The unintentional brainchild of Charles F., Montreals newest outfit, Winter Gloves, is catching the ears of music lovers and critics alike. The synth-heavy quartet just polished off their CMW debut with good reviews in tow, and will be hitting the road again for Exclaim!s own 16th Anniversary Tour. Charles took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions about what makes his new band tick.
Since Winter Gloves is so new, can you explain what kind of band you are?
It actually started as a solo project, so I just began to write a few songs with my Wurlitzer and had some fun with synths and drums over it. I had some songs and just put them on MySpace. Then there were just a couple of people that told my, "Oh wow, theyre really interesting. You should do something with that. But I was in another band at the time.
What was the other band?
Its called Lady Grey. But its not really well known. It was a band out of Quebec City. Anyway, so I just talked to a couple friends of mine who I wanted to work with. So I called Louis Fernandez who plays the guitar and glockenspiel, and Vincent Chalifour another friend of mine and Patrick Sayers. We just started a band together, and now were Winter Gloves. Were a pretty new band. Its been less than a year now. I think were kind of synth rock, but we like to have fun and call it glock rock.
Is what youre doing now a lot different than what you were doing with your other band?
Yeah, totally, because the other band was more of a guitar band. It was definitely different because it was more aggressive. Winter Gloves is pretty different because, for us, the most important thing is the melodies. Were really inspired by dance beats and things like that, but at the same time, the melodies are the most important things in the music.
You just finished recording your first full-length record. Whats the album going to sound like?
At first we wanted to do something very garage, but at the same time we have a couple of songs that needed to be warmer. Its kind of warm, but its indie rock at the same time. Its hard to tell for me because its so early in the process, but were very happy with it so far. Basically, the entire album is about seduction and urban lifestyle. Because were from the suburbs the city is very exciting for us.
You described your About a Girl EP as having "a pleasant dirty sound. How did you make that happen?
On the EP it was pretty easy because I had only one microphone and I was recording at home, but on the record what we did was recorded a couple of tracks outside the studio and kept some of the noises. Sometimes we played things without plugging them into the amp and recorded it with a microphone, so when you listen to the album you can hear the fingers knocking on the keys. There are certain things like that that we still used in the recording of the album. For sure its not as garage and you dont have the dirty sound of the EP on the new album, but theres definitely that touch that we kept.
Do you think that type of sound translates well to your live show?
Actually its pretty different live because theres a lot more energy. The album is probably closer to our live gigs than the EP. On the EP Im the only one playing everything, and on the album were the band, so the dynamics are very, very different.
How do you think being from Montreal has affected the way youve been perceived?
There are a lot of good bands from Montreal, but at the same time it doesnt matter because were just a band playing music and we try to have fun and have people dancing with us. Maybe a couple of people are just tired of hearing about bands from Montreal or others are just like, "Oh another band from Montreal! Thats so exciting! There are so many good bands there. But to be honest, I dont really mind being associated with that.
Since Winter Gloves is so new, can you explain what kind of band you are?
It actually started as a solo project, so I just began to write a few songs with my Wurlitzer and had some fun with synths and drums over it. I had some songs and just put them on MySpace. Then there were just a couple of people that told my, "Oh wow, theyre really interesting. You should do something with that. But I was in another band at the time.
What was the other band?
Its called Lady Grey. But its not really well known. It was a band out of Quebec City. Anyway, so I just talked to a couple friends of mine who I wanted to work with. So I called Louis Fernandez who plays the guitar and glockenspiel, and Vincent Chalifour another friend of mine and Patrick Sayers. We just started a band together, and now were Winter Gloves. Were a pretty new band. Its been less than a year now. I think were kind of synth rock, but we like to have fun and call it glock rock.
Is what youre doing now a lot different than what you were doing with your other band?
Yeah, totally, because the other band was more of a guitar band. It was definitely different because it was more aggressive. Winter Gloves is pretty different because, for us, the most important thing is the melodies. Were really inspired by dance beats and things like that, but at the same time, the melodies are the most important things in the music.
You just finished recording your first full-length record. Whats the album going to sound like?
At first we wanted to do something very garage, but at the same time we have a couple of songs that needed to be warmer. Its kind of warm, but its indie rock at the same time. Its hard to tell for me because its so early in the process, but were very happy with it so far. Basically, the entire album is about seduction and urban lifestyle. Because were from the suburbs the city is very exciting for us.
You described your About a Girl EP as having "a pleasant dirty sound. How did you make that happen?
On the EP it was pretty easy because I had only one microphone and I was recording at home, but on the record what we did was recorded a couple of tracks outside the studio and kept some of the noises. Sometimes we played things without plugging them into the amp and recorded it with a microphone, so when you listen to the album you can hear the fingers knocking on the keys. There are certain things like that that we still used in the recording of the album. For sure its not as garage and you dont have the dirty sound of the EP on the new album, but theres definitely that touch that we kept.
Do you think that type of sound translates well to your live show?
Actually its pretty different live because theres a lot more energy. The album is probably closer to our live gigs than the EP. On the EP Im the only one playing everything, and on the album were the band, so the dynamics are very, very different.
How do you think being from Montreal has affected the way youve been perceived?
There are a lot of good bands from Montreal, but at the same time it doesnt matter because were just a band playing music and we try to have fun and have people dancing with us. Maybe a couple of people are just tired of hearing about bands from Montreal or others are just like, "Oh another band from Montreal! Thats so exciting! There are so many good bands there. But to be honest, I dont really mind being associated with that.
