INTERVIEW: Laughed the Boy — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Laughed the Boy

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A most international interviewing day finds me hopping from…

Iceland over to Canada – having started in New Zealand! I have been settling down with Laughed the Boy and chatting about their new single, Halfway. They reveal what comes next and why video game music is important to them – they tell me whether they plan on coming over to Britain in the foreseeable future.

I ask the guys how songs come together and how they hang away from music; what they hope to achieve before the end of the year; the sort of music they all grew up around – the guys each pick a song to end the interview with.

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Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?

We’re good! After months of extended winter, we’ve finally gotten nice weather this week, so we’re trying to get out and enjoy it.

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

We’re called Laughed the Boy, which are three guys from Whitby, Ontario who now live in Toronto. We like to make honest music that captures a variety of moods but is also fun to play and listen to.

How did Laughed the Boy get together? What was the reason behind setting up the band?

It started as a recording project for myself (Chris) and my friend, Taylor. It later ended up as a solo project I worked on while I was unemployed - and had a lot of time on my hands. I eventually went into the studio with my brother (Sean) and recorded our Out of the Blue E.P. A few months later, we were accepted into Canadian Music Week and needed a live line-up, so we added my friend Brennan to the band and began playing shows.

I believe video games play a part in the decision to form Laughed the Boy! Tell me more about that…

Yea, we all love our video game music. Haha. We actually did a video game music cover album a few years ago. When I was writing the music that ended up being on our first album, I was splitting time between writing songs intended for video games on my MIDI keyboard and songs for my solo project. I ended up combining them: the song, Bell Rock, is a good example of that.

Halfway is your new track. What is the story behind the song?

It came together very quickly. We had been demoing a bunch of new songs then, one morning, I came up with the rhythm of the song and played it until it was structured into a song. We went and recorded it a few days later. The lyrics were based on personal notes and thoughts I came up with while at work.

Did it come together quite naturally? How would a song like that get written? Will one of you bring an idea to the rest of the band?

It usually depends on the song. This one was a pretty rhythmic song; Sean already had a good idea of what the drums would be. Sometimes, I’ll have a song entirely figured out before we even jam it, but other times, if it’s a fresh idea, we’ll jam it out until we all feel happy with it. Sometimes, I THINK I have something figured out, then we rehearse and I realize we have to completely change it.

Can we expect any more music later in the year?

Absolutely. We’re looking to record an album this summer and, even if that’s not out this year, we’ll be putting out at least another single or E.P.

What sort of artists did you grow up around and are influenced by?

I grew up in the '90s, so a lot of one-hit wonders and female singer-songwriters. I think that influenced me into having to have good melodies and hooks to keep a song going. Songs from video games and T.V. shows were also a pretty big influence. I’d make up words to them even if they didn’t have any.

Are Laughed the Boy hitting the road? Where can we see you play?

We probably won’t do a big tour until after the album, so we can focus on that. In the meantime, we’ll be playing a lot around Southern Ontario.

PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Panacci

Might you head to the U.K. at some point?

We’d love to! I’ve been there three times and we always enjoy it. I’ve played some open mic nights in Glasgow and London.

What do you hope to achieve in 2018?

Release our album and, hopefully, show some more range in terms of our sound and what we can do as a band. The new album will have more instruments on it and will take more time than Here Is Fine - which was recorded in one weekend.

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

For Sean and I, probably our last show with our other band, Busker Bros. where we played the last big show at a Toronto venue called The Central before it was demolished. We went on at 1:45 A.M. on a Sunday night and it was still a rowdy capacity crowd; pretty wild show. Brennan says our album release show for Here Is Fine or, on a more general note, the first time he listened to Hemispheres by Rush.

If you could support any musician alive today, and choose your own rider, what would that entail?

Tera Melos seem like they’d be fun guys to tour with. My rider would be a charcuterie board with at least five types of cheese and some Gatorade for after the show.

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

Spend a lot of time around, not just your own shows, but other band’s shows. It’s great to make new friends with other musicians in the same music scene!