Dinosaur Bones
As I’m sure you all know by now, Hollerado’s Nacho House was one of my favorite events during NXNE 2010, so a huge thank you goes out to Audioblood for that. While I was there, Dinosaur Bones‘ Ben Fox and Joel Clifton were kind enough to take a break from the festivities and sit with me for an interview.
Dinosaur Bones is currently busy conquering the Eastern United States with their June tour. No worries though; they’ll be back in Canada on July 3rd to perform at the Oh Canada/Outback Camping Music Festival. They will also be playing at the free (!) Rock the Coliseum show in Mississauga on July 9th, so make sure to check out their Myspace page for more details.
They also have a full-length album in the works! You can read about that — and more — in the interview with Ben and Joel below.
Tell me something about Dinosaur Bones that I probably don’t already know.
Ben: We play bocce sometimes, which old people like to play. We’re a very outdoorsy band. Sometimes there are Frisbees; sometimes there are other park activities. Joel, do you have anything?
Joel: Something that you might not know? I think you’ve covered it all. That’s everything you might not know about us.
What can you tell me about any recent releases? I know you have an EP out.
Ben: We have a 7” that we released a couple of months ago. It’s a two-song vinyl that we released on Hi-Scores Recording Library, which is like a vinyl only, Toronto/New York record label run by a good friend of ours. And that’s kind of like a preview to a full-length that we’ll be releasing later on this year. So yeah. Those songs are on the record, and it’s just a sampler of what’s to come.
Why should people buy the 7”?
Ben: Because it’s limited edition vinyl! You can keep it on your bookshelf. I think 7”s are fun to have, like singles. There’s only a select amount made.
Joel: It’s sick.
Just to have you sell yourselves a little more, why should people pay to see you perform?
Ben: Well, I guess you’d be a little smarter to come to something like this, and not pay.
Joel: Yeah. Not pay to see us.
Ben: But I don’t know. To hear the songs. And if you like the band, I think the live show will step that up that much more. Live music is awesome. It’s always worth paying for, I think.
What is your take on the current Canadian music scene?
Joel: Our take on it?
Ben: It’s awesome.
I think every band has said “It’s awesome.”
Ben: [laughs] Well, it’s a huge country and there’s so much going on. There’s always so much going on. I think it’s a particularly good time for indie bands these days. Because there’s a lot of bands out there doing good things, and kind of paving the way for the rest of us. Canada’s a very vibrant scene and there’s a lot of people helping each other out. It’s a good place to find music.
All right, last question. If you could have a conversation with any three people, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ben: Any three people?
Dead or alive. Or fictional. Or real. Whatever you want.
Joel: That’s such a hard question.
Ben: That’s hard, yeah. [to Joel] Do you have three?
Joel: Do I have three? Um… No. Go for it.
Ben: I would say Bob Dylan… Aw man, I don’t know. You do one.
Joel: David Suzuki.
Ben: Nice one! And…
Joel: Chuck Norris. That would be an interesting group of people to sit with.
Ben: And have a beer with. Yeah.
Joel: And just listen to them talk.
– INTERVIEW BY SAKINA SHAKIL