Japandroids, a semi-famous rock band from Vancouver, consisting of Brian King and David Prowse, have put out three studio albums. Their latest, Wild Heart of Life, has captivated many hearts and has added a new dimension to their sound. The Travesty sat down with them before their show at Emo’s to gain a glimpse into their new album and much more:
Aakash Saraiya: How are you guys feeling about tonight?
King: Excited! It’s been a few days since we’ve performed, so I’m ready to get back out there and rock.
Prowse: Yeah, always good to feed off the energy of the crowd. It keeps me going.
Saraiya: So you guys are very excited and very nervous. What an interesting combination, but I guess artists are very conflicted people.
King: No, we aren’t nervous. We do shows all the time. I haven’t been nervous about a show, since we played after our first album.
Saraiya: I’m pretty sure you said you were nervous.
Prowse: No. We didn’t.
Saraiya: Well, we’ll see what the transcript shows.
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Saraiya: Anyway, you’ve talked a lot about how you guys love to tour. I’m going to say a fact about you that you already know, but that people who read this might not know. You toured for your last album, Celebration Rock for about two years and went to over forty countries. Did you get bored?
King: No, every show is different in a way. The emotions are different, the crowd is different, the celebrations are different.
Prowse: I think the different crowds is the big point for me. We aren’t performing for us. We are performing for them. Since the crowd’s always different, the performance is different.
Saraiya: Can you give an example of how the crowds are different?
Prowse: Well, there is a different energy from each one.
Saraiya: Right. You’ve said before that one of your greatest influences is Bruce Springsteen. Do you feel like you’ve influenced him?
King: No. Not really. Maybe I made him feel better by saying that. Influenced him into having a good day!
Saraiya: Your new album has many layers that weren’t there before. In 2009, with Post-Nothing, you guys exclusively used guitar and drums. Over the last 9 years, you’ve added both bass and keyboard. What’s the next whacky instrument you are going to add?
Prowse: We want to add some saxophone to the mix of the next album. We think that could add another layer to our music, especially since we are going for a more poppy sound. Of course when we perform live we probably won’t be able to include that sound, because we’ve promised to ourselves that we won’t get a touring band.
King: That’s what our fans want. Just us, so its authentic, so we can be ourselves.
Saraiya: Plus if you got a touring band it would cost you guys a lot of money.
King: What publication do you write for again?