Greg Locke: It seems like you guys were often talked up as a duo until recently. Can you tell me about the two original members and how you’ve now become a four-piece?
Stephen Ramsay: I guess that makes sense – back in 2006 when we first got signed, the band was just me and my girlfriend Catherine. We expanded to become a 6 piece for touring purposes, then we went to 5, then 4, now we’re back to 5 again! So things have shifted pretty constantly for us since the beginning. The only person who has stayed on since day one other than Catherine and myself is Stephen Kamp, the bassist. We form the nucleus of the band now, through thick and thin.
GL: As Young Galaxy, have you guys toured the US very much? Are US shows different from Canadian shows?
SR: We have toured here and there in the US since 2007, primarily in the east. It’s not easy touring the US because it’s so vast and everyone wants to tour there, so the market can get over-saturated by bands… we have opted to pick our spots but I’m hoping that changes soon. I’ve never really noticed too much of a difference between Canadian and US shows, but American fans are very friendly and varied from what I can tell!
GL: Tell me a bit about recording Shapeshifting. I’m interested in hearing about Dan Lissvik and how you came to work with him.
SR: Well, we wanted to change our sound completely – not just a token few sounds here and there, but a wholesale shift.. we figured that as a band we were just beginning to understand ourselves as musicians by album two, and as fans of music we’d barely scraped the surface of our influences. We felt there were many places still to go musically that we hadn’t tried. We contacted Dan on myspace, back when it was still a useful tool and not just a spam machine! We loved his music in the band Studio, the duo he’s a part of. I thought the production was particularly brilliant – super groovy and dense and soulful. Timeless. So we kind of approached Shapeshifting as a scriptwriter might have a role in mind for a particular actor – we had Dan in mind as producer the whole time.
GL: The new record feels like the kind of music that would be played very loudly in some very hip and sexy club. Can you tell how this record is different from your others and what you were going for?
SR: Haha – that club you describe probably wouldn’t even let me in! Nice of you to say though. We wanted to make a modern psychedelic pop record, one that felt of it’s time.. the previous records were much more traditionally rock-oriented in their scope. We wanted to update our sound and streamline it at the same time. Shapeshifting is much less dense than the other records but still has a certain density about it.. it feels like it’s an underwater record, just like the cover image suggests!
GL: You guys have some pretty great people featured on your albums … is that true of this new album? Can you tell me about some of the folks you’ve worked with?
SR: Yes, the new album features a few great guests including our Swedish friends Dan Lissvik, Fredrick of a great band called The Embassy, Hanna Lovisa, as well as our friends from home, Jace of the Besnard Lakes and our engineer friend Graham Lessard. The Montreal music scene is pretty tightly knit, so people are often dropping in on other bands to say hi while they’re recording, which often leads to some impromptu playing. That means our friends Chris, Patty and Evan from Stars have played on some of our tunes, Patrick Watson, Murray Lightburn of The Dears, Elizabeth from Land Of Talk… we feel lucky to live in a community which supports each other so wholeheartedly. It leads to some wonderful collaborations.
GL: Have you guys been doing a lot of touring? Can you tell me some of your plans for the foreseeable future?
SR: No we haven’t really done much lately, mostly sporadic stuff.. we’re hoping to change all that by the Fall though. Catherine and I are expecting our first child at the end of April, so we will have an inevitable break for that! But we will record a new EP with Dan this Spring, and then resume touring in the Fall in the US, Canada and Europe. With the baby, it will be an experiment to say the least!
GL: The new record is getting some great buzz … have you noticed a sudden increase of opportunity and interest yet?
SR: A few things here and there, but we don’t get too excited by much anymore. We’re jaded veterans, haha.. truthfully though, I think we have a musical trajectory we are very focused on executing at this point – don’t get me wrong – we’re excited, but pretty unfazed all told.
GL: I love the lyrics on the new record. What’s the writing and recording process like for you guys?
SR: We like to try to break new ground and chart the frontier of our creativity as much as possible. Personally, I get pretty bored with myself at the best of times, so I like to try to push through to places that surprise me creatively. At this point, we know we can write a song – that question no longer lingers – but we want to see if we can go places with a song we’ve never been, both lyrically and musically. For this record, we wanted to make the lyrics a little more abstract generally. We tried to avoid being too earnest or literal. It definitely felt a little more experimental for us writing wise this time.
