I am Malcolm Fraser, writer, filmmaker and musical entertainer currently based in Montreal. The World Provider is my superheroic alter ego and main music project since 1999. This is the central HQ to find out about WP shows, releases, news and, when the spirit moves me, ramblings about music and occasionally other topics.
I am often asked to describe the WP and always have trouble. See my official bio below for an effort.
Music critic Carl Wilson once said: “what TWP does is so free of outside judgment, so punk-without-punk, assertively goofy and yet unpresuming of any other standards of cool, rock and yet anti-rock, with super riffs and melodies and yet no polish whatsoever, a willfully stupid parody of rock frontmanship that is also great rock frontmanship.” From my perspective the WP is neither a parody nor willfully stupid; if it’s stupid, it’s just stupid, but I like the rest of what he said a lot.
I’ve also played music with Permanent Stains, Lion Farm, and Les Yeux Fermés. I’ve written a book, I’ve been a working writer and editor for years, and I make the occasional film.
Please don’t be shy to leave comments or email me (wp@theworldprovider.com) if there is anything further you would like to know.
WP BIO
The World Provider, superheroic alter ego of mild-mannered Montrealer Malcolm Fraser, has been providing the world with mind-sticking melodies, low-budget sonics and unabashed theatrical spectacle since 1999.
The WP got started from the same fertile Toronto musical community that spawned Feist, Peaches, Chilly Gonzales, Mocky and Taylor Savvy. Back in the day, you might have caught the WP as a touring keyboardist for Feist or a backup singer/dancer/hypeman for Peaches. The WP self-released the debut The Elements of Style, produced by Peaches and Savvy, in 2000.
The following year, the WP moved to Montreal and shortly began recording with Jace Lasek at the Breakglass Studio. The album Enabler with came out on Ta-Da Records in 2004.
Originally a one-man band, the live act grew to include other members including longtime collaborators Stacey DeWolfe (drums and vocals) and Steve Raegele (guitar). The WP’s stage show also developed into a theatrical spectacular involving costume changes, choreographed dance routines and the occasional gigantic stage prop. The WP has toured in Canada, the US and Europe with such acts as Jamie Lidell, Stars and The Dears as well as old pals Peaches and Gonzales.
In 2008, the album Hard Feelings, with “Valentine” (featuring Feist), was released on the band’s own Imperial Arts & Letters label. History of Pain, produced by The Dears’ Murray Lightburn, followed in 2011.
The WP’s 6-track EP Always, also produced by Lightburn, was released in May 2016 on the Ting Dun label. It featured the singles “Pam Pam” (with Gonzales on piano), “Hey Joanne,” and “Autumn Wheels,” which acclaimed writer Sean Michaels declared in the Globe and Mail was a “song you need to hear” and that “Fraser’s got a perfect knack for the hooks that last forever.”
In 2017, the WP re-entered the studio with producer Lightburn, and appearances from longtime collaborators DeWolfe, Gonzales, Raegele and Juno Award-winning drummer (and brother) Nick Fraser, to record the 5-song EP Old Dreams, released on Ting Dun in fall 2018.