The Desert Island Big Band is a project led by Stefan Jurewicz, a music producer and audio engineer by trade (Kick Me Records), having worked on over 150 releases over the course of his decade-long career.

New release ‘Monuments’ exemplifies this as Jurewicz meshes moody guitar tones with melodies that keep the ears engaged from start to finish, threading the line perfectly between accessibility, and credibility. In the alternative-rock track, The Desert Island Big Band also manage to bridge the gap between freedom of solitude, and the weight of isolation, by acknowledging that perspectives ebb and flow like the tide; that drowning and drying off can happen in the same place.

‘Monuments’ is accompanied by a stunning music video encompassing the final piece of the puzzle, a dark aesthetic visual to compliment the song. The Desert Island Big Band began as a lesson in vulnerability; a way to push personal boundaries. As it progressed a narrative emerged, the ‘Lemon Trilogy.’ This trilogy later inspired Jurewicz’s first novel, ‘Lemon,’ published in early 2022.

“I don’t need to survive on my own to know I’m alive and in control”

Would you like to talk a bit about your background?

Stefan Jurewicz: I am a music producer and audio engineer. I’ve been making music myself and for others for over a decade now.

When did you decide that you wanted to start writing and performing your own music? What brought that about for you?

Before I was given my first guitar for Christmas, I found it stashed in my parents’ closet and would sneak peaks at it whenever I could. One of my friends had just been given his first guitar too, and I remember playing each other “songs” we’d “written” over the phone, plucking sequences of open strings that sounded nice. I didn’t even know how to hold the thing yet. Performance I’m not so sure about. I grew up mostly on classic rock, so I’ve done my fair share of windmills in the mirror, but I don’t recall a specific moment where I decided I wanted to do it — the desire has been there as long as I can remember.

What led you to form The Desert Island Big Band?

I am notoriously bored. Every band I’ve ever been in has reached a point where I felt pigeon-holed stylistically. Genres have never been my bag — to the detriment of every festival submission form I’ve filled out — and my writing reflects that. I tend to write out of experimentation, whether that’s from a technical standpoint or a creative one, so I felt that the music I was releasing through the acts I was playing in wasn’t accurately reflecting where I was or even who I was to a degree. DIBB was a sort of last-ditch effort to express myself in a way that was unabashedly vulnerable and true to what I wanted to do — wherever that took me.

What’s the story behind ‘Monument?’

I was walking home from the liquor store one day when I overheard an employee tell another they’d just called the cops on some people hanging in an alleyway behind a nearby burger joint. I passed that alley on my way home and found a small group of indigenous folks passing a bottle around. I let them know the cops were coming, and they scattered. I remember the distinct feeling that they weren’t running away from me, but that the soles of their feet were pushing the earth (and me) away from them. Cut to the summer of 2020. It was a period of intense self-reflection for so many people, myself included, and that story came back to me as the perfect jumping off point for an acknowledgement of my own privilege (wasn’t it Nina Simone who said its an artist’s duty to reflect the times?). I don’t need to survive on my own to know I’m alive and in control. That’s what ‘Monuments’ is — an acknowledgment. A first step.

Can you share some further words about the recording and producing process?

‘Monuments’ were recorded in a sort of piecemeal. I recorded the guitar and main vocals at my home studio before anything else, then hired the Lionyls to write their own parts, which we recorded at Black Water Distro Co. in Oxford Mills, Ontario (except for the bass, which Alex recorded at home due to lockdown restrictions). The backup vocals were put down in Halifax by Stef Nicholson, Jah’Mila, and Wendy Martin. Each time I added a new element the track seemed to move in a different direction, often inspired by the circumstances in which they were recorded.

How pleased were you with the sound of the album?

Incredibly pleased. How could I fail with the musicians I had on it?

What are some bands/musicians that have a big influence on you?

Jamie Hince (The Kills) and Annie Clark (St Vincent) have been hugely influential on my guitar playing. There’s something about their ability to intentionally sound off I adore. Both also compose some of my favourite music, the aesthetics of their projects heavily inspiring many of my own over the years.

Do you often play live?

Not yet, though I’ve got my eye on the road for 2023.

What are some future plans?

I’m looking forward to working on something more long-form, musically. I jump between concepts often and want to give myself the opportunity to really live in one for a while — explore more nuance. Or maybe go the other way entirely and make no sense at all.