Interview by Ed MacLaren

 Music for the modern age is not just about creating sound – it’s about crafting a musical experience that involves all the senses. No one does that better than Canada’s The Birthday Massacre. Combining the fury of industrial hard rock with a unique 80s synthpop sensibility, TBM can bludgeon your ears and electrify the dance floor but they’ve also integrated a visual aspect to their image through their stage shows, album designs and Internet presence so that the music and visuals are almost inseparable. This unique sensory amalgamation is no more apparent than on TBM’s new EP, "Imaginary Monsters". A combination of tracks gestating since the sessions for 2010’s "Pins and Needles" plus some excellent remixes, TBM have added another strong entry to their growing catalogue. TBM’s lead singer, Chibi, took some time between tours to talk to Femme Metal about the new EP, the band’s unique image, and its distinctive marriage of aural and the visual.

"Imaginary Monsters" is a wonderful coda to "Pins and Needles" – three new tracks and a handful of killer remixes. Where did you get the idea for this release?

Thank you! We had some songs that remained from when we were working on "Pins and Needles", and we wanted to bring them to a completed state and be able to release them. Having people we like and respect work on some remixes of songs from that record seemed like a good accompaniment. It’s a good way to begin the writing process for the next full-length album with sort of a clean slate.

"Forever", "Burn Away" and "Left Behind" are all strong tracks. Were these songs written specifically for the EP? They would have fit well within the musical framework of "Pins and Needles".

"Forever" and "Burn Away" were definitely in progress and ended up sort of going along the wayside as we focused on the final track list for "Pins and Needles". It was a shame at the time, as they’re such good songs, but you have to make cuts and do the best with the time you have when you start getting down to the wire on finishing an album. But I’m really happy we got to pick those songs back up for this EP and really be able to flesh them out, spending the time on them for this EP that we couldn’t for the last record.

"Imaginary Monsters" is your third EP. What’s the function of an EP versus a traditional album?  Is it just part of the natural music cycle of the band or does it serve a more devious purpose?

Oh, it’s so devious! No – an EP is a good way to be able to put something out in good time, wrap up some loose ends, fit things in that didn’t fit in other ways. An EP is also a great place to release remixes, which we enjoy featuring. It’s interesting for us to hear other musician’s takes on some of our music and an EP seems like a better place to work those in than on a full-length record.

Remixes are also a big part of the band’s catalogue. TBM has a very specific musical vision but doesn’t shy away from letting others provide an alternate interpretation. How big a part do remixes play in the TBM musical landscape?

We’ve met many musicians we respect and have become friends with who work in different genres and if someone we know wants to do a remix we’re always pretty excited to hear the end result. It’s a good way to feature a different spin on our songs to the audience, as well as to showcase artists we’re friendly with. We’ve done a bunch of remixes ourselves for other bands and it’s always been a pretty fun thing to do.

Have you and the band ever heard a remix of one of your tracks and said, “Wow! Why didn’t we record the song that way?” What makes a good remix for you?

What makes for a good remix for me is someone who definitely puts a lot of thought into the original song and puts their own trademark on it, their own spin, in an interesting way. On this EP, for example, on Kevvy Mental and Dave O’s remix of "Pale", I thought it was pretty cool that Kevvy did vocals on it. It was very endearing to me.

Your music lives in a shadowy world of darkness and beauty but there’s always a child-like wonder that glimmers through.  Does your music mirror your own way of looking at the world and the darkness in it?

We’ve always tried to maintain the idea of a romanticized childhood and sort of the struggle to keep that sort of innocent and positive atmosphere despite the different struggles and adaptations required as we move through life, farther from being children. We’ve tried to juxtapose contrasts of beauty and evil, fear and happiness, darkness and light, that sort of thing, in all of our imagery and music.

It’s so easy to get immersed in your music. Songs immediately spark visual imagery that totally augments the audio experience. Since TBM is so visually oriented, is that an intentional effort by the band to create an expanded listening experience?

Yes, we’ve tried to do that. We’ve wanted everything to tie in together - the music, the web work we’ve done, the videos, the images. We’ve always put a lot of thought into the way we present ourselves and the things we work on.

Does the music influence the visual aspect of the band or vice versa? What part does visual imagery play in your writing process?

Both. An image may be inspired by a song, or a song may turn into an image. All of us are very interested in visual art as well as songwriting, so it’s very intertwined.

TBM has always wanted to integrate visuals with its music since the band’s inception. What was the band’s original vision for that visual element and how has it grown and evolved with the band?

When we began the band and created our first website, we really focused on the idea of creating an atmosphere for all of it – a "world", for lack of a better term. We wanted to create a unity to everything – through use of the colour purple, through the symbol of the bunny, the silhouettes. All of these things have pretty much become trademarks of the music and the band.

 TBM has flourished using its DIY attitude and achieve a large measure of success without relying on mainstream media. Do you and the band make a concerted effort to make sure you’re staying on the crest of the wave and not getting crushed under it?

We’re doing our best! We do all of our online efforts ourselves – we don’t have an online team, we don’t have a production platoon bombarding the audience with promotion. When you see an update on the band’s Facebook or Twitter, it is one of us doing it. So we try to keep up as best we can with these things, while still staying productive in our personal lives and keeping moving with band obligations.

The band has always used technology to its advantage since day one. Do you see a day where you’ll no longer be releasing traditional albums and focusing more on a more fully integrated visual and musical experience?

I think there will always be a demand for CDs – for a physical copy of music. Maybe not so much as in the past, but I’m sure bands will continue releasing "print" music in some way. Obviously everyone has adapted to the demand of MP3s through digital download availability but I really enjoy my CD collection and I’m sure lots of people feel the same way about theirs. Video is where things get a bit more confusing for indie bands – you’re not going to get the rally of support from TV, so the best place to feature them is on the Internet.

The trademark TBM keyboard/guitar sound was born virtually intact at the time of your first release. How do you challenge yourselves and grow musically without tampering with such a trademark sound?

We will likely never stray too far from this – it’s the kind of music we love to write, it’s what our band is about. But we do challenge ourselves within the music – for example, when we were writing "Pins and Needles", we focused more on capturing a guitar-driven sound. When we play live, the songs translate as less synth, more guitar, so we wanted to focus on a more "live" sound. Also, personally – my singing is pretty different in the newer releases than it was on the older ones. This is because of the amount of touring we have done and the amount of singing over the years has changed my confidence level. I used to be a very nervous performer, very shy and awkward. I don’t feel that way anymore and it reflects in the vocals on these records, I think. So we’re always transitioning, trying to improve, working on different elements.

How tightly does your fanbase embrace that recognizability? Not that you’d do anything “radical” like an unplugged album but is there an expectation from the fans that TBM needs to look and sound a certain way? Many fans want to keep their favourite bands in a nice little box where time stands still…

Ha! Maybe. But again, we are this band because this is the kind of music we like making, this is the kind of music we would want to listen to. We have always dressed a certain way, presented ourselves a certain way – we are who we are, right? I can’t see us straying very far from that. So the challenge is to keep moving forward and improving, while not sacrificing the things that make us who we are and that people have come to appreciate about us.

Straight answer here. Are we ever going to see any album covers in a colour other than purple?

No!!.... Yes!??

If there was one band that should have contributed to the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland it should have been you guys. How can Avril Lavigne get the nod for a track and you guys get passed over? You would have nailed it and got some much deserved mainstream publicity.

I can see how that would have made sense. I remember when we first started hearing about that movie in production and I mean, I totally agreed, I was secretly wondering if that would happen, since we get the Tim Burton thing a lot and we have used Alice in Wonderland style imagery since the very beginning. But, I mean – behind the scenes with this stuff, there’s so much that goes on and it’s all in who you know or who you are and often in the end result, creativity be damned, if there’s a big huge movie they want big huge names associated with it.

Listening to a TBM album is almost like listening to a soundtrack to an imaginary movie. Has TBM considered doing some scoring for movies or creating a long-form video or short film specifically for your music?

We have contributed music to some indie films and have also had some songs used on a few TV shows. Going into scoring is something we’ve explored and doing creative video work is something we’re actually focusing on right now.

TBM has gone from gigging around Southern Ontario to major global appearances in just a few short years. What is it that fans around the world identify with in you and respond to in your music?

It’s difficult for me to explain that. People have always talked about being able to relate to the music and lyrics in personal ways. Tying in the imagery, like we talked about and trying to create an inclusive "world" that is interesting and engaging, has an appeal as well. Because we started out online, we were able to communicate with people internationally and interact with them and create a community among the audience. We did major tours in the States and in Europe and the UK before we did much local touring at all.

Where is TBM on tour right now? There are a lot of people ready to wear their black and white dresses to The Birthday Massacre.

We’ve taken some time off the road, actually, for the last few months. But we’re heading back out into the USA in November. We’re looking forward to it. Being home is great, but you start to miss the shows and the tour atmosphere.

(Famous) Last words?

My favourite quote has always been “And this too shall pass…” Whenever I’m in a ridiculous or trying situation, I try to remind myself that the things that were bothering me a year ago don’t matter now. This doesn’t really apply to music, I guess, but it’s still my favourite quote.

Links 

Chibi : Facebook

The Birthday Massacre : MySpace - Facebook - Twitter - Site

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