It’s not too often that you come across a band that has been together for almost a decade, yet hasn’t even recorded an EP. Well, such was the case with the Toronto-based indie band Still Life Still up until a couple months ago, when thy released the phenomenal Girls Come Too. Recorded in early 2009 with none other than Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, Still Life Still’s debut record easily one of the year’s most honest and exciting albums. A short while ago, we sat down with these guys during their last stop in United States before starting a long trek across Canada with The Hold Steady. Amongst other things, we talked about the actual recording process of Girls Come Too, the sheer the energy of their live show, and how a few rolled joints at the opportune time scored the band a record deal with Arts & Crafts.

IYS: I hear you have a pretty loyal following in Toronto. How has the transition been taking the notoriety you have there to a completely different country?

Eric: Yeah, the crowds have been great and have given some really great responses.

Brendon: It’s a different world you know? We left after we did our CD release at a sold out 500 capacity venue.

Aaron: It was a riot, you know, a big show where everyone knows you. It is a big change coming to a place like this where no one knows who you are.

IYS: It seems like all people can talk about is your live show. What can America expect from a Still Life Still show?

Brendon: A total throw down of energy!

Aaron: We have usually been cooped up in the van for hours, and so when we get out, we just want to bust it as much as we can.

Eric: I think we did one show with less energy than the others. But it is our first tour; it was after 5 days straight of playing shows.

IYS: You just signed to Arts and Crafts for your debut album. How is it being a fairly young band on a very established record label?

Brendon: There has been no pressure at all. When we first recorded the album we thought there were two ways we could do it. We could either spend a ton of money on really high production levels or we could keep on doing what we have always been doing. We decided to keep it lo-fi and raw.

IYS: I’ve noticed that your recording is kind of right in between the poles of the lo-fi fuzz punks and the super polished high fidelity recordings. It feels very loose and spontaneous. Did you go into recording with that in mind?

Aaron: We didn’t even know we were going to record the album when we first went into the studio. Initially, Kev (Kevin Drew) invited us to the studio to see how we’d record before actually working on the record. We were there for a weekend, and instead of recording the two songs that we initially planned to do, and we ended up recording nine. And Kev was like, “this is the album.”


IYS: So you knocked out the album in a weekend?

Aaron: It was all recorded live off the floor. No clicks.

IYS: It does sound very live, like you guys just showed up and played, which is a hallmark of Kevin Drew and the Broken Social Scene. By the way, how was recording with Kevin Drew?

Brendon: He really wanted it to be that way. He saw us for the first time in a bedroom at a house party and he wanted to recreate that sound. The floor was about cave in. We were crammed in there. We rolled up a whole bunch of joints and just gave them to people in the crowd.

Aaaron: 50!

Brendon: There were like 60 people there and Kev was there just rocking out.

IYS: Was your fist contact with Arts and Crafts from Kevin Drew showing up to that house party?

Aaron: No, Kevs my boy! I’ve known him for four years now, just from bars and hanging out. After a long time of dropping off demos, he finally got one and said, “alright, I am going to come see you.” And months, months later we finally just ran into each other and he came and checked us out at that house party. And after that party he was like, “alright, we are doing this.”

IYS: So, is this your first time delving into the heart land of America? What are your thoughts?

Aaron: It’s like Canada. Just less dope. We were watching episodes of COPS before we left and we were like, “Dude! We gotta chill down here!”


IYS: The album is really difficult to describe because it has this certain sense of ramshackle, four on the floor, frustrated urgency throughout the whole thing but at the same time it has these super lush, deep soundscapes. How do you pull that off while retaining a rock drive throughout the whole thing?

Brendon: Very carefully

Aaron: We used a lot of synths for this record. Putting ourselves in the right vibe for each song was really important; when you are going to slam out a banger, you have to get pumped up, get some liquor in you, and then go and smash. On the other hand, when it is time to chill, take it down a few notches and play the vibes you want people to hear.

IYS: Lets talk about the song, “Kid.” Is that the most autobiographical song on the album?

Brendon: Yeah, it was kind of hard to do the vocals for that song. I don’t want to get all emotional here, but yeah, it was pure autobiography.

IYS: Are most of your lyrics autobiographical?

Brendon: Yeah, I write about what I see and feel. Everyone’s perception is different.

Derek: I would say the lyrics paint a picture, but it is a picture you can see in a million different ways, you can take it in a million different directions.

Brendon: I don’t want to make lyrics too direct. I use what I’ve seen, what I’ve thought. “Kid” was about rough time in my life when I was a lot younger and my mom and dad were having problems with drug abuse, and things of that sort.

IYS: One thing that I have noticed is a sexual urgency as a common thread throughout the record. Do you want to comment on that?

Brendon: Well, a lot of these songs were written when we were a lot younger, in our prime, if you will. So we just wanted to go for it…

Aaron: Those are the slam dance songs! We didn’t even realize it until we listened to the whole album all the way through…

Brendon: These songs were written in a span of 5 years, whereas some songs were written right before we recorded. They were so spaced out that somehow when they came together, it was this collective sexual act.