Matt Mays is on a long and lonesome road these days -- and he doesn't even have all his El Torpedo crew for company.
Mays is touring Canada (12 cities) to support his solo CD, When the Angels Make Contact.
It is the tale of J.J. Carver, the fictional subject of Mays's film and soundtrack project.
"Doing this movie was a way for me to try and gain some perspective on the nature of life and death," Mays says of the project.
"It was a way for me to face all these really heavy issues on my own terms."
The soundtrack CD (Sonic/Warner) has been released and is getting rave reviews as his bravest and weirdest album.
Mays moved to New York about four months ago, a decision that has already produced a higher profile south of the border, including an appearance recently on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
"It's something I've always wanted to do," Mays told the Ottawa Sun. "At this point in my life, it just seemed to make sense."
Because it's a solo record, with its own musical crew and sound, most of El Torpedo is waiting in the wings.
But when its co-producer Mays plays Aeolian Hall tomorrow at 9 p.m., he knows he can count on the support of an East Coast rock and roots music all-star lineup.
The cast includes El Torpedo drummer and Angels Make Contact co-producer Tim Jim Baker, DJ Double A, former Guthries Dale Murray and Serge Samson and the Museum Pieces' Tyler Messick and Andy March. The Museum Pieces are also on the bill.
"It's going to be different," Mays says. "With El Torpedo, volume is a huge part of the show. And I understand, if you went to see Motorhead and they were quiet, you'd be disappointed.
"I really like that El Torpedo punch in the face. But this will be less pure volume and more wall of sound."
The CD follows Carver through 18 tracks as he tries to find a lost love while dealing with a life of relative loneliness.
Mays doesn't deny that Carver could be his alter ego.
However, once he laid the skeleton for the character, it took on a life of its own.
"Yeah, in a way he sort of started as a version of me. As I was writing the album, he snowballed and came into his own. He's more of an aggressive guy, I'd say."
It hasn't been a smooth ride for J.J. or Mays.
Shelved on the way to the screen was the film due to money woes.
Temporarily put aside were tours with El Torpedo -- even if their road time with Mays helped inspire his new CD.
"Most of my life, or a fair portion of my life, I've spent in a van on the road," he told a West Coast paper this year.
"So this is sort of a romantic notion with the motorcycle. I've spent a lot of my time touring constantly to different towns and meeting strange people -- always viewing these places from the outside in, rather than the inside out.
"So it's sort of looking at the philosophical questions surrounding that. If that's what you want to call them, always being on the outside."
Mays began his solo career with the 2002 release of his self-titled debut. Mays returned with 2005's Matt Mays & El Torpedo.
When the Angels Make Contact is a departure, a contact with new musical worlds. It combines influences that range from rock through hip-hop and electronica.
As the tracks unfold, the listener can see a journey on two levels. It is the story of both the film protagonist's commitment to his quest and Mays' own dedication to seeing his project through to completion.
The soundtrack's "plot" is further developed with the title track.
The song features a guest appearance by groundbreaking hip-hop artist and fellow Nova Scotian Buck 65.
"I sort of took the idea of taking a long journey along a highway," Mays says.
"And all the people you'd make contact with and the spirituality sense of it and just pumped it full of steroids."
When the tour for Mays's solo record is over, he'll resume his life on the road with El Torpedo almost immediately. Matt Mays & El Torpedo will be playing gigs in the U.S. starting early next month.
