This is the first installment of a regular feature that will profile independent Canadian bands, and attempt to address their attitudes toward playing music in Canada. The Igloo will appear bimonthly in the A&E section.
They came, they saw, they failed. And they did it on purpose.
“In a kind of clumsy, ham-fisted sort of way, I guess I’ll have to it we were trying to do something dark,” says Samir Khan, bassist for Ottawa band Kepler, of the band’s debut CD, Fuck Fight Fail.
Fail is a decidedly morose musical affair, featuring eight haunting compositions—song titles include ‘I Will Not Return Your Records’ and ‘The Way You Fall Apart’— that crawl along at the pace of a dejected turtle.
“That’s something that has definitely changed in us now,” Khan said, addressing the band’s depressive tendencies. “I hope that means we’re better.”
Kepler, a group of four friends—Khan, Mike Sheridan, Jon Georgekishwatt, and Jeremy Gara—who met at punk and hardcore shows, have been making noise on the Canadian indie charts since Fail was released last November. The disc is the culmination of three years of work, time the band spent writing new songs and constantly refining older out-takes.
“I don’t think [a new record] will take that long,” said Khan. “We’ve already started on it. It will have new songs with more notes.” Kepler’s foray into recording began with the release of a vinyl-only 7”. The band is currently d with Troubleman Unlimited, a label that deals heavily in vinyl product.
“Vinyl is a sexy little substance, I think,” Khan said of Kepler’s relationship to the vinyl format. “CDs are convenient and easy to handle, but vinyl feels more satisfying, somehow. It would be great if we could do more vinyl only releases, but we’re not rolling in money. Right now.” They may not be rich, but Kepler has gained a solid following in Kingston and their hometown of Ottawa. Asked whether hailing from Ottawa has had any influence on Kepler’s creative output, Khan belies some of his punk rock roots.
“I’m aware of our landscape and the institutions of the state,” he said, “but I’m reluctant to put a Canadian flag tattoo on my chest for reasons both philosophical and cosmetic.
“I think if I were to say anything specific,” he said, adding “I’d either be re-hashing commonly-held opinions or talking wet, wet shit.”
In addition to working on their next album, Kepler have been re-establishing their live presence.
“We have little weekend shows over the next little while,” Khan says of the band’s live schedule, “and we’d love to play Kingston again.”
When they do, expect them to bring the house down. Way down.
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