DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND IN ONE SENTENCE.

A farm boy who practiced guitar to prog rock befriends a rhythm section that grew up with indie/alt country roots in Toronto in the nineties meets a Brit pop connoisseur who all team up with a real country singer. 

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HOW WAS THE BAND FORMED?

An all-dad, alt country band (The Better Lates) splintered off into the guitarist-led band that was supposed to be a one-off acoustic project called So Dirty the Flamingos. We gigged, then gigged again and wrote, and got along, and then recorded again and on and on.

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WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? WHY?

English - I had a fabulous teacher that encouraged my writing. He read my stuff in front of the class and said it was wonderful.  No one ever told me that. Will never forget it. 

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WHAT WAS YOUR MOST AWKWARD HIGH SCHOOL MOMENT?

It was ALL awkward. To pick one moment?

Grad. I felt I had outgrown high school in grade 10. To even attend the ceremony felt like an extreme waste of time. To pretend I even cared was genuinely and completely awkward.  I have yet to meet someone I deeply respected who didn’t have a hard time in high school. 

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HOW HAS BEING A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT BAND HELPED THE RECORDING PROCESS AND MAKING MUSIC IN GENERAL?

Having full creative control is great. And then it isn’t. Sometimes a parent is needed - a boss, a producer to keep the project focused, to steer the creative monkeys back to the road. And to wear the “producer” hat necessarily sometimes sucks. So overall it’s helpful not having anyone laying down the law, like a record company, but ultimately it means you have to step up to that role to get the thing done. Have a deadline. Don’t lose focus. Then do whatever you feel like. 

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WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON THE STATE OF ROCK MUSIC?

I’m disheartened by the fact that classic rock concerts that play the entirety of The Dark Side of the Moon, for example, are the biggest draw in terms of live music. The fact is, there are so many great new bands, but they aren’t getting exposure. The industry (or complete lack thereof) completely fails the up and comers. The biggest touring bands right now are in their 70s and 80s, are millionaires many times over, and haven’t produced relevant new music in decades. That’s a poor model. 

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WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF MUSIC?

My big brother teaching me the bass lines to Queen songs. Watching “The New Music” on TV, with hosts Jeannie Becker and J.D. Roberts, who interviewed a scrappy young new wave band from Ireland named “U2”, and regularly featuring Canadian rock bands like Triumph, The Headpins, Max Webster, Rough Trade, and Toronto. It was cool!!

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WHAT DO YOU MOST ENJOY ABOUT BEING A MUSICIAN / IN A BAND?

With a growing catalogue of original material I have the distinct pleasure of regularly playing with an excellent group of musicians who throw themselves into songs I’ve written.  We have a blast getting together and as long as I take care of the tedious PR stuff, and the management side of things, the only difficult decision to make is what to wear at photo shoots. Which, scratch that- we don’t even talk about that. Adam manages our studio from his house, we pretty much annually make a record, and we’ve played around with a few different sounds and genres over the years - and we’re about to do it again, even as our latest record drops in 7 days!

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WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU EXPERIENCE IN YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?

Time. There’s never enough time to write, arrange and experiment with the material. That gets to me. Usually Adam and I quickly arrange the whole thing right before we lay down the rhythm section. I’d rather jam it out for a month and then lay the drums.  I wish I had all day everyday, like a full time job, but it’s not like that at all.

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WHAT CREATIVE WORK ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? WHY?

The first record we did, was self titled, and I worked on it everyday in the studio - I was off work for six months with an injury and had the freedom to write, record, add musicians, edit, arrange. It was the first music I was in charge of, and I’m pretty proud of it. We’ve recorded lots since then, all better in terms of fidelity and better songs, too. But that first one had a nice trajectory and focus to it.

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WHAT NEW DIRECTIONS HAS THE BAND TAKEN SINCE FORMING?

We’re basically an Americana, roots-rock band in terms of genre, but that didn’t stop us from releasing an alternative/shoegaze/rock anthem last month. It was a one off, a weird thing to do, called “Run! If You Can!!” and it is bleak! But who is our boss? No one! So it felt right to scream it out, try something totally new. And it reflects the frustration all of society is experiencing at this moment. 

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WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR YOUR BAND?

Our next project moves our backup singer, Sara Meinke, to the front in terms of lead vocals. Her voice needs to be up front, and I would love to hear what that will sound like. I have a dozen or so songs that we’re gonna try out, see what fits. I’m still gonna sing lead on a few of them, whatever is best for the song, is our golden rule, and I feel like we could go in an interesting direction with Sara on lead. The songs for her are more country than we have done, and I’m excited to get started. 

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IF THERE WAS A BAND THAT YOU COULD GO ON TOUR WITH WHO WOULD IT BE?

I don’t know - that seems like a luxury we never had. How about Wilco? Too big? Or do you mean realistically? We love Dan Romano, Terra Lightfoot. I was blown away by the Georgia Harmer record. Can we back a y of them up? Please?

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IF THERE WAS A PRODUCER THAT YOU COULD RECORD AN ALBUM WITH WHO WOULD IT BE?

First choice - Moe Berg. He straddles all the elements we care about, a little country, a little punk, a bit rock.  But if not, Rick Rubin. Sure. Why not? I feel like we could do well if we were directed by a mystic weirdo who made us forget ourselves. Not a persnickety knob twister, but a real guru. 

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WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO VISIT IN CANADA? 

I used to hate where I grew up in southern Alberta. Just outside of Lethbridge, but now I long for it. Physically. I need to go there with every chance I get. As you age, the draw to your first home, I think, intensifies. A couple of our songs have “home” as a theme - our next single, “Miles Away” screams for “home”, because ultimately we are just busying ourselves until the need to come home overpowers us. It’s just the natural life cycle manifesting itself in your consciousness. Powerful shit. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MUSIC VENUE IN TORONTO? 

Any place we can fill. Which right now happens to be the smaller venues, like Junction Underground on May 13th, at 9:00 pm!!

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WATCH SO DIRTY THE FLAMINGOS PERFORM "MILES AWAY"

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