Talking Shop with July Talk

Chicago – Peter Dreimanis walks into a bar… now, wait a minute. I swear, this isn’t some bad joke. It’s more like a beautiful black and white movie, in which you might find Bogart and Bacall partaking in some feisty yet charming banter. The story goes like this: one night Dreimanis sat in dark Toronto bar, drinking with friends, when he heard the lovely Leah Fay belting out tunes over acoustic guitar. He was instantly mesmerized. He knew they could make amazing music together, with her soft, sweet voice that whispers rebelliousness, and his gruff, smoky voice that echoes Tom Waits. And that, my friends, was the start of something special. Dreimanis and Fay teamed up with Ian Docherty, Josh Warburton and Danny Miles, formed July Talk, and then released their self-titled debut album in the Fall of 2012.Their mix of punk, blues, and garage rock was met with critical acclaim in Canada, and as the band continues to tour the world, the more praise and rave reviews follow. I had the fortune of interviewing Peter and Leah. We talked songwriting, broken hearts, the stage as an art studio, and dirty laundry.

Sarah Hess: I assume you’ve been writing songs while on tour. What has been shaping your songwriting lately? When should we expect another release from you guys?

Peter Dreimanis: We’ve been testing out a lot of new stuff on the road. We’re planning to make writing a priority this year. Because we feel the most comfortable on stage, it’s imperative that we test new songs in front of audiences before we record them. We also have a very extensive demo process of recording each song in multiple styles to find the right feel. We want to make sure we tour our first record in the States and Europe before we drop something new, so it might be a while, but we’re working really hard on it right now.

SH: Will you keep the black and white film noir feel with your next album or will you venture into the full spectrum of color?

PD: Unless the sky falls, you won’t be seeing any colour from us anytime soon. We all really respect artists that stick to their guns, those that make a priority of seeing an idea through. We feel that the style best represents our band and it’s been great to establish a visual voice for the project. That said, there’s a huge spectrum within it, and we can’t wait to share our new content.

SH: You are becoming known for your wild shows. Peter, being a filmmaker, have you ever thought of making a July Talk film, like an ode to Stop Making Sense?

PD: Absolutely. We’re working on some stuff up that alley. It can be tempting to just put everything out as soon as we finish it, but it’s important to be patient and wait for the right time. We want to make sure that a project like that gets released in the right way, so it can sometimes take longer to release something than it took to make it.

SH: You are both artists. Which did you fall for first, art or music? How does your music benefit from your artistic minds?

Leah Fay: Growing up I spent as much time in dance and art studios as I did performing for my Smashing Pumpkins posters with a hairbrush mic in my bedroom. (Everyone did that right?) I started the song writing because I needed an artful way to say “hey eff you” to someone who broke my heart while I was studying contemporary dance and making a lot of weird intervention performance art in university. So I guess neither came first and it’s all the same in essence anyway.

To me July Talk is a project that doesn’t separate music and art. First and foremost we’re a rock and roll band who try to write good songs but our live shows are where we develop, experiment, and learn. The stage is like a shared art studio where we’re able to generate material and get messy. In a way the audience acts as a panel of critics providing instant insight on what works and what doesn’t.

When July Talk isn’t touring, I work on other performance projects (namely with my collective WIVES), Peter and Josh make amazing music videos with their film company, and Ian masters legendary guitar parts in a super-group cover band called Dwayne Gretzky. We all benefit from working in other mediums. The feel of our music, the effect we want it to have, the themes we explore and the way we execute/perform is all definitely influenced by what we do outside of the band.

SH: I’ve read that Peter is a huge fan of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Johnny Cash, while Leah, Ian, Josh, and Danny find inspiration from bands such as the Beatles, Nirvana, the Decemberists, Arcade Fire, and Broken Social Scene. As we focus on new bands, what up-and-coming bands and performers have begun to grab the attention of July Talk?

LF: I’m taking Danny and Peter to an Angel Olsen concert this spring, I really love and respect everything she does. Allie Hughes (who plays in said band with Ian and has helped Peter and I with vocal training) is now releasing amazingly infectious tunes as Allie X, which we adore. Me and Ian caught a Weaves set recently and we’re blown away. Lowell’s music is my most current obsession. We’re on a similar tour route right now so we’ve been able to see her band play a lot in the past week. Her EP ” I Killed Sara V.” is pretty much a masterpiece and based on the songs we’ve heard at her shows I can’t wait for her full length. I don’t think Diana, Suuns, or The Darcys could be considered “up-and-coming” anymore (it’s a strange term to navigate) but they’re incredible too.

SH: Peter, I read that you “buy a new white shirt and iron it before every show” as a good luck ritual, so to say. What becomes of your used shirts? Do you donate them or do you have this crazy collection of shirts on your tour bus? Has Leah thought of using them in a performance piece, perhaps to incorporate in a show?

PD: Good idea! A lot of them are ruined by the end of the show, whether they’re ripped, bloody, covered in liquor or Leah’s lipstick. I think that’s what I like about the tradition is that I go into every show with this blank slate and then there can be a sort of map of the show left on the shirt. I do have about 50 of them at home. I still wear the older ones out, and for interviews and stuff, but the new ones are for the real shows.

LF: Hadn’t thought about it. Maybe one day I’ll make a bunch of Peter dummies out of them and light them on fire or send them crowd surfing or something.

July Talk is currently on tour and will be playing the festival circuit throughout the summer.

(Top Photo: Brooke Wedlock – Slider Photo: Ty Snaden)

About
Latest Posts

Sarah Hess

At the age of six, Sarah Hess discovered True Blue by Madonna. This resulted in her spending hours in front of the bathroom mirror with a hairbrush microphone, belting out "La Isla Bonita" off key. Her love for music only intensified over the years thanks to her parents; her mother exposed Sarah to The Jackson Five and had her hustling to the Bee Gees, while her father would play her albums like 'Pet Sounds' and 'Some Girls' from start to finish, during which he'd lecture on and on about the history of rock & roll. Sarah would eventually stumble upon rap and hip-hop, then punk and alternative, and fall madly in love with Jeff Buckley and film photography.

After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.

You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.