Can you talk a bit about your new single “Double Space” and how it came together?
From a technical point of view, the track came together when we started running a bass synth through some guitar pedals, which gave us this huge, inspiring sound. The music was done for a while before any lyrics were written, but one afternoon in the middle of feeling stressed out about the pandemic and the world, we were hanging out near the ocean on a really hot day, and it was just beautiful out enough that we felt really energized and hopeful, and wrote the lyrics on the spot.
How did you arrive at the title Double Space? Is it more of an observation or an instruction?
It’s kind of an instruction, which is a bit abstract I guess — It’s kind of like this optimistic “be big, make big moves. Do everything double size.”
Was the song inspired by anything in particular, either musically or lyrically?
Just a small window of feeling strong and hopeful in the middle of generally stressful times. If you can put that feeling into a song, maybe you can carry it around with you for a while.
The press release mentions that parts of the song were recorded in nature. Can you talk about the outdoors, and how it’s helped you out during the pandemic?
People say that nowhere in Nova Scotia is further than 90km away from the ocean, and that seems about right. I don’t think either of us really thinks we’re very back-to-nature type people, but we’ve definitely spent more time outdoors since the pandemic. In particular, we’ve really noticed the sounds of wildlife, particularly songbirds which seem to be much more present after the lockdowns of last spring
What else has helped you stay sane over the last year?
Long walks, good books, recording music, and our dog, Scout.
What have you been listening to lately?
Ron: I’ve been listening to a lot of drone music: Kevin Drumm, Charlemagne Palestine, Sunn O)))’s Pyroclasts LP.
Kristina: although we’re an electronic band, my listening tastes run more indie and punk rock. I also tend to get really into songs, rather than albums. Right now I’m kind of obsessed with a song called Rollercoaster by an Australian band called Introduction and another called Tomothy by a California band called Diode.
Tell us about your home base of Nova Scotia. What are the best eats, what are your favorite haunts?
We live in a small city that is the biggest place for hundreds of kilometers – so we have many of the benefits of big city life while also having the close-knit community of a small town. The city we live in (Dartmouth) is known as the city of lakes and so it’s easy to just leave your house on foot and pretty quickly be near or even on or in the water. We are also a Harbour City and one of our favorite things is taking the ferry from Dartmouth to Halifax and back, or walking across the MacDonald Bridge when the weather is good. For a city of our size, we have more great restaurants than you might expect. We get amazing pizza from Yeah Yeahs, super-fresh sushi from Doraku, and killer coffee from so many places (Cafe Goodluck and Weird Harbour are two that jump to mind). Our hands-down fave in Halifax is Bar Kismet and we have missed it so much during the pandemic.
What is the Halifax music community like? Is there one sound that unites the region?
Halifax has always had amazing bands, and we feel incredibly lucky to be here for it. As for a sound, the unites us, I’d say it doesn’t really exist, though there is definitely a jangly pop guitar streak that is often represented by someone or another. We’re pretty excited about the new Century Egg which was just announced. We’re hoping to get a chance to see Kestrels and Dog Day – two local bands that released awesome albums in the midst of last years’ mess – play live again when that’s a possibility.
What are you most looking forward to in 2021?
Getting vaccinated!
If “Double Space” could leave fans with one thought or feeling, what would it be?
Harness optimism should you encounter it. Be hopeful, within reason
