Hamilton’s keyboardist locked himself in to finish the song

Born out of a “good faith” existential crisis, “Link” is Gareth Inkster’s new single. The Golden Feather keyboardist hopes no one can identify with this song.

“If you can relate to it, then you’ve probably suffered a lot of loss,” Inkster said.

Inkster said the new song and upcoming, as yet untitled solo album were inspired by a profound change in his beliefs. The musician does not try to hide his difficulties by working on it, which sometimes seemed “haunting” to him.

“As for this song and the rest of the album, I overcorrected. I was way too obsessed with getting it right, worried about things that wouldn’t make a difference to any listener but me- same. But ultimately, you gotta let it go,” Inkster said.

The 30-year-old said the lyrics “In search of a connection I can trust between the measurable and the meaningful” is an iconic part of the song “Link”.

When Monster Truck’s Steve Kiely started a side project with a Grateful Dead vibe in 2020, they brought in Inkster to be their keyboardist. Golden Feather released an EP in November this year. The five-piece band from Hamilton performs a concert November 25 at Bridgeworks.

A year ago, Inkster went to Northern Ontario and locked himself in a cabin until he was done with the song he had been dreading for so long.

“Because of the tough time I was in when I wrote this song, it was kind of hard to keep going,” Inkster said.

Inkster said he wanted to release the album in the fall because the songs had a family feeling. “But then the lyrics became irrelevant to me again.”

When “Link” was finally finished, Inkster felt a mixture of relief and pride. “What I love about this song is that it’s very honest and I don’t pull any punches,” Inkster said.

Inkster was raised by musicians – his mother plays the piano and his father plays the guitar. He has been releasing music on Spotify since 2018.

In addition to being a keyboardist for Golden Feather, Inkster, who lives in Stipley, teaches music privately and also at Hamilton District Christian High School.

Inkster said he expresses his creativity in different ways. One of them reaches out for songwriting when he’s feeling down.

“I’ve been tasked with doing jingles for podcasts and those still work great. I’m able to come up with something by the end of the week that I’m pretty happy with,” Inkster said. outside of that, songwriting for me is very introspective, like journaling. If I’m able to put it into words and then put it into a song, it’s almost like I can take it out of myself and hold it and look at it from different angles.

Inkster said he felt artistically limited because his songs were about sadness and what was on his mind. “I hope I can get through it. So many songwriters I look up to are much more versatile than that.

The new album was produced by Glen Watkinson, owner of Sheepdog Studios, and Inkster’s brother Robinson played bass. Inkster said some of his influences for the project were Fleet Foxes and Elliot Smith.

What is Inkster’s hope for this album?

“It would be really meaningful to me if people listened to it and found meaning in it for themselves,” he said.

Inkster also stated that a new Golden Feather album is in the works.

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