Jun. 30, 2010 - Issue #767: The Bestest of Edmonton 2010
Prevue
Signaling a change
New band is a rebirth for three ex-members of the Mae Shi
Signals / Supplied
"It's been good," he extolls from a tour stop in Boise, Idaho, on their way to a third appearance at Calgary's Sled Island festival. "There hasn't really been a stop; I guess we've been more focused to keep going instead of taking a hiatus and rethinking everything. We're all pretty motivated by playing live and writing, so it wasn't really difficult to go from one project to another."
This non-stop attitude plays out in the form of countless mixed tapes, a new seven-inch featuring the addictive "What Dreams" and an EP slated for the fall. Recorded with long-time collaborator and producer Brad Breeck (who still moonlights with the Mae Shi), the yet-to-be-named nine-song EP should help realign the direction of a band that has spent most of the past year finding its legs as a three piece.
"We kind of work backwards just by virtue of how we play live: we don't have a full band, we have a lot of triggered beats and keyboards, so we have to build a whole song before we can deconstruct it and play it live. So we're always writing," Cooper continues. "We came in the studio with six songs that were fully prepared, and then three or four we had second thoughts about. Coming in with Brad, we trust his intuition about where songs should go and he's got a great pop sensibility. It was cool to bring ideas in and see what he thought of them."
Now, the goal is to remain committed to touring and refining their live show. The members of Signals are "old band members with a new band attitude," Cooper laughs, but the new project suits them perfectly with its streamlined process and band chemistry.
"There's less opinions involved," he laughs. "The best part about it is you don't always have to get upset with a real person playing music; you can just take it to the computer and fix it. I think that's been really good for us since working with people in the past has proven to be an issue and a struggle. The more people you have in a band, the harder it is. With technology and using it the right way, you can really achieve what you want to in a band. Too many people shun involving technology in their music, but we really embrace it."
Sun, Jul 4 (8 pm)
Signals
With Bayonets!!!, Scrapbooker
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