Vancouver’s beloved and somewhat elusive Ladyhawk have been putting out records of beer-soaked, scrappy existential rock since 2004. The dawn of 2014 marked their 10-year anniversary and ascension to cult leader status; the kind of fellowship you’d hope to be there for when you finally “grow up” and the end is nigh.
While the days of hardcore touring has lightened and other musical endeavours have dominated, Darcy Hancock (Hard Feelings, High Ends), Sean Hawryluk (Baptists), Ryan Peters (Sports, Nicholas Krgovich) and Duffy Driediger (Duffy and the Doubters), will grace us with their influential (omni)presence this Thursday at The Biltmore for a long-overdue homecoming show.
Westender caught up with lead vocalist Driediger at a Naramata Winery in the Okanagan, his home since 2012, to chat long-distance band relationships, tarot cards, and the future of this legendary band.
Where are you right now?
At this moment I'm in the cellar of a winery in Naramata, camped out beside a giant filtration machine for the next 10 hours. It sounds like a thousand grindcore bands blasting away at full volume simultaneously.
How have things changed for Ladyhawk since you relocated to the Okanagan, and has it affected the creative process?
I'm obviously not around so we don't get together very often, just to practice for shows or whatever. It hasn't really affected things either way. We've never been a very fast moving or prolific band, that's mostly on me.
How on Earth does one manage to keep the same line-up for 11 years? That's an entire century in band-years.
All I can really say is that if anyone had left at any point the band would have ended. We just kept going.
Would you rather: Studio or the road?
I'm definitely more of a studio guy. I really enjoy the recording process and that environment. I like creating a document of the songs, working on them and changing them, adding elements or whatever. I like performing as well, but touring is more of a grind for me. It can bring out unhealthy aspects of my personality and I'm not super into that.
"I'm growing softer all the time, getting high out of my mind". I love this lyric. What is "You Read My Mind" about?
It's about a neighbour I used to have. I used to just hate him. I didn't really have a good reason to feel that way, he was just a mirror, I was projecting my own unhappiness on him. It's about drug abuse, mental illness, all that fun stuff...
I read in an interview with Exclaim earlier this year that you have written a few new songs influenced by '90s janglers The La's. Will there be a new Ladyhawk album, and if so, when, and what can we expect from it?
I've been working on stuff. It's hard to say at this point when anything would happen with it. To me the songs feel different than what I've written in the past, but who knows. A bit more subdued, maybe? Less Crazy Horse, more crazy person.
I know firsthand that some of you are synth pop fans: Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, etc... is that just Darcy? Would this ever trickle into your music?
I've always loved that kind of music. I love dance music. I think it has worked its way into our songs in some ways, mostly in the kinds of melodies and guitar lines that Darcy writes. I would love to make synth-based music, but I can't really see that happening in the context of Ladyhawk. Then again, maybe we'll pump out a string of euro-disco hits in 2015, the sky's the limit!
Finally, a voodoo priestess is reading Ladyhawk's tarot cards. What does she say about your future?
She says a bunch of stuff about the hermit, the hanged man, the devil, some cups, some pentacles... Then she asks for $150.
Ladyhawk play The Biltmore Cabaret's 7th Bday Party on Thursday Dec. 18 with special guests NEEDLES//PINS. Tickets $16 in advance.
