Being in a band is like being in a relationship, and for the Canadian band the Dears that relationship has been a long tumultuos one.  From when the band started in 1995 to present day, the Dears have continually wowed critics and fans alike with their intricate songwriting and compositions.  But there came a time in the band’s history where a new album seemed like a distant dream.  Luckily the dark days have passed and in October of this year the Dears triumpantly came back with Missiles, an ode to the problems of the past and the hopes of the future.  Lead singer and founder of the Dears Murray Lightburn spoke with Pensatos about the music, process, and art behind the Dears.

So of course I have to ask about the new album Missiles.  How was the recording process for this one, because I was watching your web series and I realized it started out very different than your previous albums.

Murray Lightburn: Hm…

“I think Canadian rock is about some pretty brutal stuff in its time. Before that Canada was known for things like Bryan Adams and Celine Dion and stuff like that.”

Did that mood affect the mood of the album in any way and make it a lot different from your other ones or…

ML: Well yeah it’s definitely different but it was still an organic process.  It was just really natural and free-flowing.  And that was a general feel and memory of the whole thing, you know?

As far as the web series goes what inspired you guys to start doing that?  Was it to get a better history of the band or was it to document the process of Missiles?

ML: Um…I think a bit of everything.  It was like a therapeutic thing for me personally to make sense of this whole thing.  It can totally fall flat on its face and I can fully understand that.  I can understand even people getting the wrong perception and but it’s really not meant to be a huge deal.  It’s just a little background information of the band that would be fun to do in a video format.  I mean the Dears have been involved with so many people over the years.  It’s not like there’s just been the same four or five people involved with the band.  It’s like literally tons and tons of people that have been a part of the Dears story from its inception.  I just thought it would be a fun story to tell, how we got from there to here.

Why did you decide to do it as a web series rather than a feature length film?

ML: It was a bit more realistic considering that the production value is so ghetto.  It just seems like a better place to sort of launch this idea.  I mean if we were going to do a feature-length - plus I don’t even think we could even fit the whole story into that amount of time.  But also I think it would require crews… this was just me and my Canon Pureshot on a tripod and my buddy and his Sony-whatever on a tripod.  It’s just two dudes with cheap camera putting together this story and talking to people about the band.

“She’s the reason why we exist. She’s the glue that keeps the Dears together.” Murray Lightburn about his wife Natalia

You said that the Dears have this big history with all these different people.  Does that come through on every album or is your work pretty consistent?

ML: There’s definitely like a common thread throughout all the Dears catalogue but yeah, to make it more interesting depending on who’s involved makes the delivery of it a little different each time.  So now we’re out here playing these concerts with the new band it’s kind of exciting and there’s new blood and it’s cool.  And it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s only happening in the front line, it’s also in the background as well.  We’ve got a new manager in place, a new label and that’s interesting as well.  It’s just part of the process, you know?  We’re trying to figure out why things that we haven’t really planted some deep roots in one place and we’re just kind of like nomads.  Gypsies almost.

Do you think that helps keep your music fresh from album to album?

ML: Well I would hope so.  I don’t know, I think it’s just also the evolution of ideas and philosophies kind of keep things fresh as well.  So it’s a combination of so many things that keep it cool.  It’s a constantly evolving art project that hopefully will just keep evolving along with the planet, as cheesy as that sounds.

(laughs) No it’s ok.  Is it harder to connect with the new blood in the Dears or is it easier because they don’t have a prior history to your band?

ML: The thing is, I really believe in a sort of cosmic kind of happenings.  So I think that the coming together of a group of people is definitely cosmic and it becomes apparently really quickly just how tight it’s meant to be and when it’s not meant to be.  We never try to force a square peg into a round hole, or whatever the expression is.  We just let the chips fall where they may and just let it roll.  Usually it works for a given period of time (laughs).

“That’s what the Dears are, it’s a spirit that is all-consuming and people come in and they allow themselves to get consumed for a while and then, boom, they go. And that’s just how it is.”

When do you feel like it’s time for a change in your band?  For most bands seems to happen when there’s a fight or a disagreement but it seems pretty harmonious for the Dears.

ML: It’s not like I decide anything.  It’s like I said, it’s the same thing coming together, it’s the same falling apart.  These are the cards that you get dealt and shit happens and you got to keep rolling with the punches.  But it’s the same thing to the solution of the line-up or whatever.

I was listening to Missiles before I called you and I feel it’s vastly different than your last album.  What contributed to that change, other than the shift in the band’s line-up?

ML: We have a lot of stuff going down that filtered this record and its delivery.  I think there’s a lot of going on.  There was stuff going on in the band, there was some personal stuff going on, and it just created something.  These situations happened for a reason and stuff comes out of it.  Even though there’s a lot of shitty stuff happening some really positive stuff came out of it.  I think that’s part of life and it’s part of art.  So I think coming into your voice finds primarily those two things, you know.  Art and life (laughs).  It’s all we do, it’s just what we do.  This is our life’s work

In almost every article I’ve read about you guys, somewhere in the summary they say that you guys are a part of the Canadian Indie Renaissance.  As far as the word “renaissance” goes, that’s a huge change in music.  Do you feel like your music has helped bring about a big change in the Canadian music scene in that measure?

ML: I mean…I think I know what you’re referring to but I definitely remember the landscape of Canadian rock before bands like Broken Social Scene, Stars, Metric, The Pets, the Arcade Fire, and all those bands.  It was definitely a completely different landscape, completely.  Absolutely.  I don’t think anyone would even argue with that.  There was definitely a shift that happened around the early 00s (laughs).  I guess people loved us for that, and that’s great.  I’m happy to be a part of…I mean…I don’t know…I’m not actually sure what to say! (laughs)

Oh no, it’s ok!  What do you think lead to that change in that music scene?

ML: I don’t know.  I’m not really sure.  I think maybe for a period of time people weren’t striving to be rock stars and just wanted to make music and wanted to create something new, something different.  They wanted to push the envelope.  I think Canadian rock is about some pretty brutal stuff in its time.  Before that Canada was known for things like Bryan Adams and Celine Dion and stuff like that.  Now it’s known for some other stuff.  So it’s kind of interesting to see that sort shift.  No offense to Celine Dion or Bryan Adams or anything (laughs).  Or Anne Murray or I don’t know.  I guess it is what it is, you know?

Your wife [Natalia Yanchak] is still a big part of the band right?

ML: Oh of course, I mean she’s the reason why we exist.  She’s the glue that keeps the Dears together.

So it’s not centered as much on you as most people think…

ML: I don’t know…fuck, I don’t know.  That’s such a frustration position for me.  I’m trying to get away from that because I know what that shit leads to and it’s kind of just lame shit that I’m not in to.  I see it all the time and I’ve just learned to accept it now, but it’s not what I’m in to at all.  Really, like I said, Natalia is the glue that keeps this whole operation together.  There would not be a band without her, at all, forget it.

Yeah, I believe there are bands that are, as a whole, a band and then there are bands that are more centered around one person.  I think even though your line-up changes a lot, you’re more a band than a person-centered group.

ML: Well I mean it is, it’s just like the line-up changes and that’s how it is.  I mean when those guys that were in the band were in the band, we were a band.  And they decided that they didn’t want to do it anymore so we could put a new band together, so now we’re a band again.  Simple as that.  I mean, you got to remember the thing that’s important about all of this is that the music is still there.

Right.

ML: I know it might sound like a total cliché, but it’s just about music.  It’s not about personnel, it’s about music.  Certain people come together to inhabit the spirit of the music.  I know how pretentious that sounds, but that’s what it is.  That’s what the Dears are, it’s a spirit that is all-consuming and people come in and they allow themselves to get consumed for a while and then, boom, they go.  And that’s just how it is.

I don’t think that’s pretentious at all.  I mean, that’s the way that music should be.  It shouldn’t be based on popularity or money or fame.  It’s should be based on the spirituality that music inspires in people.

ML: Well that’s how I feel about it but not everybody feels that way.  People shouldn’t think that this is just a machine to make money.  We’re part of the music industry, no doubt, but we definitely try to avoid making certain decisions that work like that.  We want to reach as many people as possible, we really do.