Stop Die Resuscitate is a mixed bag of Aesop-style rhymes, crate-dug beats and unabashedly soulful vocal hooks. The new record was just released on their own Stop Die records and the band have taken to the stage to translate what was first simply a recording project into a full-fledged live electronic act. Neil Hamburger got the skinny on where they came from, who they run with and what's planned for the future.

Stop Die is a mish-mash of a lot of different styles and even a varied set of musicians. How did the band develop, both personally and musically? The band is still technically developing -- also it started off as a recording project, so it's been interesting trying to replicate and enhance that live. We have just added a drummer now as well. Initially Surge (a.k.a. Lyle) heard Luke's voice on a demo and wanted do some tracks with him. It got delayed because of an apartment flood. Then Luke met Dukes (a.k.a. Ndidi) at a fashion show, they had friends and interests in common. Then she was asked to sing on some tracks and then they were writing songs for the project. We all have an array of musical/literary/visual influences, so we all bring new stuff to each other which may or may not change the approach to a certain song.

What's the songwriting process like? Is the track made and then the respective vocalists add their parts, or is it a more collaborative process? Sometimes we will sit at Surge's and come up with a song on the
fly. Sometimes we have lyrics stashed away that seem to fit a certain mood that he's created. Or he'll throw something at us and we'll both come up with something on our own and see if they can be integrated, or if someone really wants the track for themselves, then it's theirs. The next album will see more of both Dukes and Luke on the same track.

I hear you've done some work with Moonstarr. Does the band have more outside work planned? I (Luke) am personally hoping to do more stuff with Moon in the future, but he's a very busy guy. Plus he's in Montreal now. He threw this thing I did just messing around onto a Rednose Distrikt remix of his. Basically we are open to collaboration with good people who make interesting music -- it would be nice to work with some of our friends on projects together. We're open to any kind of collaboration, really -- our album release was at Mind Control Gallery, and we had a shitload of artists working in various styles, so in a sense that was a collaboration of sorts. Or we will work with people who will pay us lots and lots of money for more credibility.

How has the album been received? Well, we've been getting a lot of feedback from people who like new and interesting music (Denise Benson, Ben Rayner, LAL). The best though, was when I was at a show and I talked to this guy who bought our CD and he said he was listening to it before he went out that night. That was wicked.

Now that the record is done and out, what now? Well, we need to push it more, do more press mailouts and more shows and whatnot. Unfortunately, I had to go to the Philippines right after the album release, so it was difficult to get all the press shit together. Hopefully with time, more money, and better organization, Stop Die Records will become more than a vanity label. We've begun to mess around with new songs and are bringing more improvisation into the mix for live shows.

Toronto seems to be getting more and more electronic every day. Do you feel part of a larger scene or do you try to keep yourselves away from that sort of thing? Well we are about to do a show with LAL and Moonstarr, so yes, Rose (from LAL) has practically been our manager, getting us shows and giving us guidance. I think Toronto's independent electronic/rap scene is starting to make its presence felt. 4th Pyramid is signed to Def Jux, Moon's on Compost, so Toronto is getting recognition. People here are starting to figure out that we don't have to emulate whatever's fashionable or be “the new” to get heard.

BY NEIL HAMBURGER