While I've seen my fair share of odd band merchandise at concerts, from air fresheners used by the frontman to autographed feminine hygiene products, nothing comes close to the effort and ingenuity that Chris Adeney puts into his goods.
Working under the stage name Wax Mannequin, Adeney's mix of eccentric folk rock and poppy showtune techno is accompanied by eccentric stage antics and his one-of-a-kind homemade scented candles. "They're shaped like my head!" he exclaims, on the phone from a stop-off in Banff. The idea came about on his last tour through western Canada.
"First, I wanted busts of myself made, like Beethoven," says Adeney. "But then I was talking to some friends and they said I should make candles out of wax and call them 'Wax Mannequins.' " While other artists are staring out of tour bus windows daydreaming, Adeney is hard at work. He sculpted a model of his head with some clay, and then, using epoxy, made a mold.
"On the tour, we'd stop at dollar stores to buy candles, and we'd melt them down on a friend's stove."
Things started out small, but he knew they'd be an instant hit. "I think we made about five on that tour, but when we got home — the mass production began," he explains.
When asked about what scents the candles come in, Adeney replies enthusiastically with "Christmas!"
"Hmm, maybe I should've saved that one for last," he recants, taking a pause to contemplate the order of aromas. "Christmas, Mint, Lemon, Rose. Lemon-rose, where I mixed the Lemon and the Rose together."
The miniature wax heads take a fair time to make, and with the care Adeney puts in, he's sometimes hesitant to put them up for sale.
"I kind of almost don't want to sell them," he says. "I mostly just want to have candles at my show, but then I run out and get kind of mad because I have to make some more on someone's stove." Luckily, he came prepared this time, with a portable hot plate he can plug in anywhere, exclusively used for his wax-melting activities. "It's just kind of fun, learning about the art of candle-making," Adeney beams.
He'll have presumably less time to make candles this coming fall, as he and his wife are expecting a baby boy. He's already travelled the world and collected many stories, from playing shows in abandoned sausage factories to having his electronics "inspected" by European customs officers looking for drugs. Settling down in Hamilton, Ontario, Adeney plans to take a break from the road, but still has a plethora of unfinished material he'd like to get back to — like candles.