I’ve written about Toronto’s The Coast a number of times in the past so after seeing them perform a CD re-release show at the UKULA store a couple weeks ago, I opted to go a different route for the accompanying post. Namely, instead of a review (they were as good as they always are and I don’t have that many different ways of saying so), I contacted guitarist Ian Fosbery for a casual IM interview about some of the recent developments in Coast-land, namely their signing a deal with Aporia Records and the rerelease of their self-titled debut EP.

You can read the full, barely-edited text of the conversation after the jump – only a couple of irrelevant cul-de-sacs and emoticons were removed. This blog is now and will remain a smiley-free zone. But besides discussing The Coast, we talk about men’s fragrances, Jack White and favoured albums and live shows of the year.

Photos: The Coast @ UKULA Store – November 9, 2006
MP3: The Coast – “Circles”
MP3: The Coast – “The Lines Are Cut”
eCard: The Coast
MySpace: The Coast


.:chromewaves:
so you got some time right now?
.:chromewaves:
I have a short list of lame questions
Ian / The Coast:
hit it
.:chromewaves:
there is a reason I don’t do interviews
.:chromewaves:
anyway
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we will play this by ear
Ian / The Coast:
haha
Ian / The Coast:
k
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So give me a brief history of The Coast
Ian / The Coast:
I’ll also be dictating Ben [Spurr, Coast singer] from the background throughout this.
Ian / The Coast:
here goes.
Ian / The Coast:
We all met in high school, Ben is Luke’s best friend who’s Jord’s brother who’s my best friend. They had two other guitarists before me, one was a child prodigy but very tempermental, and the other just had an unfortunate odour about him….I was hired for lack of anything better.
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lack of odour is a powerful advantage
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I’ve been in band rehearsal spaces after 3 hours
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talent pales next to lack of stink
Ian / The Coast:
it’s true……or in my case the ability to mask such an odour.
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fragrances. excellent.
Ian / The Coast:
I’m partial to polo sport myself
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very dashing
Ian / The Coast:
in combination with old spice high red zone
Ian / The Coast:
*old spice red zone
Ian / The Coast:
sorry….tried to say high endurance and red zone at the same time
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there’s some reference to sailors and red light districts in there
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I know that’s what they were thinking
Ian / The Coast:
HAHA
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but you used to be called The July 26 Movement
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I could google the significance of that name
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but I am lazy
.:chromewaves:
explain
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and then explain the name change
Ian / The Coast:
well it was between that and Benny & The Big Naturals…..but that wouldn’t fly with mrs. Spurr…..so we went with The July 26th Movement. We like to tell people it was the day that Luke lost his pet turtle, but it was in reference to a political movement of the late 50s…..lesson: never choose a band name that is politically charged when under the age of 19.
Ian / The Coast:
So, because the name had so MANY unfortunate drawbacks, another being it’s too long for anyone to remember, we changed it to the Coast.
Ian / The Coast:
It’s the name of a Paul Simon song that we all love, and we were too lazy to come up with anything else….we fought for months over it, but eventually just setteled on the Coast. And now, we probably wouldn’t have it any other way.
.:chromewaves:
Paul Simon
Ian / The Coast:
yes
.:chromewaves:
an obvious influence in your music
Ian / The Coast:
very much so….
Ian / The Coast:
mostly in terms of song writing for Ben and Luke….I did used to try to play alot of gracelandesque guitar (still do, from time to time), but I realised I’m not good enough to pull that off
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speaking of influence – you guys seem to have no problem fessing up to the more obvious reference points, ie – New Order, The Verve
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what would some of the less obvious but significant influences be? Besides Paul Simon.
Ian / The Coast:
well, it differs from member to member.
Ian / The Coast:
I personally listen to a lot of the cancon, i.e., BSS, Wolf Parade, Arcade Fire, etc. Right now I’m listening to a lot of Grizzly Bear. I know ben listens to a lot of Ryan Adams (well, we all do I suppose) we have been writing a lot of songs with a country slant to them as of late…..
.:chromewaves:
very interesting
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, Ryan Adams quite a bit I guess….Ben seems to be writing a country tune a week at this point.
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so the band doesn’t have any preconcieved notions about how you’re supposed to sound – you’ll just go where the muse takes you?
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, I guess…it’s hard sometimes cause you don’t wanna drastically change your sound at any point, but it’s fun to try different things. I think no matter what kind of song we try to write, it always ends up sounding like us….I’m sure it’s the same for any band, otherwise the song just won’t get played.
Ian / The Coast:
we all have our ways of playing our insturments, so I’m not gonna start shredding jimmy page/jack white solos anytime soon.
Ian / The Coast:
….one day though
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the ladies don’t just love Jack White for his fashion sense. He also has magic fingers.
Ian / The Coast:
hahaha
Ian / The Coast:
it’s true….
Ian / The Coast:
I did feel like he was masturbating a bit at the v fest though.
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So you guys recently picked up a label and manager, yes?
Ian / The Coast:
we did, we did….
Ian / The Coast:
we’re very happy with both.
Ian / The Coast:
we got Ben as our manager, cause we just couldn’t handle doing it anymore…..that and we were really bad at it.
Ben has done so much for us in the past months, everything from getting us this deal to getting us good shows….we would still be where we were last year without him.
Ian / The Coast:
As far as Aporia, they’ve done a great job since our release as well. The publicist they hired for us is one of the best in Canada and on top of that is a super-nice guy. So it’s all going pretty well. This is what we wanted, to surround ourselves with people who believed in the band and were willing to help.
.:chromewaves:
so with the EP being re-released, does the plan have you covering the territory you did so previously, but more thoroughly? Or are you looking towards all-new audiences, ie – the US?
.:chromewaves:
meaning are they sending you back out to the Maritimes?
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, it’s in the works. We’re going out east, and hopefully out west too, but it looks like it’s being pushed until the new year at this point. We’re in the middle of negotiating with various booking agencies right now, so we just want to make sure that we get the best person for the job….clearly because live shows are probably where we’re gonna make or break ourselves.
Ian / The Coast:
We are playing the occasional showcase in the US right now too to try to see what we’re going to do down there. We gotta ride the hype wave as much as possible! so, hopefully we’ll have something going by next year. First thing’s first though, Ben and I have to get Passports.
Ian / The Coast:
one step at a time, you know.
.:chromewaves:
you have until january 23, as I understand it
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then you can’t fly
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homeland security will detain you
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, that’s what they say…..
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and break out the rubber hoses
Ian / The Coast:
actually I don’t even think that you can cross the border at all…..but either way I’m looking forward to my first strip search.
Ian / The Coast:
everyone has to have at least one, no?
.:chromewaves:
I’ve always thought so
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so are you going to work the EP to death?
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Or is there going to be some plan for new material wedged into this full court press?
.:chromewaves:
you’ve got new songs. I’ve heard them.
Ian / The Coast:
haha….yeah, we’d like that. We’re talking about being able to do something along those lines. The band want to record a full-length as soon as possible, cause it’s not that we’re getting sick of playing those songs – we love them – it’s just that we have a lot of other material that we’d like to be focusing on. But, there’s only so many songs you can fit into a 40min set. And we always have…
Ian / The Coast:
….to be pushing the Disc that was just released, so….
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, again, I apologize for that trumpet….god I fucked that up
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2007 looks to be a busy year – where do you want to be in 13 months?
Ian / The Coast:
Hopefully with a US deal and touring our first full-length release. We’ve got a long way to go for that, but we believe that the people we’re working with right now can get us there…..but fuck I’m impatient…..all this hard work is wearin’ me down!
Ian / The Coast:
we’ve always said, we’re not the type of band that wants to blow up and then fizzle and die after our first or second album. We want to make a career out of this, and Ben (manager) is totally on the same page when it comes to that, so we’re in a good spot right now.
.:chromewaves:
I’ve always believed that things that don’t come easy aren’t worth having
Ian / The Coast:
that’s very true dude….but goddam waiting really sucks sometimes!
Ian / The Coast:
I’m just kidding, I’d rather be able to look back and say that we earned everything and it wasn’t handed to us
.:chromewaves:
okay, back to 2006 to wrap up – your best album of the year and best band in Toronto right now. Who isn’t you.
Ian / The Coast:
what you mean I can’t say the Coast!?
album of the year in toronto, or just album of the year anywhere?
.:chromewaves:
album anywhere
.:chromewaves:
band toronto
Ian / The Coast:
k….best band in toronto….
Ian / The Coast:
born ruffians I would say
Ian / The Coast:
luke’s probably the best songwriter I’ve seen in the last 5 years (that’s based on everything I’ve heard from him, not just their EP)
Ian / The Coast:
album of the year…hmmm…..not he poos clouds….sorry polaris, I just don’t agree It’s great, but not number one
Ian / The Coast:
I’m gonna say Yellow House by Grizzly Bear
.:chromewaves:
interesting – I’m still decoding that one when I remember to listen to it
.:chromewaves:
I did enjoy them live opening for TV On The Radio, though
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their drummer is insane
Ian / The Coast:
wow…that was tough.
honorable mention Bands:
Friday Morning’s Regret
The Adorables
Rural Alberta Advantage
Ian / The Coast:
fuck, I missed that show, and I’m really pissed I couldn’t get tix
Ian / The Coast:
I hear it was amazing
.:chromewaves:
sound was shit but they managed to come across despite that
Ian / The Coast:
OH FUCK….also, close second, beruit with golag orkestra, or whatever it’s called
Ian / The Coast:
I hear that they put on one of the best shows of the year too
Ian / The Coast:
And I really like that album
.:chromewaves:
I heard that as well, though I missed both opportunites I had to see them.
Ian / The Coast:
both?! when else did they play?
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well Toronto, and I went to see Joanna Newsom, and then in Montreal, when I went to see Under Byen and Giant Sand
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at Pop Montreal
Ian / The Coast:
oh fuck right, they played with the ruffians and akron/family
.:chromewaves:
right
Ian / The Coast:
fuck that would have been an amazing show….
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so I heard, but I really enjoyed the ones I went to isntead so I don’t feel bad
Ian / The Coast:
have you seen akron/family?
.:chromewaves:
no, I haven’t
Ian / The Coast:
they put on probably the best show I’ve seen all year
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also what I’ve been told
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they seem to come back a lot, maybe one day I’ll check it out
Ian / The Coast:
yeah, they’re great.
Ian / The Coast:
it’s like one minute you’re listening to this racket and are like “what the fuck is this noise?!” and the next it’s one of the sweetest catchiest pop tunes you’ve ever heard….crazy.]
.:chromewaves:
any final words/thoughts/messages?
Ian / The Coast:
not really dude….much love is all. much love.
Ian / The Coast:
god I’m such a hippie
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but an odourless hippie
Ian / The Coast:
hahaha
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if there were more of those, they love generation might have won
Ian / The Coast:
and we’ve come full circle, I love it!
Ian / The Coast:
something to definetly think about….odour, the great divider…..