July 8th, 2009
Fill In The Blanks: Handsome Furs
Handsome Furs is the Montreal synth-punk/dance-pop duo of husband-and-wife Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner, also of Wolf Parade. They’re making waves of late not only for the excellent, paranoia-streaked pop attack of recently released Face Control, but for the zombieriffic video for lead single “I’m Confused.” We just caught up with singer/keyboardist Perry over the phone — where she seemed a little flustered because their tour manager got denied entry into the U.S., and her suitcase still hadn’t made it into the country — to play a little “Fill in the Blanks”:
The last time I was in Philadelphia I: Went to, oh what was the name of that cool bar with all the wood? I can’t remember, it was some really amazing little bar near the North Star. And I also in Philadelphia bought some beautiful new bling, because you guys are not short on that. I got these really, really long gold and sparkly rhinestone earrings. They’re pretty fantastic.
The best thing that ever happened to me in Philadelphia is: Finding the bling was pretty good. We played a really great show there, too.
The strangest thing that ever happened to me in Philadelphia is: That’s tricky, I don’t know that anything really strange ever happened. I’ll pass.
Our live show is not a success unless: Everyone’s dancing.
People who have not seen us live before can expect: Umm, lots of gold jewelry. No, I’m kidding. They might not expect it to be quite as energetic as it is. We’re pretty earnestly having a hard and good time. We play the songs how we play them on the record, but I think a little faster and a little louder and crunchier.
The one thing that must be provided for us backstage is: Vodka.
The strangest thing someone has shouted at me while I was performing was: I like it when girls tell me that they want to have my baby. That’s cool. It happened just a few nights ago and I couldn’t help laughing.
The funniest thing Dan ever said to me while we were playing live was: Oh geez I can’t go there. He says a lot and it’s all secret. Well, okay…how about, “This shit is wearing off,” or “I can see through time.”
The thing I’ll remember most about making the “I’m Confused” video is: The horrible flavor of that black goo. It was like a combination of baking soda and toothpaste and icing, and it was horrific. And it sort of bubbles in your mouth while it was in there. It was pretty gnarly. I think they experimented with all kinds of goo before they settled on that one, but thankfully we didn’t have to try all of them.
The best thing about being in a band with my husband is: There’s so much that’s so good. We get to travel together. I get to go to new and remote and sometimes boring but almost always awesome places with him, that’s fantastic.
The worst thing about being in a band with my husband is: Not getting very much time alone.
My most treasured possession is: Right now, the suitcase that’s not with me at the moment.
The band I don’t really mind being compared to is: There’s always a lot that I don’t mind. Comparisons to things like Suicide or the Jesus and Mary Chain are cool.
The band I really hate being compared to is: I dunno. I probably try to block it out of my head. Mostly what I hate is when people try to compare us to other married duos that we don’t actually have any kinship with. Or other couple bands. That’s not our theme. It’s the way we make music, but there’s no kinship between us and them.
The one goal we had for our career when we started was: To travel. To get to as far places as we can. That’s always been the biggest goal and we’re doing pretty okay. We get to go to China and Vietnam this year, which I can’t believe. We’ve been able to go to Russia and Serbia and all these fucking places that I’ve only ever dreamed about getting to, so that’s incredible and continues to get more incredible.
The one goal we have for our career now is: The same.
I first realized I was musically inclined when: I was a little kid I played a lot of piano. The first moment might have been when I was running around with my sister singing Tina Turner songs. And coming up with our own lyrics.
The first record I bought with my own money was: The truth is that the first tape that I ever bought, when I was really young, was Phantom of the Opera. Not cool, but that’s the truth.
Ten years from now I hope to be: Making better music. Louder.
Handsome Furs plays Johnny Brenda’s tomorrow night at 9 p.m. $12.
