Chewing Bubblegum and Kicking Ass: An Interview With The Bicycles
Posted in The Summer, Canadian Content, Interviews, Current Faves, Music |Popshifter: So you’re a big part of the bands in the Toronto indie scene. It seems like a kind of family of bands that play with each other: they collaborate and play live shows and switch members and things like that. What do you like best about that atmosphere?
Dana Snell: I like how we’re tightly knit. If one band is starting to write then the other band will get excited about writing; if one band is recording then the other band will get excited about recording. It’s kind of like, we keep each other motivated and interested in making good music.
Dana Snell
Photo © Graham Kennedy
Popshifter: What’s currently inspiring your music? I know you’re recording right now—
Dana Snell: We’re mixing actually.
Popshifter: What prompted the new set of songs?
Andrew Scott: Boredom of our old ones.
Matt Beckett: Our crappy lives. (laughs)
Drew Smith: Oh yeah, totally.
Matt Beckett: No, that’s not true.
Andrew Scott: Yeah, Dana’s life is pretty good.
Drew Smith: Her song is upbeat.
Dana Snell: It’s not that upbeat. (laughs)
Drew Smith: Well, it’s a higher beat than ours.
Dana Snell: So what inspired these songs. . . I guess it depends on which song. Matt, why don’t you tell her about the theme?
Popshifter: Oh, there’s a theme?
Matt Beckett
Photo © Graham Kennedy
Matt Beckett: Yeah. Our crappy lives. (Everyone laughs.) The theme is, well, they’re all romantic songs.
Andrew Scott: It’s sort of split down the middle. Well, maybe not exactly, but there is definitely a bummer romance song and then a positive romance song.
Drew Smith: It’s just where we’re at now.
Dana Snell: Or rather a year ago.
Andrew Scott: That’s kind of the weird thing, too: the songs have a ups and downs, like how life has its ups and downs? And ironically enough, I think our lives have changed a little maybe even since then.
Matt Beckett: I think now that basically the rule is that an album will always be one relationship behind.
Andrew Scott: Yeah.
Dana laughs.
Matt Beckett: But you never, well, you don’t want to catch up.
Andrew Scott: I think there are a few relationships built into it, too.
Dana Snell: It’s not as removed as the first one because the first one took so long. Everybody was on to new relationships. Well, not everybody: mine’s still the same.
Drew Smith: Not to be rude, but how many girlfriends? (laughs) You counted.
Matt Beckett: Well, when the first record came out it was maybe like, two girlfriends behind.
Dana Snell: Maybe you’ve increased your pace of girlfriends. (laughs)
Click to read more from The Bicycles on. . .
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Jacques Demy
Board games
Back to school
Old Man Bolton
Plans for the summer
