Wintersleep

Isabelle sat down with Loel and Paul from this great Canadian band

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Wintersleep is a Canadian band from Nova Scotia. They have been around for quite a while, but we only really had the chance to hear from them since their third album ‘Welcome to the Night Sky’.  In 2008, they won the Juno Award for New Group of the Year with that same album.  With their third record, they decided it was time to really hit the road and give all their time to their project; Wintersleep was ready to go.  They collaborated with many other bands and toured with them as well, but their main project is definitely the band that gave us earlier last month, the song “New Inheritors”.

After a short passage in the studio, they were off to the United State to promote their brand new effort.  The major part of the work had been done on tour within the last years.  Throughout the summer and the beginning of next fall, they will be playing with bands like Stereos, Weezer, City and Colour as well as Tegan and Sara.  They have a lot of talent and Paul Murphy’s writing is tasteful.  They also performed in Montreal on July 2^nd at the Apple Store.  Catch them fast because they are busy! We never know when they are going to be back!  I was lucky enough to meet up with Paul and Loel this past May in Montreal as they played at Club Lambi.

CONFRONT – How’s your promotion day so far?

LOEL – Yah. Well, we just kind of started.

CONFRONT- Oh okay. So what is on the agenda for the promotion, for the next weeks?

PAUL – well we just did some stuff in Toronto and in Ottawa. We’re just taking a break and we are doing a US tour in a week.

CONFRONT- In a week? That’s really close!

LOEL – Yeah. We start on the fourth (June) in Philadelphia and we finish on the 27^th in New York.

CONFRONT- How is it to tour the US? Is it the same thing as in Canada?

PAUL- I guess. We haven’t tour that much in the US. It’s kind of a support tour

LOEL- We doesn’t have a strong enough fan base there.

CONFRONT- But you’re building it right now. So it’s cool.

LOEL- Yeah.

CONFRONT- So how was the recording process for your last album?

PAUL- It was good. It was fun. I guess we did one week of pre-production and basically a month of recording.

CONFRONT – Only a month of recording?

PAUL- Yeah.

CONFRONT- And also the previous one was really fast…

PAUL- Yeah the previous one was even quicker. I guess it was 3 weeks.

CONFRONT – 3 weeks? Why? ‘Cause usually bands stay like 4 months in studio.

LOEL – Well I guess we were ready to record. We had everything.

CONFRONT – Okay so you worked on your stuff before…

PAUL – Yeah obviously the studio is a big part of it but it’s not like everything. It is not like everything happens in the studio.

CONFRONT – You work on your stuff during the tour…

PAUL- Yeah and it’s kind of good to give yourself like deadlines and the two first records that we made were stretched out over a year and half. I don’t know we kind of appreciated the experience on the last time. We were just kind of doing it one-shot.

CONFRONT – And on the last record have you been influenced by something or inspired by someone. Did you tell yourself like I want to do something like this band or…? I read this book…

PAUL- I think there are lots of bands that we like and…lots of different…

CONFRONT- Like whom for instance?

PAUL- I guess the title is from Nathaniel Hawthorne short story. And I guess the title is coming from that and I don’t know we just listen lots of different music.

CONFRONT- Okay and I know that Graeme Patterson did the artwork for the album, what do you think of the result? Is it what you were looking for?

LOEL- Yeah we are really happy with it, we were fans of his work.

CONFRONT- That’s what I saw.

LOEL- And it’s cool you can collaborate on something outside of music like creating you know, like whether it’s on a video or… It’s awesome that we got to do the artwork with him. Hopefully, he will be able to do a video our something like that..?

CONFRONT- Oh really.

LOEL- In the future maybe… which would be really great.

CONFRONT- So yeah you’re interested in working with him again?

PAUL- Yeah well he is really busy.

CONFRONT- Oh he is busy!

LOEL- Yeah he is a very busy guy. Like he is showing a video that he shot in Time Square… He is doing some pretty wild stuff.

CONFRONT- Okay I know that you tour a lot. Is this something important to you? Like to be out there and to be with the fans…

PAUL- Yes definitely.

LOEL – Yes it’s a good way to…yeah it’s a thing to hear a band on a record and to bring it to the people. It’s a better way to relate to it I guess…

CONFRONT- So the relationship with the fans is really important to you.

LOEL- Yeah you know we obviously have a respect for the people who loves our music but I don’t know you can really championed it in a live setting I think. ‘Cause it’s happening there. It’s a moment…I guess.

CONFRONT – Do you think that now with the frailty of the music industry that this is something that bands need to do? To tour? Like to kind of survive?

PAUL- Yeah definitely. Yeah definitely a band like us anyway. I think a band like us it is kind of a part of it anyway.  So I guess it is not affected by the way the music industry is going but yeah I guess more than ever touring is pretty much the only…you know…

LOEL- Yeah but we never, we’ve been a band for a long time but we’ve never had the kind of hump of hype or whatever. We’ve never been one of these bands that got that kind of crazy push or whatever. The kind that all signs point to ‘yes’…

CONFRONT- Yeah I understand.

PAUL- We kind of generates our own success like…

LOEL- Yeah.

PAUL – You kind of find your own way to promote what you do. And for us it has always being touring.

CONFRONT- Yeah.

PAUL- And it’s the only way to…

LOEL- …to like validate, to prove…

CONFRONT- *laugh* Yeah but you are not scared of how it is going? For the music industry for instance, that you may not be able to do what you are doing forever?

PAUL – I don’t know, it’s not scary.

CONFRONT- *laugh*

L OEL- *laugh*

PAUL- I don’t know it’s that touring bands have not suffer from it as far as the touring aspect goes…and yeah the recording industry is kind of a bad state right now.

LOEL- Yeah.

PAUL- But I think that is the only thing that is in a bad state and everything else got strong.

LOEL –Yeah and it puts…I think that bands work harder now which in terms…like it’s a good thing for the audience who wants to see them. You don’t see the extravagance of the past ‘because there were problems in the past like bands that are hammered or just celebrities. And musician is second you know?

CONFRONT- Yeah I understand

LOEL- Yeah I think it’s the pressure of being better like to be a band that could win an audience by the end of the night. So I think that’s a good thing in a sens.We will never be in the position of making a record and not tour. Those days are definitely over.

CONFRONT- ‘Cause this is what you did for the first right? Did you tour at all?

PAUL – No not really we…not that we didn’t take it seriously but we didn’t dedicate that much time.

CONFRONT- It was more like…

PAUL- It was more like recording songs. It was more a hobby.

LOEL- Yeah it was more a hobby ‘because we were all in school at the time. And then once we finished, like after the second record we were kind of all finishing school and we wanted to do it more full time. It’s just happened…

CONFRONT- It became like your main interest.

LOEL-Yeah.

CONFRONT- And I also saw that you collaborated in many other bands. That you guys…

PAUL- …but not really recently. For the last 3 years it has been more…

CONFRONT- Like just Wintersleep?

PAUL- Yeah as for as being a touring band.

LOEL- Yeah leading up to this record everybody is kind of…

CONFRONT- Like now all your energy is on Wintersleep.

PAUL – Since Welcome to the Night Sky it has been…

CONFRONT- Now more like funny questions, do you have an addiction to a TV show or like a guilty pleasure that only your band mates know about?

PAUL – *laugh*

LOEL – Yeah well there was The Wire…I think everybody shared that

CONFRONT – The what?

LOEL – The Wire! The HBO program? Did you ask TV SHOW?

CONFRONT- Yeah ! Anything that you really like that maybe you’re ashamed…!

PAUL and LOEL – OHHHHHH Not ashamed!

LOEL- Maybe there was American top Model!

CONFRONT- Oh my god, you watched that?

PAUL- We watched that once.

LOEL- We had a stand with American Next Top Model.

PAUL – Pretty heavy duty.

LOEL – That was a while ago.

PAUL – A while ago.

CONFRONT- What would be your favourite band?

PAUL – Band?

CONFRONT – Band. Are you able to choose one?

LOEL – Hot Snakes.

PAUL- Yeah I guess Hot Snakes would be…

LOEL- It’s a collective favourite.

PAUL – Yeah it’s a collective choice.

LOEL – or Led Zeppelin. If we were all one person I guess

PAUL- *laugh*

CONFRONT- What is the first album you bought and the last?

PAUL- I think that the first full-length album that wasn’t a single that I bought was Guns n Roses Use Your Illusion 1.

CONFRONT- Guns n Roses! You too?

LOEL- No I think mine was…I’m pretty sure it was Naughty by Nature’s Nineteen Naughty III.

CONFRONT- What is the last one?

PAUL- The last one I bought actually would be The White Birch ‘s Come up for Air.

LOEL- The last album I bought was Hot Snakes.

PAUL- Really?

LOEL- I bought like 3 different vinyls when we were in Germany. And before that it was actually The White Birch.

LOEL and PAUL *laugh*

CONFRONT- And what was the first and the last show you saw as a fan?

PAUL- Oh the first show I ever saw was by a band called Burnt Black from Nova Scotia.

LOEL- A member of…

PAUL-…which is a member of Holy Fuck, Brian Borcherdt ,very first band. So yeah. And the very last show I went to that wasn’t one of our own shows?

CONFRONT- …that was for fun.

PAUL- That was for fun… let me think.

CONFRONT -You’re not attending that much shows or…?

PAUL and LOEL talking altogether

PAUL- I guess we watched bands that we played with. If that counts.

CONFRONT- Yeah well okay that counts. *laugh*

PAUL- I guess Deftones!

CONFRONT- Deftones okay!

LOEL- Cause we played a show with them.

CONFRONT- Oh that’s okay *laugh*

LOEL- I haven’t been to that many… Obits! We all went to see Obits!

PAUL- Flamming Lips.

CONFRONT- Okay.

PAUL and LOEL *laugh*

CONFRONT- And if you could finish the sentence ‘I have never ‘what would you say?

PAUL- I have never … I don’t know.

CONFRONT- *laugh*

PAUL- Tan! Sun tan!

CONFRONT- *laugh* and you?

LOEL- eh…I’ve never had a Cookie Monster!

PAUL- *laugh*

CONFRONT- *laugh*

CONFRONT- And I would never what?

PAUL- I would never?

CONFRONT- I would never.

PAUL – hum…

CONFRONT- Oh my god *laugh*

PAUL – I don’t know.

CONFRONT- You can say something as stupid as running naked on the street…

PAUL – Okay.

CONFRONT- *laugh*

PAUL – Let me think.

CONFRONT – I’m surprised that this is the most complicated question I have!

PAUL – I would never surf!

LOEL – *laugh*

CONFRONT- Oh! Never surf.

PAUL – Yeah. Unless it’s the internet.

CONFRONT – Would you surf?

LOEL -*laugh*

CONFRONT – You have 5 seconds to think about it!

PAUL – *laugh* Nice! You didn’t think it would be such a long one…

CONFRONT – No! Not for this one!

PAUL- It’s hard one.

LOEL – I would never skydive.

CONFRONT- Good!

LOEL- I might surf…

CONFRONT- Where do you see yourself or your band in ten years? What do you want?

PAUL – I don’t know…

CONFRONT- Okay your dream with your band…

PAUL and LOEL *thinking*

PAUL- Eh.

CONFRONT- Or you can say a band that you would like to do something like them…?

PAUL – Okay…Do we have a model?

LOEL- A model…

PAUL- I don’t know. I am not sure. I guess it would be nice to still be writing music.

CONFRONT – To do what you love…

PAUL – Yes. To still be doing what we like.

CONFRONT – On tour, did you have any crazy experiences? A fan did something weird? Or you got caught in something weird?

PAUL – Crazy experience. We just got a Cookie Monster… that’s not weird?

CONFRONT – You got cookies!

LOEL – Can we talk about that…?

PAUL – Someone gave us Cookie Monster, which is good. Oh yeah! We got offered laser eyes surgery because of one of our songs.

CONFRONT – Really?

PAUL- Something about having bad eyes.

CONFRONT – Someone offered that to you?

PAUL – Yeah it was a doctor, half-price or something like that. *laugh*

LOEL – That’s really good eh?

CONFRONT – Yeah that’s a good one! *laugh* and I read that you guys are living in Montreal?

PAUL – Yeah everyone is living in Montreal. I was living in Montreal. I am moving back to Halifax for the summer but I’m going back to Montreal.

CONFRONT – So you love the city.

PAUL – Yeah it’s amazing!

CONFRONT- Yeah!

PAUL – Yeah!

CONFRONT – So we will see you again in Montreal in July. I think you will be playing the apple store?

PAUL – Yeah.

LOEL- Yeah!

CONFRONT- Good! So we will see you again there!

PAUL – Awesome!

CONFRONT – Thank you!

PAUL and LOEL Thank you!

CONFRONT – Have a nice day!

http://www.wintersleep.com/

http://www.myspace.com/wintersleep

and you can follow them on twitter @wintersleep

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