Over the last year, the buzz has slowly been building around Ottawa band Brothers Through The Hill, a four piece consisting of best friends James Walters, Chris Metcalfe, Pat Crosby, and lead singer and principle songwriter Jack Spinks. Beat Surrender blog has credited their 2011 debut album ’Adelaide’ with "fine song writing and smart melodic foot tapping tunes", while country blog fansite NineBullets commented that  “while Adelaide is a little less twangy than I normally enjoy, the strength of the lyrics more than makes up for it.” Ottawa X-Press nominated the band for best live act, Ottawa Magazine has shown up at their live shows to photograph the band, their lead singer Jack Spinks has been compared to the late Elliot Smith multiple times in print, and on February the 25th Jack will open for Juno Award winner Hawksley Workman solo at the Old Town Hall in Almonte. Here, Jack Spinks sits down with Positivelite.com’s Michael Burtch and talks about his upcoming solo album, performing live with his band Brothers Through The Hill, and what feeds his song writing.

Michael Burtch: Your band, Brothers Through The Hill’s CD release party and performance at the Elmdale Tavern last February was an incredible live show! Were you pleased with the reception that ‘Adelaide’ received upon it‘s release? Why the decision to follow it up with a solo record?

Jack Spinks: Last February was a dream come true, we managed to hit capacity and still have a line up out the door. The solo record is something I’ve always wanted to do and friends and family have told me they love my "bedroom acoustic" recordings just as much as the album so me and my producer Brock Zeman through some ideas around in terms of sound and being solo and both came to the conclusion that a solo folk album would really be great.

MB: You released the demo‘s for "All At Once", "This is Healthy", and "Burntlands Sundown" this winter. Can we expect these songs to pop up on your new album?

JS: Right now there’s about 20-30 songs I’m sitting on that weren’t on the Adelaide record. The plan is to record demos for all of them and then me and Brock will sit down and decide which ones will make the cut. I’m really digging the way "All at once" turned out so I have a feeling it will be on there for sure.

MB: Your demo of “Broken” is a mix-tape staple of mine. I don’t think I’ve made a boy-wooing mix-tape since without including it. You softly pledging and at the same time pleading that you “won’t be mean” and that amazing lyric “I saw you searching for a soul mate / On the floor of a bar downtown” gets me every time. I know what that song means to me, but I’d love to hear what it means to you. How did you come to write “Broken” and why did you wait for your upcoming solo record to finally record it?

JS: (Laughing) The lyric is actually "wont be me" but your not the first one to make that mistake. Broken was essentially a song I wrote about the realization that the relationship I was in at the time had gone past the point of being able to fix, and the feeling at that specific time in my life that I was losing (what I thought) was the love of my life. As for putting it on the solo record; I was never able to get it to sound the way I like with a full band behind me so it just kinda made sense.

MB: Do you have an expected release date for your solo record?

JS: I hit the studio hopefully the end of February, hopefully it will be ready by the time summer comes.

MB: Digging graves, dying young, being alone, Zombies standing five feet from your bed, Satan being your best friend, there is a lot of defeatist, morbid, dark themes in your lyrics. What is it about sadness and horror that captures you and inspires so much of your lyrics?

JS: When I write songs its generally when I’m not feeling the greatest in my head, usually emotional, and song writing is a great release to pour energy like that into. Some of the lyrics come off darker then they actually are. For instance "Its cool to die young" is more dark sarcastic humour because the song is mostly about being young and having too much fun with drugs and alcohol. The song "down" is actually about a fictional character I created named Biker Dan who is basically just a maniac with a motor bike. So when I sing "Satan is my best friend" I wrote the song as if Dan were singing it. I intended to do a full concept album about biker Dan but kinda gave up around 4 songs in.

MB: Live, you have a song you always dedicate to “the boys in the basement bar” which you wrote about Ottawa alternative bar Swizzles Pub). I know it’s one of your favourite watering holes, what is it about that space that you connect with?

JS: (Laughing) I’m actually a full time bartender there now! I love my job and I love that bar. Its quite literally a gay episode of cheers. Everybody knows your name and its a close knit community of long time friends during the day and at night its always a wild party!

MB: “February Is For Giving Up” is my favourite song on ‘Adelaide‘. Seems it always gets people up and dancing at your shows! Do you have a favourite song of yours to play live?

JS: Because I try and write a couple songs a month its hard to say if I have a favourite. My favourites are generally new songs that people get to hear for the first time, which generally are changing all the time.

MB: Solo, and with Brothers Through The Hill, you’ve donated your time and performed several live shows to help raise money for many grassroots organizations and non-profits including The Ottawa AIDS Walk, P.O.W.E.R., and The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation's Courage Campaign. What motivates you to be so community oriented?

JS: Music has helped me in my life soooo much, and if I can write songs that people enjoy or maybe help them in anyway it really is a great feeling. I also love my city and if I can play an hour of songs I wrote to help people or help raise funds for a cause I usually jump at the occasion because I feel that's what music and being a musician is all about.

MB: Ok, lastly, why the name change from Kyle to Jack?

JS: My grandfathers name was John his friends called him Jack, my middle name is also John, also there’s another musician on youtube named Kyle Spinks. He looks about 14 and I’ve had bars link to his youtube channel on their websites thinking it was me. So yeah, from here on out I’m going by jack! Also I think you should be able to choose your own name, your the one that has to live with it!

My thanks to Jack Spinks for taking the time to chat to Positivelite.com. You can catch Jack Spinks live on stage on February the 25th at the Old Town Hall (14 Bridge Street) in Almonte opening for Hawksley Workman. Click here to buy tickets. Brothers Through The Hill’s debut record ‘Adelaide’ can be purchased off cdbaby at www.cdbaby.com/cd/btthill.

I’ve never been a music snob, despite fancying myself a music aficionado, something of an artist, and an expert mix-tape giver. So I  was not surprised when I a quick review of my ‘most played’ songs on i-tunes revealed it wasn’t the critical darlings of 2011 like Lana Del Rey, Penguin Prison , and The Sound Of Arrows that dominated my i-pod last year, but rather it was the unabashed pop charms of Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne that ranked highest among  my ‘most played’ songs. For your enjoyment, I’ve listed all ten of my most played songs of 2011 below, in the hope that you may discover a great pop song or two you might have missed out on over the course of last year. Enjoy everybody!

Michael’s Top 10 Year End Mix-Tape Playlist:

1. “Disco Moment” by Bright Light Bright Light . Robyn’s Dancing On My Own dominated my i-pod last year, and this track by openly queer artist Rod Thomas sounds like it’s sequel. By far my favourite song of 2011.

2. “So What You’re Happy” by Baker. The lyrics about his ex-partner’s parents having never liked him is my favourite part of this break-up club track, with the emotionally voyeuristic  lyrics in the bridge a close second. "It hurts to know that you won't ever call me/ And now I'm letting go but I'm wondering/ If you still love me."

3. "Synchronised" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Wistful, electro-cool, pop-balladry.

4. "Dancing In Houston (Divide & Kreate Mash-Up)" by Robyn vs Whitney Houston . My favourite song of 2010 in a new guise.

5. "Wish You Were Here"  by Avril Lavigne.  Thank God for producer Max Martin.

6. "Trip To Your Heart"  by Britney Spears.  Unsurprisingly, long-time Britney collaborators Bloodshy and Avant produced and co-wrote this Femme Fatale album highlight. Surprisingly, it was covers of many of the album’s tracks that I ended up enjoying, and listening too, more than Britney’s originals. Be sure to check out Baker covering “Hold It Against Me”, and openly queer artists Eddie Razaz covering “Criminal” and Eli Lieb covering “Inside Out” respectively.

7. "Obsession" by Shane Ward. Released in the States on the 8th of February of last year, Shane Ward’s Prince inspired pop balled deserved to be a much bigger hit on both sides of the Atlantic than it was. (You’d think posing nude  and appearing on the cover of Gay Times  soaking wet, in a white t-shirt, would have at least assured him a top 40 hit in his native U.K., but instead he got dropped by his record label!)

8. “Atlantic”  by The Midway State. I heard this song on Proud FM and immediately went home and downloaded it. P.S. Fun fact, lead singer Nathan Ferraro is Canadian and looks like Glee’s Darren Criss if Darren Crisis had sex, smoked too much pot, and experienced black-outs caused by too much drinking. Ie. Nathan Ferraro is totally fuckin hot. (And for those who are impressed by Lady Gaga, he dueted with her on an unreleased Peter Gabriel cover (hyper link:) a few years back!)

9. "Don't Give Up"  by Darren Hayes. I’m all about this song on the treadmill for some reason.

10. “Quiz” by Markus Riva. Technically released in 2010, I didn’t discover it till last summer, and consequently, it became my summer jam. His latest single “How It Feels To Be A Man” was also a summer favourite.

Honorable Mentions: “The City (Richard X Remix)” by Patrick Wolf and “Love” by Kazaky.

When I was first diagnosed as having HIV, I created a playlist on my i-pod of the most depressing songs imaginable. I’d stalk the streets of my downtown neighbourhood at night, doing a lot of mournful thinking, while passing under the glow of street lamps and neon signs with my head hung down and my hands tucked firmly in my pockets. I wanted my environment to match my mood, so I’d leave my brightly painted apartment and bubbly roommate behind, and follow the crumbling concrete sidewalks of Sandy Hill to Strathcona Park.

With ‘Calendar Girl' by Stars on repeat, I’d meditate on the lyrics of the song and feel sorry for myself while I processed how I was going to live the rest of my life with any sense of hope or normalcy. I’d stare at the polluted waters of the Rideau River that ran through Strathcona Park and think it looked inviting and romantic under the moonlight and stars. I’d feel incredibly sad I couldn’t swim in its filthy waters. I’d feel incredibly sad that no one would ever want to fuck me again. Eventually I’d tire of my music, or be chased out of the Park by By-Law Officers, and return home to an uneasy sleep, alone.

After all this time, in periods of difficulty, I still retreat to my ipod (though my night walks now are more likely to take me to the Goodlife Rideau gym then Strathcona Park.) More often than I‘d care to admit, I still worry about having HIV (though my concerns have changed from trying to cope with HIV to trying to thrive with HIV.)  After all this time, I’d like to think I’ve outgrown some behaviours that have served as crutches, replaced them with healthier alternatives, and become more resilient. More often than I’d care to admit, I still self medicate with Pot and alcohol, or sex (turns out lots of people still want to fuck me) or the latest power pop ballad by Snow Patrol .

Here are a few of my favourite songs that, for me, speak volumes about my experience of having HIV. Songs that have helped empower and embolden me over the years, or otherwise helped me process how I might be feeling at any given time about my status. Songs that I still escape too, and I want to share them with my readers. To paraphrase Stevie Nicks from the liner notes to her Greatest Hits collection ‘Timespace‘, I hope there is an answer in waiting for you  to be found in one of these songs. “I’d love that” she writes. I’d love that too. They’ve certainly helped me over the years process or soundtrack my own experiences being queer and HIV+.

Michael’s HIV Mix-Tape Playlist:

(We Are) Performance: Vandals. Contracting HIV can feel like getting tagged by graffiti. "Do you see what the vandals did to me? They have taken everything. You feel so dangerously close..." sings the band’s lead singer Joe Cross. His yelp at the 2:53 mark conveys everything else the song can’t in under 4 minutes.

Darren Hayes: Unlovable. "Are my lips unkissable? Are my eyes unlookable? Is my sex undoable? Am I unlovable?" This song is so relatable to being HIV+ and trying to date that I wasn’t the least bit surprised when I found out that Darren had re-recorded an acoustic version to benefit the Australian HIV/AIDS Charity 'Positive Kids'.

Madonna (feat. Lil Wayne): Revolver.  I’m not the first person on PositiveLite.com to think this song could double as a commentary on the criminalization of HIV transmission.

Barenaked Ladies: You Run Away   "I tried to be your brother. You cried and ran for cover. I made a mess, who doesn’t. I did my best but it wasn’t enough" Reminds me of my estranged sister who hasn’t spoken to me since being told I had HIV. Unfortunately, losing family over an HIV diagnoses isn’t the rarity you’d hope it would it be in this day and age. Having spoken to many HIV+ people from all over Canada, it is a painful, repetitive story that many have to tell.

The Fray: How To Save A Life.  Am I the only one who hears this song and thinks about disclosure? "Step one you say we need to talk. He walks you say sit down it's just a talk. He smiles politely back at you. You stare politely right on through..."

Ben Lee: Catch My Disease (Live). The live version (which you can find on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack) is way better than the studio version, if for no other reason than Ben Lee name checks the Bangles in it. I have long made this whimsical track a mix-tape staple for potential suitors. Ether the guy gets the humour and laughs at its inclusion, or he acts repulsed and horrified, in which case, he’s a humourless douche and clearly is hung up on your status. Honourable mention goes to “Everyone has AIDS” by Team America. Nothing is more important than being able to laugh when facing adversity.

Death Cab For Cutie: What Sarah Said. A meditation on mortality and relationships.

Is there a song that you listen to that makes you think about your status, or sums up your experiences having HIV that isn’t on my list? Please share the song and artist in the comments section below!  All songs listed are available for purchase in the Canadian I-tunes store.