Finish this sentence: “In June 2009, I was….”
Well, if you're one of the two members of the Vancouver-based rock duo Japandroids, you've been on tour since then. In anticipation of their full-length Post-Nothing, Japandroids guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse hit the road in support of their upcoming debut. Now, nearly sixteen months later they're still on the road, having played nearly 250 shows in more than 20 different countries.
With a show this coming Sunday at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa (playing alongside PS I Love You and Makeout Videotape) the fellas are spreading the word of their upcoming 7″. Available November 16th on Polyvinyl Records, the single features an A-side of the single “Heavenward Grand Prix” and a B-side cover of PJ Harvey's “Shame.”
Heard Mentality caught up with drummer David Prowse while on the road for a Quickie.
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OC Weekly (Justin Shady): You've
been on the road with a pretty
hectic schedule for over a year now. Has touring lost a bit of its
luster since
June 2009, or do you still prefer the road to the
studio?
and need a
break, but being in a touring band is pretty great. We both love
travelling and
we both love playing shows, so life is good on the road. It's still as
enjoyable
now as it was last year; in fact, I think we might be having more fun now
than we
were then.
You only have one full-length to
your credit so
far, but you've had a lot of success with smaller releases, most notably
your EPs and 7″ singles. Why did you decide to release
music in
this way rather than head back to the studio and concentrate on a
full-length sophomore
release?
touring like
crazy. We didn't want to turn down any of the shows we were being
offered, so we
just decided to record a little bit every time we came home. It's been
busy, but
it's great to have some new songs to play and still get to travel all
over the
place.
With that series of 7″ singles, do you have a catalog of music you choose from for your A-sides? Or did you record “Heavenward Grand
Prix”
knowing it would be a 7″
release?
before
we went in to record it. We were planning on having a different song be our
third
single, and then decided to try and record this song as well. Then we
ended up
finishing this song and being really happy with it, so we shelved the other
song
for the time being. Recording is weird that way: You'll go in with a
plan, but then something totally unexpected will happen. Somehow things still
seem to
work out.
For the single's B-side you covered
PJ Harvey's
“Shame.” What is it about Harvey's original track that interested you in covering
it?
our band–guitar, drums and vocals–but the atmosphere and mood of the song is
so
different from any of our songs. It was a fun one to try and make our
own, and I
think it turned out pretty well. It's such a great song, so it would take
a lot
for us to fuck it up.
The buzz of Japandroids has been growing steadily
over the
past few years, but the last year has been very good to guys. Do you still have those moments of “Holy shit… we get
paid to
do this”?
when we
played the Filmore in San Francsico. It was just an utterly beautiful
room with
such a rich history. It was pretty surreal to get on that stage and play
where
so many amazing musicians have played.
You're winding down 2010 with this
tour and your
new 7″. What can fans expect from you in 2011?
Initially, you contemplated making
Japandroids a
trio, but eventually settled on keeping the band a duo. Is adding to the
lineup
still something you still might consider down the line, or do you prefer
keeping it
just the two of you?
just got
impatient trying to find someone to sing. We've gotten very
comfortable
playing as a two-piece, but it could be fun to have people contribute to
songs
sometime down the road. I wouldn't expect us to start touring as a three-piece
any time soon though.
What can fans expect on this
tour that
they might not have seen/heard from you before?
we
want!
Who: Japandroids w/ PS I Love You and Makeout Videotape
Where: Detroit Bar
Cost: $12
Visit DetroitBar.com for more info.
