Q&A: Mangan on mocking SXSW, critics panning ‘Hector’ and shaving his beard

TORONTO – Dan Mangan took in his sixth South By Southwest this year with a weary veteran’s eye, turning his Twitter account into an outlet for sardonic play-by-play.

Among his dozens of insights: “if a band plays a show and no one is around to see it, does it still make a sound?” and “inspiring keynote this afternoon: ‘if you work hard enough you can literally make hundreds and hundreds of dollars.’”

Well, the two-time Juno winner has a rather sunnier outlook as he stares down the summer festival circuit, beginning with this weekend’s Field Trip in Toronto.

“It’s totally different,” Mangan said in a recent telephone interview. “The thing about South By (Southwest) that’s so overwhelming is this parade of projected image, everyone trying to be really cool…. It’s this weird push-pull of delusion and desperation.

“Festivals generally have good food, there’s lots of time to relax and you’re catching up with friends you haven’t seen for a long time.”

Before summer’s out, Mangan will play festivals in Ottawa, Sudbury, Ont., Winnipeg, Pemberton, B.C., and Yellowknife.

He talked to The Canadian Press about the new album, his contributions to the critically derided “Hector and the Search for Happiness” and the media’s fascination with his beard.

CP: Since releasing “Club Meds” in January, have your feelings about the album changed?

Mangan: Not really. Right out of the gate when I was talking to journalists, I was probably more boastful about this record than anything I’d done before.

If anything has changed, it’s like my compass has again started to shift and I think: “OK, what’s the next move?”

———

CP: The record is something of a departure. Is it hard to be reassessed at this point in your career?

Mangan: We’ve never been a Pitchfork band, and this record is probably more in line with what Pitchfork likes to write about than anything I’ve done. But there’s no way they’re going to write about us because it’s our fourth record. They made up their minds that we’re some bearded folkie Canadians.

Or maybe we just aren’t on their radar at all and they don’t care.

———

CP: I was reading some of your recent press and noticed that many outlets — the Guardian, the Huffington Post — mentioned your beard. Are you surprised it’s still a focus?

Mangan: That (Guardian) review was amazing. The guy clearly loved the show, and in the review he referenced (David) Bowie and Radiohead. Musically, he was referring to all these amazing people, but he still couldn’t get away from the fact that we had beards.

The other day, because of that article, I was saying to my wife: “Maybe I should just shave it off. Maybe I need to just shed that.” She said, “No, because the last time you shaved it off you looked like you were 12.”

———

CP: You contributed music to “Hector and the Search for Happiness.” The critical reception was less than kind.

Mangan: (laughs) It was pretty ruthless.

Honestly, I don’t think it deserved as much venom as it got. In some ways, the film leaned on cliche a little too often and was a kind of simplistic view of the world. But at the same time I thought there were some great performances (and) some truly funny moments.

When it comes to the music, I’m really proud. It was an unbelievably vast project, way more intense for me than any of (my) albums.

Even if people didn’t like the film, I’d like to think that they could listen to the soundtrack and enjoy that.

———

Answers have been edited and condensed.

———

Follow @CP_Patch on Twitter.