An interview.

"Whatcha say about my momma?!"

It's late. I've ingested too much caffeine. I want to sleep but I'm too intrigued by the televised version of Menace 2 Society (they bleep out the word "bitch" but not the word "fuck").

About a year ago Dance Electric played an extremely eventful Wavelength show at Sneaky Dee's. In typical Wavelength fashion, I was interviewed and told that they would post the interview on the Wavelength website. I guess they got too busy to publish it, which is understandable; those cats put on so many shows within the year. But I digress.

I thought the interview turned out well--so here it is.


DANCE ELECTRIC INTERVIEW

So, I was pretty surprised by how heavy your music is. Based on your name and the picture on your Myspace I expected another ipod bleep-bloop jump and shout enthusi-band. My question is, do you know what I’m talking about? Plus, what do you think about that kind of stuff compared to your stuff?

Theo: I do know what you are talking about. Like, Le Tigre… right? There’s something about preprogrammed drumbeats and Casio keyboards that gets me going, I guess you can draw a few similarities between our stuff and ‘bleep-bloop’ music. We both share the same enthusiastic tongue-in-cheek spirit. Hmm… I guess that’s the only comparison you can make.

Everybody’s last name is Electric. This can’t just be a coincidence. What is it like to be a family band a la The Partridge Family or The Ramones? Do you have a hilarious manager or controlling parents who stunt your emotional development? What happens when the kids aren’t cute anymore?

Theo: We’re clearly a family band; one that is creepily comfortable with each other and has strange talks about pubic hair maintenance and fellatio etiquette. And when the kids go through their “awkward stage” they’ll be shot and replaced with the younger and more adorable.

I read that Theo is a university dropout. Is he dumb, or was there some other reason? Like maybe he lacked the psychological fortitude necessary for serious academic pursuits. Also, what school did he attend?

Theo: I went to York and I am pretty dumb. If I were smarter I would have picked a better major than philosophy—by third year I was having an existential crisis and I dropped out. Go figure. If I were truly smart I would have bypassed the whole post secondary educational process all together and become an eccentric autodidact / business tycoon. I further solidified my ineptitude soon after and went to college to complete a Social Service Worker program. Yep, I’m a tool.

Besides being undereducated, Theo also sounds like Dennis Lyxzen from Refused. That is high praise. Is this similarity deliberate or serendipity? What other vocalists have influenced him?

Theo: That’s a high praise indeed! I enjoy Dennis’ style quite a lot and I admittedly have listened to a lot of Refused, but I do not consciously try to emulate him. I suppose this is a case where I can not escape my influences. The list of vocalists that have influenced me could be written out on a mile long scroll—but I’ll just list a few that I currently really admire. Justin Pearson, Mark McCoy, Jesse Keeler’s Femme Fatale stuff, Chloe from Aidswolf, are vocalists that I really dig. Not only do I feel they have incredible voices but they exemplify an uninhibited freedom that is often not possessed by most vocalists. Their performances are usually in-your-face and gutsy and all of them have a very natural charisma on stage.

As I’m writing this, you are preparing to play a show at The Silver Dollar Room. When you answer, that show will be in the past and I can sensibly ask you how did it go? What are some of your favourite Toronto venues and why?

Theo: The show went well. We played with some very rad bands including one that sounded like The Birthday Party. I really dug it. Dan Burke (the man behind the show) really likes us for some reason and has been incredibly supportive. Our shows at the Silver Dollar always run smoothly. I always enjoy playing Clinton’s; I don’t really know why. To be honest (I know people are going to give me a lot of shit for this) I enjoy playing in the ‘burbs a lot more. Younger kids tend to come out to shows and they’re usually less jaded and more into it. They usually make me feel less dead
inside—but only a little.

Nobody is perfect Dance Electric. What are some of your faults? (Don’t say you’re perfectionists, this isn’t a fucking job
interview.)

Besides Tori’s germophobia, Jamie’s terribly forgetful nature and blue-collar musk, NJ’s OCD, and my toddler like crankiness and aforementioned undereducated mind, we’re pretty much perfect. We’re probably as perfect as you can get before you become too perfect.