Riding Shotgun With Canadian Invasion and Death By Sexy
You lucky so-and-sos. This week you get to fondle the brains of not one but
two great bands! That's right. I said two. First, enjoy the wit and wisdom
of Philly band Canadian Invasion, who roll into town later this month with
their delightful indie-pop-rock. And read a bit further to see what's
brewing for local glam rawk hellions Death by Sexy. The things I do to make
you happy…
Canadian Invasion -- neither Canadian nor invading marauders. But that is neither
here nor there. Canadian Invasion are, as they like to call it, "rock-via-roll-via-Philly-via-D.C.-via-VA-via-NJ." I
like to think of them more as gently melodic indie rock that puts a big smile
on my face. They're gosh darn good. Heck, even the Washington Post likes 'em,
which is high praise indeed. Andy Canadian (neé Paull) was kind enough
to answer my questions, which inquiring minds can read below. You'll find a
love for D.C., Led Zep, and booze. I highly recommend you check out Canadian
Invasion gracing the stage at the Black Cat Backstage January 30th ($5).
Touring is: Like having your brain bashed in with a brick wrapped in a slice of lemon. There is a downside as well.
Our first gig was: Imperceptible.
Our favorite venue to play is: Tie between the North Star in Philly and Iota in VA. Whichever is offering the most black market organs that month.
Hygiene on a tour is: A warm gun. Or a cute puppy dog. Whichever is cheapest at the Wal-Mart.
Our favorite thing about touring is: Meeting cool people.
And the least favorite thing is: Watching those people leave with our girlfriends.
City with the best audiences:
D.C., because everyone there is cool and hangs
out, driving those old-school scooters and saying "Ciao" and whatnot.
At least that’s our perception of the place.
The band member most likely to disappear after a show
is: John Bonham, RIP
brother.
The tour bus/van smells like: Spring flowers with top notes of buttercream icing and an oaky finish.
Laundry is: We go shopping a lot, and you’d be surprised how versatile snow pants can be.
What's the most unusual item on your rider? TMNT baby pool filled with shrimp.
Who controls the music in the touring vehicle? And what
are you listening to at the moment?
Masonic law dictates that we listen to the Kingsbury
Manx,
the Andy Brown Trio, and Wesley Willis.
Your new favorite watering hole after being on tour?
And/or the best place to get greasy, hangover-curing food?
Hangovers? Drinking? If I wasn’t
loaded at the moment, I’d be offended by the implication!
Most amusing memory from your current or most recent
tour?
Celebrating getting
our new record mastered by sleeping in the only porn theatre left in Times
Square.
What bands would you love to tour with in the future?
Led
Zeppelin. I think
those boys have a brave future. That or DMB, cause our fans can easily beat
up their fans.
Everyone has one. Please name the city you wouldn't ever
play in again? Or, if not a particular city, which venue makes your skin
crawl?
Rex’s in
West Chester, PA, where people think indie-pop is Harrison Ford being run over
by a car.
Apart from the obvious cd, what's the merch item of yours
you think people should shell out for?
Signed lithograph of Canadian Invasion skeet shooting
with Dakota Fanning.
Have you been to the top of the Washington Monument?
Yes, once in the 8 years
Matt lived in D.C. Ever notice how it looks like an evil robot klansman at
night?
What would you like people to be saying about Canadian
Invasion in 50 years?
"Hey,
that guy stole my wallet!"
Which band member/s can claim ties with D.C.?
Matt graduated Catholic U twice.
I assaulted a bandmate in an IHOP there (with a cold pancake).
Is there a particular evening that inspired "Red Line to Shady Grove"?
Yes, my railman father was particularly sauced one night and looked at my mother
with the lustiest eyes… no, that song is complete fiction.
What can people expect from a Canadian Invasion show?
Liberace ensembles?
Dinosaurs? Dave Coullier masks? We don’t go for cheap stage tricks like
that. We try to be ourselves: just coked up, mechanically enhanced versions
of ourselves.
Utterly unrelated, but please recite a line of poetry (no cheating!): Spring is like a perhaps hand.
And finally, it's BigYawn's round. What's your poison? Hemlock.
Canadian Invasion are available in online format at: www.canadianinvasionrocks.com,
or www.myspace.com/atcoghost.
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A wise man once said "I pity the fool." And really, I pity the fool who has yet to listen to the glam-influenced cock rock duo that is Death by Sexy. This homegrown pair have been rocking my brain cells since I first heard "You and Me Are Gonna Get It On," and have yet to relinquish valuable grey matter. For over the top yet earnest rock'n'roll, you can't beat J.R. Death and Dex Sexy. Love them for their music, but also for their love of D.C., cheesy pop music, and intense hatred for Scott
Stapp. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming dates. If you're lucky, after they rock your socks off they'll let you buy them a drink.
Touring is: 80 percent monotony, 20 percent pure adrenaline rush. Kind of like
regular life, except minus the “adrenaline rush” part.
Our first gig was:
In Pennsylvania with a band called Trainwreck. They had great
songs like “Medieval Poontang” and played the theme from "Gilligan’s Island" three
times in a row.
Our favorite venue to play is:
The Black Cat. They have a shower and food there.
Which is great when you’re touring. Either that or Gallaudet University, which
was a totally surreal place to play.
Hygiene on a tour is: Nonexistent. You aren’t really on tour unless you smell
like a dead animal of some sort.
Our favorite thing about touring is:
Not having to go to our real jobs, not being
in the same place every day, meeting new people (read -- ladies) and getting
to play music every night.
And the least favorite thing: Having to go back to work. Oh and other bands who
take their crowds with them.
City with the best audiences: Gotta give love to D.C., cause that’s where all
our friends are, but Charlotte, N.C. was great, too. They have love for the rock.
The band member most likely to disappear after a show is: Unless
the bar disappears too, neither of us is going anywhere.
The tour bus/van smells like: Heaven. If heaven is located in an unshowered marathon
runner’s underpants. Which, technically, I think it is.
Laundry is: a) washed regularly, b) washed irregularly,
c) we go shopping a lot:
Well, the longest we’ve been out for is a week, so thankfully no laundry
has had to be done yet.
What's the most unusual item on your rider?
Umm. Rider? Talk to us when we’re
playing to more than 10 people at a time, and then we’ll talk to you about a
rider.
Who controls the music in the touring vehicle? And what
are you listening to at the moment?
Whoever is driving controls the tunes. So that means Britney
Spears, Justin Timberlake, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Danko Jones, The Makers,
Kings of Leon, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Eagles of Death Metal, Curtis
Mayfield, Wu-Tang Clan, Green Day, etc, etc. And I’m totally not kidding about the teen
pop. We love it. Sing along to “Since U Been Gone” with us at the top of your
voices.
Your new favorite watering hole after being on tour? And/or
the best place to get greasy, hangover-curing food?
As far as places
that aren’t the Black Cat,
the Werehouse in Winston-Salem was awesome -- free beer all night long, whatever
we wanted. We could drink Chimay all night long! Ultimately, though we wound
up drinking PBR. Go figure. Hangover food -- it starts and ends with Taco Bell.
Most amusing memory from your current or most recent tour?
Either the guy in
Winston-Salem who told J.R. he looked like Scott Stapp, or when J.R. was in Atlanta
hitting on a girl, went to make a move, and she said, “You’re not going to try
to kiss me are you?” Then she gave him her phone number.
Everyone has one. Please name the city you wouldn't ever
play in again? Or, if not a particular city, which venue makes your skin crawl?
The worst place we
played was at a dance party in Providence. The crowd was there to dance to hip-hop,
so when the music stopped(interrupting the shaking of their collective tail feathers)
and we went on, it was not a good scene. When you finish a song and there’s no
reaction whatsoever, you know it ain’t your crowd. Plus, we don’t sound anything
like Ying-Yang Twins, which didn’t help anything.
Apart from the obvious cd, what's the merch item of yours
you think people should shell out for?
Our t-shirt. It looks cool. Some girl in Brooklyn bought it without
even seeing us play. Which was kind of weird.
What bands do you dream about touring with? And what bands
do you dream about pushing off a cliff?
We dream about touring with Guns
N’ Roses circa 1992. And,
of course, there are many, many bands that we would like to push off a cliff.
We would say Creed, but they’re defunct, and Scott Stapp would just release his
Jesus powers and fly away anyways.
Have you been up to the top of the Washington Monument? Nope. And the fact that
we haven’t doesn’t threaten our manhood at all.
You take requests for cover songs. What's your personal
favorite cover to play, and when was the last time you played it live?
That we do, although we haven’t
been playing covers lately, and most of the requests we don’t wind up doing.
Our favorites to play are: "20th Century Boy" (T. Rex), "Why Don’t We Do It in
the Road" (The Beatles), "Hollywood Babylon" (The
Misfits), and "I’m the Leader
of the Gang, I Am!" (Gary Glitter).
What does 2006 hold for Death by Sexy?
Well, we’re finishing up recording our
EP at the Bastille with Eamonn from the Bonapartes. It's tentatively titled You’re
a Big Hit, and it will definitely rock your socks off. We’re trying to plan another
tour sometime this year. Other than that, J.R.’s learning German, and Dex is
finally taking some professional cowbell lessons from a Zen master, so that should
be good.
What would you like people to be saying about Death by
Sexy in 50 years?
Person
1: “Do you think they are finally gonna retire?”
Person 2: “God I hope so. They are looking less like Death by Sexy and more
like Death by Congestive Heart Failure every day.”
If you had to sum up Death by Sexy in just two words,
what would they be? Rock
and Roll. We know that’s three, but the “and” doesn’t count.
Utterly unrelated, but please recite a line of poetry:
“Walk around the club
With your thong in your mouth
Put my dick in
Take your thong out.” – Ying Yang Twins.
That’s some Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou type shit right there.
And finally, it's BigYawn's round. What's your poison? Whatever you’re drinking,
we’re not picky.
Catch Death By Sexy in cyberspace at www.deathbysexy.net and at www.myspace.com/deathbysexy.