It’s been a busy year for Young Galaxy. The Montreal-based electronic duo-turned-quintet released its third LP, Shapeshifting, and then hit the road, touring with fellow experimental electro-poppers Austra. With a month left in the year, the group figured it could squeeze in two more releases. On December 13, Young Galaxy will release a deluxe edition of Shapeshifting, as well as a free Versus Remix LP, which includes reworked remixes of song by Handsome Furs, Junior Boys, and The Sounds. Amidst all of this chaos, vocalist/guitarist Stephen Ramsay took the time to talk to me about his musical insecurities, favorite albums of 2011, and feeling a strong lesbian energy on tour.

Katrina Nattress: After releasing Invisible Republic, you toured with the likes of Arcade Fire and Stars. How did you like life on the road and playing with these bands?

Stephen Ramsay: I have only recently begun to enjoy life on the road. Travel inspires me, but I always had insecurity around [our] live show, that we couldn’t live up to our own expectations. The truth is it was hard to sign a record deal as we had initially without ever having played a live show. This meant that from the beginning, we had to assemble our band as hired players, which meant having a very different dynamic than what I wanted. To keep our players we had to give them a financial opportunity, which put a lot of pressure on [us] to succeed. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves with shows like the ones with Arcade Fire and Stars, because we felt like we weren’t fully accepted as a touring act. We knew it would be a process, and it wasn’t until Shapeshifting that we felt we had the right material, players and personalities in the band to bring it to the place we wanted to. As a result, we have only now begun to truly enjoy playing live, because the band is truly invested and has the right chemistry now.

KN: On the band’s website, you’re quoted as saying, “At a certain moment you tire of yourself. I could see it coming and I hated that. There is no worse idea to me, in art, than to make something for the purpose of making a living.” Is this a sentiment you still feel?

SR: I still feel this way, sure. Believe me when I tell you that I will never sell YG out, from a musical perspective. I revere what is genuine in music making, what is inspired. This doesn’t mean I have grave standards or a political agenda like Fugazi or something, it just means I am committed to making music for the sake of making great music rather than a living. I have resigned myself to a certain level of poverty as an adult, yet I am happy. I feel like I know what true happiness is and wouldn’t compromise that for anything. When it comes to their careers, most bands feel pressure to ‘find their sound’, which is just another way of saying ‘make yourself marketable’. I don’t believe in a sound. I’m a musical nomad, and I am much more satisfied when I am charting the frontiers of what I know musically. I need to surprise myself, to go beyond the expressions that I am familiar with, personally. I need to surprise myself in the act of creating. I know I can write a good song – but it doesn’t matter to me. All I really care about is writing great songs, which I’m not convinced I’ve done yet.

KN: Your latest record, Shapeshifting, may be your best to date. Can you explain the writing/recording process for this album?

SR: It was out of necessity for change in direction, and also because we were against the wall, financially. We put Invisible Republic out ourselves and lost a lot of money personally as a result. We wanted to come back with something fresh and immediate but had to be creative about it because we couldn’t afford to be in the studio as much as previously. This meant writing at home and using the computer more to write, which provides great flexibility when you don’t have a studio. We wrote in a piecemeal way, which was antiquated in my mind anyway. Studios are often overrated, expensive places that fight to neuter the initial inspiration behind a song—you become distracted by the people and objects around you. Sometimes working at home on a computer is the most comfortable and flexible thing you can do musically, and is as valid to the process as ever.

KN: Who are your greatest musical influences?

SR: Tough question. Right now I like intense, minimal electronic music like Portishead’s ‘Chase The Tear’ and Factory Floor’s ‘Two Different Ways’ single.

KN: If you had to make up a music genre for yourself, what would it be?

SR: Panda Droppings.

KN: You just ended your tour with Austra, any interesting stories from the road?

SR: There was a great deal of lesbian energy on this tour, which was cool. I can’t say I’ve experienced this in such large quantities before, which was certainly new.

KN: What does an average day on the road look like?

SR: You drive a lot. You play late; you wake up early. You hurry up, only to wait. You become obsessed with finding a healthy, square meal and good coffee. You always end up with dirty fingernails, which bewilders me somewhat – it’s not like I’m out there digging graves or something. Beyond that, the details blur into each other…

KN: What do you miss most from home life while on the road?

SR: What I miss from home life on the road is being able to cook for myself and the people I love. Cooking grounds me; it makes me feel in control of my own destiny. I especially enjoy cooking for others; it’s elemental and fundamentally pleasurable.

KN: You were listed on Gorilla vs. Bear’s “Top Albums of 201;” what were your favorite albums of this year?

SR: I don’t have many unfortunately. There seem to be more and more ‘pretty good’ albums every year, which just kind of makes you feel numb when asked this kind of question. That being said, War On Drugs, Factory Floor, Grimes, Austra, Korallreven, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Baxter Dury, and Juliana Barwick are among those I’d consider as contenders.

KN: I see you guys are back in the studio, what can we expect from Young Galaxy in 2012?

SR: Who knows? We’re going to put our headlamps on and see if we can descend even further into the cave this time. If we’re not back by 2013, send a search and rescue team.