We own Holy Fuck and everything it stands for. Every time someone says it a penny magically drops into our bank account.
Apparently, you can't copyright the word "fuck". so we haven't copyrighted it. I suppose I shouldn't have said that.....now everyone's going to start using it....damn. Our only hope is to make it as big and famous as possible
What's going on in Canada ? I know about the goverment helping out musicians, but you guys have taken over the (indie) world in a blast over the past 2-3 years. Is there sth in the water?
Canada 's always had a great amount of talented bands. And it's also great that musicians can get government funding...it's definately helped get our artists out in the global scene. But it's not like we all sat down one day a few years ago, and had a meeting about how we (as Canadaian indie musicians) we going to set about conquering the world. It just so happened that there were a few bands that broke globally, that focused some attention on our country. It's happened before to other "regions", and it'll happen again.
I also think that gov't funding is helpful. But I don't think it has lent to the style or sound. I think in the past Canadian musicians have always maintained a realistic dose of pessimism when it came to breaking big in the global scene. So we stayed odd and humble. And that makes for interesting music I guess. We're the weirdo cousin.
2007 has been the year for you. You've played live all around, you've been in the magazines. So, what do you want to remember and to forget from this god forsaken year.
I don't think there's really anything we'd like to forget.
I've already forgotten most of it.
Though you are using toys and other non-musical stuff in your music, the structure and the sound of your albums are "serious". What do you wish to accomplish with your music?
There's nothing necessarily un-serious about making music with found objects or toys. Though it is fun. We're just interested in making music that sounds different, even to our own expectations. Keeping things weird makes us try harder to overcome limitations. I'm growing horns.
And by the way (sorry, I guess you get this a lot): how would you call your music? Math rock or jazz of the internet era or anything else from all the strange names I've read ?
Jath Rock. Junk. Salsa. All the above.
Name 5 (or so) artists/albums that defined the sound of Holy Fuck.
Graham Walsh, Brian Borcherdt, Matt McQuaid, Mike Bigelow, Loel Campbell, Kevin Lynn, that's a start.
Your music is mostly improvisational and you record live. How do you create your music? Do you rehearse a lot on particular pieces or do you let it take you where it wants?
We haven't rehearsed our material other than on stage or in sound check. Sometimes we get to plan some transitions and what not in the studio. but really we try to cultivate our songs on stage, so that it's an evolutionary process that incorporates audience energy.
You have created quite a reputation regarding your live shows. And you've played all over. So, if you could please solve this question for me: What do indie people want: to dance or to listen?
They want to party hard and then criticize it in a blog.
You have been touring extensively with bands that sound very different: Buck 65, Mouse on Mars, Celebration, Do May Say Think. How do you decide with which bands you play? How easy is it to fit with such different styles and crowds?
We've been lucky to have been offered shows with so many great bands. We've simply gone with the flow over the past few years. We're just happy to play with these bands. Aside from that we don't really try to change it up for a new audience. It's beyond us to know what people might like or dislike about us. So we just show up at the party and tell a lot of amusing anecdotes and steal a couple beers.
Name your best / worst / strangest live experience (How is it even possible to perform live between all these cables on the floor?)
Well, there was the time where I crowd surfed into a ceiling fan and then was hurled back onto the stage where I landed on my table of gear, knocking it over. Also, there are countless heartbreaking moments of opening cases pre-gig to find that one of our favorite casios got smashed on the plane. That sort kills an entire song or three.
Young Turks, XL and the great Beggars are responsible for the promotion of your music. In the times of "internet and Radiohead freedom", how do you feel that a label can support a band?
Releasing a record on your own is A LOT of work. We released our first record on our own, and made it work, despite the tedious amount of administrative work involved. We took it as far as we could go on our own, but eventually you'll need some help to bring it to the "next level". You have to decide yourself if you need a label, but for us... it's helped spread awareness about Holy Fuck... more so than we could do on our own.
The guys from Radiohead have become our 'street team'. They hand out promotional postcards and CDs outside of clubs.
What are your following plans? Are you thinking of going beyond lo-fi? Are you thinking of adding vocals by guests or some more instruments in your next projects?
We're definitely heading beyond lo-fi. I'm just not sure in which direction. We're gonna see if there's anything lower than lo-fi. Also we plan to have a number of surprising guests, each one more surprising than the last.
Now that you made our(!) list of best of 2007 and many, many other lists, what should our wish be for your 2008? (Maybe, that Santa should bring you new laptops?)
A laptop made of coal. Or at least one that runs on coal.
A word or two on these names that you have worked/played with and we truly cherish:
Owen Pallett - Nice young man. Very generous with his craft. He spins musical notes into golden strands of silk.
Do May Say Think- Nice young men (and girl). They spin musical notes into giant swirling clouds adorned with miniature castles of gold. We've been fans for years.
Wolf Parade- I'm wearing their band shirt right now. I love em. Nicest band to tour with. They have lots of stories about pee and I once saw them throw a whole pack of lunch meat into a ceiling fan (it was soy meat)
!!! - Huh??? Super-nice guys. They kill it every night.... they always cheer me up no matter what. They're magicians with exploding hats.
Cornelius- Wildly euphoric visual laser light show. Wonderful band and crew. We don't speak Japanese so the whole tour we'd just smile at each other and do stupid things like give thumbs up and say things like " You...Guys...Are... Awesome" and then feel embarrassed about it later.
Celebration- woohooo. We only did two nights with em, which is a shame. We collaborated on a remix 7" (our first remix). I hope we get to do something with them again soon.
Girl Talk- He somehow manges to put so much personality into a laptop set. No surprise as he's sweet and humble and very cool. I want to hang out with him and go bowling or get nachos or something. I want to be his friend.
Buck 65- I cried to his record once. No one cries to Hip Hop. Although I did recently cry on an airplane while watching Elf. So I guess that's not a big deal. Also, he's not really hip hop. But he has the best internal rhyme scheme of any hip hop artist out there. He's a Nova Scotian hero... I've loved his music for years.
Mouse on Mars- These guys are inspiring. Also very nice... and not like they need to be. They could be total dicks and you couldn't do anything about it... they sit in a pile of patch cables every night, making people's heads melt.
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