Montreal rock and roll duo The Redmond Barry’s popped up on the indie music radar only recently, with the release of their debut EP 1949 Murders (stream here) this July. The band plays a brand of music that they lovingly call “post-muff” – merging complex drum rhythms, garage rock guitar riffs and addictive vocal melodies. They’ve been building up a lot of buzz thanks to their energetic live shows, and are scheduled to play the prestigious Pop Montreal festival later this year.
We speak to Chris Briard and Varun Chopra about their EP, the Montreal indie scene and their puppet friend Randal.
You’ve known each other for a decade now. When did you decide to get together and start a band?
V: After seeing an astrologer who read our palms and checked our collective prostate, the stars aligned and it was time for The Redmond Barry’s to be.
C: I wanted to take things to the next level. Something started when I was allowed to move my drums into V’s basement but the occasional covers didn’t cut it after a while, so I pushed to get things off the road and he eventually saw my reasoning.
I’m curious about your name. Is it a reference to Sir Redmond Barry, the judge responsible for the Kelly outbreak?
V: I’m not sure to be honest. The astrologer gave it to us.
C: We knew this girl called Kelly in high-school. An outbreak of her would not have been pleasant. Multiples of her just running loose… Scary thought. I heard she became kind of a skank though, so I guess it all worked out for her in the end. Let’s just say Stanley is our father and Lord Bullingdon is our bitch.
What is this ‘prom incident’ we keep hearing about?
V: I think it’s something Randal made up to create some kind of weird intrigue. That or he wants people to question whether or not we’re gay.
C: We try to avoid going into details. It was a life altering incident that occasionally comes back to haunt us on sweaty summer nights.
Who are your musical influences? What are the bands you grew up listening to?
V: The Libertines are a big influence. I spent much of a drunken youthful summer playing all their songs in bus shelters, basements and bathroom stalls with a friend of mine who eventually died of an overdose. He’s still around though. I’d say Cursive too. If Pete Dohery and Carl Barat were a two-piece with Pete on drums but with the angst of older Cursive they might sound like The Redmond Barry’s.
C: I think we both had pretty varied types of music while growing up. I was raised on Zeppelin, Stones, etc. but other than having a predelection for rocking music I wouldn’t count the early things I listened to as influences. Jimmy Chamberlain’s drumming had an influence on my style.
So, what exactly is “post-muff”? Are you taking the piss, or are you just fans of neologisms?
V: It’s a little bit of both. I don’t know if we should give too much away. Chris?
C: We had muff, then we shaved. Post-muff is the type of music we play.
What do you think sets you apart from other bands in the scene?
V: There are a lot of two-pieces all over Canada right now and a lot of them are making amazing music. What stands out about us is that we’re both songwriters and we’re both vocalists so you have more dynamic songwriting within a song as we both bring different influences to the table. We also find people are always blown away by Chris’s ability to sing while playing much more than just a back beat on drums.
C: We aren’t choosing style over content or vice versa. We are trying to write lyrics that aren’t dumbed down or devoid of meaning. We’re trying to push the limits of the two piece combo by having not only interesting riffs and drum beats but also interesting vocals from two singers. I feel like we are bringing some raw, big sounds and not just playing off of a shtick.
You’ve built up a decent fan base thanks to your high energy live shows. How has the response to your debut EP 1949 Murders been at home?
V: The response was sweaty. We made people sweat that night of July 22nd, 2011. I think people loved it. Everyone was very excited to get the EP pack. I’m proud of the package we put together. Having said that, we had been sitting on the EP for close to a year and the full-length will be different. Our songwriting has evolved and we want to be more in control of the production this time around.
C: I’m very proud of our package. The response was pretty great, the place was packed, lots of energy and heat. Nobody has returned our calls since, so that’s always a good sign.
So what are your plans for the future?
V: I want to get a tour going around India or get on the Indian festival circuit. We’re playing Pop Montreal this year which is a big deal to us but I feel like we’re going to spend most of the next year finishing up writing work on our full-length before we can get around to booking a serious tour within Canada and The States. We’ll be in Toronto and Ottawa very soon though.
I love the concept of the Redmond Barry Show. Tell us more about Randal.
V: Randal is our friend… I think. He’s not around as much as he used to be and at this point I have my doubts. His role in the band is that he’s a bit of a manager but I think he’s just trying to reap the benefits of being associated with a band.
C: Well, let’s be honest for once. Randal asked us to make a personal ad type video for him to help pick up women. He has less and less time for videos as he’s been picking up more and more women. We offered to take his overflow off his hands but he didn’t accept.
How is the Montreal indie scene? What’s trending there these days?
V: It’s really diverse. There’s some great bands. We recently played this show with this band called The Cast of Fictional Characters which consists of a monkey on bass, a singer from the planet India and John Smith. They’re a bunch of weirdos but they’re really fun. One of our earliest shows was with this alt-folk dude that plays under “Clementine”. We love both those acts so we invited them to play our CD release party with us.
C: A lot of shitty music seems to be trending right now in Montreal but a few are breaking free from the mold like the… I got nothing.
You’ve stated that you want to stay independent and plan to start your own record label. What do you think of the increasing overlap between indie and mainstream music?
V: I was much more of an elitist when it came to those things when I was 16. Now, I think it’s great. Anything that can give indie bands more exposure so they can keep making great music.
C: I think it’s a good sign if there is starting to be a bit more of an overlap between indie and mainstream music. It means more people want more interesting, less pre-fab music. Britney’s hit song ‘Not a man, not yet a woman’ was a real turning point I think.
Top five albums you’ve heard this year.
V: There were quite a few albums I was looking forward to this year. The five that stand out would be Goblin by Tyler, The Creator, Dye It Blonde by Smith Westerns, The People’s Key by Bright Eyes, The King of Limbs (our review) by Radiohead… There’s a whole bunch I was disappointed by and a few that I still need to listen to but there’s four albums I can stand behind.
C: There are exactly five albums this year that really blew me… away. Every Time I Die’s latest album The Big Dirty really blew me. ‘Didn’t I Blow Your Mind’, the single by this new band The Delfonics, Crystal Castles II, but I think that album came out 20 years ago, Is Is EP by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, their latest, and Manual For Successful Rioting by Birdy Nam Nam. Also, Manu by this brand new to the scene French artist Renaud. That makes five.
Varun, you said in a piece I read that you want to get more desis into rock. What do you think about the indie scene back in India?
V: Desis in India definitely seem to show more enthusiasm for both rock and independent music as opposed to most of us in North America. I often find myself being the only South Asian at any given rock show or festival that isn’t working security. I’m proud that India has such an active independent scene and great festivals.
Listen to the band’s debut EP 1949 Murders here.
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