The setting was yet another Mindless Self Indulgence show. However, interviewing O.E., bass player for supporting act, The Birthday Massacre was on the agenda this time. The lot of us including me, Alyssa and Francis made our way to The Birthday Masssacre’s tour bus outside of The Wiltern in LA where we were kindly greeted by O.E.. We’d met before having fun at a show where their guests were theSTART, but this time it was down to business. We made our way to a secluded area on some steps overlooking a park setting to escape any ensuing chaos of passersby. Armed with his shades and a cup of coffee, the bassist received our questions graciously…
Francis: Ok, we are here with O.E. from The Birthday Massacre. How’s it going today?
O.E.: Howdy, how’s it goin?
Francis: Doing good. Since being from Canada and all, is there a difference between your Canadian fans and your american fans and how they react or view music?
O.E.: Yeah, there’s a difference. The American fans, there’s a lot more of them. Canada is quite a bit smaller you know and Toronto is a decent music scene but not for all genres. So we find when we come out here people are a lot more receptive and as well when we go to Europe people are a lot more receptive. Which is fine, I don’t mind at all doing the odd show in Toronto and just leaving it at that cause it’s really cool to travel around and see different places.
Alyssa: I just saw “The Looking Glass” video recently. Can you tell us the concept behind that?
O.E.: Yeah, it was like you saw, it was all set in a classroom atmosphere and it’s just a little bit of a comment on the whole underlying quirky part of the story of how the teacher was somewhat brainwashing the kids. Not to say that that’s what happens in schools but it was just a play on some kind of horror movie/school play.
Alyssa: The video is pretty interesting. That and “Blue” was a trip. Are they different directors cause they seem kind of similar?
O.E.: No, it was the same director, Dan Ouellette. We liked him a lot the first time around so we called him again. This time it was a bit more of a production. There was a lot more people involved. That school Dan found was filled up with a bunch of people so it was all kind of hectic. We just kind of sat around the first day cause it was all filming the kids and the extras and all that. It was cool. It was good working with him and it was fun to do.
Francis: Also you guys entered the video for MTV. Like a contest. Was it a contest?
O.E.: I’m probably not the best guy to ask about that. I think people were talking to our manager, Terry. I think basically because we just came out with that video it would be nice to get some play with it, right? So he was talking to some people at MTV and that just came out of it and got like a really really impressive response from fans. I guess they were all emailing MTV. We didn’t end up getting the spot that we were up for but somebody was in touch with them and they said it was such an impressive reaction and so many votes that they still want to put that in rotation or whatever so it was totally on our behalf I think it was a total success.
Alyssa: I totally could have seen it blowing up and taking people away.
O.E.: I heard there was a really good reaction to it so we’re all happy.
Francis: You still get some of those fans that are very anti-MTV, anti-mainstream or whatever you want to call it. How would you respond to them saying, “Oh, well you’re going to the Evil Empire” or that kind of thing?
O.E.: Um, you know.. everybody’s got their own opinion but as a band it is in our best interest to get in front of a wider audience just in terms of making one more step forward. It’s hard to keep doing what you do if it stays at the same level all the time. Stuff needs to grow or else it just dies. So in terms of that we’re all happy trying to make that step forward and some people don’t like it but you can’t please everyone.
Alyssa: I don’t think it changes you guys as a band. You guys are trying to make money and get by…
Francis: Also you guys came out for the E.P. “The Looking Glass” you guys had the “I Think We’re Alone Now” cover. How did that come about?
O.E.: Chibi is just fond of that song. I think during the last tour we did through the states she one day during sound check she just kind of mentioned it not even in a serious manner just in passing and then it ended up just coming together. It really was not planned at all it just kind of happened and then we had that E.P. coming out so it made it on there. So yeah, it was kind of just a fun thing to do.
Francis: Do you guys have any choices that you have on the back burner..
O.E.: Everybody’s got their own idea of what a cool song would be but it’s kinda gotta be a cohesive decision.
Francis: We were gonna see, are you ever gonna Rick Roll your audience?
O.E.: We’ll see, we’ll see. We’ll keep you guys guessing about that.
Alyssa: What’s it like touring with MSI currently?
O.E.: It’s great! We love it. They’re all really cool people. We’re super lucky to be on the tour because their crowds are amazing, their fans are amazing. We’re really well received by everybody that comes out to see MSI so it helps us. In terms of them as a band, I’ve been a fan of MSI for years and I’m pretty sure I can speak for the whole band when saying that we’ve been listening to those guys for a while now. So it’s a huge deal to be on a tour where we’re all fans of the band that we’re supporting. And it’s like.. Man! we get to see an awesome show for free every night. We get done with our work and we stand on the side of the stage and watch their work.
Alyssa: What would you say is the craziest band you’ve toured with. Like do they have crazy antics or groupies or?
O.E.: Ummm, wow! Craziest band.. Schoolyard Heros are crazy but they’re not at all. They are very down to earth normal people but their shows are crazy because it’s so soo fuckin’ good! Have you watched them play?
Alyssa: No.
O.E.: They are just insanely talented musicians and you just kind of watch them with your mouth open because it looks like they’ve been practicing the same set for like the last ten years. They are so tight and so almost possessed on stage. So, in terms of crazy bands, they’re one of them, yes.
Francis: Of course being on the road, you’re gone for months at a time. Is there anything specifically that you think you can’t live without on the road?
O.E.: Yeah, definitely. Coffee. Showers. Things that we can’t live without on the road.. Man, we’re all kind of computer crazy so it’s good to have computers on the bus. They gave us wireless internet this time so it works out that way. Odor Eaters is one.
Alyssa: Febreze, baby!
O.E.: Yep, Febreze. What else? I dunno. Like I could keep you guys here for the next 12 hours explaining all the essentials.
Alyssa: Are there any bands that you want to tour with in the future?
O.E.: We’re big fans of Nine Inch Nails. We’ve always wanted to tour with them. We’ve got friends in Toronto that have toured with them before but um. I dunno. Like other bands that we’ve met that we really like. We met Gerard from My Chemical Romance on this tour and he’s like a super cool guy. We’d love to go on the road with them. If the rest of the band is as cool as he is it would be a great tour.
Francis: For songs or maybe whole albums, how does that creative process work for the band? Is it just you guys have instrumental then go to lyrics or lyrics then instrumental?
Alyssa: Or how do songs get written?
O.E.: Well, the last album was kind of weird in terms of the way songs would come together because it depends on who picks up the idea originally. Like Rainbow would have like a drum and synth part or Mike Falcore would come up with like a guitar part and he’d carry the song from there. I wrote like a vocal part and took a song from there. So it’s just kind of where an idea stems from. Usually you just kind of take the skeleton from there and then everybody adds their own input, you know. So it kind of depends on who originally starts the idea and then we all kind of throw in our own two cents from there.
Alyssa: Since you’ve played both drums and bass at some point for this band, which would would you say you prefer to play more?
O.E.: I love drumming. It’s a super fun instrument to play but I think I prefer bass. It’s just more melodic. They are both really rhythmic instruments and that’s something that appeals to me, you know but um, I prefer playing bass.
Alyssa: What are your other interests when you’re not recording or playing?
O.E.: If it’s not writing for this band I always end up recording at home for something else or for fun or whatever. I dunno, song writing is a pretty consuming interest. It’s not like I have to make myself do it. Ideas come pretty freely so I’m happy about that and I’m happy that I have a thing at home that I can work on them on.
Francis: I think we touched all our bases. Anything you want to say to your fans out there?
O.E.: Oh man, just keep listening. Everybody’s been so supportive so we appreciate it a lot. They help us as much as some people think we help them. It’s a nice little community we got goin on.
