Morrissey vs. BBQ

This I can respect: Morrissey exhausted by the smell of BBQ. I mean, this would never occur to most people, but the air you breathe during a show is important. It can make you faint, high, nauseous, or leave you breathless. The Dears nicknamed one venue “the chicken wing joint” because that’s what everything smelled like…onstage and off. Perez calls Morrissey a diva, but really, that’s like the kettle calling the pot black.

Our News Hits The News

Just want to send out an enormous thank you to everyone. Yes: I’m putting a general, positive vibe out there, in response to the great support from everyone out there. All of your emails and encouragement via Facebook and Myspace are motivating. Can’t wait to get back out there again. As Murray said, this past year has been hard. The band falling apart was tough, but Murray and I have been there before, in that same exact situation with End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story. And putting out that (our first) album, was the beginning of a new era for us personally and also for Canadian music.

With indie rock in a vestigial fade-out (I read even perennial UK indie rockers Kaiser Chiefs proclaiming the genre “boring”…Mr. Wilson, I wholeheartedly agree), the climate is shifting, and Missiles is definitely part of that shift. It is not indie rock, so I don’t feel so bad that Pitchfork has ignored our press releases completely. It’s a diss, but they’ve been reluctant supporters from the beginning. I’d rather be pushed to the outside: I’m used to it.

I also love – and without sarcasm – that NME.com ran the story quoting this very blog. It is a bit of an obvious move on their part to link us to Morrissey, but whatever, that’s what they do, and I respect the Moz greatly so I don’t mind. In all of this, I stand by my quote: “We hope everyone would like [Missiles], journalist or not, but we understand that there are many haters out there so it’s out of our control.” Because the haters really are out there: hating with gusto! Remember in grade school when that bully would push you around, only for you to realise later that actually they had a crazy crush on you? That’s what I think is really going on there…

So thank you to everyone, lovers and haters. See you all very soon.

Moving Right Along…

In a recent interview on XFM, Morrissey spoke of his new album, saying: “Journalists won’t like it but real people will” And you know I feel the same way…not about his album but about The Dears’ album. I suppose Morrissey has ample reason to have a fatalistic attitude toward the media, though I always assume that an extremely dark sense of humour is layered over everything he says in public. But what do I know? I’m just assuming.

We (The Dears) have been pretty busy planning our release, that we hope at least some journalists will like. We hope everyone would like it, journalist or not, but we understand that there are many haters out there so it’s out of our control. I guess after you’ve released over a dozen records (like Morrissey) you just give up trying to please everyone. I definitely feel a little more hardened with each release. Album number four is comparatively early on in our career, so the optimism and hope are still there. I just can’t help it.

We moved into a proper rehearsal space this week. We’d been jamming in our basement, two or three people at a time and finally when we had a rehearsal with five people it became brutally apparent that we needed a space. The wheels are in motion. We’re coming back.

Morrissey vs. NME (again)

Are you serious? This is breaking headline news: Morrissey vs. NME (again).

ARRRRGH!

This is so mentally frustrating for two, brain-bursting reasons:

1) Since when has the NME been known for printing the straight up facts? They are the kings/queens of spinning stories, of misappropriating quotes, of taking things out of context and generally being sensationalist. I don’t know a single artist who comes away after reading a feature about themselves in NME without feeling misrepresented. It happened to Murray a few years back, and Win Butler explains how he also fell victim to NME’s wiles. I guess NME are trying to make the stories catching or interesting to readers but really at whose expense? It’s like the artist is expected to shut up and be grateful for the press.

2) So a deeper examination of the story leads to Morrissey expressing what is a little obvious to an outsider, which is what I like to call a “polite xenophobia” that almost every human is guilty of having felt at one moment or another. And as usual, some public figures get chastised in the media for being a real person with real honest thoughts, which can result in something like this: Morrissey to Sue NME Over Story. So the spicy quote is (apparently):

“Although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it’s still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity. But travel to England and you have no idea where you are”

Dear NME: Have you been to Quebec lately (Pop Montreal doesn’t count)? Have you heard about Bill 101, which since the late 70’s has sought to empower a forced French identity and culture on anyone who wants to live here? Check out the latest, hotly debated Reasonable Accommodation provision going down in Canada, too. What’s the difference between this debate and what Morrissey is suggesting? The wolrd is evolving, the global village asserting itself and homogenising. Canada’s cultural identity and patriotism is already pretty flimsy…I mean the nation is only like 300 years old. Beavers, igloos (which, incidentally, the majority of the population does NOT live in) and maple syrup are basically all we have so we should just hold on to that for as long as possible.

In any event, NME must be loving this, and so too (secretly) must Morrissey’s publicists. Any press is good press, right?