INTRODUCTIONS
Garage rocker Michael Rault of the Mixed Signals, meet Jena Krystofiak, Bollywood and classical East Indian dancer. Hey, everyone: meet Michael and Jena. We expect you’ll be seeing more of them.
Seventeen-year-old Jena has been dancing since she was three. At three plus a little, she picked up on classical East Indian dance. “My cousins were always involved in tap as well as jazz, but I was introduced to the classical dancing through Grandpa, who said that if I was going to dance I should do something that represents my heritage.”
Growing up as the son of local blues guitar slinger and CKUA announcer Lionel Rault, garage rocker Michael, 18, had a healthy dose of early and pre-rock influences to chew on. “I’ve been listening to R ’n’ B my entire life,” he says. “All of those Chess guys like Little Walter-—he’s my guy—Bo Diddley, John Lee Williamson. But I never really got into that old garage rock until later.”
BLOSSOMS
The Mixed Signals have generated massive amounts of positive press, and a devoted following, but Michael disbanded the group in order to go out on his own for awhile. “Things had dried up, so I was doing solo shows with just a tambourine taped to my foot, playing acoustic guitar through an amp for this rootsy minimalist sound.” The revisionist approach went over well with his audience, but in the meantime a local radio station had picked up on his earlier band-based recordings. “I had generated some interest, and suddenly I got us a show for Sonic Band of The Month, which meant I had to put a band together again.”
Jena has made a bit of name for herself with Bollywood dancing: she and partner Shabina Ramji perform frequently. Jena says she sees dancing as more of a hobby than a career, but clearly she’s committed to it, even as she avers the idea that she’ll ever make a living at it. “I’m not looking to become a professional choreographer or a professional dancer at all, that’s not my goal; instead I just hope to continue to enjoy it as a pastime.” If you’ve attended any of Edmonton’s Indian dance performance, fostered by the Raga-mala Society, amongst others, you’ll know that locally it’s a pastime with legs, if you’ll pardon the pun.
CLASSICS
The Kathak is a highly systematized form of dancing, and very old—the accepted text for this form of classical dancing has been dated to either the second century BC or fifth century AD. For Jen the difficult and graceful dance is as much an expression of her culture—her mother is Indian, her father Scottish and Polish—as it is an artistic choice. “I did consider learning some Scottish dances at one point, but realised that I only had time to really study one form,” Jen says. “At first it was really tough to stick with it, but now I really enjoy it.”
Michael himself is also a classicist, with an appreciation of blues garnered at his father’s knee, as well as at many shows. While punk rock is a constant source to be drawn from, Michael is actually trying to get as big a sound as he can without resorting to volume. “It’s the other direction from where most bands go,” he explains. “We try and get the energy through playing hard, but not playing as loud as possibly can. We let the intensity create a punk vibe rather than a wall of distortion and lack of dynamics.”
CHOICES
Jena swaps between the Kathak and Bollywood style dancing. “The Kathak is an ancient dance form, whereas Bollywood is modern, like ballet is to jazz. Bollywood dancing is an upbeat and funkier style—it’s a mix of everything, you’d never say ‘Oh, you can’t do that, it’s not Bollywood.’” Dancing has taken her places—from Mexico to Disneyland, Dallas to Vancouver. “The best part is meeting new people,” she says. “I have to say that I’ve never met as many dramatic people as I do at these dances.”
At the moment Michael is working on a solo EP with Eric Cheng of Champion City Records, and then hoping to record a full band album in June. “The thing is, though, that I’m actually sort of realizing that I’m really enjoying the idea of really stripping down the sound. It’s tougher than when there’s a full band playing, and closer to the music I really like—this stripped down sound is really starting to be a big influence on my solo performance.”
EFFORT
Studying an ancient and revered form of dance isn’t easy—Jena now works with private tutors, though she picks up the Bollywood choreography on her own. Like kids who learn to play piano under the stern gaze of a taskmaster she’s sometimes resented the effort she’s had to put in, but after 13 or so years she’s used to it. “I guess I never really had a choice,” she laughs. “And yes, I’ve hated practicing at times, and I’ll whine about it, but to tell the truth there are many times when I really enjoy practicing.”
Rault has been a hard taskmaster on himself—while other kids were messing around in high school, he was diligently putting out albums, 2005’s Michael Rault and the Mixed Signals and Edmonton’s Newest Hit Makers in 2006. What never fails to astonish is just how closely Rault and his band came to the classic ‘60s garage rock sound without actually having listened to many of the originals. “I never heard The Sonics’ ‘Season of the Witch until later,’” he says, “and I actually was listening to many of the later Nuggets compilations well before I heard the originals.”
SPRING
Jena’s won many awards, including some at the national level. Of Michael’s music, the UK’s Shindig Magazine opined, “If there’s such a thing as garage hits, there are several here.” So where can you see you handsomely appointed new friends in action? Where can you see Jena’s
The spring and summer will see a lot of activity for Michael, both solo and with band. He’s at the Pawnshop on Friday, and at the Shaw Convention Centre on April 4th and 5th for Beerfest. He’ll be part of the U-22 (under 22) stage that’s been sponsored by CKUA at the Folk Fest, playing his tunes with other talented songwriters. Meanwhile, Jena’s dancing can be seen at the World Partnership Walk at the end of May. “We’ll be part of the opening ceremonies and then also at the actual start of the Walk.”
Click here for photos
