the Constantines | It's sort of funny that after three records, the Constantines are still doing everything almost exactly the same as when they started. Sure, the music has changed drastically from their debut to the just released Tournament Of Hearts, but as far as the production of the records are concerned, the band still produce their records in a relatively small amount of time.
Here's a bit of perspective: Broken Social Scene's new record took about two years to assemble; the Cons did theirs in about 12 days. The main reason for this difference is, of course, BSS work in home studios, while the Cons still have to buy studio time. |
"Unless you have millions and millions of dollars to spend you have to be prepared, because you’re spending time and money and you have to be productive when you get in there," says guitarist Steve Lambke. They did get some money from Sub Pop to do the record, "but it’s a pretty modest budget. It goes fast by the time you’re paying for an engineer, then studio time, then you’re going to have to master and you’re going to have to mix. We tend to prepare before and just in terms of playing, you should know your stuff."
After half a decade, the Cons are aware that they are a band who get a lot of press and do a lot of high profile touring, but don't sell a lot of records. They have, however, been making enough to pay their bills and quit their fulltime jobs.
It's funny, then, that the Cons sing about "Working Fulltime," since most people don't consider "Canadian indie rocker" to be an actual job title. But the band basically do work fulltime. They're currently in the midst of their fifth significant tour of the year.
"I've been thinking a lot about all of that lately," singer Bry Webb says. "Of course we want to move forward and have more people hear the music, but yeah, we’re at this point where we make enough to sustain ourselves, but it’s not like we’re getting these giant cheques in the mail. We still have to keep playing in order to sustain ourselves. That’s sort of what 'Working Fulltime' is about, trying to understand the nature of work."
One of the other unusual stories of Tournament Of Hearts is how the seven-minute ambient b-side "Hotline Operator" turned into a full-on, three-minute rocker. The original version of the track appeared on the band's first EP for Sub Pop, Nighttime, Anytime.
"I always liked that phrase, Hotline Operator," Webb says. "Not too many people would have heard the seven-minute jam from a single. The song ended up being about the whole blackout, when Mel Lastman went on the radio and said, 'Don’t worry, nine months from now there’ll be a baby boom in Toronto.' I just liked that idea. I always wanted to play the old version live, but it’s sort of ridiculous to practice and we never knew how to break it out in a live situation."
It seems odd to hear it, but Webb's goal for Tournament Of Hearts was to fix the "mistakes" of the previous two records, which were both incredibly popular with critics and fans.
"I read a thing with Neil Young where he said he never worries about writers block because something will come eventually and you can’t force it and I think I’ve been guilty of that. That was part of the problem with the writing on Shine A Light," Webb explains. "I think we get a bit more comfortable each time we go into the studio, get a little bit better idea of what we want, then we can just relax a bit and do what we want."
While the layered and patient sound on Tournament Of Hearts may be their most accomplished record to date, the band now find themselves at square one. Their Canadian label, Three Gut Records, closed up shop when the Cons LP was released and their contract with Sub Pop in the U.S. has come to an end.
"There isn’t really a plan right now," Lambke says. "We’ll see what the future holds. In a way, next time we’ll be starting fresh on the business side, which is good and kind of sucks. Dealing with that stuff is always such a consuming process, but it’s good too." As far as Webb's concerned, none of that matters right now. The only thing that's for sure in his mind is that the Cons are far from finished. He says he'd be happy if the band are still playing into their forties.
"It’s amazing to get involved with all the artists who we know who we work with and are inspired by and to have that be what you do with your life is pretty great."
Constantines are currently on tour with The Hold Steady.Here are their Canadian dates:
# November 2 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
# November 3 Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
source: chartattack
The Rosebuds
