Canadian Shoegaze Stars Braids Beg You to Put Your Phone Down, Come See Them at DDC, Mar 3
Raphaelle Standell-Preston didn't meet her would be bandmates at a divy livehouse or in some other typically badass, rock 'n' roll fashion. Instead, Braids' frontwoman and the other members of the acclaimed Calgary, Canada indie rock trio decided to form the band while eating blueberry muffins at their high school cafeteria.
"Seems very much not bad ass and punk rock of us," says the singer – who critics have compared to legendary Icelandic songstress Björk, while other reviews rank her band alongside other lauded Canadian acts like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene – ahead of Braids' March 3 gig at DDC. Standell-Preston goes on to add, about the band's juvenile origins, that she and drummer Austin Tufts "have been friends since we were 12. So I guess just life and it’s many plans drew us together."
Below, Standell-Preston tells us more about how singing like Björk can leave one's throat "feeling excited," why being isolated can be magical, and why you, dear readers, had better not browse this article on your phone.
You were described as someone who "loves to disagree" in an Exclaim! magazine article. How can this be both a challenge for your bandmates and an attribute that pushes and motivates them?
Oh did they say that? I guess I was feeling very open that day. I don’t think I "love" to disagree anymore. I do it when it's necessary. In my teens and early 20s I was much more of a hothead. I have definitely chilled out since then, probably so that everyone feels better in the rehearsal space. We all (herself, Tufts, and bassist Taylor Smith; former keyboardist Katie Lee is also pictured at top) challenge each other and tell one another the truth. If I write a bad vocal line, Austin lets me know about it. Taylor usually lets me know about it, but in a much softer way [Laughs]. Since Austin and I have been best friends for so long, we can be pretty intense with each other some times! The other day I tried to write a pretty silly lyric and Austin just said, “Raph, you really gotta change that, it’s really bad.” I did so and it ended up being way better.
How do you feel when critics compare you to Björk?
Yes, I probably sound too much like her, but probably not as good, because we’re talking about Björk here, and she is the Queen. I’ve been studying other singers for this next record that we’re currently writing. Now I don’t sound as much like Björk. Instead, I’ve been channeling Sarah Vaughan, Frank Ocean, and Freddy Mercury.
One of the reasons I gravitated towards Björk is because of how expressive she is with her vocals, how raw of a singer she is. I've learned so much from listening to her. Also she’s a fun singer to try and mirror, as she’s so damn acrobatic. It makes your throat feel really excited when you try to sing like her.
Tell us about your last album, Deep Iris.
We recorded it in the mountains of Arizona, Vermont, and Upstate New York. Deciding to take time off from our daily lives to go and be in a secluded place together was truly magical. We got really deep with one another musically. We were able to be extremely vulnerable with one another.
One of my favourite memories was stepping outside on the deck in Arizona and there was a pack of 10 deer all just eating little bits of grass and jumping around. I just watched them for half an hour in awe of their grace and beauty, until they decided to go somewhere else. It was deeply grounding to see the simplicity and flow of nature around us. We need to do something like that again! Not in the same intense capacity of writing for six months away from everyone, mind you, but maybe just going somewhere quiet for a week that is surrounded by big beautiful trees.
Is Braids working on new music, and if so what is inspiring it?
Yes! I’ve seemed to hint at that through the interview. I’m so excited about what we’re writing currently. It’s the best thing we’ve done so far. I think people will be happily surprised. From doing this for so long – I think this is our 10th year as a band, as we started it when we were 17 and I’m 27 now – we’ve really been able to understand what each of our strengths are, and to take full ownership and pride in the roles that we play in Braids.
A lot has been inspiring the music. Definitely Trump's stupid presidency has had a huge affect on what I’ve been writing about. Also the fact that we’re all glued to our phones. If you're on you're phone reading this, get off of your damn phone for a minute! I've been writing about that a lot.
Musically we’ve been channeling a lot more R&B influences. We're really into Thunder Cat, Solange, and Frank Ocean. We've also been listening to a lot of Talking Heads. This new record isn’t as controlled as our last records, it feels a lot more relaxed a lot more natural. We’ll be playing a bunch of new songs on this upcoming tour to test them out and see how they hold up in a live environment. And I have a feeling they'll hold up well.
Braids will perform at DDC on March 3 at 9pm. Tickets are RMB 80 presale, RMB 120 at the door. For more information about the gig and buying tickets, click here.
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Photos: Total Eclipse, 2manymanymoons, FemaleIntel
