Braids Mini Interview (playing I'll Be Your Mirror USA)
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Another in a series of mini interviews with artists performing at I'll Be Your Mirror USA in New York City this September. Tickets for the event running September 21-23rd at Pier 36, Manhattan are on sale now. Braids play Sunday 23rd curated by ATP...
Name Of Band: Braids
Hometown: Montreal, QC, Canada
Year Formed: 2007
Bio: Braids, the Canadian experimental pop group who released Native Speaker in 2011, have reinvented themselves in the making of their second full length. Countless late-night drives have steered their attention towards new techno and house genres, deepening their appreciation of electronic based music. This curiosity has taken Braids from the rich, effects laden balance of Native Speaker to the inevitable point of a primarily electronic sound. Years spent as a live band only tightens the group further during this shift. As they head out in anticipation of their next album - due sometime in 2013 - their new songs will be played, fully live, in an exciting time in music as the gap between real and synthetic narrows, leaving room only for the pure energy driving the performance.
What are the most recent activities of your band?
We have spent the last 8 months recording our sophomore record. We have also been going for nice strolls around the neighbourhood when we get tired of recording. So we have been recording, and then walking around and getting treats.
How do you feel about being picked by ATP and how excited are you about playing the event?
I think we're currently more nervous than excited. But hopefully that will change as we near closer to the festival! We have a VERY different set up than before. And we are playing ALL new songs. It's a lot to undertake, but change is EXTREMELY important. I guess the sensation that I felt when we were picked to play ATP was similar to standing in a line in the school yard, anticipating being chosen for a game of soccer during lunch time, and you just really hope that you don't have to sit out and watch the other kids play this really fun game, and the captain picks you, and you want to throw your hands up in the air and go, YES! THANK YOU! But you know that wouldn't be right, so this feeling of burning excitement starts in your belly and creeps up into your chest a little. I think that's how I felt.
Are there any other currently confirmed bands you are excited about seeing?
We absolutely LOVE Philip Glass, but I'm not sure we'll be there for his day. He is a master of space and time. He is just the greatest! Lightning Bolt is also a band i'd like to see. I had a boyfriend who played it all the time when driving around in his car.
What else will you be doing whilst you are in New York for this event?
We are good friends with the man who runs the music blog Stadium and Shrines and his girl, V, and their dog Bean. We'll probably spend our time with them. Bean the dog has a really cute halloween costume, a taco suit, that we'll probably put on him. He looks so cute as a bean taco.
What's your most memorable NY show (if you've played one)?
Probably our first show at The Mercury Lounge. We were a bunch of over stressed kids, playing in America for the first time. We played a very emotional and intense set. That is the New York show I most remember.
If you were curating name three bands you would pick to play your event:
Born Gold
Morgan Greenwood
Agor
- THESE ARE ALL TERRIFIC BANDS THAT YOU SHOULD OPEN UR EARS 2!
What record are you currently listening to more than others?
We all find it rather hard to listen to other music while recording. We usually go pretty cut and dry, and don't listen to albums until our album is done. We have listened to some tracks in the living room though. We listened to that really great new tune by Mac Demarco, My Kind Of Woman, and that Grizzly Bear song, Yet Again. I guess the honest response would be, we are listening to our new record more than others. I would like to sit down in a big comfy chair and listen to some music soon though. Maybe have a glass of ice tea, and some biscuits, that sounds like a nice afternoon.
If you could pick one of your records for ATP fans to listen to, which would you chose?
Do you mean one of the records that I am listening to or one of the records that we have created? Well I will answer this question in a round about way, the sort of way that really makes a day, and I will say, just as proudly as I may, that we only have one record anyways!