Len Gadica was born and raised in Melville, and has been performing music practically his entire life.
“I first performed at a Christmas concert at age four,” he said. “I sang and played the ukulele. My dad was an accordion player too and played for local dances as a young man. I became interested in taking accordion lessons when I was seven. At that time, before the electronic age of instruments, accordion was a very popular instrument.”
With those musical roots set so deeply, it is not surprising Gadica has stayed with music his entire life, recently releasing a new disc; ‘My Work is all Play’.
“This is my seventh old time album, and all the music on all the albums is original,” he said.
In general terms Gadica said his music draws on what most people call ‘old time’.
“I have probably been influenced by many different styles of music, but probably “old time” music the most; that is to say, polkas, waltzes etc,” he said. “Growing up my folks and neighbours all enjoyed dancing to that kind of music ... as a matter of fact I remember mom and dad pushing some furniture out of the way in the living room so everyone could dance to Frankie Yankovic records. His music was and still is popular to old time music lovers. So I play a lot of that type of music, but certainly play other types as well ... country, old rock and roll, easy listening etc.”
But with the material on his latest release Gadica said it comes down to being music from his heart.
“Really my inspiration is more of a motivation to do what I love doing; creating music,” he offered. “I believe that if I can continue composing, it is certainly good for the brain.”
And with each album Gadica said he tries to grow musically.
“As far as being different from previous albums, I am adding a bit more variety on each album,” he said. “The music is still mainly old time, but I’ve diversified somewhat; this album has a slow Frank Sinatra-type ballad, a country two-step and even ‘Boppin Tonight’ which is an old 50’s style rock and roll tune.”
So how does such diverse music get from idea to paper for Gadica?
“People often ask me about the writing process,” he said. “It’s a funny thing how that all works. Sometimes I get a tune in my head and in no time I have a finished product.
“Other times I will mull around a tune for weeks or even months, set it aside and come back to it again, or sometimes scrap it all together.
“Lyrics are the same, sometimes they just flow, other times I get stuck on them big time.
“For this particular album, I probably worked on the tunes over a period of several years, because some of them I was playing at dances for quite a while already before I even thought of doing another album.”
Among the tracks Gadica said it was difficult to say which were his favourite cuts, but then noted. “I really am excited about the tracks which are not particularly old time, such as Boppin Tonight, I’m a Fool For You, and a couple tunes featuring Julian Beutels great trumpet work.”
The album was recorded at Horizon Sound in Regina, which Gadica said was “an excellent home studio owned and operated by a good friend and musician, Paul Winichuk.
“Paul is a master at using the technology available in the recording business today, and being a great musician himself certainly helps in the recording process. His enthusiasm for my projects has been just great! I added some extra musicians to help me on some tracks, including trumpet, acoustic and lead guitars and banjo, so that has boosted the overall sound of my tunes.”
Overall Gadica is very satisfied with the results of his latest effort.
“I am very happy with the finished product,” he said, then adding “of course one is one’s worst critic, and certainly there are always a couple of things which could have been done better, including the odd mistake I made.
“But hopefully most folks won’t notice the mistakes.”
The CD is available in Yorkton at Fuzztone Music, and in Melville at Royal Drug Mart. It can also be ordered online from Gadica’s website lengadica.com
