Sights & Sounds holds a dear place in my heart, so when they announced a european tour, I had a legit reason to plan a trip see them. During my Eindhoven adventure, I got to chat for a bit with a raspy Andrew Neufeld. When I last saw him, I'd asked if he’d be interested in doing an interview; turned out he was. He only requested that “I didn’t embarrass him”. I granted his wish, the voice recorder was set on the table and we began.
U: It's
been 3 years since you last toured Europe for the promotion of “The Silver
Door”. What's been going on in your camp?
Andrew Neufeld: Since then we've done just
a handful of shows, really, but we're the kind of band that loses momentum
because we all have other things in our lives that are going on. Most of the
guys work in film, and then I do Comeback Kid and produce other bands… We get
momentum and sometimes we lose it because life gets in the way. The last year
or so we've been writing in between, when we have time to. We've been writing a
new record and hopefully we're gonna be recording it next spring or something.
That's why we just released a new song...
U: That
was going to be the next question.
A.N.: We did it now because we wanted to
get something out and, sometimes, we'll take too long to write songs. We'll
write them, then re-write them, then re-re-write them and do all these things,
so we just wanted to do an exercise where we just recorded one song in one day
and finished it, because we have so much unfinished material. We always try to
make our songs better.
U: ...And
you just answered three of my questions...
A.N.: (laughs) Sorry?
U: It's
OK, I've got more. How's the writing and recording process like for you?
A.N.: Sometimes we do things by ourselves
but we like to get into a room together. We take our time, we are all really
good friends, it's not a band that's come together just because of the music.
We all vibe musically but we're all very close friends as well so we hang out a
lot, we smoke a lot of weed, we write some songs, we take breaks, we write some
more songs, and then we try to practice sometimes. There's been times where we
straight up had gone to our rehearsal spot and not really accomplished much,
other than talking and hanging out. But you know, that's the cool thing about
this band; it's not a job-serious thing, we're not doing this at all for money
or anything like that. It's very low-key and we get the opportunity to play
really big tours, opening for huge bands and playing festivals, and sometimes
we do shows where there's a handful of people. It doesn't really make a
difference for us, it's just a different kind of thing and it's enjoyable
either way.
U: Do
you miss playing guitar on stage?
A.N.: I like both. I like not playing
guitar too sometimes, there's benefits to that for sure.
U: Like
headbanging, jumping around...
A.N.: ...Like not having to set up gear! (laughs)
I really enjoy playing guitar, it’s a passion of mine that I kinda lost when I
stopped playing guitar with CBK and started singing with them. I’m glad I have
the opportunity to do a band with that.
U: How
does it feel to perform with your brother? Have you played together before in
other bands?
A.N.: No not really, he’s just filled in for bands
of mine. It’s cool, he’s awesome and he really understands music.
U: Your sound with Sights & Sounds is pretty unique. What are some of your influences?
A.N.: We listen to electronic music, we listen to rock, indie, hardcore, punk… It really just a mix of everything.
U: If
you could cast each member of the band as a superhero, who would each member
be?
A.N.: Oh shit! (laughs) Matt, our bass
player/singer would be Batman, Dave would be Robin, Joel would be The Hulk, I
could be Deadpool and Adrian could be Twoface.
U: Why?!
A.N.: Because he has that crazy-ass smile
sometimes!
U: One
album you can listen to without skipping a song.
A.N.: Mew – Frengers
U: If
you woke up one day in the opposite gender’s body, what would be your first
reaction?
A.N.: I’d be like “What the fuck is up with
these tits? Whoa!”. That would be the first thing. Among other things, I guess!
(laughs)
U: Would
you rather give up your favorite food or coffee?
A.N.: (without hesitation) Coffee.
U: Screaming
or clean singing?
A.N.: Both are kinda hard. I would love to
be able to sing chill. Even when I’m singing with S&S I’m singing aggressively.
My voice gets rough singing or screaming; I lose my voice and then I get it
back… It’s a constant struggle, a constant cycle. Always happening.
U: Puns
or dirty jokes?
A.N.: Dirty jokes. Getting to the point.
U: What’s
the best moment of your life?
A.N.: I don’t know! I’ve had the highest
highs…
U: …and
the lowest lows.
A.N.: Exactly! I remember one time I was
driving in a car in Winnipeg, my hometown, in a cool summer evening, with the
windows down, smoking a cigarette, awesome music playing, just me and my
friend, and I remember thinking to myself “this is the best fucking moment of
my entire life”.
U: That’s
precious, actually. Can you give me a crazy tour story?
A.N.: One time I was on tour, when I was 20
years old. We were in Florida and we were staying at this tattoo artist’s
house, who had a collection of firearms, and the back of his yard looked like it
was the forest. So, we were kicking back from the bar that night and he was
like “try all these guns”. We did, and we were videotaping it; just going
crazy, shooting off rifles and machine guns. What I didn’t know was that it
wasn’t that deep of a forest and people called the cops because there was a
gunfire. So, we go back in the house unknowingly and the guy was like “you guys
should jam at my living room!”. It was 2AM and we were young so we agreed. As
we go out to get our gear, we just hear “Get on the fucking ground! Get on the
ground” and we were like “oh no, put away the video camera!”. Then all these
cops bursted in and got us on the ground with guns to our heads. Luckily, the
tattoo guy has also tattooed the police chief or something so he was joking
around with the cops by the end of that. It was very scary but pretty funny.
U: What’s
the last awkward situation you were in? Please don’t say right now.
A.N.: (laughs) I’m sure there’s been one,
I’m trying to think… I’m not shocked very easily I guess, so I don’t feel
awkward often. I just try to go with the flow, I’m not too phased most of the
time. I’m stressed and I’m worried but I’m not awkward. Or maybe I am, I just
don’t notice it.
U: Final question. If you died right now, what song would you want to play at the funeral?
A.N.: See, you ask all these favorite-song
kind of questions and it’s hard for me to narrow it down to just one song that
would be my favorite… Telefon Tel Aviv – The Birds. It’s a beautiful song. No,
Jeremy Enigk – World Waits.
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