JP Hoe’s guitarist talks about Hoe’s development as a songwriter, and why he didn’t like Hoe’s music

In today’s issue of The Uniter, there’s an article I wrote about JP Hoe. One of the interesting things I found out while interviewing Hoe is that one of his key sidemen, guitarist Rob Pachol, didn’t even like Hoe’s music when the two of them first met.

“I do believe he’s expressed to me in so many words that he doesn’t care for my first record,” Hoe, 27, said during the interview.

Pachol, 39, has played with a variety of bands in Winnipeg, including the Rowdymen and the Telepathic Butterflies. His electric guitar playing appears throughout Hoe’s latest disc, The Dear John Letters.

Hoe and Pachol met through Hoe’s manager in 2005 when Hoe was looking for a guitarist to accompany him during a series of music industry showcases in Toronto. 

“When I first heard [Hoe’s debut disc, The Here in Review EP], I thought, ‘too commercial,’” said Pachol, who has gravitated throughout his life toward blues, garage and rockabilly music—or as he puts it, “nothing that [has] commercial aspirations.” For Hoe, though, Pachol was willing to make an exception.

 “I heard something in there that intrigued me, that I wanted to flesh out and see where he was going,” Pachol said of The Here in Review EP. He added that the music is Hoe’s vision, and it’s not his position to turn Hoe into someone else. Still, Pachol’s tried to influence him “in small ways.”

Since Pachol met Hoe, the self-described “grumpy old guy” has witnessed “a dramatic change in the depth and maturity” of Hoe’s music.

“Musically and lyrically, it’s a dramatic shift,” said Pachol, who also performed with Hoe during a tweener set on the mainstage at this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival. “It’s one of the most dramatic shifts I’ve ever seen in a musician. It’s been pretty exciting to watch him develop as a songwriter.”

Sandy Taronno of Winnipeg power-pop quartet Quinzy, who played bass on The Dear John Letters, agrees with Pachol.

“They sound thought-out and yet full of heart,” he said of the songs Hoe has written in the past few years. “He has a real handle on balancing the two sides [of] over-thinking versus over-feeling.” 
For his part, Hoe is glad to have friends like Pachol and Taronno.

“I’m well aware that to be an independent musician your support system has to be massively, massively strong,” Hoe said. “I’m really lucky that I’ve got friends and family that are non-stop support, and that I’m playing in a city that supports my music.”

Rob Pachol, left, performing with JP Hoe.
 
JP Hoe releases The Dear John Letters this Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Visit www.jphoe.com.