(Cord Magazine's questions are in blue. Artist responses are in grey.)


We have a set of ten totally unrelated questions that we're asking everybody. The feature's totally taken off, because no two set of answers are even remotely the same. You up for it?!

Yeah… 10 questions, let's do it! Uhhh… my first answer is blue!

No. Wrong! I'm kidding, but stop jumping the gun, and answer me this… When you're not touring, and you're not on stage, what do you do when you're on downtime?

Any thing to do with art and music and movies… and… anything creative, and riding a motorcycle.

You have a bike?

Oh yeah I've been riding for 7 years. But it's an old 74 Honda 754 K6, so I can't get in any trouble with it… and I know it inside and out, so I don't think I'd want another bike.

I'm surprised they [EMI Canada] let you ride a bike, what if you crash and hurt your guitar playing assets, you know break an arm or something?

You know what? Tim Trombley [EMI Canada Vice President] is like, the man, for bikes. The next time I'm in Toronto and we have more time together... He has a Sportster and a big beautiful Harley in his garage. He's stepped up and said, "let's go riding". They're all over it!

That's surprisingly liberated of them. What's your vice of choice?

Man… I'd say… that it would be… (long pause)… see… "vice", to me is almost like a guilty pleasure.

Yeah, it is…

Ok. (long pause)… damn. You know what? That's a tough question. It's really tough. 'Cause I don't feel guilty too often. I kinda just do anything! (laughs) If I liked crying at movies, I'd do it all day. 'Cause I don't feel any shame. (laughs again). I'm gonna say… uhhh… Fuck. Let's go back to that one.

Okay. (Everyone's now laughing) Now that you've been touring for a while, what's your favorite venue or city or country or place to play?

Well… I'm gonna go with Victoria as my favorite place. 'Cause I wanna live there. I think one of the most beautiful venues to date would be The Commodore [Ballroom in Vancouver]. I don't know about front-house sound - 'cause theatres usually are usually a bit better.

But the Commodore has such a cool vibe.

Oh, it's so awesome. Everything about it. But it's tough to pick a favorite, because there have been so many good places. And I have to say that I think my favourite opening gig was opening for Big Sugar.

Yeah, and they're so loud too…

Yeah, they're loud by default, and they throw down. BUT, it was because I finally got to open for a band that I LOVE. I've liked a lot of bands I've opened for… I like people like Art Bergman - I've opened for him, and he's awesome. But to open for Big Sugar, someone you've been listening to for 8 years. It was like, "Yeah… Fuck yeah!!"

Cool.

Man, it was.

What sort of issues and aspects of the world these days most concern you? There's so much going on.

Uhh, you know… I'm a pretty shallow person (laughs). You know there's not one thing that stands out, but I get pissed off. For example, when I see people driving with the windows rolled up, with kids in the back, and they're up front just fucking puffing away on a pack of du MAURIER, I go so livid. Like… I get physically angry. And that's not a massive global issue by any stretch, but… if all those little things build and add up. (pauses) I don't really know much about politics… because I find it too devastating for me, and it's too much to take in. I think I'd throw myself off if I got too involved, so I try to keep my focus to things on a more personal, human level. The little things which are immediate affect me. The bigger things I see in life, like I see on CNN, are so devastating that I don't even have a response. It's overwhelming and I change the channel, because my only response is "Wow, I don't even know what to say."

You're starting to take on a lot of press now. What's the one interview question you're starting to get sick off, or hope that you don't have to answer? And if I've said it, I'm sorry.

Nooooo! (laughs) God, no… you'll have to ask in me 3 more years, because I'm still new to this. Oh! I'm not upset with this question, but it sucks when the interviewer says "describe your sound". I mean, come on, "describe your sound" is way to ambiguous. I mean how do you respond, "uhhh… whales?". It's too vague.

What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?

Being a kid it was Stan Lee's Spiderman, and Hercules.

Yeah, I loved Hercules, with the Hydra and shit.

Exactly, with Daedalus and the whole bit, because it was on before school. You got to see cartoons before you went to school. How cool was that?!

What did you want to be when you were growing up, and you can't say musician?

Honestly… My whole life I have been artist, like an actual painter and an illustrator. I still think I'm a better painter than I am a musician. But I think otherwise, besides that, I wanted to be a mechanical engineer, because you're take art and function… you know, form and function. And you're taking artistic concepts and making it into something that really works… so yeah mechanical engineer.

If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be, and why?

(instantly responds) For one day? A mosquito, a brand new mosquito! 'Cause they live their life in a whole day. They live their life in one day, right? That's a lot to do in one day. I mean you're born, you get house, you touch a boob, you screw, you get kids, you get fired, you get drunk, you get high, and you get old, and you pee your pants, and then you're done. You can do it all in one day. (laughs) Man, that's a dumb answer. Let me think (pauses), You know what… Will Oldham.

Yeah? The music artist?

Yeah. That guy to me… I can't figure him out, and the only way to figure him out would be to live a day in his shoes. I think he's fucking amazing, one of my favorite song writers of all time.

Very nice… second last question…

Wait I didn't answer question #2 [the vice of choice question]. Masturbating! (flashes goofy grin)

Alright… done… noted. A shark and a bear fight. Here are the rules: The water for the shark is just deep enough for him to exist, and there's a small rock in the middle of the water on which the bear may stand. Neither has been trained, and neither has been fed for a few days. It's the meanest of grizzly bears against the meanest of Great White sharks. Who wins?

Wow. (pauses, adjusts glasses) I think they both actually just avoid each other. 'Cause sharks aren't big fans of land, obviously, and bears don't really like water. I'm gonna say - and I'm not trying to be a smart ass - but they just avoid each other.

We've never got that response before…

Have to say, I don't I think sharks have really been inherently given the disposition to see something large and hairy on a solid mass, knowing it's edible. That's not something they'd jump out of the water for. But then you can't trust the bear, 'cause he might think the shark is a big salmon. Either way, I'm gonna say that they avoid each other.

Very good - last question. If you could ask me one question, what would it be?

My question to you… is… what has been your favorite live show?

That I've ever seen?

Yeah, and it could be because of the sound, and it could be because you were drunk, or because you made out with a chick, whatever.

Fuck, uhhhh… Sam Roberts at the Commodore last year. He owed it.

Awesome!

Elsewhere

By Rob Anand
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : May 23, 2004.