With their gritty unique sound that blends caustic rock and scuzzy grunge, Dearly Beloved have been rocking the Canadian scene for some time. PG caught up with Rob Higgins (bass, vocals, guitar, piano) to find out more about their wild music.
PG: HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?
DB: I needed an outlet. My father had just passed away and I was lucky enough to have some talented friends that were generous enough to spend some time with me making music as a way to cope. A place to put it all. The name felt right, all things considered.
PG: HOW DID YOU YOU COME TO DEVELOP YOUR DISTINCTIVE SOUND?
PG: I don't know. We've always just done whatever feels good at the time with little regard for anything other than serving the song. We want to get better at all of it every day. In the beginning, one of the few conscious choices made was to have both male and female voices in the mix. And to let the bass guitar play a significant role.
PG: WHO WERE YOUR INFLUENCES GROWING UP?
DB: Adam Yauch aka MCA. John Entwhistle. Jimi Hendrix. NoMeansNo.
PG: WHAT WAS THE MUSIC SCENE LIKE IN CANADA WHEN YOU STARTED AND HOW HAS IT CHANGED?
DB: When we started the internet was just taking over. It has changed everything. We're still just making records we went to hear. Not much has changed on that front.
PG: YOUR ALBUM WAS RECORDED IN 14 DAYS. TELL US ABOUT THE RECORDING PROCESS.
DB: We wrote 27 songs or so that we got down to 15 to play for Daniel Rey, who we hired to produce the album. He only wanted to hear the songs live in a rehearsal room, and only the ones that felt good in that context made the record. We took the 12 best songs into 606 with us and 10 of them became Admission. We still might release a few more at some point. We went into the tracking session with a good idea of what we were going to record.
PG: HOW DO YOU APPROACH YOUR SONGWRITING?
DB: I write songs and develop them with Niva and / or Aaron. Niva has a great knack for taking a vocal idea and making it better and our drummer Aaron is excellent at taking a riff of mine and creating something unexpected to go with it. It's a pleasure to collaborate with them.
PG: DO YOU LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH YOUR MUSIC MAKING STYLES?
PG: Absolutely. Taking risks and putting ourselves in challenging situations are part of what makes this thing tick. I'm not a big believer in being too comfortable.
PG: HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR LIVE SHOWS FRESH AND EXCITING?
DB: An evolving live lineup helps. Trying brand new material live has helped recently. Looking at it as something that we want to get better at every time out helps. As does playing every show like it may be our last.
PG: WHAT DO YOU YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT TOURING OR WRITING?
DB: When I'm not touring I like to write. And when I'm not writing I like to tour. I'm pretty miserable if I'm not doing one of the two.
PG: WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN'T IN A BAND?
DB: Starting a band.
PG: WHAT'S NEXT?
DB: Krach Am Bach Festival in Beelen, Germany August 5th. Can't wait for that one. We're playing shows in Japan in September as well. No idea what to expect there but I'm excited, nonetheless. By all accounts it's an amazing place to visit and play shows.