Pumped up king

Royal Wood’s cover of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks,” posted to Youtube in June, sparked an unexpected reaction from fans. The singer-songwriter recorded the track on a whim, but has since released an EP of cover songs.

“I’ve never been a cover song guy, I’ve never really recorded them, I’ve never really performed them and I was surprised by the response,” Wood said. “Fans kept suggesting songs that they wanted me to cover next.”

The video experiment turned into the five-song Cover Sessions EP. Wood picked the songs from fans’ online suggestions.

“I have to be able to really feel it,” he said. “You can’t fake that.”

“Nothing bothers me more than someone’s cover song that sounds like karaoke and they’re just singing over top of what already exists.”

The Cover Sessions EP is available for free at Wood’s upcoming shows during his Sneak Peak Tour. His set list features the intimate pop-ballads from his past five albums plus a preview of material from his unreleased album.

Songs from his latest album The Waiting mirror a turning point in the singer-songwriter’s life.

“It was the most personal only in that I didn’t cover anything up in metaphor,” Wood said. “I was just getting married and I buried my grandparents and other friends had had their first kids and there was very much a dichotomy of life going on.”

Before The Waiting, Wood self-produced his albums. He said getting married opened him up to the idea of letting other people in.

“My art is the most personal and passionate … other than family and loved ones,” he said. “So to let someone in to that world was a very big deal.”

Dean Drouillard and Pierre Marchand worked as producers on the album. Wood is working with Drouillard on his upcoming album.

The tour debuted Sept. 18 at the West End Cultural Center, an intimate not-for-profit art venue in Winnipeg.

“I didn’t want to waste too much fanfare or press or energy behind a really big tour,” he said, adding that he can stick to small venues because he’s not booking to promote an album. “It would just be about the song and about the lyrics and that’s a perfect showcase for new material.”

Royal Wood plays the Octave Theatre at 711 Dalton Ave. on Friday.