Jean-Paul De Roover vs. 600 Band-Aids
By Lindsey Rivait
Arts
Editor
March 10, 2010
 If ripping 600 Band-Aids off your arms sounds like a good time, Thunder Bay artist Jean-Paul De Roover has a treat for you.
The DIY musician, performing at Phog Lounge on March 16, is touring in support of his new music video, “Fix,” which was directed by his girlfriend, photographer Shannon Lepere. “Fix” is composed of 2,022 still photographs and more than 600 Band-Aids. In the video, De Roover sings in front of a white background as Band-Aids appear on his skin. As he peels one off, more Band-Aids appear until he is ultimately covered.
During the production of “Fix,” De Roover was concerned about how his arm hair and sideburns would hold up. The 600 Band-Aids were first put on a blanket, and then those who were working on the video with him would lightly attach the Band-Aids to their own arms before placing them on De Roover.
“They had already lost a bit of the stick. We took some photos once it was done, when I had my entire face covered. I removed the entire face as a mask. It was really neat. It was incredibly creepy too,” said De Roover.
De Roover and Lepere are working on another stop animation video, this time of the Windows and Doors album packaging in action. The packaging unfolds into a house, giving his fans something in addition to his music.
“I’ve always really enjoyed getting a new album and looking through the artwork and everything else. It’s just finding all these little things that are hidden,” De Roover explained.
He also received funding from the Ontario Arts Council to film a music video for “You” from Windows and Doors, which he’ll be working on once he gets back from this current tour in May.
This time around, the video will be more story-based and shot on film as opposed to stop motion animation.
“I’m not a big fan of music videos where it’s just the band rocking out. They can look cool, but it goes back to what I think of music in general. I like it when there’s more to it,” said De Roover.
The video will have a different feel from “Fix” and invoke steam punk images.
“It’s a loving, tender song. A female character rebuilds a former lover into a robot. It’s set between 1920 and 1950. She’ll be making it out of wooden pieces and random pieces of things that she finds at junkyards,” De Roover said.
Besides playing live shows and working on videos (he’s also worked on shooting and scoring short films with Curtis Jensen who did the DVD contents on Windows and Doors), De Roover keeps busy doing his own managing and promoting. “I am a 100 per cent DIY indie artist, which is something I’m pretty proud of. Not to say that I wouldn’t mind if someone decided they wanted to help me, but at the same time, it is really empowering to say you did it by yourself,” said De Roover, who spent three months by himself travelling across the country on tour. “I enjoy spending a lot of time driving by myself, so that’s good,” he said.
Expect new songs and an upgraded performance from De Roover at his show at Phog.
“I’m beginning to find a better way of connecting with an audience,” said De Roover. “You find new ways of transitioning between songs and interpreting the same material over and over again. Especially with the way I perform, there’s a lot of improvisation. There’s lots of ways to tamper with the original song to make it into something different in a different setting,” he continued.
He’s also working on new material and is itching to take a break to focus on writing. “I can feel that the music I’m coming out with now has something more to it than Windows and Doors. Not that Windows and Doors was lacking by any means, but I can feel that growth coming within,” he said.
Catch De Roover at Phog on March 16.
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