The Singing Lamb: So first of all, how did your latest release (download-only Pas Rapport) come to be?

Chloe Lum: Ha, I know some people want to call it an EP, but really we just bought some cheap tape recorders from Canadian Tire and made about 80 copies of the tape. And then we offered it for download on our blog.

Yannick Desranleau: We didn’t really think about it.

Well, the sound quality’s surprisingly good for a bunch of Canadian Tire recorder!

Myles Broscoe: I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for us, or a good thing for Canadian Tire!

Ha! So tell me how the tour last year with Fucked Up went? Was there any animosity from the crowd at you guys?

Chloe: Not really, actually. The crowd seemed to find enough similarities between us to stay pretty respectful. Maybe it’s the headbanging aspect of it all.

Alex Moskos: I think it would have a lot to do with where we played. I think the places we played in Canada would be generally more open to experimentalism than other places. For instance, if we played with a hardcore punk band in, say New Jersey, the crowd would probably get a bit more restless. Whether at us or at them depends, I guess.

Why do you think that is?

Chloe: I dunno, actually. Maybe we’re just more used to experimentalism.

What do you guys think of Toronto and its music scene? In general?

Alex: We love it! Toronto’s a beautiful city, really.

Chloe: You guys have so many awesome bands. In fact, you’ve got my favorite punk band. Of now, anyway.

Ooh! Who?

Chloe: Brutal Knights. They’re great!

Ah, they’re fantastic! What bands from Montreal should be getting more attention, in your eyes?

Myles: Oh, so many.

Chloe: Well, there’s Black Feelings, Red Mass, Demon’s Claws, Wasted Nymph, Dead Wife….

Yannick: Panopticon Eyelids.

So, any hints as to what the next release if going to sound like?

Alex: Well, we’re going for some new avenues. We’ve got six definite songs in the works, I think they’ll be even ‘weirder’ for most people.

In what ways?

Chloe: Well, just carrying our previous stuff to the extreme, I guess. Citing Captain Beefheart more in the rhythms, which we definitely already do, but moreso.

Yannick: We approach our music like it’s work, not like it’s just dicking around. We have a job and we stick to it, and we’re trying to push ourselves more over the edge. It might drive some people away, but that’s nothing new.

That’s very professional of you.

Myles: Thanks!

Now, this is a simplistic question but I’ve always wanted to ask a band this: does the term ‘noise rock,’ which you’re always lumped in with, bother you? Is it a crappy label?

Alex: Hmmm…well, actually it’s about as close as you can get to labeling the sound. In terms of genre labels, it’s probably the best we’ve got for what we do.

Chloe: It’s definitely better than ‘pigfuck,’ which is what music journalists used to call this kind of stuff before. Stuff like Scratch Acid and early Sonic Youth, but it turns out that was all bullshit.

Okay, one more question: if you were a singing animal, what would you be?

Chloe: A guinea pig. Wait, no: a mosquito.

Alex: I’d probably be a bird of some kind. Maybe a penguin? Yeah, a penguin.

Myles: I’d be the singing dog from the early Betty Boop cartoons.

I wish I got that reference.

Yannick: Hmm, tough one. I’d be coral.

That’s the most boring answer you could possibly give.

Yannick: Well, it’s still alive, right?

Myles: Okay, now I wanna be coral.

Yannick: No, I’m coral. You had your turn!

Don’t think too hard about this. Pas Chic Chic thought about this for like fifteen minutes.

Chloe: They would.

That sounds bitter!

Chloe: No, not at all! We love those guys.

Myles: What did Roger say, out of curiosity?

I forget. I know Eric wanted to be an aye-aye, which is a really creepy-looking rat thing.

Yannick: I got it! I’d be a rock lobster!

Myles: Can I be coral now?

I’ll write you down for ‘coral.’

Myles: Cool.

For more AIDS Wolf,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/aidswolf
Website: http://www.skingraftrecords.com/bandhtmlpages/aidswolf_pg.html
Blog: http://aidswolfs.blogspot.com/