- I bet you can just smell the sweat by just looking at this pic of Japanther at The Seahorse. Can you believe there are ladies in the crowd there? Don’t tell The Seahorse bouncers!
I tried to go see The Danks at Coconut Grove, but the place was at capacity and the bouncer was a GIANT douche, so sorry Danks (and all you Danks fans out there) no interview this time. So instead I went to The Seahorse for Devil Eyes and Japanther, only to find ex-Coaster Eric Duncan being hassled by a bouncer inside. Apparently he was trying to throw the scene-veteran out for moshing. Eric talked his way out of it and let him know “in two hours there’s going to be 200 people on that floor pushing and shoving and there’s nothing you’re going to be able to about it. So don’t be that bouncer.” But get this! This was the bouncer’s reasoning for wanting to kick Eric out—-“I don’t mind you guys dancing around in there, but you know there was a girl in there and so we can’t have any of that.” Ummmm, exsqueeze me? I guess he didn’t realize the next band on stage (Montreal’s Devil Eyes) had a hell-raising bassist. Very progressive Seahorse.
But the show went on, and Devil Eyes were so fun I forgot about the earlier tiffs. Tapping into the fun of early blues and rock and roll, Devil Eyes crunched and buzzed through their set, which ended with guitarist Matt Lee destroying his guitar and cutting his thumbs to hell (check out these pics! one, two). I caught up with the trio outside having a smoke (check out what happens when a club-going bro brusquely pushes past the band).
Japanther were the only band I think I could stand to see follow Devil Eyes’ set. And with the floor packed, steamy and sweaty the New York duo with their payphone mics and debit card pick got everyone moving. One guy lost a shoe and at one point my glasses got knock off but a kind girl grabbed them and I quickly stuffed them in the bouncer’s polar fleece vest pocket. The best part was (besides a dizzily fast and distorted rendition of “Do you Wanna Dance”) when after putting up with the crotchety stage manager leaning over his shoulder the whole time, drummer Ian Vanek stopped in the middle of playing and got up to tell the old dude to get off the stage and proceeding to get the crowd to chant “Old people suck”. Always encouraging, Japanther refused to be labled musicians (rather, they’re artists) and suggested everyone go out and start their own band saying, “You’re not wrong. You’re just yourself.” I chatted with Japanther backstage about their non-musical activities and their row with the stage manager.
Looking at Canada coming form New York, is their anything that catches your eye about the art scene up here?
Ian Vanek : I love to come to places like Halifax because you see things you weren’t looking for, you know. When you come here you see a ton of zines, graffiti and silk-screening, and you remember, ‘fuck, I should really be on my game. These kids are killing. Look at how beautiful it is.’ And not everyone is necessarily talking about Halifax but when you come to Halifax and see the amount of expression come from here, it inspires you when you go back to New York. We gotta step up and keep stepping up, because for us it’s about constant astonishment and amazement. When I come to places like this and the first thing you see is big fill-ins on the wall it’s like ‘hell yeah, these kids know how to get down, paint, get spots, they know about bikes, they know about all the things we know about. It’s exciting to come here and get inspired just to remember there are huge cities all around the world and it’s not just about New York. We created graffiti, but so what. There’s kids in Halifax better at it than most of New York City.
(somebody talking to Ian—-“the stage manager sorry about that. He proceeded to flip out.”)
IV: From the second we started playing I was like ‘I don’t want this guy on my stage. He was touching my arm as I was playing, and that was a big pet peeve of mine. So I was like get away from me. Then he mocked in my face, and I was like that’s it. But it was great they let people dance, because if it didn’t go off and these kids so wanted so obviously want to have fun. People just want to have fun. If you make a beautiful print and you stare at it with your friends that’s really fun. If you make a zine it’s seriously about just having fun. If we make an iPhone application and play it all night, that’s fun. No one can tell me don’t do that.
As soon as I was coming a bouncer was hassling a friend for dancing for one of the earlier bands.
IV: They were really scary, and that’s something we have to react against, and that’s why I got vocally rude or whatever. But I think there’s this weird conundrum and our friend Dan talks about this, to be a rock and roller you can’t really play shows, or deal with any type of market, or with any money, because you’re in a contradiction…
Matt Reilly: A quandary because you’re trying to be a rebel and yet you know you’re in a commercial endeavor. So you’re automatically going against yourself.
The Wipers ran into that same problem. What are you guys up to outside of your band now?
IV: We’re going to the Walker Arts Centre [Minneapolis] to present one of our films. We make films, animations. We’re working on cartoons. Japanther’s going to turn into a television show and a cartoon. We’re looking forward to going to KK Projects in New Orleans, which is part of the New Orleans Art Museum, and working on a big piece with Sissy Nobby. And I’d tell all your readers that Sissy Nobby and all the transvestite coming out of New Orleans like Sissy Bounce music is some of the best music in the world right now. And so we got a grant to go down there and work with her. So just trying to keep that, and make sure people know expression is limitless. And if you can talk yourself into a situation you can probably work your way through that situation too. So make sure you have good words but also good actions. I love Defiance, Ohio, but he says ‘Actions are easy. It’s the moments right before that are hard.’ I made so many fuck-ups in my life, but I’m proud of all of them.
In terms of the American Art scene, it seems different than what’s coming out of Canada. What do you think of the scene?
MR: There’s a lot of things. I think there’s a folk revival obviously, a riverboat revival, a neo-savage revival. Everything is cool—-graffiti, cartoons, Ren & Stimpy is still good, whatever. It’s all coming out of the states.
Across the board it seems from the most DIY to the most refined art is engaging nature like that. That’s got to weird for you guys coming from the city.
MR: Yeah I try to incorporate that. I’ve been to Seattle and experienced different things.
But you still are staying true to New York?
MR: Yeah I still stay true to New York, I’m doing computer animation and stuff.
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This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.