Handsome Furs

Wed 18th Mar, 2009 in Features

Montreal husband-and-wife team Handsome Furs is sure to figure highly in – œBest Of 2009’ lists with new LP Face Control. The unusual album title is drawn from a pratice the duo witnessed while touring Russia, in which club bouncers reserved the right to turn away patrons based on their appearance.

In the words of our reviewer, Face Control “melds the chaotic sounds of Wolf Parade, the beats of Elvis Costello, and the lushness of New Order synth.” FasterLouder spoke to one half of Handsome Furs (and Wolf Parade main man) Dan Boeckner about his latest opus.

Is ‘Face Control’ something you’ve experienced first-hand at shows you played; fans not being allowed in because of how they looked?
Our fans didn’t experience – œFace Control’ as far as I know but we were personally subject to it at a very low-key seeming buffet counter during a mid-day lunch special in Moscow. It was wholly surprising. Our friend Anya was able to talk through to the blue-toothed, no-necked man in order to get us fed.

On a related note, it seemed from your MySpace that you’d recently snuck an underage fan into your show in Chicago. Is this something you do often?
I do this very rarely, but when I can. I remember being unable to get into shows as a kid and how lucky I felt for every turn of events that allowed my entry. It’s important.

You’ve talked in the past about Handsome Furs being very much based on travelling. Was a lot of this album written on the road and is it hard to find time to do this?
It is hard to find time to get all the writing done we’d like to while on the road but we seem to manage. Generally we’ll have rather rudimentary scrawls done on tour and then we’ll flesh them out once we’ve returned to our little studio.

Do you find it’s a bit more of an event for the fans playing in say an Eastern Bloc country than say NY or Montreal where international bands play every other night?
It might not be more of an event in terms of, say, attendance, but it can feel very meaningful. Playing to people that far too infrequently get to see the music they’re interested in is really exciting. I know for me, it is one of the greatest triumphs to win over a crowd in Belgrade or Zagreb or Warsaw because it feels really sincere.

Do you get to see much of the countries you visit or is it all just venues and airports?
The nice thing about touring, though only swiftly getting to see most cities, is that you get to decide which ones you want to return to for longer. We try to book things in a way to get the most out of every where we visit. Some times, unfortunately, the days can seem a little like – œgroundhog day’, but that’s not too often for us. We’re lucky in that, because it’s two of us, there’s less decisions to be made by two many heads – in other words because it’s a quicker decision about where to eat we have more time to check out the catacombs in Paris.

Are you interested in playing countries that a lot of rock bands don’t visit? China, for instance?
Absolutely. We want to play absolutely everywhere they’ll have us.

You live in Montreal, which is often seen as a great music scene with a lot of music and art happening – is that accurate and if so is that an aspect of the city appeals to you?
I like the area of Montreal we live in – the mile end. It used to be a pretty poor little spot for Portuguese and Greek and Haitian immigrants when I was born here and it still has great places to eat for those reasons. But mixed in are a lot of bagel shops and bookstores. As far as the Montreal music scene, it does exist. The nice thing about being Canadian and familiar with a very social democracy means that a lot of us tend to work on each other’s stuff or share practice space. It’s very economical for those of us with little money.

Handsome Furs are often described as ‘minimalist’. Would you say you’re influenced by writers & musicians in this school?
I think our influences are pretty broad. We read a hell of a lot of non-fiction and love a pretty vast variety of musicians, but I’m sure some minimalist tropes find their way into our heads.

How likely is an Australian tour for Handsome Furs in the near future? And are Wolf Parade likely to tour later in the year?
God, I want to get to Australia. We’ll see. We’re working on it. As for Wolf Parade, they’ll be back to work in October I think.

Handsome Furs’ Face Control is out now on Sub Pop through Stomp.