SXSW 2014 Interview: Each Other

Running interviews thus far has been a success, and it’s great to see the dynamic personalities spread across the globe making music.  We turn our sites today towards Canada’s Each Other, who’ve got a brand new record coming out on Lefse Records; it’s titled Being Elastic.  I caught the band a few years back, and personally, it was one of my favorite sets; I also hear via various friends that they’re super nice, which makes appreciating them all the easier.  Check out what they had to say.

ATH: There was a lot of hubbub last year concerning corporate sponsors and pay to play and what not at SXSW. As a band, what’s your reason for coming to pay at the festival? What do you hope to get out of it?

EO: That’s wacky. I understand that people like to spend money to make money, but why bother? We don’t have grand aspirations for SXSW, and certainly aren’t approaching it at all differently than other shows. It’s just a fun place to be for a bit.

ATH: For most SXSW sets, you get 30 minutes to leave a lasting impression. What’s your plan of attack? You have a set list mapped out yet?

EO: We’re not really fans of making set lists ahead of time. Sometimes it can feel like a good idea, but typically a show is more enjoyable for us if we play what feels right at the time, song to song. We have a lot of songs, so we usually just pick a few of them at a time while we’re playing. That spontaneity keeps it interesting and helps make sure the songs have room to breathe – always good to have as many renditions as possible.

ATH: The festival caters to music fans, but food and booze are an important aspect of the fans and the bands. What’s your band’s food and beverage of choice?

EO: We’re all vegetarians, or different degrees of vegan, so that helps narrow it down pretty well. We might drink a lot of coffee.

ATH: There are tons of bands coming into town. Who would you ideally like to play with of the 1000s of bands gracing our city? Make your own optimal line-up.

EO: Not really sure, it’s hard to sift through all of the bands. I’m sure there are lots of good ones, hopefully we see some. I think our ideal line-up would be with all our best friends’ bands.

ATH: We are partial to SXSW obviously, but what festival do you feel is the best around?

EO: We had a lot of fun playing at the “Le Guess Who?” festival in the Netherlands last year. And in France at Musique Volantes. Those ones, and the Obey convention in Halifax are top of our list. Also Sled Island festival in Calgary, we try to get to that one when we can.

ATH: Let’s say your band has been booked an official showcase at a pop up venue somewhere in the middle of 6th street. The lineup features thrash metal, hip-hop, spoken word, and you. The sound is horrible, the lineup is not your style, and the crowd seems angry at the world. How would your band deal with such a situation?

EO: Been in few bad show situations before, we’d probably practice some new songs. We have nothing against metal, hip-hop or spoken word though.

ATH: What’s your favourite album to come out in the last year? What’s playing in the tour bus?

EO: Freelove Fenner put out a record called Do Not Affect A Breezy Manner, that’s in the ‘bus’ for sure.

Also, two or three new releases have come along from the members of Grass Widow in the last little bit. That’s good stuff to us.

ATH: The digital age is upon us, like it or not. What are your band’s thoughts on streaming services like spotify, pandora, etc.? Blow em all up? Or embrace the future?

EO: I’ve never used those streaming things, I don’t really know why it’s any better than downloading directly from bands / labels. Although four times a year we get that couple of nickels and dimes from those kind of sites. I download music against the law and buy what I can afford, especially real records in real life from bands themselves. It’s not really the same when it’s digital, but it’s something.

ATH: Day parties have replaced showcases for music discovery? Is the conference really completely upside-down?

EO: Didn’t know that. Why not? I like daytime – Austin looks good around then.

ATH: Flatstock is a crowd favorite. Have you ever been to browse? Find a print to buy? Find a print from one of your shows you didn’t know existing?

EO: Never been, don’t have any money, sounds cool though. Art is good stuff.

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