For nearly a decade, Seth Smith and Nancy Urich have been stalwarts of East coast indie rock. But after nine years, three albums, and performances alongside the likes of Eric's Trip, Deerhoof and fellow sludge-rockers Dinosaur Jr., the husband and wife duo known as Dog Day are facing a very uncertain future.
"We're very private people," Smith says, "and to play music you really have to be out there. I don't know, I'm getting older… I'm more interested in moving toward pastimes of the introvert."
Before they disappear for a little while, the group decided to fade away in style — by first releasing one of their most pop-oriented albums to date. Recorded at Smith and Urich's private home studio located 30 kilometres outside Halifax, Fade Out finds the garage rock combo stepping away from the minimalist grunge forays of 2011's Deformer and embracing a more classic rock-inspired sound.
Taking their cues from the coalescing sounds of John Bonham and Jimmy Page ("Nance is a total Zep head"), the dystopic chime of the Flamin' Groovies, and Smith's childhood heroes the Rolling Stones, on their fourth LP, the onetime Burdocks' side-project sounds more confident than ever. Which begs the question: why take a break now?
"The idea of Fade Out just made sense of what we were feeling as our band, you know?" Smith says, adding that this isn't a permanent hiatus, and the pair will continue making music outside of their other artistic endeavours, which include helping curate Halifax's first-ever genre film festival, Outlier, and experimenting with film and visual art. (Smith created the album's psychedelic cover.) "When you hear a song fade out, it doesn't feel like it's dying or ending, it just kind of feels like you're moving away from it, or it's moving away but continuing on," he says.
"We're going away for a while, but it's transforming into other manifestations."
"We're very private people," Smith says, "and to play music you really have to be out there. I don't know, I'm getting older… I'm more interested in moving toward pastimes of the introvert."
Before they disappear for a little while, the group decided to fade away in style — by first releasing one of their most pop-oriented albums to date. Recorded at Smith and Urich's private home studio located 30 kilometres outside Halifax, Fade Out finds the garage rock combo stepping away from the minimalist grunge forays of 2011's Deformer and embracing a more classic rock-inspired sound.
Taking their cues from the coalescing sounds of John Bonham and Jimmy Page ("Nance is a total Zep head"), the dystopic chime of the Flamin' Groovies, and Smith's childhood heroes the Rolling Stones, on their fourth LP, the onetime Burdocks' side-project sounds more confident than ever. Which begs the question: why take a break now?
"The idea of Fade Out just made sense of what we were feeling as our band, you know?" Smith says, adding that this isn't a permanent hiatus, and the pair will continue making music outside of their other artistic endeavours, which include helping curate Halifax's first-ever genre film festival, Outlier, and experimenting with film and visual art. (Smith created the album's psychedelic cover.) "When you hear a song fade out, it doesn't feel like it's dying or ending, it just kind of feels like you're moving away from it, or it's moving away but continuing on," he says.
"We're going away for a while, but it's transforming into other manifestations."
