Interview: Hexes & Ohs
Meet You At The Show: Hexes & Ohs have produced three records since 2005. Your last release, Bedroom Madness, was recently launched in the US. The band has also recently signed with Saboteur Records. Can we hope for a new album anytime soon?
Edmund Lam: We agreed to planning a release for the fall, and right now, we are in the writing process and doing pre-production and demos to figure things out. We have a pretty good idea of what we want it to sound like and most of the stuff has been consistent so far on the demos. It’s coming along! We have just signed with a new label, so it is, just to quote Stars Wars, a “new hope”! I’m very optimistic.
Heidi Donnelly: I think we took a break at the right time. After a year, it is now the right time to come back.
MYATS: You have been making music together for the last 10 years. What has been your evolution as a band?
EL: Again, right now it feels like the right time. I mean, in terms of genre, I think we are a bit of a misfit in Montreal. For example, we were doing pop in the early 90’s while punk was pretty big, we were not quite fitting. Then, we started to do rock just before post-rock was pretty big, and now we have started to do electro before people were quite ready to have bands without drummer. So right now, it feels like our timing is good!
MYATS: You have somewhat of an experimental approach to music. How does the creative the process work between you two?
HD: It’s mostly Ed’s inspiration that we start with, and then we try things through the computer.
EL: In terms of songwriting, I start with the songs, but we both contribute to arrangements. The dynamic between the two of us is very important, so when we develop the songs, we do it together with our voices. Most of the time, I start off acoustic, but ultimately our background is still rock pop. Ultimately, we use a computer as production. A lot of the time, when I transfer to the computer, I have to rework the song. So it’s a starting point, but the computer does have a huge impact on how the sound works.
HD: The computer shapes it all before we actually sit down together with our instruments to kinda tweak the final touches.
EL: It is the ultimate test, basically. Once we lay it down, we can judge if it is actually boring, or if a song that we thought was too simplistic actually works better with arrangements.
MYATS: Your sound makes obvious references to the music of the 80’s. Who are your influences?
HD: There are so many! I guess that we are inspired by the ones we like the most, like Death Cab For Cutie, New Order, Michael Jackson, The Beatles and definitely the Halifax scene, with bands like Sloan.
EL: In the mid 90’s, Halifax was said to be the next Seattle, like Sloan really put Canada on the map. Sloan were really the ones that were to be remembered from that period.
MYATS: How was your experience of opening for them?
EL: It was a dream-come-true, honestly.
HD: It was! We were looking at the stage with amazed eyes!
EL: We were so into it! We got to play with them as we were opening for them, but at the same time, we got to hang out with them as artists. We watched them as kids, like, if we could ever play a show with them it would be awesome, and then it happened! The coolest part is that they asked us, we didn’t even have to beg.
MYATS: Your video for “H-H-Highschool” has been on rotation at MuchMusic and MTV Canada. Do you have plans or direction for future videos?
EL: Right now, we’re planning to make a promo video for the upcoming album, just to get it up there and get some buzz going. I feel that we’re a pretty visual band, and videos are always a good way for us to express ourselves, and I definitely feel that we’re gonna be doing a lot of that. It’s a fun way to collaborate with other artist and other mediums too. You give people your music, and they interpret it. I think that it is an interesting relationship. We are always surprised by the results; we usually just let them do what they want to do. We’re both visual artists, so in terms of album covers or website, we try to be up to certain standards, that’s our second interest after the music.
MYATS: “H-H-Highschool” was also featured in clothing chain Le Garage‘s spring 2010 campaign. Is the song actually about experiences you had in high school?
EL: Loosely. I think that all of our songs are somewhat autobiographical, whether we are exaggerating certain parts or not. I think it’s really about the feeling and not necessarily what I’ve experienced in high school. But as we are getting to a certain age, I feel like the person that you are in high school never changes, as your perception of yourself as well as the perception of the public is really shaped in high school. So, no matter who you become later on, how you think of yourself is pretty much a reflection on how you grew up in high school. We’re all changed now, but I think that that transition kind of shaped who I am, and that’s what that song is about.
MYATS: You’ve toured around Canada and most recently, Spain. Are you planning to go to any other exotic locations any time soon?
HD: There has not been anything that has been spoken about, but obviously we will try to promote the album and keep our options open, and see where it takes us.
MYATS: How was Spain’s response to your music?
HD: It was actually really good! The show was super well promoted, and we had press coverage as well in magazines. The shows themselves were well attended; there were a lot of people.
EL: I think that there is actually a different attitude towards performers and concerts in Europe. In Canada, especially in Montreal, everybody is an artist, so it becomes relatively common. So when people go to a show, some people are there to enjoy, some people are there to hang out and there is no formal division between spectators and performers. There, people who go to watch a show are really attentive. So, it was a different experience than Montreal for sure.
MYATS: You will be hosting a benefit concert for CJLO this Thursday at Casa Del Popolo. What cause will the show be raising money for?
EL: It’s for UNICEF, for the Flood Relief in Pakistan. CJLO approached us for the project a while ago, even before we were planning the album. It came at a good time as it was time for us to get involved again. It’s been since last year that we’ve played live, so this is our warm up show. It’s obviously a great cause, but it’s a little bit ironic that there have been other natural disasters that have happened since. So it feels odd to be doing a benefit for a different cause, but it’s an equally important one.
MYATS: Do you have other concerts planned?
EL: We have a bunch lined up; it’s starting to fill up a little in our schedule. We have one on May 20th at Sala (Rossa). It’s not confirmed who else is playing, but it’s a label party for our new label. Then we have one in Ottawa, and a couple others that have yet to be confirmed!
- Interview conducted by Christelle Saint-Julien
