The Interview Show with Scott Wood 2019

Here's the story behind Tokyo Police Club's latest album TPC: In the last few years, the band grew apart and started to consider a "slow fade." During the 10 Year Anniversary tour for their 2010 breakthrough EP, A Lesson in Crime, one member made a passionate plea for the the band to continue. All four members agreed and they rediscovered their love of making music together, re-enlisting producer Rob Schnapf to help rekindle the enthusiasm of making 2010's endlessly charming Champ.

I had dinner and a few drinks with Graham Wright and Josh Hook from Tokyo Police Club in Vancouver's Rumpus Room the last time the band came thru Vancouver. We talked about nearly breaking up, being in a band after ten years and had a few laughs about mid-career band press release cliches. 

What strange dishes and drinks did the guys order? What's it like to re-evaluate your life after 10 years playing in a band? Why did the band nearly break up? Who wanted the band to continue? Why did Graham and Josh decide to double-down on Tokyo Police Club? What's it like to try to recapture the magic? Which old songs do they guys miss playing live? Which song on the new record makes Graham feel like a guitar god? How many Eminem references will there be in this interview? You'll have to listen to find out.

Tracks played on the podcast edition of the show...

1) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "Hercules" 
2) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "Simple Dude" 
3) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "New Blues" 
4) Tokyo Police Club, Champ (2010) "Gone"
5) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "One of these Days" 

ALL songs CANCON

The Interview Show

The Interview Show with Tokyo Police Club (podcast edition) #288

Here's the story behind Tokyo Police Club's latest album TPC: In the last few years, the band grew apart and started to consider a "slow fade." During the 10 Year Anniversary tour for their 2010 breakthrough EP, A Lesson in Crime, one member made a passionate plea for the the band to continue. All four members agreed and they rediscovered their love of making music together, re-enlisting producer Rob Schnapf to help rekindle the enthusiasm of making 2010's endlessly charming Champ.

I had dinner and drinks with Graham Wright and Josh Hook from Tokyo Police Club in Vancouver's Rumpus Room the last time the band toured thru Vancouver. We talked about nearly breaking up, being in a band after ten years and had a few laughs about mid-career band press release cliches. 

What strange dishes and drinks did the guys order? What's it like to re-evaluate your life after 10 years playing in a band? Why did the band nearly break up? Who wanted the band to continue? Why did Graham and Josh decide to double-down on Tokyo Police Club? What's it like to try to recapture the magic? Which old songs do they guys miss playing live? Which song on the new record makes Graham feel like a guitar god? You'll have to listen to find out.

Tracks played on the radio edit of the show...

1) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "Hercules" 
2) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "Simple Dude" 
3) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "New Blues" 
4) Tokyo Police Club, Champ (2010) "Gone"
5) Tokyo Police Club, TPC (2018) "One of these Days" 

ALL songs CANCON

The Interview Show with Tokyo Police Club (radio edit) #288

I met Danish punk rock band Iceage on the humid Toronto curb after an incredible show at NXNE festival. Their set was incredible. They writhed around the stage like a bunch of vengeful serpents trying to escape a religious snake-handling ceremony. Outside the club, I struck up a conversation with them as they lit cigarettes, eventually gaining enough courage to ask them for an interview. Instead the band started furiously making out with each other.

I got another chance to hang out with Iceage when they came through my hometown, Vancouver. I started out interviewing Dan, Elias and Jakob, but everyone quickly lost interest in chatting, wandering off, leaving singer Elias to talk with me as he smoked. Every once and a while I meet a band that are so solid in their conviction that interviews must happen completely on their own terms. 

What brand of cigarettes do Dan, Elias and Jakob smoke? How did the band balance doubt and perfection while making their record? Why does Elias consider a sense of urgency important when making music? How did Iceage avoid the snakes that inhabit the music industry? Which songs from the older records do Iceage still play in the live show? You'll have to listen to find out!  

Tracks played on the podcast edition of the show...

1) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "The Lord's Favorite" 
2) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "How Many" 
3) Iceage, You're Nothing (2013) "Ecstasy" 
4) Iceage, New Brigade (2011) "New Brigade" 
5) Iceage, You're Nothing (2013) "Morals" (partial/background)
6) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "Forever"  

NO songs CANCON

The Interview Show with Iceage (podcast edition) #289

I met Danish punk rock band Iceage on the humid Toronto curb after an incredible show at NXNE festival. Their set was incredible. They writhed around the stage like a bunch of vengeful serpents trying to escape a religious snake-handling ceremony. Outside the club, I struck up a conversation with them as they lit cigarettes, eventually gaining enough courage to ask them for an interview. Instead the band started furiously making out with each other.

I got another chance to hang out with Iceage when they came through my hometown, Vancouver. I started out interviewing Dan, Elias and Jakob, but everyone quickly lost interest in chatting, wandering off, leaving singer Elias to talk with me as he smoked. Every once and a while I meet a band that are so solid in their conviction that interviews must happen completely on their own terms. 

What brand of cigarettes do Dan, Elias and Jakob smoke? How did the band balance doubt and perfection while making their record? Why does Elias consider a sense of urgency important when making music? How did Iceage avoid the snakes that inhabit the music industry? Which songs from the older records do Iceage still play in the live show? You'll have to listen to find out! 

Tracks played on the radio edit of the show...

1) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "The Lord's Favorite" 
2) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "How Many" 
3) Iceage, You're Nothing (2013) "Ecstasy" 
4) Iceage, New Brigade (2011) "New Brigade" 
5) Iceage, You're Nothing (2013) "Morals" (partial/background)
6) Iceage, Plowing Into the Field of Love (2014) "Forever"  

NO songs CANCON

The Interview Show with Iceage (radio edit) #289

Ibeyi is the music project of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. The duo sings in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba (a Nigerian language spoken in West Africa by their ancestors before being taken to Cuba as slaves in the 1700s). In Yoruba, Ibeyi (Ìbejì) means "twins". Their father was the famed Cuban percussionist Anga Díaz, who was also a member of Buena Vista Social Club.

I hung out with the sisters and their mom who is their tour manager (or momager) backstage at Vancouver's Fortune Sound Lounge. 

Which Ibeyi track was written on the way home from a concert? Do the sisters like being asked about being twins? Who is the unofficial third member of the band? What does Yoruba culture mean to the sisters? What was it like working with XL Recordings record label founder and music legend Richard Russell? Which Ibeyi track is a tribute to a failed relationship? How is the first tour going? You'll have to listen to find out. 

Tracks played on the radio edit of the show...

1) Ibeyi, Ibeyi (2015) "River" 
2) Ibeyi, Ibeyi (2015) "Mama Says"
3) Ibeyi, Ibeyi (2015) "Oya" 
4) Ibeyi, single (2015) "Exhibit Diaz" (Jay Electronica "Better In Tune With the Infinite" cover)
 
NO songs CANCON

The Interview Show with Ibeyi (radio edit) #290

36? started as Taylor Cochrane's solo project when he was a teenager. As he says, "36? emerged at a very difficult and incomprehensible time in my life. I existed in a constant state of medically induced psychosis. I wrote and recorded songs on a daily basis, a mechanical imagination running wild in a zombie suit. Appearing as a hazy shell of a human being to the outside world, a blank dead eyed slate sitting at the back of the classroom, but on the inside I was in a constant state of creation." 36? has evolved since it's 2006 beginnings and now Taylor has folded many of his Calgary music scene friends into the band. They've recently released a new record Milk Mountain. 

The last time 36? were in Vancouver, I had a few drinks with Taylor and his new bandmates Kerry and Laura Hickli. When I brought up one of the first songs Taylor wrote for the project "So what if I feel like bondage?" it turned out Kerry and Laura had never heard the song before--so I get their reaction after hearing the track for the first time! 

How do you pronounce "36?" Why does Taylor find it strange observing the many ways people move on from a broken heart? How did Taylor cope with his mental health issues? Why record a piano version of a punk rock song like "So What?" You'll have to listen to find out! 

Tracks played on the radio edit of the show...

1) 36?, Vic single (2019) "Vic" 
2) 36?, So what? single (2019) "So what?" (piano version) 
3) 36?, love.hate.bondage (2006) "So what if I feel like bondage?" 
4) 36?, Milk Mountain (2019) "I think my dog knows I'm high"     

ALL songs CANCON

The Interview Show with 36? (radio edit) #294

The Interview Show producer and host Scott Wood climbs into the tour van to hang out with your favorite indie bands. This podcast covers all kinds of music--anything from electronic to hip hop to indie to punk to metal. Listen!

The Interview Show with 36? (radio edit) #294

interviewshow