Boats Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 3rd 2010 9:00AM by Preston Jones
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Canadian quintet Boats float along on a self-described sea of "junky indie-pop," relying on their ease with jangled melody and frontman Mat Klachefsky's curious, pinched vocals that soar through the songs like an errant helium balloon. Klachefsky has been the only constant during Boats' nearly decade-long existence; like so many collectives from the Great White North (Broken Social Scene, the New Pornographers), he has made music with a rotating cast of collaborators. Spinner flagged down Klachefsky for a quick chat before this year's SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Obnoxious pop music played with broken instruments.

How did the band form?

I've been kicking around playing songs as Boat since 2001 or so, but just as a casual thing. In 2007, we put out our first album and changed the name to Boats, but the lineup has changed since then.

What are the band's musical influences?

A lot of early 2000s indie rock I would say -- Modest Mouse, Grandaddy, Transistor Sound & Lighting Co. [and] Neutral Milk Hotel.

How did you come up with your band name?

We used to be known as Boat, which was just a great word that started with a B. I've also worked at several summer camps and, therefore, spent a lot of time in boats. And I am also a licensed fishing vessel operator, for some reason.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, plenty of fluids and a map to all the places that have free food and beer.

Who was your first celeb crush?

Christina Ricci in 'Addams Family Values.' It's OK. I was 11.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I can't really think of any guilty pleasures, but I can think of guilty "unpleasures," [those] being bands that I don't like but I have no idea why, and those would be Pavement and Sonic Youth. They have everything I like about music in them, but for some reason, they have just never clicked for me. Another guilty "unpleasure": I rarely listen to music that was put out before 1997.

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles? My 1997 rule means I don't listen to either of them, but I do have a few Beatles albums.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

We once didn't have a place to stay one night, so some girl from the show offered us her apartment, and of course, [she] turned out to be a crazy person. She gave us her keys and then came home at 3AM, yelling and demanding that she be allowed to watch TV. We think she might have been on ecstasy or something. Anyway, I was afraid that she was going to suddenly ask herself who let all these people into her apartment and start beating us with a frying pan.

Are you working on any new material?

Not at the moment. We're pretty self contained, in that I do all the business/label/management/booking, et cetera, so I'm just trying to make sure this album ['Cannonballs, Cannonballs'] comes out properly. After that has settled, I'll start holing up in the basement again.

What is your favorite thing about attending SXSW?

Free everything, bands everywhere, nice weather -- we come from Winnipeg; it's very cold there -- friends we haven't seen in a while and people who are just enthusiastic about music.

What do you hope people get out of your music, that they come away thinking or feeling?

I hope they run out screaming, but in a good way. Like, "Ahh, that band was awesome! I'm going to jump in a lake!"

Preston Jones is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.