Paul: The obligatory ‘For those who haven’t yet experienced Boys Night Out, please sum up your band in one sentence’ question to kick things off please!
Jeff: A group of broken men who play music that makes them happy who are by nature really lazy dudes who do as little as possible in life to get by and love drinking beer whisky whatever and smoking grass and are tired of touring who get off on confusing and letting down their fans.
Paul: There seems to be a revolving door policy when it comes to the band with as many former band members as people in the current line-up. Is the current line-up the most settled the band has ever been or will we see changes once this album cycle is completed?
Jeff: we feel pretty good right now. its not like we have a schedule that we determine and adhere to where once per album cycle we clean house and hoof (or alienate to the point that they quit) out a few members. if no one gets weird and quits, and if no one fucks up badly enough to warrant an out-kicking, then this current line up should be around for at least 4 and a half to 5 more months. tops. then we get back to the schedule. and kick out three members, and invite back into the band three old members.
Paul: Why did Kara leave the band? Was there any animosity towards her for leaving? Did it force you to change the way the band was going to sound with this album, or was the decision made to switch sounds before that?
Jeff: She left because she was a nice girl and we are mean boys. no. she got engaged. and had never toured extensively before, and i think it was starting to break her. and we’re mean boys. we knew before we started writing this record that it was going to be a guitar riffy upbeat rock album, with minimal additional instrumentation. oh, and there was no animosity towards her for leaving. none. we shed tears, and beat our breasts in the rain, and tore out our hair and cursed the gods. but we got over it.
Paul: Which brings me nicely onto the change in sound on the new album – it’s very melodic and far more accessible than previous records. What influenced you this time round?
Jeff: Money. we have none and want some. so very badly. we’ve been trying our whole career to sell out and start making money so we can buy houses and cars and drugs and get super models and celebrities to date us. or at the very least get to the level of like a D or C list celebrity that could make it into the tabloids for having had a one night stand with a drunken mess of a terrible person like paris hilton or lindsay lohan. and cocaine. oh god do we ever need more money for cocaine. do you know how expensive that stuff is? wow, its not cheap. and driving around our tour van while we’re home, and living with my mom is not cool. well, its pretty cool, its free and totally awesome. but if i had a beautiful mansion with a fountain out front, a big circular driveway a couple pools hottubs kitchens etc. it would be so much way cooler. so thats what influenced the new album. p.s. i still live at home, and have not gotten a phone call from any floozy celebrities yet. so we’re doing something wrong.
Paul: There’s very little screaming or shouting on the album, whereas your previous records have more than dabbled in the art. Again, any reason why you’ve gone for a more melodic vocal style?
Jeff: Do you know how bad screaming hurts? it sucks. when i was a teenager, and angry as all hell at everything and everyone, i didnt give a damn that my throat bled when i played shows. i give a damn now, it hurts, and i feel like an idiot when i do it. i’m not angry, i’m just bitter and worn out. so now instead, we’re just going to groan, and talk quietly. no more singing or anything.
Paul: Which is your favourite song from the new record and why?
Jeff: i like the last song, ‘it wont be long’ alot. i like the story told there, and i love the music.
Paul: Could you ever have followed up ‘Trainwreck’ with a similar concept record? Was there any point during the touring of that album where you thought ‘I can’t do this type of record again?’ Do you think the record got the plaudits it should have received?
Jeff: Sure we ‘could have’, i think that would have been silly though. we got that out of our system, and decided to get back to ourselves with the recent album. we may do another one in the future. concept album i mean. and i have no idea what plaudits means, i’ve never heard that word before.
Paul: On a similar note, what influenced you to write ‘Trainwreck’ and the story behind it?
Jeff: I wrote it as a short story initially. why? i have no idea, i just thought of the idea of a husband murdering his wife as they slept, and then waking up to deal with the aftermath, and what kind of person he would become as he attempted to cope with the murder.
Paul: Some reviewers have claimed BNO are sexist and like to write songs by murder – the new record obviously counters that claim, but was this a deliberate ploy or do you ignore the critics?
Jeff: Well i’ll start backwards. yes, we ignore the critics. always and forever. the lyrics that we write are always changing, along with the music. our early material was violent and pissed, and deemed misogynist by some. but it was just us releasing our demons, having fun yelling about bloody stuff and musically airing our obsessions with serial killers. trainwreck was more deliberate, yet still dark and fairly violent. the new stuff is very personal, and our first real opportunity to sing about us, or for connor to realistically sing about him, as he is now, not as the pissed off straight edge younger dude he once was.
Paul: Why did you release Fifty Million People Can’t Be Wrong’ in a digital-only format?
Jeff: So that people would know we werent dead, and we were still sort of making music occasionaly. our album couldnt come out for a while, so we wanted to tide people over till it did. digitally was the fastest way to release the ep.
Paul: Whilst on the subject of iTunes and MP3s, when you sit down with the label do you look at how many CD sales you need for a record to be deemed a success? Has that changed now that legal download sales can often outstrip physical Cds? Does it concern you that music may not be availbale in a physical format in years to come?
Jeff: We dont sit down with the label and look at anything other than beer bottles and food and each others beautiful faces. it bums me out that people dont buy vinyl or cd’s as much or at all anymore. just because its what i know, and i’ll miss it. just the way same that old people cant figure out the internet, or dvd players, because its not what they know. i know cd’s and records. i dont know mp3’s, they confuse and frighten me.
Paul: ‘Dude, you need to stop dancing’ was…well, a bit weird. Is it representative of the band or your own version of Spinal Tap?
Jeff: Both. it is an exact representation of who we are, our senses of humour, how out of touch we are, and is a christopher guest rip off.
Paul: When can we next expect you to grace the UK shores? How do you find UK audiences compared to US/Canadian ones?
Jeff: I think we’ll be there early in the new year. no dates yet. the UK shows are drunker. on our part and yours. which i’m not complaining about. but fuck, you people drink alot.
Paul: How is the Canadian music scene at the minute? Are there any bands from either Ontario or Canada as a whole that you’d recommend our readers check out?
Jeff: I dont really know how the canadian music scene is. i still hear alot of nickelback on the radio. so i guess it sucks. wintersleep is a really good band. they warrant a checking out.