Hailing from the mild metropolis of Vancouver, Bend Sinister is Daniel Moxon, Naben Ruthnum, David Buck, Jon Bunyon, and Kevin Keegan. These guys can really play their instruments '“ to the point where, upon listening to their music, I find myself wondering, 'œHow can anybody ever record a guitar line that insanely complicated without screwing up?'? Alas, they pull it off, and they pull it off well, deftly balancing technical wizardry (without becoming wankery) with a good ear for the song. Plus, their influences are a cool mix: Tortoise, Supertramp, early Metallica. As I write this, the band is in the midst of its first cross-Canada tour. Brett Clarkson corresponded with Daniel Moxon (who filled out these answers with the help of the band) via email.

TELL US ABOUT THE NAME BEND SINISTER. DOES IT MEAN ANYTHING OR HOLD ANY SIGNIFICANCE?
We swiped it from the title of a Nabokov book, because his own description of the title seemed to fit in with our music at the time '“ a sinister and sinistral world. That sort of thing. It has a nice, evocative ring to it, and was also the only option out of the dozens of possibilities that we could even vaguely agree on.

I'M BLOWN AWAY BY THE SHEER TECHNICAL ABILITY OF THE GUITAR PLAYING IN THE BAND. YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY AREN'T A THREE-CHORD BAND. GUITAR-WISE, WHO DO YOU CONSCIOUSLY, OR EVEN UNCONSCIOUSLY, TRY TO EMULATE WHEN THE BAND IS ARRANGING SONGS?
A lot of the arrangement ideas come from our appreciation of bands like Tortoise '“ instrumental projects that compose really interesting songs without the comfort of vocal hooks. And we also call upon metal influences '“ bands like early Metallica and recent projects like Dillinger Escape Plan '“ bands that have a lot of interlocking instrumental parts that work for the benefit of the overall song.

AM I WRONG TO DETECT SOME SUPERTRAMP INFLUENCE IN THE SONG 'THROUGH THE BROKEN CITY'? (IT SHOULD BE NOTED I LOVE SUPERTRAMP).
Even though none of us had really listened to the 'Tramp when these songs were being written, that comparison is definitely valid. After hearing Supertramp brought up in questions like this a few times, we checked them out and are now definitely lovers of that band.

YOU'RE BASED IN VANCOUVER BUT YOUR ALBUM IS RELEASED ON MONTREAL-BASED LABEL STORYBOARD. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
The way these things always do'“ the head of Storyboard, Scott Lewis, was a friend from our early days in Kelowna. He loved the record and we trust him, so it was a good way to go.

TELL US HOW THE TOUR IS GOING SO FAR. AS I WRITE THIS, YOU ARE IN CALGARY.
The tour is going really well. The crowds have ranged from nominally small to pretty significant, but the response has been really positive everywhere. We're selling CDs all over the place, which is good for bizness and a nice indicator that people are digging us.

WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE THING SOMEBODY'S SAID TO YOU AFTER A SHOW?
"Now that my girlfriend bought your CD and I've listened to it a bunch, I kinda find it boring." The guy was a friend of ours and hilariously drunk. Very enjoyable.

TELL US FIVE ALBUMS WE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO.
The End - Within Dividia
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of Natural History 13 & God
Queen - A Day at the Races
Beatles - White Album

BEYOND MUSIC, WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES?
Nothing outside of music really rubs off on the way we write, I think. We do have other interests, there probably is some bleed, but not much.

I HEARD PATTI SMITH WAS ONCE FIRED FROM SOME ROCK MAGAZINE IN THE 70S BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN COMMISSIONED TO DO AN INTERVIEW WITH ERIC CLAPTON, WHICH CONSISTED OF HER ASKING CLAPTON WHAT HIS FIVE FAVOURITE WORDS WERE. I'M GONNA TAKE A PAGE FROM HER BOOK, AND ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION. RESPOND HOWEVER YOU LIKE.
Lentigo, Defenestration, Abacinate, Cunnilingus, Beef.

By Brett Clarkson