BOYS NIGHT OUT
interview by veronica
One pill will get me through the day, but I take two anyway. When I take three pills a song begins to play. Canada natives in a sea of screaming doppelgangers, the now complete lineup of men in Boys Night Out are cutting their losses with the sounds of their past, and taking whatever piece they can get of something new. Said to have disregarded their fans' love of their early discography, they are giving back to them revamped old works, and an attempt to carry on with them as they progress in the direction that they have always wanted to.
Almost two years since their last release Trainwreck, they seem to remain silent, leaving us up in the air about the content of the new material to be released in May or June 2007. Nonetheless, Boys Night Out will keep on keeping' on until you just don't give a fuck anymore. Right on.
Veronica: Can you tell us a bit about the past of Boys Night Out?
Jeff: We've been around for maybe 6 years, put out two EPs, two full lengths and a DVD. We've had hundreds of different members, and that's either because I'm a tyrant, and impossible to be in a band with, or because of Connor's violent homosexual tendencies.
Veronica: How do you feel about the music scene in Toronto, and what exactly would you say it is? Is there an obvious influence that can be seen there?
Jeff: I don't really know, we've played in Toronto a bunch of times, but we're all from suburbs. Lots of kids come out to shows I suppose, and seem to have a good time.
Veronica: Bands such as Silverstein, Moneen, Alexisonfire, and Protest the Hero were given birth by your streets. How are you different from these bands?
Jeff: Just that we have different names, I suppose. Aside from that we're all pretty much identical.
Veronica: How are you influenced by them?
Jeff: Steele from Alexisonfire broke a pinball machine or something once at a hotel, and that influenced me to get drunk and break pinball machines.
Veronica: Is there a hometown loyalty between you?
Jeff: I'd commit murder for anyone in any of those bands.
Veronica: Your most recent release titled "Trainwreck", was a concept record where from start to finish you go into detail about a man's dream and battle with his own sickness. What was your intention is writing such songs?
Jeff: To do something fun and challenging. and completely confuse and alienate our previous fanbase.
Veronica: Is there a certain process you used to create it?
Jeff: No, I don't think so, I'd like to leave it up to the listener to extract any kind of meaning or message from the album. Truth be told, I don't even know what the record is about, and it doesn't make any sense. So I can't answer that question.
Veronica: Could you share with us an explanation and overall message of the concept? Trainwreck seemed to have been a departure from your "pop-punk"/"screamo" roots, and a step in another direction as a progressive-rock epic. Was there a reason behind the abandonment of what you were trying to solidify for so long?
Jeff: I don't think we were ever trying to solidify anything, be it a fan base, or style of music or success. We're just growing with our music and what comes out, is what comes out.
Veronica: What conscious efforts were taken in the recording plans?
Jeff: We wanted to make a record that didn't sound bad
Veronica: Do you feel, by the recognizably different sound, that you have alienated your fans?
Jeff: I sure as hell hope so
Veronica: With that being said, after such has occurred, you are re-recording, and re-releasing new versions of the first four or five songs you wrote. Is it possible that by doing this, you are only ignoring your thirst for change? Or is to reinvent them with additions of new capabilities, and withdrawal of the old?
Jeff: Nope. the old recordings sucked, and the songs had potential to sound better, so we redid them. It's just something fun for new and old fans to listen to, to bridge the gap between albums. The digital EP also has two brand new songs on it, which is the real reason for this release. Just so people know we're not dead, and we're still sort of writing songs and doin' stuff.
Veronica: Since the release of Trainwreck, you have replaced a guitar player and drummer, welcoming original drummer Ben Arseneau back into the mix, and opting to stay as a 5 piece with the additional departure of keyboardist/vocalist Kara Dupuy. Tell us about the new line up, and if this transition has changed the dynamic and direction of Boys Night Out?
Jeff: We all work well together, and seem to be writing good songs. and it's good to have all guys in the band again, so we don't have to feel weird about jerking each other off in the van.
Veronica: Why has it been so long since you have released a new album with new songs? Do you plan to soon, and if so, when?
Jeff: I don't think it's that long, Trainwreck was out a year and a half ago, and our next album will be out in May or June.
Veronica: If new material has been in the works, can you tell us if this material is taken in the same direction as Trainwreck, or is it instead back on the route of what your old material sounded like?
Jeff: Remember that band Doughnuts that was on victory? the new stuff sounds exactly like that.
Veronica: Can you tell us a bit about your future?
Jeff: We're going to keep putting out music until no one cares anymore (which will probably be sooner than later), then we'll probably get factory jobs, or do something that we hate, until we're blessed with young deaths thanks to alcohol abuse, or ecstasy overdoses.
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www.myspace.com/boysnightout
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