INTERVIEW: Deux Trois — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Deux Trois

___________

THE delightful and delicious Deux Trois…

have been kind enough to talk about their formation and where they head from here. The trio tells me what the story of Late Night Girls is. The song’s themes and ideas intrigued me – the Canadian band let me into their world and reveal whether there is more material coming down the line.

I was interested to find out what the scene is like in Ontario (Canada); where they take their musical influence from; whether they have ever played in the U.K. – the guys tell me how they chill away from music.

___________

Hi, Deux Trois. How are you? How has your week been?

It’s been good! It’s been a weird week - exciting week. We dropped our single, Late Night Girls, on Thursday. It was put up for sale on Friday!

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

BW: I’m Ben Webb. I play guitar and sing backup vocals.

NP: I’m Nadia. I sing and play percussion.

BN: Hi. I’m Benjamin. I play the bass.

Late Night Girls seems like it has a unique inspiration! Tell me how that song came to be?

NP: I wrote the original version for my solo act about three years ago. It took a long time for it to get to this point, with a full band. It was inspired by porn. Did you guys know that when we first started playing it?

BW: Nope.

BN: I didn’t know. To me, it just meant party girls.

BW: I didn’t think porn, specifically. You guys brought it to me; it was on the table when I joined the band and the song became a Neil Diamond/The Monkees melody, you could say.

NP: It was a straight, dark Electronic song before that.

The song looks at culture and self-care, among other things. Do you think we, as people, have become less alive and connected?! Do you think we are more alone and less happy given the rise of technology?!

BW: I would say there’s a rise in contentment, rather than happiness. It’s hard to differentiate between the two. The rise in technology has made living day-to-day pretty easy. The news is no longer an after-thought: it’s in your face the second it happens.

NP: That might make it more difficult for people to have a good mindset in their everyday, though. Contentment implies a kind of disillusionment with happiness, I think.

BW: I would agree with that.

NP: I don’t know that we’re less alive, less connected. I would say we’re under an umbrella most of the time where we’re aware of so many moments happening all at once - but it’s hard to be attuned to those moments because of the lives that we live on our devices.

BW: Almost like a hyperconnectivity...there’s really no choice.

NP: You have to be in it to be a part of everything.

Hard to say if it’s loneliness that’s the key here. It feels lonely because the experiences we have face-to-face with a browser take up so much of our time. It’s isolating. But; there might be people who thrive in that. Tough question.

BN: I struggle with the obligations of the Internet every single day of my life.

The video looks pretty steamy, too! What was it like shooting it?!

BW: It was a lot of fun shooting! We had great background actors: Dima (Dmitry Uchitel) has a real way with the camera. I didn’t think it would turn out as well as it did.

NP: You have to trust me! The next one will be even better. Late Night Girls was shot in one night. It was my first time in a while shooting a video. I hadn’t (shot a video) since last March and was really excited to do something interesting. I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish. Special thanks to David Simon and Steph Natividad...also, Jolene for bringing her projector.

BW: It was a party; I think everyone had fun.

BN: Thanks to Nadia a lot of my '80s-inspired music video dreams come true.

Will there be more songs from you guys soon?

NP: Yes! We’re releasing our next single, Dave, on May 11th.

BW: …Not to mention we’re still in the process of writing more songs.

NP: True. Also, our E.P. comes out in June, Health. A lot of music is on the horizon!

How did Deux Trois come to be? When did you form the trio?

NP: We formed the trio in November. It was serendipitous, actually. I hadn’t seen Ben in about seven or eight years and happened to see him outside his work while I was having a pint with my friend there. She and I were planning a tour and I was looking for a specific kind of guitarist.

BW: Evidently, I fit the bill (laughs). It’s been a really special experience, for sure.

NP: Before we were a trio; Benjamin and I were a drum and bass act but our collaboration started because his band, Slow High, wanted to back my solo act for one show. After that, Benjamin and I decided to continue…and here we are.

It is hard to compare you to other acts. Which artists do you all take guidance from?

BN: I take guidance from Factory Records.

BW: Always been sort of a Punk and Hardcore-kind-of-a-guy.

BN: Make it Factory Records and Iggy Pop. Gotta keep up with Ben.

NP: If I had to choose six, I would go with Rihanna, Peter Gabriel; Paul Simon, Kanye (West) and Nicky Minaj. There are more, but I will stop…Drake….

You guys are based out of Ontario. Is it a pretty cool part of the world to make music in?!

BN & BW: Yes!

BN: It’s a great location, in terms of touring music and playing shows: it’s dead-centre of all the major music markets in Eastern North America. Even Chicago is only eighteen hours away.

NP: It’s cool, but I can’t deny that it makes you long for something more. The weather, the transportation; everyone acknowledges that there’s this undercurrent of despair.

It’s kind of like a water that most people are drinking...

BW: I’d say that’s concrete.

NP: Actually it’s water (they laugh).

What do you hope to achieve in 2018?

BW: More shows, more touring; meeting more people - maybe releasing another, shorter E.P.

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

BN: No. Yeah. Playing with my other band, PS I Love You, and being afforded the ability to travel; being given opportunities that I might not otherwise have had being from a small town.

BW: I don’t really remember a time in my life when I wasn’t playing music. I think one of my favourite things has been meeting new people and getting to know them on a different level. Let’s say that moment outside of Jiffy Grill. Moment - it was more like an hour, where we had an impromptu dance party with our tour mates, The Vile Bodies, just waiting. Waiting for, not sure for what. Just waiting…

NP: …I think you were waiting for me to finish breakfast...

BW: Is that what it was?

NP: Yeah – actually; I’d say the footage I got of Dylan dancing to Serge Gainsbourg on top of their car was a standout moment during that tour. He is a gem. Right now, the important moment that sticks out to me is when I allowed myself to fully experiment in a studio session by hitting things that weren’t instruments, in front of strangers.

If I hadn’t done that in a professional setting, I wouldn’t have sat down in front of the kit in July, and decided to be a drummer for our band.

If you could each select the one album that means the most to you; which would they be and why?

BN: Iggy Pop - The Idiot

It means the most to me because it was a piece of art that was the result of David Bowie and Iggy Pop wanting to get off their respective addictions and move to Berlin. They made an everlasting piece of art with Tony Visconti.

BW: Forever and Counting by Hot Water Music

It spoke to me at a certain time in my life and I still continually find things about that record that touch me emotionally.

NP: The Paul Simon Songbook by Paul Simon

I picked it up at the library when I was twelve because I liked the cover. I heard it and wrote my first song after experimenting with writing for a while before that. Up till then, it was all references and complete plagiarism.

Are there tour dates coming up? Might we see you in the U.K.?

NP: We don’t have any dates in the U.K., no.

We’re planning a summer tour but only have four dates lined up right now: May 31st at Poisson Noir in Montreal; June 1st at Bar Robo in Ottawa; June 3rd at Bovine Sex Club in Toronto and June 8th at The Toucan in Kingston.

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

BN: Keep your day job.

NP: That’s what I’ve had to do…

BW: …Yeah, me too.

NP: It gives me drive, I think, to keep it. Reminds me of what I could have if I live in my ambition during my off hours. My best advice would be to keep a checklist of everything your band needs whenever you go anywhere to play if you don’t have tour management - we always need one because something is usually amiss. Film everything; try to have a competitive spirit with your socials.

These are all things I wished I regularly abided by.