North By East West: ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Novus album denique supervenio

(Latin for “The new album has finally arrived.”)

Toronto’s Holy Fuck—Brian Borcherdt (keyboards and effects), Graham Walsh (keyboards and effects), Matt McQuaid (bass) and Matt Schulz (drums)—return to deliver another masterpiece. Latin, their third LP, goes beyond traditional ElectroNoisePop and should quite honestly have film scorers’ ears perking up all over the world. Latin is 50% ingeniously crafted dance album and 50% stunning soundtrack waiting for a film worthy of its presence.

Borcherdt had some thoughts to share about Latin literally minutes before the seat belt sign went on and the plane was pushed back, bound for Amsterdam and the start of Holy Fuck’s European tour.

Which song on Latin surprised you? By that I mean: was there a song that was “average” going in, but sounded so much better as a final result?

“Latin America.” That was at best a B-side. It was the last song that we thought would make the record but it just seemed to capture the spirit of the intangible.

Is there anything listeners will hear on Latin that they haven’t heard before?

We have been writing material for Latin since 2008 or so. We’ve played some of the songs at shows and festivals and worked on them since then.

When I first listened to Latin, I thought I recognized “Red Lights” from Windsor’s Phog Lounge’s (CBC Radio 3 Searchlight Winner for Best Live Venue) Phog Phest last summer. Was I dreaming? That was the first time I saw you guys live.

Hey, that’s cool. That was a great time. Yeah, you heard it alright. Now there are some songs that we haven’t really played much or only parts of, like “Stay Lit” and “SHT MTN.” We’ve never played “Lucky” before a live audience, ever.

How did you arrive at the name for this record? Why Latin?

Well, we had “Latin America” written and it has a really great beat. It’s not about the language and it really means nothing. It was just the word that became the album name.

What is your touring vehicle? Is it the same van you had at Phog Phest last summer?

Yes, it’s the same big green Dodge that you remember. For the European tour, we’ll meet the tour manager and load the gear into a rented van.

No flying from venue to venue?

No, it’s all road miles. We like it better when we have control of things.

When you're not making music, what are you listening to?

We, as a band, all like our own unique sounds. I mean we all have our own little fixations, we’re kind of all over the place. Personally, I’ve been listening to the Byrds and I really enjoy music from Rick White Album and Elevator.

Are you really as funny as your tweets on Twitter?

We hope so! You know, we do that just to stay sane sometimes. When you’re driving across the country in a van, you need things to do. Are we funny? We think so. Hell, we’re funnier than that Seth Rogen guy and we could write a better movie. We’re all smart-asses and we enjoy it.

With whom would you like to collaborate?

It takes time and resources to collaborate with someone. You have to have the right feel to really work with someone. We’ve worked with other people and nothing materialised. We were touring with M.I.A. and thought we might get something going, but nothing came of it. I hesitate to make a list of people we would like to work with. We like what we’re doing. It’s great, we’re enjoying it and not taking it for granted.

It was a real treat for us in the States to hear “Lovely Allen” in that Chrysler commercial. How did that come to fruition?

You know, there are agencies that showcase music to companies and there are agencies that look for a certain sound. I never spoke with anyone from Chrysler, I think it just happened to work out.

Are Cowboy Cat wearables really back? This pleases us.

Haha, yes! We’ll have Cowboy Cat and also a new one, Party Down Squirrel. We like our guys funny and furry.