Medium
Mood by Matt
Dixon, August '07 Photos by Noel
MacDonald
Big
Bang Theory from New Alarm
1.Please
introduce The Medium Mood and give a bit of background info.
The Medium Mood are a three piece (power trio?) based out of Truro,
Nova Scotia. We used to be called Safety Scissors when we started
out in the summer of 2005 (we also had 4 members at that time...).
We released an 8 song EP under that moniker. It's called Fugitives.
A few months after we started we received threats of legal action
from this guy (myspace.com/safetyscissorsmusic) and changed our name
to the Medium Mood. We started writing a second record and began recording
it in August, 2006. Our first bass player Tim left for the starry
heights of Montreal after that session, never to return. Andrew moved
to bass, leaving Adam on drums and me (Chad) as the sole guitarist.
We just released our second record which is called New Alarm and finished
our first tour in support of it.
2.What
do you get out of being in the band? What makes you put your heart
and soul into it, and go off on tour for what your average person
in the world would see as little return?
We're a really self-motivated band (most of the time, anyways!). Every
time we reach a goal, we push a bit further the next time. I personally
enjoy the two 'parts' of the band equally, although they are rewarding
in really different ways. Part A is the creative part of the band
- writing and recording. I thoroughly enjoy the process of making
a complete record, which I feel has gone a little to the wayside these
days. We recorded Fugitives entirely on our own, and did a lot of
work to New Alarm by ourselves as well. I'm a bit of a geek for guitar
sounds and recording, so I really enjoy that. Part B is the performing
end of things which is really visceral and rewarding in an immediate
way. I don't think I could have one without the other.
As
I mentioned earlier, we just finished our first tour and we really
enjoyed it, so we're all in tour mode at the moment. We left with
no expectations at all, so every success seemed pretty impressive.
3. What were the original goals of the band?
At first, our goal was to play as loudly as possible and to put out
a record. We've evolved to the point where loudness coincides with
well-written songs in a harmonious and/or dissonant way.
4. What do you try to communicate through your music?
We try to keep things as interesting as possible. We're pretty collaborative
when we write the music for our songs. I don't think anyone in our
band has ever brought a 'finished' song to rehearsal, so the original
intent of the basic riffs can sometimes change a lot. For instance:
we have a song on our new record called All The Names that started
out as a pretty straightforward up-tempo song with a lengthy My Bloody
Valentine noise jam in the middle of it. A week before we went in
for the final New Alarm session, we completely overhauled the song
into a stripped down atmospheric track. We can be good foils for each
other musically. In terms of lyrics, there is a bit of a dichotomy.
Andrew and I split the writing pretty much down the middle. There
isn't really an agenda like you might find in a band like Rage Against
the Machine. I usually write my lyrics by combining ideas from books
I've read with personal experiences, language, semiotics, etc. Andrew's
lyrics are usually darker, but I don't want to put words in his internet
mouth...so in summation, we try to put a lot of thought/effort into
our songs and if nothing else, I hope that is communicated live or
on the record. Geeks writing about geeky stuff in a geeky way.
5. How has the DIY ethic influenced the band, and how it goes
about doing its business (putting out records, booking tours, etc)
We would not exist without it. It was born out of necessity and is
a necessary part of our rock outfit.
6. The upcoming record: What can we expect from it? Where can
we get info?
It's out now, though we haven't officially released it yet. We've
got a good idea for our Halifax cd release that's quietly being worked
on. It will probably happen in September. You can expect a bigger
sound that is far more developed than Fugitives. 12 songs. Awesome
artwork. Band portaits by lookidrewyou! ( www.myspace.com/lookidrewyou).
Info at www.noyesrecords.com.
7. Any interesting road stories from your recent tour with A
History Of?
It was pretty tame. In Toronto, the venue was located between a missionary
and a whore house. Some people were getting arrested with prostitutes
as we were loading out. We met Kevin McDonald in Montreal. We played
to 3 people in Sackville, so we did a short cover of Iron Man in the
middle of one of our poppier numbers.
8. What is your ideal show situation? (venue, crowd, other bands,
etc)
We live for close quarters. As long as the crowd stands close to us,
we're happy.
9. What does the future hold for the Medium Mood?
There is talk of a 7". We are planning a tour in March. I'd like
to see us move away from the moody, sombre vibe into something more
quirky. Alternate tunings FTW!
10. The end of civilization will be caused by:
Touring indie bands.
11. How can people get in touch with you?
themediummood@noyesrecords.com noyesrecords.com, myspace.com/themediummood
- We love getting messages via the internet!
12. Final words?
The last time I saw a concert in PEI, it was Great Big Sea playing
in celebration of the Confederation Bridge being finished. I hope
our show is as at least as awesome as that!
