Melissa sits down with front man David Rancourt
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The up and coming band ‘The Mission District’ from Montreal, Canada have not only been leaving their mark in the Canadian music industry, but in the UK scene as well. These five talented musicians have so far released a catchy and incredibly fun first single titled ‘So Over You’, and after seeing them open up the show for Mariana’s Trench recently, I can guarantee that their album will be just as good.
From their performance at the Sound Academy in Toronto, I immediately saw that The Mission District know how to put on a really amazing set. They have the ability to make a crowd want to dance like crazy but also slow down and just sing along. Currently, the band is touring alongside other notable Canadian artists: Mariana’s Trench, The New Cities and Carly Rae Jepsen. As soon as this tour ends, the band will be returning to the UK where they have a month-long tour lined up with The New Cities.
When TMD headlined a show in Laval not too long ago, I got the chance to sit down with front man David Rancourt and found out some fun facts about the bands origins, as well as on the singer himself:
CONFRONT: How are you doing?!
David: Good, good and yourself?
CONFRONT: Good! Your band is going to the UK in a couple weeks, right?
David: Yeah! We’re leaving around mid November until the end of the month
CONFRONT: That’s awesome! Do you have any plans afterwards?
David: Yeah we’re going to be doing a Canadian tour in October until mid November
CONFRONT: Is that the Mariana’s trench tour?
David: Yes it is!
CONFRONT: That’s great! Are you going to be playing the whole tour with them?
David: We’re doing about 10 shows I think. We’re doing all the major markets with them: Toronto, Kitchener, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton… Possibly Vancouver too.
CONFRONT: Awesome, so you’re going all the way across Canada with them
David: Yup!
CONFRONT: Cool… You guys have played the UK before though right?
David: Yes!
CONFRONT: What are the differences between Canada and the UK? Are there any big differences?
David: Well the main difference is the drives between shows are a lot smaller *laughs* Other than that I mean it’s pretty similar, the people are really enthusiastic… I’d say that the UK is maybe even more music centered as a culture, but you know, kids are still super enthusiastic so it’s great!
CONFRONT: Cool! Going a bit back in time… How did the band meet/get together?
David: Well me, Rob and Travis were in a band together before called Full Count, nothing too serious, but when it ended the three of us just started putting a new sound and a new band together. We brought in Mike a little bit later, went through a couple drummers until we found the right one… and Antoine has been there since pretty much the beginning, he was a really good friend of mine, we grew up together- we were neighbors actually! So it all took off from there.
CONFRONT: Awesome! What would you say is the hardest part and the most fun part about touring?
David: The most fun part is that it’s a new adventure every day; meet new people, go to all these exciting places… it’s awesome. The hardest part I think is being away from home… friends, family, girlfriend… etc. But we all still love it.
CONFRONT: Yeah definitely. Where are you guys all originally from?
David: We’re based out of Montreal. I spent most of my life here… Rob is originally from Ontario, Brockville… and Mike our drummer is from Toronto.
CONFRONT: Oh that’s cool! Do you guys have a favorite place to play?
David: Wow… Tough choice! Montreal is great, Toronto, London is awesome… Dublin and Ireland are great places to play as well
CONFRONT: Have you been anywhere besides Canada and the UK?
David: We played a few shows in the U.S, but at this point we’re really focusing on Canada and the UK because you can’t do everything at once. So we’re really focusing on that and then hopefully after that we’ll focus on the U.S and the rest of Europe!
CONFRONT: Do you have a favorite song to play live?
David: Hmm… Probably our single, So Over You, because it’s the one that everyone knows the most since it’s on the radio… and of course people can buy it on Itunes!
CONFRONT: For sure!
David: Yeah, so that’s probably the one.
CONFRONT: Awesome. Your album… it came out a couple months ago?
David: Well actually it came out a year and a half ago but that was just a self released version of it because we did it by ourselves but since then we recorded new songs and re-recorded some of our old songs so the album will officially be out in January
CONFRONT: Oh wow! Are there going to be more songs on it?
David: Yeah, well some of the old songs aren’t going to be on it. So about half of it is going to be brand new… and our old stuff was re-recorded, but they sound quite new because they were better produced so it’s really like a brand new record coming out.
CONFRONT: That’s great! The title of the album- Youth Games… where does that come from? Does it have the same meaning as the song called Youth Games?
David: A little bit… But I think for the album we wanted to create something that was youthful as a first record… It was a good place to start for us. Writing catchy pop songs… It was a coming of age record for us for our first record so that’s kind of why we called it Youth Games
CONFRONT: That’s awesome. What are your musical influences?
David: Pretty much everything we grew up on as kids. In the 90’s we grew up on bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World… that kind of music. But at the same time there’s a kind of age/new age vibe going on like New Order, The Killers, Depeche Mode, that kind of stuff
CONFRONT: And do you really think you can hear all of these influences in the album?
David: Yeah I definitely think you can hear all those influences.
CONFRONT: Yeah. So, your single…
David: Yup, So Over You.
CONFRONT: Yes! How was it the first time you heard it- yourself- on the radio?
David: It was cool!
CONFRONT: Yeah?
David: The first time was actually in Toronto, in a taxi cab, and we were like “turn it up!” *laughs* It was a really good feeling
CONFRONT: *laughs* that’s really cool. If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing right now?
David: I don’t know! Probably finding myself… traveling around Europe or something. Maybe I’d be a writer, maybe I would… I don’t know, be studying
CONFRONT: Oh yeah? What did you study in?
David: I was doing American History/Political Science at McGill
CONFRONT: Oh, cool!
David: Yeah… then I dropped out to do the rock star thing *laughs*
CONFRONT: Well at least it worked out for you, right!?
David: Yup!
CONFRONT: So who’s the main writer in the band?
David: I do the general songwriting. I bring lyrics and melodies usually and a little bit of basic music… then the guys help me arrange it and we all write together.
CONFRONT: That was my next question actually, what’s your writing process like?
David: Usually I’ll come up with some basic lyrics and a basic melody over an acoustic guitar, something very simple. Then I bring in Antoine, who’s our bass player, and he helps me write a little bit too. Then we bring in the whole band and we all kind of work on it from there. So that’s usually the process. Sometimes we all just get together, jam and see what happens.
CONFRONT: What would you see is the most rewarding part about what you do?
David: Just seeing the response and the growth of the fan base and people being very passionate about the music and responding to us online. It’s so nice to see that people are actually connecting.
CONFRONT: Yeah definitely. Well you guys have the whole twitter, myspace, Facebook all that… How do those work with fans?
David: Oh it’s great! It’s important, it allows us to keep in contact with people and spread news very quickly… when we have shows we try and get it up really quickly to let everyone know about it… It’s just a useful tool to communicate with. We actually started our own website called www.youthgames.tv and we upload a ‘webisode’ once a week with all the silly antics that we do on tour and a really honest portrayal of the band… it’s also a social networking site so we put up a profile of the band and we can interact with each other and help out the fan community as well.
CONFRONT: So you guys run all of your websites personally?
David: Yeah!
CONFRONT: Oh cool! What would you say is the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far in the industry?
David: That you have to roll with the ups and downs of it… Just because you’re riding high on something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be foreseeing what’s coming next… and just because you’re on a low doesn’t mean that it’s not going to get better, you just have to persevere.
CONFRONT: For sure. And do you have any pre-show rituals?
David: Usually we just like to stretch and hang out in the back and just talk and get in the zone. That’s pretty much it… Maybe a drink or two just to loosen us up
CONFRONT: For sure! What music are you listening to right now that you think other people should be listening to?
David: So much good music right now… I’m really into a French band right now actually called Phoenix, really good band, kind of Indie/Pop. I’m pretty obsessed with their CD. I’m kind of all over the map *laughs* I also really like the new Boys Like Girls song, Love Drunk. It’s a good song.
CONFRONT: Oh yeah, it’s so catchy!
David: Yeah it’s a really catchy song
CONFRONT: Speaking of Boys Like Girl, I find you guys have a bit of similar sound to them… kind of that electro/pop thing going on, which a lot of bands seem to be doing these days. Is there a reason that you guys chose to go in that direction?
David: I guess it was just, like I was saying, influenced by the music we grew up to… that power/pop/rock but at the same time the big 80’s electro/pop
CONFRONT: Yeah… it’s all coming back in style
David: Yeah seriously, that’s pretty funny!
CONFRONT: So how would you describe life on the road?
David: It’s great. It’s definitely a bit of a bubble because you’re always being taken somewhere new… but I love it. I’m not the kind of person who likes to be in the same place for too long… I like to move around.
CONFRONT: The last questions are questions we ask all bands that we interview… First question, what were your first and last albums purchased?
David: First and last album purchased… Well first album ever purchased I think may have been a New Kids on the Block record… when I was like 4 or something *laughs* and the latest record I got was the newest Imogen Heap record.
CONFRONT: Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to get that. Is it any good?
David: It’s awesome. I’m a big fan of hers… A little music evolution there
*laughs*
CONFRONT: Yeah seriously… ! Completely different from when you were younger…
David: I WAS four years old at least…
CONFRONT: Good point!
*laughs*
CONFRONT: First and last concerts attended?
David: First concert I ever saw in my life was like… a Celine Dion concert
CONFRONT: Good times!
David: Yup! And the last concert I saw… I’ve seen a bunch of shows… Oh! La Roux, in Toronto.
CONFRONT: La Roux?
David: yeah, she’s awesome! She’s from the UK and her tour manager was actually tour managing us in the UK and we bumped into them in Toronto and they were like “come to our show!” so we went and it was awesome. Check her out, she’s huge, she’s MASSIVE in the UK but she’s just starting here.
CONFRONT: Awesome, thanks! Finish the sentence, I have never…
David: I have never… played on stage totally naked!
CONFRONT: Good one! And I would never?
David: I would never… go out with a super fan
CONFRONT: Super fan… like a groupie?
David: Yeah exactly… no I think it’s just weird… crossing a weird line. It’s all good to have enthusiastic fans, but some bands cross that line and I always find it a bit awkward
CONFRONT: Yeah definitely awkward
David: If you’re in a band I find it’s better if you go out with someone who doesn’t care about the band or who doesn’t know about your band at all. It’s better that way.
CONFRONT: yeah, for sure. It’s more equal kind of thing.
David: Yeah, exactly.
CONFRONT: And the last question, where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years from now either the band or as an individual?
David: Just being able to continue living off of music and pushing the band to become as big as it possibly can. I’m also really into song writing so I’d really love to do some song writing not only for myself but maybe for some other people
CONFRONT: Oh awesome, but you definitely still see yourself in the industry
David: Oh yeah definitely
CONFRONT: That’s awesome, well thank you for your time!
David: Thank you too!
You can check out any of the websites below for more information on The Mission District’s Canadian or UK tour as well as any other information about the band.
www.myspace.com/themissiondistrict
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