Toronto’s Beams bring their colossal indie-folk-rock sound to Bremen Cafe

Singer songwriter Anna Merniek is starting over.

Not entirely, but she is taking a step backwards to reflect on herself.

She recently called off her wedding with bandmate Mike Duffield (they’re still together) in order to finally confront a disturbance within herself that even she didn’t fully understand.

The result is Toronto-based Beams’ latest album, Teach Me to Love.

Released on February 28, Teach Me to Love is riddled with remnants of the singer songwriter's struggle with depression. But it isn’t somber music.

Merniek wields her voice in a way that delivers the understandably sad lyrics from Teach Me to Love with soothing openness, assuring the audience that they aren’t alone.

Her powerful but sweet voice is accompanied by the twanging of her banjo and the six other members of the Toronto based band, who all share the spotlight throughout the 10 tracks.

Beams transcends the indie-folk genre and incorporates elements of bluegrass, country and psychedelic-rock. At times you want to dance to the upbeat shifts in tone and diverse arrangement of instruments, and at others you just want to sway with the melancholy. There are even moments where you can’t resist banging your head.

Beams are currently on tour in support for Teach Me to Love. Their Milwaukee stop will include a free show at Bremen Café in Riverwest on March 9 featuring Saebra & Carlyle and Lady Cannon.

I spoke with Merniek on the phone to talk about their new album, her mindset while writing it and how a seven-piece band functions so well.

What has Beams been up to since your last release in 2015?

We were basically recording this album and touring. It takes a while to write and record an album and to find a publicist. We were basically taking our time with it and trying to find a way to release it the best way possible.

Leading up to this album, you struggled with depression. How was this affecting you as an artist at the time?

It definitely affected my productivity and my outlook on things. It was hard to for me to feel inspired to come up with new things to do. I kind of just wanted to hide away and do nothing. But the rest of my band was pretty key in keeping me active and being interested in doing new things. Obviously the songs are about the ideas I was grappling with.

How did you overcome that period of your life?

I think writing songs has always been an outlet for me. I’ve been writing songs since I was a teenager, it was just a natural way to express myself. The only thing that kept me active with the band was really just feeling very obligated to the rest of my band, which wasn’t the healthiest but it helped the album get created. Now I have a better way of talking to myself. It helps that my partner in the band is extremely invested.

Do you think people who are going through a similar situation might find comfort in Teach Me to Love?

Maybe. I know they helped me, but everybody’s got different issues. Sometimes it just feels good. And you just feel like listening to sad songs because they help me feel like I’m not alone. Maybe somebody will find that.

The title Teach Me to Love, given the context of your situation when you wrote the album, would you say it’s like starting over and relearning or that you never knew in the first place?

I never knew in the first place. Some of the songs explain how I’ve forgotten how to love. They describe how I was feeling and sometimes still feel. Other ones are more on the “learning how to love” side. Like “You Are an Ocean” is a slightly more optimistic song about learning to love. I wanted to call it that because I had cancelled my wedding with the drummer, and I just felt like I was at an all-time low place where it didn’t really matter to anyone but myself and then I kind of realized that something was wrong and that I didn’t know how to love properly, and that I was afraid all of the time. This album was pretty much ready and I didn’t know what to call it so all of this is just how I need to learn how to love and that I want to learn.

I feel like there is a lot of reflectiveness on the album but also a lot of looking forward. Can you explain how you played with those juxtaposing ideas on this record?

While I was grappling with the negative thoughts and overall really hopeless feeling, I’ve always looked up to people who are tenacious and hopeful and I’ve always been told if you just persist one day, you’ll be successful. I was writing about these difficult ideas I was having but sort of hoping that I would be able to come through and find some sort of happiness or stability. So in the songs, usually around the time of the bridge or so, I bring in that little “what if we figure this out” sort of thing. That’s where the slight hopefulness comes in.

Do you have a favorite track off of the new record? Why is it your favorite?

I really like listening to and playing “My Second Time in the Mountains”. It’s fun, its message never really gets old. It’s about wondering if you can maintain a sense of awe or not. That song came about because I was riding in a car with somebody and we were talking about places we’ve been and I was talking about wanting to see some different mountains and he said “Why? You’ve seen mountains. They’re all the same.” I was like “Seriously? That’s how you feel about mountains?” I couldn’t believe it.

There are seven members of Beams. What’s it like touring in another country with such a large ensemble?

It’s great. We have enough people that we can split up into like two or three groups and explore. There have been challenges like finding places to sleep. Overall I find it really positive. I like being in a bigger group, you don’t feel isolated at all really. You’re not talking to the same two people for three weeks. I’m in another band (Ace of Wands) that is a three piece so I’m not talking down to three pieces.

What is the song writing process like for a band that size?

We approach it in stages. I write all of the songs, mostly on banjo, then I bring them to the rhythm section and get that worked out and then I bring them to the other vocalist Heather, so that it gives a framework for the rhythm and the tempo. We find out how to fit everybody else in. It’s a pretty structured process. It isn’t super easy but it seems to work out.

You’re heading down to Austin, Texas to play at SXSW. How does it feel to be invited to play such a popular underground music festival?

It feels great, its super exciting. We’re hoping to line up more shows down there now that we know when our showcase is. I always try to route us towards my family, my mom lives in Oklahoma. There are many reasons why I’m excited. Many of the bands we’ve met over the years are going to be down there. It’s just going to be great.

Have you performed in Milwaukee before?

We have once, at the High Dive. And then we went swimming the next day.

What can people expect from Beams at Bremen Café?

They can expect a big sound. We’re a big band, but with interlocking melodies and rhythms and harmonies, and I wouldn’t exactly say that its dance music but we all get pretty into it on stage, it’s pretty lively. We’re pretty “no B.S.”, we don’t really have any gimmicks, we just go up there and do what we do, happy to get out of the van and jump around a bit.