spent 2 days in Alberta and I was getting the van insured, finish building all these frames, finishing my final report for the peak… finishing all that on like 2 hours of sleep a night, then drove from Calgary to Victoria by myself in one day, and then I came back over to Vancouver and picked up Jordan and his band, we started the tour and we played in Kelowna that night. I got everything done. I handed in my proposal the day left on tour. Normally people say that tour is a whirlwind and you’re so busy, but I had mine before the tour even started.

Jess: Sounds busy! That’s a lot of transportation in one day. Speaking of travel… as a band from Victoria, what do you do guys do on BC ferries to kill time?

Mike Edel: We do whatever we want and save as much money as possible. We’ve thought of thrifty ways. So nothing exciting. We think of  even more ways to save money on the ferries. Now that we’ve got this van, really you can hide a few people in the back… like 10 people. That’s the number one way. The number two way, if you get to the self serve ice cream place, there’s a small or a large. Just keep filling it up as high as it will go. Brace it with another spoon or container. They charge you 3 bucks for it but you’re getting like 4 small ice creams from it. There’s a few other good ones. If you go to the buffet half way through… this involves being a little bit sneaky… usually the person that’s feeding you disappears halfway through. For this one though, you have to join another table or else you’ll look suspicious. So you get a meal and get to make new friends! Very economical way to eat.

Jess: What are you going to do now that you are $5,000 richer?

Mike Edel: We’re going on an exciting trip that’s disguised as a tour. Well, it’s a tour. It will come down to writing and recording some new albums in the next year. I’m writing for a bit. That’s what it will be… a bit of recording and flying to Toronto. Canadian Music Week and Folk Alliance in February.  We’re just going to states though, were going to LA and Orange Country in December. I told my band that we were all going to Disneyland if we got in the top 3.We can’t really stop and spend a whole extra day in Disneyland though, plus we didn’t get in the top 3.

Jess: How’s time on your dad’s farm? Is that solitary vacation and relaxation time, or is that actual farm work?

Mike Edel: It is solitary but I was definitely farming, not writing. It is a wheat farm. We grow grain. So I just got out there during harvest season so I went out to work with my dad. It’s different from life in Victoria. I just hung out with my dad all day and trucked grain around. There’s lots of space, in more ways than one. I find it pretty relaxing. Despite working. It’s working therapy.

Jess: How is life different from Victoria?

Mike Edel: It’s complete countryside for most people even though it’s only an hour outside of Calgary. A lot of my friends have come out there and they think its in the middle of nowhere  I grew up there for 18 year of of my life. I packed the car off and looked for new experiences when I moved to Victoria for university, and I’m still back west. I go out there quite a bit still. We just toured through, Calgary is really great. CBC recorded our show in Calgary. Our best shows have been in Calgary and Edmonton. We play there a good 3 times a year, and I go out there once a year for harvest and once a year for Christmas. I do see a lot of the prairies even though I live out here.

Jess: Sounds like a romanticization of the Canadian prairies, you must think very fondly of them.

Mike Edel: The video for “The Country Where I Came From” is around the farm and on the farm. That video is a romanticization but also some harsh images. It juxtaposes it perfectly  The town I grew up in, the farm, and my family make it a really nice place for me, but also an inner struggle. Not taking over my dad’s farm, living in Victoria… in a way, its lost. There’s so many great things about this place but also a reason that I’m not permanently there. That’s my own inner struggle. That video presents it pretty well.

Jess: That’s amazing! It’s such a beautiful video. You just asked your dad if you could film around the farm and nobody minded?

Mike Edel: A few people minded. And threatened to call the cops on us for carrying guns around.

 Come check out Mike Edel & Jordan Klassen’s homecoming show at The Media Club on Saturday night – EARLY SHOW 7PM doors.
Tickets available here. 12$, 19+ Listen & buy music on Bandcamp.