Les Braids

Braids is composed of Raphaelle Standell-Preston, Austin Tufts, Katie Lee, and Taylor Smith. Friends from high school, this quartet laces together intricate dream-pop that flourishes with layers of gorgeous melodies and harmonies to create opuses like the nine-minute stunner “Lemonade”, which you can sample on the band’s MySpace (link below). The band recently relocated to Montreal, by way of Calgary, mostly for school which the band has now put on hold temporarily to focus on Braids. On a fine Saturday evening, we chat on the phone about their experiences touring, playing goth venues, and their aspirations to play with Celine Dion.

The Singing Lamb: I saw you a couple of weeks ago in a basement, and that (sort of) marked the end of your tour with GOBBLE GOBBLE. What was that like – touring with them?

Tufts: It was really, really fun. When you’re on the road, there are so many different relationships. And when you develop that relationship with somebody within the span of 2-3 weeks, like we did with Gobble Gobble, it’s nice because you actually get to know the people and have a few more intimate moments, whereas on the road, everything is so fleeting. So it’s a nice contrast to tour with really nice people like Gobble Gobble. They’re honestly some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

Besides playing basements, what other strange venues have you played at? What was the weirdest?

Standell-Preston: On our last Canadian tour, we were playing in Saskatoon and we got put in this venue called Walkers Night Club. So we load into the venue through the back, and then we go down these really dark stairs and go into this room with this huge metal door and dirt floor and there were these chains in the corner. We were all like, “Holy Shit, what is this place?” Then we go into the main part of the room, and there were cages on either side of the stage. Like, Cages for creepy dancers. Also, there were two television screens, and they were playing this super creepy movie that was of high contrast. It was about people who would go around and rip out people’s hearts. So, we just went out to get food, and my grandparents came early. They were super petrified and they left. Since then, they’ve been kind of concerned about what kind of music I’m playing.

Is there a particular venue you wish to play?

Tufts: I don’t know. We come from Calgary, and there’s this venue there that’s in the shape of a horse saddle. It’s the hockey stadium and it kind of looks like a big Pringle. It’s probably the worst acoustic-sounding hockey stadium ever but it would be really funny to play there. Plus, it holds thirty thousand people. Raphaelle has seen Avril Lavigne and Coldplay there, and I saw Motley Crue.

Who would join you in your dream line-up?

Tufts: Raphaelle would put Celine Dion on our line-up. Quebec celebrates Celine Dion Day. It was quite an experience last week, it’s kind of ridiculous. Millions of fireworks and Celine Dion songs for forty-five minutes straight. Maybe our dream date would be on the island where they set off the fireworks, playing with Celine Dion. Maybe she’d sing over a Braids song. Or sing all of Raphaelle’s parts, and she would just sit there and have a kick out of it.

There is an obvious closeness between the four of you. I noticed that you huddle before playing; what goes on in that huddle?

Tufts: We usually do that before we get on stage. We like to get close before a show and remind ourselves of what we really value. We remind ourselves to really focus on time and being delicate. It’s nice to keep close and picking a moment to de-stress before you play, because soundchecks are often so hectic. And we find that just by touching each other–

Standell-Preston: Austin! You make it sound like we’re having an orgy!

Tufts: We’re not having an orgy! You know what I mean. It really helps to be close, I think.

How has the Montreal environment influenced your sound? What do you like about the Montreal music scene, in comparison to Calgary’s? How do they differ in terms of affecting you as a band?

Standell-Preston: I wouldn’t say that Montreal had a direct affect on the type of sound we have… It’s the fact that we moved out and started living on our own. We had our first practice space in our parents’ garages and I think that kind of freedom and responsibility definitely had an impact. I think we started writing songs that are a bit more reflective, in my mind, and a bit more personal. When you’re in Calgary and you’re working a job, and you know your parents are feeding you, things seem pretty easy. But when we moved out of that element, I think our music definitely started to take on our personal characteristics. I understand that [Montreal and Calgary] are two different places; I like to think of Canada as a whole. But the thing that I can point out is that there’s a lot more venues [in Montreal], especially DIY venues, which is really great. Apart from that, there’s maybe a larger all-ages scene. I know that in Calgary, they’re having quite a lot of difficulty with the all-ages scene.

And has your French improved since moving to La belle province?

Lee: Well, I learned French from ETS to grade seven. I was probably better at French then than I am now. But I guess so. I mean, I know how to greet. Raphaelle knows how to order her breakfast. Austin took French for a year, so he’s pretty good and Taylor has been in French Immersion since he was little. I’d like to get better at French this year for sure, now that we’re taking a year off school.

What does the future hold for Braids?

Tufts: Global Domination. We’re just going to tour a lot and support this album the best we can. We’re really lucky because we’ve been set up with a really wonderful group of people in the States and Canada, who are going to help us put out a record and help us book our tours and stuff like that. So touring lots and recording another record, because we really want to keep moving in a positive and new direction. And we’re really looking forward to exploring some new sounds. We’ve all been kind of obsessed with very well-crafted electronic music, but we all really like playing live instruments. We kind of want to learn how to incorporate a sense of electronic music into our live set-up and just keep evolving the sound and not define it as anything and put any limitations on it and just see how it forms.

Is going back to school an option?

Tufts: I think we all intend to go back to school. As of five minutes ago, Raphaelle decided to become a marine biologist. So, she might go to school for that someday. But you know, Raphaelle’s a pretty impulsive person and she wants to be Celine Dion someday, so wherever Celine Dion went to school, that’s were Raph’s going. But we all definitely have intentions to go back to school. We’re just going ride this out for as long as it’s really fun and as long as it’s sustainable…

And finally, if you were singing animal, what would you be?

Tufts: That’s funny because there are so many bands with animal names! But I feel like we would be a quartet of giraffes, because giraffes have no vocal chords and it’s really important to embrace silence once in a while.

For More,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/braidsmusic

Don’t forget to catch Braids tonight at the Garrison, as part of Shamewave (also featuring Colleen and Paul, Shapes + Sizes and Nick Storring!)