Purveyor of: Retro futuristic disco meets post-rock in a spaceship
File next to: Ariel Pink, Naomi Punk, Palm, Women, Killing Joke
Playing: WL18 Night 2, Friday, Feb. 17 @ The Garrison. Get tickets here!
From just listening to their past LPs, you can quickly see that Freak Heat Waves isn’t a band you can encapsulate in a single sound. At times you’ll find their songs hypnotic, and other times you’ll want to get up and dance. Freak Heat Waves takes on 2018 with a shiny new album, Beyond XXXL, on Telephone Explosion. Wavelength’s Rebecca Hong takes a look at how the new year is shaping up for the boys.
How are you guys?
We are absolutely fabulous today!
Your music is quite diverse – at times you’ll feel like you want to dance and at other times you just want to stare into the abyss. What’s the general reaction at your shows? Dancing? Moshing? Crying?
Most people stand still and stare, sometimes people will break into freaky dance moves.
I first encountered your band through Odonis Odonis’ Denholm Whale, who was wearing your shirt at a show. What is your favourite piece of merchandise that you own?
I own a Willie Nelson t-shirt.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BW1RbFpHFr5/?taken-by=odonisodonis
You guys are releasing a new album in April on Toronto’s beloved Telephone Explosion!! How did this partnership come about?
A couple years ago Jon (Schouten) contacted us about putting out our next record and the rest is history.
I’ve read that your last album, Bonnie State of Mind, was approached more like a mixtape; a compilation of songs without a uniform sound. Is it the same case for your new album, Beyond XXXL?
Our approach with this album was to continue to create a range of stylistically diverse songs, but this time we put them all through a similar filter that brought them into the same world. Every song received a BXXXL treatment.
You’re kicking off 2018 with a North American tour with Preoccupations, and to my knowledge you’ve known those guys since a while back. How did you meet and are you guys excited are you for this tour?!
We all grew up in Alberta, we all used to play in different bands, we played a lot of shows together, it was always really fun, we all still play in bands, and we still like to play together, its fun, we’re excited!
What can the good folks at Wavelength expect at your set on February 17?
Expect the unexpected.
— Interview by Rebecca Hong