Thinkfreud

By Kathryn Dunmore, Backbeat Arts & Entertainment

Think Freud will make you wish you were there as the band pays tribute to Pink Floyd at the Boston Manor tomorrow (Saturday) night.
The group formed a decade ago performing original material but decided to make the switch to cover songs when the members realized there was more opportunity in the tribute arena.
"We all agreed on Pink Floyd because the music is timeless," said Gil Roberts, Burlington musician and the drummer for Think Freud. "There are strong melodies and after 10 years, we're still not tired of playing the music."
Think Freud also consists of Brian May, guitarist, John Burns, lead vocalist and guitarist, Janna Ballam, vocalist and keyboardist, Daryl Thistel, keyboardist and vocalist, and Kevin Gowin, bass guitarist. Sometimes the band features Bill Holinaty and Glen Higgins as guest saxophone players.
"Everybody is a good player and individually we do our homework," explained Roberts as to how the band achieves the Pink Floyd sound. "The trick with Pink Floyd music is not what you play but what you don't play, as there is a lot of space in the music. You have to be disciplined to not put too much in, not overplay it, if you want to sound like Pink Floyd."

Over the past decade, even in the last year, Roberts has seen the group evolve into a more authentic Pink Floyd representation.
"There is always room for improvement; we always endeavour to make it that much better," he said. "We recently added video to the show to take it a step further. We synchronize the music to the video so we have to play it exactly right. The audience gets a kick out of it. For the song Wish You Were Here, we made our own video for it, which pays tribute to past musicians."
Roberts said for bigger theatre-style shows, the band adds a light show.
"Our latest achievements are in the visual presentation of our show. Pink Floyd has a huge light show but it's not always feasible for us to use lights in the show. But our goal is to play larger venues to bring in the light show."
Roberts said theatre venues are more appropriate for the live performance the band members put on as Think Freud.
"We are going to try taking it up a notch, into theatres. We're not a dance band, we're more of an experience, so theatre is the way to go for us."
Last month, Think Freud played at Hamilton Place to an appreciative audience.
"To date, it was probably our best performance," said Roberts. "The audience was very receptive and we feed off that. We also videotape our show so we can review it later to critique it."
He said while Think Freud was more of a novelty 10 years ago, more and more bands are covering Pink Floyd music nowadays, but the competition doesn't scare this local band.
"There are getting to be a lot of Pink Floyd tribute bands, but the only way to find out who is best is to come out and listen to judge for yourself," said Roberts. For more information, visit www.thinkfreud.ca.
- Burlington Post Oct 19, 2007