Interview with Care Failure of Die Mannequin - Metropolis - March 12th, 2008
CONFRONT: So you're back on tour with Sum 41 after you took a short break due to Deryck's back injury.
Care: Yeah! Crazy!
CONFRONT: How is the experience going so far, this time around?
Care: Yeah, it's funny because it's only our second show with them. Because the first two got moved to other venues and we couldn't make them for financial reasons and the Chicoutimi show was supposed to be our first show, that was supposed to be Sunday; and Saturday we left from Toronto, but we got stuck like eight times and we had to sleep on and off through that snow storm. So we slept in the middle of an off-ramp, like really dangerously, with no heater and so we didn't even make it to Chicoutimi but we found out it got cancelled. So we played two days ago in Trois-Rivières, it was our first show and it's our second tonight so, so far it's good!
CONFRONT: (laughing) It's good!
Care: (laughing) Yeah!
CONFRONT: For 'Slaughter Daughter' you worked on a few songs with Ian from Billy Talent. How was that?
Care: It was... (speaking in a very high pitched childish voice) It was, oh my God! What a jerk! What an asshole!
CONFRONT: (laughing)
Care: (continuing...) God! Could he get any stupider? (Coming back to her normal voice) He was really enthusiastic! It was his first time producing a band other than his band. So I think he made a damn good job! I think he has a really long and great career ahead of him for producing, if he wants to, I think he could totally do it. So I think he really understood, because he's a guitar player, he understood how to get certain sounds I wanted and he listened to a certain extent, so he was awesome!
CONFRONT: Great! What is the story behind your name, Care Failure?
Care: Oh! It was like, people always yelled: "Careful!" my name is Caroline, but they always yelled: "Careful! Careful!" and then Careful just shortened to Care and then I was married into the Failure family because I wasn't born a Failure so... (laughing) obviously! So that came about.
CONFRONT: That's awesome. Are you excited about MTV on March 24th?
Care: Oh yeah! And I didn't even know about it, I'm the last to know about some stuff, because some shit will slip by me so I was like: "What?" I mean yeah! A lot of local bands play on that so, it's going to be another show, but every show is exciting right? So yeah!
CONFRONT: What inspired the concept behind the video for "Do It Or Die"?
Care: It wasn't even like a concept, if you can call it that. We were just trying to make a video for internet content and it's kind of an introduction because it's our first streamed video, so it just got to show us, who we are and playing. We did it at this homeless bar near our house that has like dollar beers that we use to go to, with all these drunken awesome homeless people and it's an amazing place for characters, so we did it there just for fun and it was barely a concept. We were just playing with people and having their natural reactions. It was funny because we were like: "Act the way you would normally act!" and they were acting like too into it. We thought they would be pretending to be pissed off and that's what we wanted but they were all into it! We had to tell them to chill out, because they were too excited! And we were all like: "Fuck guys! Come on!"
(laughing)
Care: So it was cool, it was fun! The next video we're doing at the end of the month, we're going to film it at the end of March. We just finished filming this documentary with Bruce McDonald. It's this thing that the IFC has, the Independent Film Channel, that's like a series of documentaries called "The Raw Side Of..." and then has like whatever band name. So it was just "The Raw Side Of Die Mannequin" and it's coming out at the end of the month I think too and then Bruce McDonald did it and he was all excited about us, so he wants to do the video, so now we're going to do the video at the end of the month too!
CONFRONT: Cool! In one of the articles I read on Die Mannequin you say: "I'm a slave to myself..." Can you explain a little bit more about that?
Care: Totally, totally! Because some people ask me why you do what you do and what got you into music? It's a weird thing, I answer that I don't know why I'm doing what I'm doing, it's just kind of I'm a slave to myself, and it's not like I'm a slave to myself and I hate my life, I hate music or what I'm doing. It's like as if it's almost incontrollable, it's just what I'm built to do, I'm not built to really do anything much other than this. So in that way I'm a slave to it.
CONFRONT: So it's yourself telling you to do this.
Care: Yeah! It's not even like I'm telling myself, it's almost like this automatic "trancy" thing, if that makes any sense. (laughing)
CONFRONT: That makes perfect sense! Do you have a specific writing process, what inspires you the most?
Care: Umm? Yeah that's so weird, like, I tried all sorts of different things. I've written all this stuff we have so far and I'm starting to co-write with people, just for fun, just because it's fucking fun! (laughing) To write with other people, to have an inspiring partner and... But the writing process is strange because usually all my stuff comes all at once, all like at one time. That's how it used to be and now I'm forced because I'm writing a record right now, our full length record, to kind of be able to channel that and be able to do it more than necessary and that's really tricky sometimes. But it's like a muscle, the more you work at it, the more you do it, the more you start to be accustomed to it, so I'm working on that.
CONFRONT: Good! You were featured in AP Magazine recently...
Care: (surprised) Oh! Yay! (laughing)
CONFRONT: Yeah! You were! (laughing) So what I thought is, there is that and there's MTV, etc... starting to be mainstream a lot more, so does that scare you?
Care: Um, no! They should be scared! (laughing)
CONFRONT: (laughing) But do you think mainstream is bad or?
Care: I don't know, do I think mainstream is bad... People can get too much of something, like even a great song overplayed on the radio can you know, make it annoying. Do you remember that song "Yellow" by Coldplay? Remember, the first time you heard it you were like: "This song is so amazing!" and then they like played it a lot! And then you were like: "I wanna kill these people that play this song!" So I mean, too much of anything can be bad. But the whole point... I lost a lot of friends because I have choruses in my songs. I have a lot of pompous friends that I know show their noses off at stuff that I... That I have a label and that I work with major labels and that I'm played on the radio and I have videos and I think that's just... At first I thought, that's not what they want I guess, but later people told me that it's either secretly that they all want it or they're afraid of it and/or that they are jealous. I don't like that they are jealous necessarily, like, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to get your music to a vast amount of people? So maybe that's just not what some people want to do, but I think that that's good! (laughing) Right?
CONFRONT: Yeah, isn't that what you're trying to do with your music?
Care: Yeah! So I mean embrace it, but at the same time be aware of its ugly side.
CONFRONT: Yeah, like "Yellow".
Care: Yeah! (laughing)
CONFRONT: How was your experience with Jesse Keeler?
Care: Yeah, and Al-P, his partner. Yeah! It was really good, I mean they really took me under their wing and we spent a shit load of time together that year; him and his girlfriend too. Yeah, it was kind of weird, they said they wanted to work on all the next records and then I don't know, but they didn't so I don't know if I would've said yes or not, I worked with other people. But we had a really good time together. I sing on their record, I think they have a new single that I'm singing in, that I wasn't even aware of, but it's called: "She's Good For Business" and I sing in that song.
CONFRONT: Ok!
Care: (laughing) Yeah, I mean, they have their own way. Al-P, his partner, I don't think he gets enough credit, like he's fucking brilliant! Like he's been there in the Death From Above (1979) days, he recorded stuff with Death From Above, it was the secret ingredient behind a lot of their sound and he's really dope, Jesse's dope too.
CONFRONT: You were lucky enough to tour with bands such as Buckcherry, Finger Eleven, Sum 41, Guns 'N Roses, The Deftones and others. What do you learn from those experiences, what do you keep from that?
Care: Oh God! A couple things... One thing we learn with the bad experiences, like, if a band has kind of an asshole attitude and is mean and they treat their crew meanly; it carries down the line like an abusive father would to a boy that goes to school and then bullies other people. It's like, they treat the crew like shit so then they will treat us like shit and it's this bad vibe. But then some of these great bands that we've toured with that also have great music are stellar people that are spot on. And the craziest thing I was finding, especially with The Deftones, with Chino and Chi and Abe, I mean they actually still have a sincere passion for music which no one... Like I hadn't seen that yet and then when I saw Chino is like obsessed like: "Let's do this song, let's do this song!" like so in it, still really loving music! And that was like wow! You guys have been doing it for so long and you still love music. That was cool so, that's definitely cool in that way. It's helped me a lot more than they know. It's made me like, into music again.
CONFRONT: That's great! Why 'Unicorn Steak?'
Care: Why 'Unicorn Steak'? (laughing and using a childish voice) Why not 'Unicorn Steak'? Well unicorns are like this rarity right, it's funny like (using a funny voice as if talking like a fancy person and even standing up all straight in her seat): 'Unicorn Steak'! And it's just funny because a lot of these people have heard these songs already and for me it's just easier, I can sneak, ha ha! More money from labels to sell a record more than I can sneak for an EP and I can get more money to tour and go see these people and do interviews with you guys because of having a record instead of two EP's. So it feels good for everyone and I'm kind of pulling one for the fans and they have to know that I get bored very easily and I'm really in the need to put out new music and that's why I'm already recording the new record right now. But this stuff takes forever when you're doing it through an industry, just because it's this huge machine and they need records like six months in advance and it's crazy. But it'll be done really soon actually, I wonder when it will come out, but it will be done. But yeah! 'Unicorn Steak', it's like this rarity, it's kind of like a car salesman to me (using the professional funny voice again): 'Unicorn Steak'! 100 percent! You know, trying to sell this thing! (laughing)
CONFRONT: (laughing) All your album covers, they are all awesome!
Care: You like them? (laughing)
CONFRONT: I really do! They are all catchy.
Care: Cool! I do all the art but...
CONFRONT: Oh you did! That's what I was going to ask you.
Care: (laughing) Like I can't work Photoshop but I can work simple things, I don't know like vectors and things, so I have to like sit down with a guy or a girl that knows and I give them my drawings and then I'm like: "do this, do this!" and I'm dictating, smoking from a big chair...
CONFRONT: Being the boss! (laughing)
Care: (laughing) Yeah! Like some crazy dictator, telling them: "Do this and this!" but yeah, I did do them.
CONFRONT: Awesome! You have your own label under Warner, How To Kill Music, do you plan on producing other bands anytime soon?
Care: Yeah! It's like a community thing, with our manager, Mr Butterscotch, known as Mr BS and you know, Warner supports it, they support us which is cool as it helps us get more funding and things and were starting to sign our first band so, yeah!
CONFRONT: You have your own history with drug addiction and everything.
Care: I do.
CONFRONT: As I read in other interviews, you said, you can't just tell people: "Don't take drugs!" or whatever, but having gone through all that yourself though, for people who are struggling right now, what are your "tips" if I can say so, to help them face it?
Care: I mean, some people will say rehab and this and that, sometimes rehab doesn't work for everyone and everyone has to be ready for it. Sometimes it gives you tips on how to stay strong later when you're trying to do your thing. I don't know, I'm trying to quit smoking and they say one thing at a time but... If I knew the answer, like I'm the last person to know the answers to that kind of stuff but, you don't want to be just another statistic and you have to think you're better than that and have confidence in yourself. It's not just the drugs, it's so much deeper than that; it's anxiety and self-hate and all that, so you just got to get to the root of those problems.
CONFRONT: Good. We have a section in CONFRONT Magazine called Daily Urges where we share the reader's and the writer's daily favourites in music. What are some of your daily urges lately?
Care: Urges! (laughing) RuPaul, Day Of Hell 'Super Bitch' remix, 'Era Vulgaris', that Queens of the Stone Age record, that new album, it's really good! Sonic Youth, anything, especially 'Goo'.
CONFRONT: Cool. First and last CD purchased?
Care: Um, I was thinking about that actually. The first one I remember liking at least was like Beck 'Odelay', I was like ten. I bought Sonic Youth's CD's way too young because all the bands that I loved, like Nirvana when I was a kid, they were listening to Sonic Youth, so I bought all these albums and I wasn't patient enough so I got into it really young, which is crazy and when I think back I'm like: "Oh, I was young!" (laughing) But yeah, that and last one I bought, I re-bought some Melvins stuff that I broke and destroyed over the years. (laughing)
CONFRONT: First and last concert?
Care: Oh my god! Oh I remember there was this concert with this radio station in Toronto called The Edge 102.1 and they had this one concert and they never did it again, I was about eleven, I was never allowed to go out or do anything so, I was only out at my friends' shows or my own shows. But then there was this show with The Edge and I convinced my dad to go with me and a couple friends, so it was some random bands, I remember that show.
CONFRONT: And how old were you?
Care: I was eleven yeah!
CONFRONT: Cool! And your last one?
Care: Oh! I got kicked out of Marilyn Manson last week in L.A.! God! How do you get kicked out of a Manson show? I was like just there with some rep, because they had free tickets, my friend was the bass player in Manson and I thought I was going to see him when I get there and then I see Twiggy's back! So I'm like, Twiggy's back? Where's my friend? Where's Rob? (laughing) And then I was doing something and then they were throwing me out, roughing me up and then my friend punched the security guy and then they were dragging us out by our shirts and collars and it was kind of funny because it was like: "How do you get kicked out of Manson?"
CONFRONT: Yeah! Everybody is crazy at a Manson show!
Care: Yeah, I guess they had a no bullshit policy or something like that. But I guess the last show that I wanted to go to was Rick White's, this solo tour, he's from Elevator, he's really cool.
CONFRONT: And, what would you like your band's legacy to be?
Care: Oh my God! I don't know, we just want to give people the chills and I mean we're sarcastic and not such a gloomy bunch as we seem. We just want to give back what we got, like when I was a kid, I got so much strength in good and bad things and from music and I just want to give back what I got. So it's just this kind of purging, recycling thing, so I hope that will go on forever.
CONFRONT: Cool. That's a good legacy.
Care: It's a start. (laughing)
CONFRONT: Well thank you!
Care: No, thank you so much guys!
CONFRONT: Have fun at the show!
Care: Yeah! Thank you!