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 KOMODO ROCK talks to The Birthday
Massacre at the Islington Academy, London
By Krissy Elliott
It was a grey day in London, as I made
my way by tube to Islington. The night before, The Birthday Massacre
had headlined the Whitby Gothic Weekend in Yorkshire, so I was
expecting a tired bunch as I located coffee and made my way into the
venue.
I met with Chibi (vocals), Mike Falcore
(lead guitar) and Rainbow (rhythm guitar) in The Green Room, upstairs
at the Academy. It's not green, it's barely a room, it's draughty and
noisy, but the band looked as though they'd had a full eight hours'
sleep, unlike some of us. I wanted to know more about this Canadian
entourage, who hail from Toronto, and also have keyboardist Owen,
bassist O.E. and drummer Rhim to complete the full recording and
touring band. In the past I have heard good things, so I started by
asking about their impressions of us:
KRISSY: So, you played the Whitby
Gothic Weekend last night, was it fun?
CHIBI: Yes, it was really interesting,
and so beautiful, by the ocean. It rained a little bit, but not
enough to ruin the day at all
K: Whitby is just so cold!
C: No, it wasn't that bad really.
MIKE: Well, during the day we got to
walk around, check out the pirates....
(There was much laughter at this point
as some strange noises emanated from a cupboard and we decided that a
wayward piece of technology was having a bad day. Or maybe the sound
check...)
K: So how did the weather compare to
Canada and what you are used to?
M: It's a little damper here... the
chill gets into your clothes.. but then, we've been on a tour bus,
that doesn't help
C: There's some heat from this little
metal strip along the bus but it heats up Real hot...
M: ...and Chibi steals it....
(laughter)
C: Yeah but you lie next to it and its
like, aaaah, your arm is on fire! Then you wake up and its off and
its like you're freezing, so it just makes no sense...
K: I just spent a weekend freezing my
ass off in a holiday caravan with the kids, so you have my sympathy.
It was deathly! Anyway... given that I've seen the name Birthday
Massacre around for quite some time, I did the decent thing before
this interview and had a look online and found this absolutely
gorgeous website..
M: Hey thanks!
K: No problem! On the site it mentioned
the band ethos being about a fusion of audio and visual experience
for the audience. . How does that translate to the live show, and are
you still true to that ethos?
 RAINBOW: Not so much any more, I don't
think. When we started out we didn't have the resources to go out on
tour so all our shows were in our home town (Toronto).
C: And we'd only play like a few times
every few months...
M: Yeah, we could put a lot of effort
and creativity into the live show, make it more of an event. But then
we started touring, and money becomes an issue.
C: And space, you can't bring
everything along.
K:So what was in those early shows, I
haven't been able to find any footage!
M: Well, it was just the multimedia
stuff, we were looking at the band from lots of different ideas.
There was the online imagery, the live show which was just one facet
of lots of different areas, the music, visuals online, videos... I
think we meant it to be about more than just the music.
K: So you were keeping aspects separate
at that point, rather than melding them together?
M: Yes, one thing accentuates the
other. It was a way to put our creative interests under one umbrella.
R: A way for us to do lots of other
things too.
C: There was a difference for a live
show at home, as opposed to what we could do on tour. We'd make
things for the stage, for instance our Violet album had symbols on so
we'd bring that to the stage in glowing boxes with the symbols on..
We've brought big trees on stage, toys, but we cant fit big trees in
a tour bus!
R: Yeah the big trees were good...
Yeah, if we're at home we always put as much time as we can into it,
but if we're on the road its more of an effort. That's why the show
is really energetic, we wanna step it up so it's a fun performance
everyone enjoys. It forces us to make it interesting in other ways.
K: Have you found web culture and sites
like MySpace have helped to draw fans in and make them look at other
aspects of your creativity, more perhaps than they might have in the
past?
R: Yeah, it's a really good way to put
yourself out there, it puts everyone on the same level, every band
has the same bit of space to work with. And its a really cool
networking thing. Your favourite band has their favourite band, you
can find loads of cool new things... but the downside is that you
can't sure how legitimate it is, or if you can get the CD you want..
 K: So what's your thoughts on the whole
internet dowload issue? Any good political opinions?
R: I think it's just necessary, it's
the times, that's the way it is.
C: Hey, its gonna happen. Some people
are gonna buy it, some people are gonna get pirated versions of it.
(Yarrgghhhh, and much pirate action, in
unison).
K: Well, lets face it, it's nothing
new. It's been going on for ages, from back when we used to tape
vinyl for our mates.
C: Well, some people are gonna pay for
it and some are not. All we can do is hope people will buy it, and
try and adapt as well. It's about being able to acknowledge that its
there for free and kinda make that work for you in a promotional
way.
M: For us its not so much about being
able to make the money so much as being able to perpetuate what
you're doing.. keep making a living and exploring what you wanna do.
C: One thing I've always thought, if a
person has a large mp3 collection they always have a large CD
collection too. People might download it, like it, and then want to
support the band. That's the ideal scenario, i think.
M: So long as people know that if they
take something for free they are not merely escaping some corporate
tax, but that in reality they wouldn't be supporting the band...
K: Do you think then that folk will see
it as a more direct thing, instead of assuming the profits all go to
the record company?
C: People will be able to do it more
independently...
M: And record companies will be used
more for distribution and the big promotional push.
C: That's the way its going.
M: It'll be fine, you just have to be
aware of what's going on so you can survive as a musician.
K: Apparently you are a Goth/Industrial
band. Where do you place yourselves in terms of genre?
(Much laughter from the band).
M: We're just being ourselves and
paying respects to our influences. A lot of our early fan base could
class as Goth, we had a lot of charisma and theatrics. As a knee-jerk
reaction I can see why folk would call us that. Sometimes we struggle
to know what's in the genre, or what bands people are talking about.
K: Labels mean different things to
different people.
C: Yes, and our audience is very mixed,
like Whitby Gothic festival, or metal festivals, punk festivals,
we're pretty well received at all of them, so what's in a genre?
 M: That was the perception I think when
we started to tour in Europe, but when we play shows in Toronto it's
completely mixed.
C: We're adaptable! (More laughter).
K: So do you think people will label
you now, having worked with Dave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy)?
C: Well Dave also has a synth pop band,
so I don't think it'll be a problem.
R: Obviously there's the association,
but when you're being creative you don't worry about people's
perception in that kind of way. We wanted to work with Dave, and we
wanted to get the best creative thing we could out of it.
K: Did working with Dave help you guys
with the creative process?
M: Yes, he had a really good grasp on
meshing electronics with live presentation, plus he's Canadian so
he's close by, he was interested and it just worked out.
R: We wouldn't fight that just because
he's “the Skinny Puppy guy” and we might get labelled!
K: I think it makes people sit up and
take notice though.
C: Well, yeah. In a good way.
R: Most of the songs were 90% written
by the time Dave came in, so he was more of a technical guy. He
worked with Chibi on recording vocals, then he worked with Mike and
myself on small pieces such as a solo here or there. We worked
together for about 2 weeks.
M: The album took about 8 months, so
that's a small time really. Not a huge part, but added polish and a
different perspective to some sections.
K: So, to finish... what do you guys
have on your I-pods at the moment then?
(Face pulling, grunts, sighs, and a
lack of memory ensue).
C: Heart! I like a lot of older music.
These Dreams collection...
K: An influence on your vocal, my dear?
C: I would really like to think so,
because I think Ann Wilson has a really beautiful voice – but I
doubt it!
Walking With Strangers is available on
Metropolis Records, and through the band's MySpace page.
Many thanks to them for their time, and
for a great show.
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