11 Questions with Mr. Pine

Standing L to R - Richard Caners, Matt McLennan, Ken Phillips, and Matt Hildebrand (who isn't in the band, but is one of the drummers they use)
Sitting L to R - Kevin Scott, Leslie Oldham
Missing - Guitarist Jason Peters

Mr. Pine is one of Winnipeg’s most compelling musical acts. Their recent cd, Rewilding, is an eclectic collection of chamber folk with elements of pop, rock, prog, post-rock, and (most surprisingly) metal woven throughout. Since the release of the dazzling recording, the band has garnered significant buzz across the city, and just this week topped the charts on UMFM.

While comprised of six members, the band’s chief songwriters are the adroit duo of Kevin Scott (piano, harpsichord, organ, guitar, string/woodwind arrangements) and Matt McLennan (lyrics, vocals, guitar). I had the pleasure of posing 11 informative, at times inane questions to Kevin (KS) and Matt (MM), and learned neither are closet New Kids fans, neither have seen The Dark Knight (a puzzling 0 for 4 on that question), and, oh, neither much care for Jon Stewart!

1. Where are you right now?

KS: In my basement, attempting to recline and type at the same time (not working too well).

MM: On a mattress with my heavily tattooed, mostly naked wife. The room is completely destroyed. Hundreds of scattered, unsorted and mostly unlabeled CD-Rs. I keep finding random pieces of fruit and bulbs of garlic amongst them. Surprisingly, I am not a cocaine addict. I am simply in the midst of moving to a new apartment.

2. Where is the best venue in Winnipeg to play a show?

KS: I like the Pyramid, if you can get a good sound man. I imagine the West End was great but I never played there. I always had fun playing The Albert, but is it the "best"? Well…

MM: Gas Station has a nice stage. Actually I have no idea. Things have changed since I've been out east.

3. Who is the best Winnipeg-based band (other than your own, of course)?

KS: Past or present? I liked Grand Theft Canoe a lot. In terms of the present, I better abstain from this one since I know so many good ones, and don't like to play favourites in public…

MM: Best back in the day band: the Blasphenaut. Current: Matterhorn.

4. What is your favourite Radiohead record?

KS: OK Computer. I still wonder at how lots of those songs were constructed. At the time it came out I wondered how they were going to top The Bends.

MM: Kid A

5. Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert?

KS: Stephen Colbert. Jon Stewart's OK but I think he likes himself a little too much.

MM: Wilford Brimley

6. What is your favourite local restaurant?

KS: Massawa. Good old mush and sponge! I'm a great fan of Café Carlo too.

MM: Sukhothai

7. What was the last great concert you saw?

KS: Great isn't a word I throw around lightly, so I'll say The Arcade Fire.

MM: I have a hard time organizing my experiences.

8. Is The Dark Knight Best Picture worthy?

KS: I haven't seen it yet! But if they can give the big prize to elves, dwarves, and hobbitses, then they can surely give it to bat people too.

MM: Haven't seen it. Yes.

9. What are your top three all-time favourite records?

KS:
STEREOLAB – Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements
10,000 MANIACS – The Wishing Chair
PROLAPSE – The Italian Flag

MM: Too hard to decide, but somewhere in the neighborhood of:

Joanna Newsom - Ys
Angels of Light - New Mother
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die!

10. What book(s) are you currently reading?

KS: JD Salinger – the Zooey part of Franny & Zooey, a harpsichord owner's guide, and a bunch of old Asterix comics.

MM: Against Method by Paul Feyerabend.

11. And finally…who's your favourite New Kid on the Block (Donnie, Danny, Joey, Jordan, or Jonathan)?

KS: I couldn't tell any of them apart if you held a gun to my head.

MM: The paraplegic

****

“Streets of York”, the album’s poppiest track, is available for download here. If you like what you hear, check out the band’s MySpace page for more or, better yet, catch them live on January 2nd.

Infinite Playlist: The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots