Mikey Crichton is a scientific pioneer. But he’s not breaking ground in chemistry or biology. Instead, he uses a series of loop pedals to layer one guitar riff over another, developing an art form that he lovingly calls “loop science.”
After Crichton spent three years playing bass for local heroes The Postage Stamps, a self-imposed exile to Australia opened his mind to a combination of noise rock and loop pedals that would become the initial inspiration for his one-man band Now Yr Taken.
“There’s a big noise scene in Australia, it rivals the one here, and everyone was doing this really messy, multi-layered kind of…” Crichton then emits a deep-throated static noise into the telephone receiver that’s loud enough for me to get the picture immediately.
On the philosophy of Now Yr Taken, he says, “You can do a lot more with this kind of technology than just some fucking noise.”
The band’s name, lifted from a Mogwai song, was a conscious decision to appeal to the particular type of listener who would be fond of reverbwashed crescendos.
“I put up a really obscure flag that the right kind of people would notice, and it kind of worked. People were finding me all over the place.”
Having gigged relentlessly around town for three years, Crichton returned to the land down under last winter to craft a freshly-released EP, MEL2YYZ, named after his journey home from Melbourne Airport to Pearson International.
Crichton was clearly inspired by his travels, as tracks like “Home” and “Robot Ghost” explore the dilemma of leaving loved ones behind as one sets off on an adventure.
“It’s a love letter between the two cities,” says Crichton. “The songs are about longing, missing people that you’re not going to be able to reach out and touch.”
