Dinosaur Bones Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 1:40PM by Kevin Chen
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With a twist of fate mixed with destiny, Dinosaur Bones was a band that was waiting to happen. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, their sound getting pigeonholed, they bring to the studio and stage an appeal that is enjoyable regardless of musical tastes. Spinner spoke with [singer-guitarist] Ben Fox about their music and upcoming trip to SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

We get a bunch of different stuff, but it's tricky when you're trying to describe your band. The good thing is we don't get consistent comparisons with other sounds, which we're very happy about. People have described us as melancholy and brooding, but our shows are high energy.

How did your band form?

I was living in Montreal for a couple years writing a bunch of songs and knew all the guys in Dinosaur Bones from previous projects. I knew they were back in Toronto so I packed up and moved back. We started working on those songs and it just grew from there. We all know each other from high school so it's great to be working with them still. We just celebrated our second anniversary as a band with a pretty raucous party in Toronto.

What are some of your musical influences?

We all listen to completely different music, which I think is good because it gives us fresh ears when we bring ideas in. We're not all looking at it from the same angle. Personally some acts I really like would be bands like the Walkmen, Broken Social Scene, the Constantines, Spoon, the French Kicks -- but I think the fact that we all come at music from different directions helps us keep fresh and not sound too derivative of anything else going on.

The Beatles or the Stones?

Beatles all the way. I don't think you can hear them at all in our music, but artists of that caliber lead the way regardless.

How did you come up with your band name?

We just liked the way it made us think and the nostalgia and childhood wonder attached to it.

What's in your festival survival kit?

One thing that we can't ever leave the house without is a Chinlone, which is a wicker ball that you play keep-ups with. If we didn't have one of those in the van at all times we'd probably lose our minds. Also, books are crucial on the road with the amount of time you spend driving, especially in Canada where you're driving six or seven hours to get to the next town with more than 10,000 people in it.

What's the craziest or most memorable experience you've had on tour?

Memorable for us is definitely last year's X Fest. It was our first time playing outdoors at all. Big crowd, big stage with pouring rain which made it interesting. Also our two-year anniversary was a pretty wild show. I think it was probably the first show we've played where there were people literally hanging from the rafters.

What was the most influential piece of advice you've received?

A friend of ours in Hollerado once told me their golden rule is to not worry about things too much, and just do. That's the only way you'll get to experience the things you want to. It's hard sometimes not to over think things when you're trying to get a band going, but sometimes you got to just shut all that out and just do what you need to do to get stuff done.

Who was your first celeb crush?

[Ann Chlumsky] from 'My Girl' with Macaulay Culkin.

What's one of your musical guilty pleasures?

Lil Wayne, for sure. It's equal parts amazement and amusement.

Kevin Chen is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.