I'll acknowledge that I'm from Canada but I don't think I'll acknowledge that I'm Canadian.
I don't want to over think anything because the second I do, I start to fail.
I wrote a cheesy love song - called "Tender Torture". I guess it's more of a song about being away from someone that you love. It's pretty strange. It's sincere, I guess. It's actually something that I really felt.
I just think if you're gonna play a show you should try and look nice.
Thankfully, I'm not put in a position where I'm made to feel like I can't live my life.
I like writing stories. That's what I like to do. That's the way I see it, but with every song I get sucked into feeling something.
Everybody now who's playing in Unicorn band is deeply schooled in music. I'm the only one who's self-taught, which I think is a bit hilarious because I'm leading the band and writing the songs, but I'm surrounded by such overwhelmingly competent musicians.
When people all wear the same thing, people notice. They aren't stupid. People don't go, "Oh, you can see right through them!"
You're forced to step into that performer role. I can't just hide behind a synthesizer forever.
I've learned a lot about how to be in a band. It's like being in a marriage to these people. Because there's so many of us, there's a polygamous quality to it, which I've heard is really enjoyable.
I can tell what inspired the songs for me, or what I was thinking and feeling at the time. But I don't want that to be the definitive meaning behind the song. I like the idea that people can interpret, even if they're way off base. I'm rambling. I'm not good at talking about my feelings.
"Jogging Gorgeous Summer" song was inspired by a general feeling of sunshine, feeling good, sitting in the backseat of a car and hearing a song for the first time on the radio and feeling warm. I went back to the house I grew up in, and the people let me in to walk around. I went into my sister's old bedroom, and on the window ledge there was this little handwriting from my sister, and it said, "Jogging Gorgeous Summer." I thought that was a really pretty phrase.
It's always something that interests me, crafting a really perfect pop gem, but it's not a lifelong obsession. I've kind of moved beyond it. I think I needed to get that out of my system, to exorcise.
You know what I think the guy who reviewed the live show for Pitchfork suffers from? Shy/asshole confusion. I'm not an asshole. I don't think I have to prove that to anyone, but I'm just putting that out there. I just think people should know that I'm not trying too hard. I think some people are just bitter that they ended up reviewing the show rather than playing the show, perhaps.
It is a game you have to play. You have to tour your ass off. It's just always "where am I now" versus "where could I be?" It's constant competition with yourself. But I'm up for it.
I really do just try to tune as much out as I can and make things that I think just sound good to me.
I've always got songs ready to go. It's not a challenge to conjure anything, it's just whether the music I supply is desirable.
I operate in such a vacuum. I write by myself, it's a very solitary experience, and I'm not used to, I've never had a label or anyone to say, "We wanna hear a single, we gotta come back and retool some of these songs until they're more catchy."
I'm totally open to outside opinions and criticism.
