Rural Alberta Advantage Interview with CBC

Sarah Liss of the CBC sat down for an interview with the Rural Alberta Advantage this week during Canadian Music Week:

"Q: You just celebrated your eighth year as a Toronto transplant. Hometowns comes from a place of nostalgia and bittersweet longing for your formative years in Alberta. Now that you've been spending more and more time on the road and away from your current hometown, should we expect the next RAA album to be a similar reflection on Hogtown life?

A: There are all sorts of events that in some way have an impact on where the music is going and what's coming out. For the past while, we've been on the road and away from friends and family so much, and it would be hard for that not to have an effect on the songs, though it might be more hidden. I do think there's definitely some aspect of the music that's transient. We've been playing a cover of the theme song from The Littlest Hobo. It's so funny - that song sort of typifies what it's like to be constantly on the road. I've known the tune since I was a kid, and once I started to play around with it I realized that outside of the kitschy aspect, it really speaks to me.

But with the next record, there will still be some Alberta references and stuff. I see the next Rural Alberta Advantage release as a companion piece to Hometowns. And then from there, we can take a step beyond what we've been doing. But y'know, within the music, there'll always be some reflection of the fact that I'm an Alberta boy. Gordon Lightfoot may be getting on, but his work now is no less Canadian than it ever was - it hasn't lost the stamp of the songs he wrote in his youth."

Read the whole thing here.

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: THE BESNARD LAKES

As I submerged myself into The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, I found myself swimming amongst My Bloody Valentine, Sons of Freedom, Guadalcanal Diary, 24 Gone and Rain Parade. All of the artistic elements that made these bands shine on their own individual pinnacles are present here, but the power of the Besnards’ compositions is far too superior to even suggest that they would borrow a sound. The sheer reality is that the Besnards have created and written a new sound, one that their predecessors should and will honour.

The Besnard Lakes are husband and wife Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, drummer Kevin Laing and guitarist Richard White. The third album from this Montreal group was tracked and recorded at Breakglass Studio on Lasek’s latest acquisition, a 1968 Neve germanium mixing console which was used to record portions of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti. The album also introduces some new instrumentation for the band: 12 string guitar, flute, omnichord and mellotron.

In spite of the demanding tour schedule, Olga graciously took the time to sit down for a quick Q & A.

Which song on the new album surprised you? By that I

mean: was there a song that was “average” going in, but sounded

that much better as a final result?

The last song on the album, "The Lonely Moan," would be the surpriser. The first version of it had a canned bossanova beat from an old Hammond organ. It was charming but it definitely needed to be reworked. When it came time to put in the rest of the instruments, it hadn't occurred to us that this would be without drums, and a very minimal amount of bass. I think it's a great end song, and it really has a Julee Cruise meets Brian Eno sort of feel to it.

SXSW is coming up for you, any thoughts on this festival?

Love it! Endless barbecue, much better weather and lots of great bands. What more could you ask for?

What do you fear most about this upcoming tour?

Missing a flight.... don't jinx it!

It seems that you’re playing almost every night. Is this tour the most intense ever?

Yes, by far this is the most extensive tour schedule we've had yet. We hardly have time between SXSW, New York and Europe, and then coming back from Europe and starting the North American tour is pretty tight too.

If you were not making music, what would you be doing?

I can't even imagine. Or maybe that reality is being played out in a "Lost" sort of way - literally lost.

Touring van: Newer vehicle or a piece of crap?

Used to be a piece of crap - that for some ridiculous reason someone felt they had to unburden us of. Now a newer, rented vehicle.

I see one open date in between Chicago and Cleveland. What would it take for you to play an intimate Windsor/Detroit venue?

Hmmm.... Detroit might work, so as to not have to cross and re-cross the border. What is the name of that bridge? Ah yes, the Ambassador Bridge! That's a good one, had a very interesting border experience there. I think I remember the guard asking me to sing a song and then she'd let me go across!

When you're not making music, what are you listening to?

The TV. I know how bad that sounds. But seriously, when you're done playing a show or finished recording something, really the last thing you want to do is listen to music. I just want to laze on the couch.

What are your hopes for the European tour, what would make it the best you have ever done?

I'm pretty excited about the tour in general. We've played Europe before and it's always such a nice experience, across the pond there. I suppose if the tour van had some more amenities – such as, more video games and a couple extra bunks; that would make it the coolest! Yeah, watch - the driver will pull up in this totally pimped out tour van complete with black lights and pull-out ping pong table.

Besides music, what are your passions?

Food. Making it, tasting it, and trying out new things. I recently made an amazing duck dish with orzo. My cooking ethic can be a vegetarian's nightmare, but not always - I've rocked a pretty decent falafel and veggie roti in my time. I've tried to go veggie and I have cut down the meat consumption.... once or twice. But if you say "bacon," it's a pretty immediate Pavlovian response around here.

The 1968 Neve germanium console is getting quite a bit of attention. Will it have its own Facebook page soon?

That is brilliant! Totally it should.

Their third studio album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night was released on Jagjaguwar on March 9, 2010.

2010 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR:

March 2010

11 - Toronto, Ontario - The Horseshoe
12 - Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore
17 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk (SXSW)
18 - Austin, TX - Stubb's BBQ (SXSW)

April 2010
27 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry
28 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Royal Albert Arms
29 - Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange
30 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Amigo's

May 2010
1 - Edmonton, Alberta - Pawn Shop
2 - Calgary, Alberta - Broken City
4 - Victoria, British Columbia - Lucky Bar
5 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club
6 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
7 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
8 - Eugene, OR - W.O.W. Hall
10 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
12 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
13 - West Hollywood, CA - Troubadour
14 - Tempe, AZ - Sail Inn
15 - Tucson, AZ - Plush
20 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
24 - Chicago, IL - Venue to be announced

******DETROIT WOULD FIT HERE******
26 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
27 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
28 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
29 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

www.thebesnardlakes.com

http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/THE-BESNARD-LAKES

Wavelength 500 Interviews: Brian Borcherdt, Johnny Dovercourt, Bryan Webb & more (Aux.tv)

Video: Verge Interview with the Arkells

Via the Verge Online

Library Voices (Interview) on The BackStage Pass

Library Voices have returned from the Olympics and are back in the studio and prepping for a tour but while they were in Vancouver it would appear that they found time for an Interview @ the Backstage Pass:

Side B Interview with the Balconies

From andpop's Side B.

Hey Rosetta Interview from Backstage Pass

Via the Backstage Pass - Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta! interviewed backstage at the The Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver:

Live Video and Interview Matthew Barber in Studio at the National Post

Matthew Barber's new album True Believer is out today from Outside Music.

In Studio: Matthew Barber

Julie Doiron Interview at Thick Specks

Matt McKechnie at Thick Specks starts off his piece on Julie Doiron by saying that she was "recently pegged as 'the first lady of Canadian Indie music'." - I don't know who pegged her that but I can't disagree. Several months ago I was giving Ro Cemm of the Line of Best Fit a heads up that Julie was headed to the UK on tour and I told him that she was the unofficial Queen of Canada and unofficial only because of our obligations under that whole commonwealth thing. She, or rather her album I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day ran away with the most votes in our first Shadow Polaris Prize.

Anyway, to the point - Thick Specks has a great interview up with Julie:

"MM: This is a question I always ask to give the reader some context – thinking back to your early years, what made you want to pursue music, in your earliest memories?

JD:(laughs) My earliest memories of wanting to do music? Ohhh. I mean, I remember the really early ones of fantasizing all the time. I was 6 or 7 and I was really into Olivia Newton John and Blondie. I had a tape-deck and I would sing into this tape-deck. I used to tell EVERYONE I wanted to be a singer. They'd say 'What do you want to do when you grow up? And I'd say 'I want to be a SINGER!' Then I sort of outgrew it for a while and went to school for photography and all that stuff but – this idea of pursuing music was still there. I taught myself how to play guitar when I was 10. Then it kinda stopped, then I started playing piano and saxophone, and then when I was 15, I found the same guitar in the basement that I originally played when I was 10 and I re-learned things again. And from there, I actually stuck with it. My parents told me if I was actually into playing guitar that they'd get me guitar lessons. They brought me a Yamaha acoustic guitar instead of the one from the basement with the craziest action ever! (laughs) But I still had no inclination to actually truthfully pursue it as a career until i was actually in it. When we started Eric's Trip, it was just supposed to be a band that would just...rock out in the basement, ya know? I had no intentions of getting on a stage with music – at all. But uh...then all of a sudden, I was doing it and ET broke up and I didn't know what else to do so I just kept doing it. I liked it – so I kept doing it. But yeah – my earliest memories would be Olivia Newton John and Blondie – two very different styles but I guess they were important influences. K- tel records were also a huge thing for me. One of the coolest gifts I ever got was a toy record player from Sears, or whatever, a portable one -"

Go Read the whole thing!

Live Video and Interview: Great Lake Swimmers

From the Wood and Wire video series:

Great Lake Swimmers - what we see is what you get from jamesfeatherstone on Vimeo.

Great Lake Swimmers: Everything Is Moving So Fast- The Wood & Wires Video Series from Adrian Vieni on Vimeo.

Basia Bulat interview with Side B

Via andpop.com's side B:

Jenn Grant talks Ninja Turtles, Home Alone and Music

There is a great little interview at Winnipeg music blog Painting Over Silence in which she discusses her favorite Ninja Turtles, what she likes best about Home Alone, her favorite music and other good stuff. You should read it!

Just a quick bit of info for you though - At one point Jenn mentions Erin Costelo as an underrated Canadian artists. In case you don't know who that is - a point of reference:

Kevin Drew Reveals BSS Album Details on Pitchfork

Pitchfork has an interview with Broken Social Scene ringleader about the groups first album in five years. It sounds like the cast of the new Broken Social Scene may be the best ever including the usual suspects - Leslie Feist, Amy Millan, Evan Cranley, Emily Haines, Jimmy Shaw, Jason Collett and Do Make Say Think's Ohad Benchetrit, John Crossingham, Marty Kinack, Julie Penner, Leon Kingstone, and Lisa Lobsinger but that's not nearly all. The album will reportely also feature John McEntire (Tortoise, the Sea and Cake) Sam Prekob (Sea and Cake), Doug McCombs, (Tortoise), Sebastian Grangier, Spiral Stairs (Pavement), Susan Voelz (Poi Dog Pondering), Jason Tait (Weakerthans) and others.

Go read the full interview at Pitchfork.

A Mystery Interview with the Elusive Hot Panda

I found this by accident today, and I don't know who is doing the interviewing except the YouTube user name is smikelandry but it's an interview with my friends (I do their website) and there isn't alot of video of them for some reason (I've tried a couple of times and my video never looks/sounds good enough to post.) Anyway - the mystery interview:

Side B's Interview with Evening Hymns

Via andpop.com's Side B - an interview with the great Jonas "Evening Hymns" Bonnetta.

And Pop Side B interviews Make Your Exit

Via andpop.com:

Racoon Wedding Interview at AndPop

Via AndPop's Side B:

Video Vault: Thrush Hermit (including 'Learn to Party' - the Documentary)

So you've already heard about Thrush Hermits reunion tour - if you haven't the dates and ticket ordering info are here. In honor of the reunion I decided to see what I could dig up video wise - included here there is Learn to Party (the Thrush Hermit documentary) as well as music videos, interviews, live performances, Much Music appearances etc: - Have a look (especially those of you who missed Thrush Hermit the first time around).

Thrush Hermit - Learn to Party
Thrush Hermit documentary



Learn to Party pt. 2



Learn to Party pt. 3



Learn to Party pt. 4



Patriot (1995)



Thrush Hermit -The Day We Hit The Coast



Thrush Hermit- French Inhale



Much Music Interview 1997



Thrush Hermit - Oh Man (What To Do) - Much Music 1999



Much Music Interview 1999




Thrush Hermit - The Day We Hit the Coast LIVE (from 1999 Farewell Tour)

andpop interview with Mother Mother

Via andpop.com's B-Sides:

A New Film and An Old Interview From Kids On TV

First an old interview from 2004 with the Kids and a new film from them. Both were posted this morning. For more on the band and their stuff visit kidsontv.biz.

2004 interview with KIDS ON TV



Game On - a film by KIDS ON TV

Holy Fuck Interview on Side B

Holy Fuck talks about the band name, censorship, speeding tickets, their music being used in ads and other stuff on andpop's side-b!

Woodpigeon + Betty Burke = Tour

First of all there is a great mini interview with Woodpigeon on Chartattack today:

""Record labels have schedules," he says. "I had that album done, and Muzikanten was almost done, and I didn't want to wait four years to put Muzikanten out. So, for a little bit, it seemed like a good idea was to kind of sacrifice Treasury Library and just put it out there. I thought I would have 800 copies in my closet for the rest of my life."

The band's fans had other plans. Treasury Library sold out in less than a month. Woodpigeon's labels were not pleased."

You should go and read the whole thing

Shortly after I saw that though I found this. Woodpigeon are hitting the road and some of their dates are with Betty Burke (who I like) - they are the new(ish) band fronted Maggie MacDonald (Hidden Cameras, ex-Republic of Safety, ex-Barcelona Pavilion, writer, visual artist, one time NDP candidate).

So...tour dates:

Woodpigeon (*with Betty Burke)
Jan. 16 Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret
Jan. 22 Calgary, AB @ Broken City
Feb. 11 Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel*
Feb. 12 Guelph, ON @ Jimmy Jazz
Feb. 13 London, ON @ Aeolian hall
Feb. 15 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah*
Feb. 16 Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse Tavern*
Feb. 17 Kingston, ON @ The Mansion*
Feb. 18 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa*
Feb. 19 Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle*
Feb. 21 Wakefield, QC @ The Blacksheep Inn*

Amanda Ash Interviews Basia Bulat about New Album

Amanda Ash who is working on the Canadian Music Wiki for Radio 3 has an interview up with Basia Bulat on her exceelent blog the Indie Files. Basia talks about her new album Heart of My Own which is due out on January 26.

Visit http://theindiefiles.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/basia-bulat-discusses-her-new-record-heart-of-my-own/ to listen.

Wayne Petti (Cuff the Duke & Blue Rodeo) In Canadian Interviews

Wayne Petti of Cuff the Duke and Blue Rodeo, who's CBC Radio 3 Session came out earlier today is also in Canadian Interviews:

CI: This is a question that I like to ask musicians: on YouTube, there are a number of videos that fans have shot at your live shows, and out of curiosity, does it bother you that sometimes your performances are recorded without your knowledge and put online, or is it just one more way to circulate music?

WP: To be honest, now that it goes up on YouTube, I love it. There was a time when we first started that people would bootleg it and I’d never get to see it! You’d ask them, ‘hey, can you send me a copy? I love that you taped it. I want to see it.’ And if they did, it would be on VHS or a DVD, but there’s something about it going on YouTube, yeah, everyone can see it. Technology like that doesn’t intimidate us. The downloading thing sucks for us. It sucks for the bottom line for the industry, but at the same time it gets your music out there quicker than any way ever in the history of music. It’s instant. You can put something online and have people checking it out. Anyway, the YouTube thing, I don’t mind it, especially if people post it. The thing that sucks is if it sounds bad and people still put it on YouTube. Sometimes you’re recording and it’s loud in a club and it just gets distorted, but they still post it! What’s the point? Having said that, lately people have been posting pretty great clips. We can share it with other people because that’s a nice thing for people to see. And now our record is coming out in the U.S. too, so if people go to our website they can see stuff like that and think, ‘hey, cool’.

Read the whole thing at http://www.canadianinterviews.com/interviews/index.php?ID=177!

Meligrove Band on Brock TV

Via Myspace and Brock TV: An interview with the Meligrove Band:

Joel Plaskett Interview in Guitar International

A new interview in Guitar International starts with "If the name Joel Plaskett doesn’t ring a bell, you’re probably not from Canada, ..." which sums things up pretty nicely. If you've somehow missed the name Joel Plaskett over the last year (actually the last decade and a half-ish but especially the last year, and you live in Canada you should be ashamed of yourself for your lack of knowledge about what is going on around you.

Anyway, Joel goes on to talk about touring, and three, and vinyl, and what's next etc., - there are interesting tidbits for fans and a good overall intro for people who just haven't been paying attention.

"So that was what lead me to playing in a band, it was a social thing. We called ourselves the Nabisco Fonzie and then we were like 13 or 14 were the Hoods and then we changed our name to Thrush Hermit when we started playing our High School and gigs, and then we were opening for Sloan all of a sudden, we found the local scene downtown and they put out some records of ours."

The rest is here

Thrush Hermit- French Inhale (1994)

Live Video: Amy Millan on Q

'Low Sail' by Amy Millan on Q TV



'Bruised Ghosts' by Amy Millan on Q TV



'Finish Line' by Amy Millan on Q TV



Amy Millan on Q TV

(Forest City Lover) Kat Burn's Interview for the National Post

The National Post's interview with Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers plays one of my favorite Forest City Lovers songs "Orphans" and a bit of the new "If I Were a Tree" and talks about the Toronto music scene, what it's like to tour Europe, a bit about the new in-progress Forest City Lovers album and gives you the answer to that age old question - "What did the bra say to the hat?" - Check it out:

Happy 200th to Exclaim! (Allan Cross Interview with Danzig and Keast)

Via Aux.tv - Allan Cross talks to Ian Danzig and James Keast of Exclaim! about 200 issues and how the internet has changed things for them.

As a side note I should mention that Keast is wrong about the internet being unforgiving. If you say/do something stupid you may lose some followers, but you'll get new ones and some of the people you lose wil eventually come back - so don't worry about saying the wrong thing and destroying your reputation forever - it's not going to happen. I'm fortunate to have grown up with the internet (since it was green letters on a black screen) and I don't remember the 'good old days' of music journalism. I remember music journalism going back to the early 80s, but today is far better in every way than it's ever been (though I suppose not if you're an old school journalist or editor.) With that said ...

Congrats to Exclaim! and their people. 200 issues and nearly 18 years covering music is an amazing accomplishment.

All Our Noise Interview: Julie Doiron

Via Washington, D.C. blog All Our Noise

Interview: Julie Doiron from All Our Noise on Vimeo.