by Gil Carroll
Fast Romantics from Calgary will be in Winnipeg on August 15 at the West End Cultural Centre on their last leg of their second tour in support of Afterlife Blues, produced by Howard Redekopp and released by Pipe & Hat, an influential Winnipeg label. In anticipation for their high energy live show on Friday with locals The Hours, Stylus caught up with singer/songwriter Matt Angus in Calgary by the way of telephone.
Stylus: What is your connection with the Winnipeg music scene?
Matt Angus: We have played Winnipeg the past four Canadian tours we have done. Pipe and Hat took us on so we always have good experiences playing (in Winnipeg). I spent a lot of time there as a kid but not so much as a a grown manchild, its nice. Everyone talks shit about Winnipeg but that doesn’t make any sense, it is a really great town.
Stylus: I agree.
MA: But I have never been there in the winter though. But people have to chill out a little bit.
Stylus: Tell us about the tour, where are you going to be coming from when you get to Winnipeg?
MA: This is a quick tour, we have already done two for this album all through Canada and the US. This one is just six or seven shows. Winnipeg is at the end of it, doing a bunch of shows in Alberta and BC. We like to cap it off in Winnipeg.
Stylus: How has the band developed from when you first started out playing live shows as Fast Romantics?
MA: We don’t spend a ton of time planning it out. The band has evolved so much. We are constantly gaining new people and losing old people. This latest version you evolve as a group and over time with new people coming into the fold. We have always been a high energy band and that gets built upon with new people, more and more energy comes in. The music dictates that and the people who join the band are always high energy performers who love to play their instruments on stage. It comes out naturally. Blood and guts and whatever else.
Stylus: Your new video for “Friends” features vintage television ads spliced together to follow the lyrics of the song, how did you make such an ambitious idea a reality?
MA: I became a hermit for a couple months. In my house or in coffee shops and looked through old footage. It became an obsession. Once the idea came into my head I said that would be hard but would also be rewarding. After a week it is all I could think about.
Stylus: What has your relationship been with your label mates from Pipe & Hat?
MA: We toured with Mise En Scene and it was great. Did a bunch of dates with them back in the fall. There are a bunch of great bands on the label. It is like a family away from home.
Stylus: Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers of Stylus?
MA: I am told Winnipeg is a big cottage city in the summer. Tell your readers not to go fishing on the weekend. They should be at our show!
If you are in town get down with Fast Romantics and The Hours at the West End Cultural Centre Friday August 15. The show is at 8:00 pm and costs $15 in advanced at the WECC, Folk Fest Music Store and online at ticketmaster or $20 at the door.