Wooden Stars guitarist Mike Feuerstack's solo project represents a souful, more personal side of the Juno-winning artist. Snailhouse's CD release party, which will also feature performances by Julie Doiron and Glissandro 70, is shaping up to be one of Wavelength's most highly anticipated shows this season. Matt Blair spoke with Feuerstack via email.

What, in your mind, distinguishes your work as a solo artist from your work with groups like the Wooden Stars and Kepler?
Well, it's quite simple, really. With the Wooden Stars, it is a collaborative effort from songwriting, to the arrangements, right down to what we do or don't do as a band. We have a unique and delicate chemistry, and we make music that emphasizes that. Snailhouse is a vehicle for me to realize ideas of my own. Also, I can do really quiet, personal music that doesn't really benefit from having a rock band drive it. There are often collaborators who have their input, but I am determining the direction it takes, ultimately. Kepler is kind of the opposite. I'm trying to help Samir and Jon bring their songs where they want them to go.

Is it fair to say that Snailhouse is a more personal project? Is it the one where you feel most free to express yourself?
It's definitely a more personal project. I can explore ideas that interest me specifically, not just things that I have in common with the other people in a band. I don't think I feel more free to express myself, but I'd say that I feel free to express myself in a way that isn't as filtered through my collaborators' interpretations and influences, musical and otherwise.

For that matter, why Snailhouse? Why not simply Mike Feuerstack? Because I don't like to be cast as a singer-songwriter, even though, I suppose, that's what I am. I'd like people to approach my music without that James Taylor baggage. Also, nobody can spell my last name '“ except you, apparently. The name Snailhouse refers to my songs, and they could be performed in a variety of ways.

Your resume's an impressive one. You're about to release your fourth solo album, and you're celebrating that release by touring with collaborator Julie Doiron. After more than ten years, what's next for you?
I guess my future plans are to just keep writing, playing and making records, alone and with friends. Oh, and make a living too. Stay busy, stay happy.

Although the new record has yet to come out, you've already said that 'œsongwritin' has been on the old mind'? and that you're looking ahead to the next one. Does that impulse make it difficult to live in the moment of the current album? Not really. My live set always includes old and new material. In fact, if anything, I feel the effects in the opposite way. I found it hard to make new music until this last record was on the way to coming out. I had to close the whole process, and it's only now that new songs are starting to happen.

So it's still fair to say that you think in terms of moving from one album to the next? Definitely. I like to think of an album as a unit of thought - a statement. Each song contributes to the larger work. And similarly, a live set, at its best, is an opportunity to reassemble the songs into something cohesive. Of course, each song has to be complete in itself, but I try think a little bigger and tie them together thematically. It's like a book of short stories.

You've also said that you're going to try and 'œturn things out a little more quickly from here on out.'? Why the drive to move forward faster? This current CD has taken a long time to see the light of day, and typically there have been a few years between each Snailhouse release. I have other stuff going on too, and good things take time, but I'd like for the people that care not to have to wait so long next time. Maybe I flatter myself.

By Matt Blair