Fried neurons in the dark
You know that feeling you get when Sunday morning rolls around and all the liquor and work related exhaustion you’ve put your poor body through over the past week arrives to exact revenge? The dirty nihilism that sweeps over you as you think about the life you thought you were going to live? Dead Fibres can recreate that for you, but also keep you moving fast enough not to really mind it.
Dead Fibres is drummer Brandon de Gans, guitarist Zach Mouallem, and vocalist and bassist Kennedy Pawluk. A three-piece, self-described psychedelic punk band, the trio is preparing to show off its third release in as many years.
“A lot of our music is, and especially on this new album, like everything is written together,” says Pawluk. “It’s all written based on, like, improvised jams and stuff. It’s never ever someone coming into the room and showing everyone. It’s always on the spot jams that we record, and then from there we start tweaking it.”
The new EP, Stashbox, demonstrates just how far the band has come in such a short time. Recorded over two days with Jed Gauthier of Counterfeit Jeans, in a room the band says measured around 10 feet by 10 feet, the resulting sound is more developed and focused than on past albums.
It’s a bit like watching Godfrey Reggio’s experimental art film Koyaanisqatsi at triple speed except all the stock footage is taken from the darkest parts of your life. There are Gregorian chants, howling vocals, and a sometimes suffocating sense of anxiety, but that was sort of part of the process.
“Zach just went on a trip backpacking to Mexico for, like, a month and a half, so we had to have it recorded by that day before he left,” says Pawluk. “The recording was done over the week, basically before he left. It was only two full day sessions. The fact that it was quick and that it was in that warehouse, it was kind of just like there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room in that room, and there is not a lot of wiggle room with the tones of the final product. It just all fell into place and it was just ready to go.”
Dead Fibres was conceived from the ashes of Pawluk, Mouallem, and de Gans’ high school band, Martian. After a brief hiatus and some growing up, they reformed and spent the summer on a jamming bender.
The resulting burn out led someone to suggest the band be named after the fried neurons and busted sinew they’d all incurred. Since then, Dead Fibres has crafted sonic chaos around topics like getting so high that you develop a God complex.
“This summer, I think the goal is to kind of gain notoriety through Western Canada,” says Pawluk. “So that after this summer, when we start going to these cities again, we can kind of bank on it being good shows. We have a lot of cities where we do really well, but I kind of want this summer to flesh out all the other cities in Western Canada.”
It’s a busy schedule. After the hometown EP release, Dead Fibres is heading to Sled Island to perform during a roller derby. Even with the touring schedule and the new EP arriving soon, the band’s already eagerly planning out what comes next, and searching for something new to scratch the itch.
“We still have to get there,” says Pawluk. “You should never think you’re there. It’s always like once you record it, this if fine, but that next album … damn, that’s gonna be something.”
Sat., June 17 (9 pm)
Dead Fibres w/ Arson Cult, Bummer Club, and Supermoon
Mill Creek Cafe, $10
Lucas Provencher
MUSIC@vueweekly.com
