Life is getting busy once again for the members of Another Blue Door. Two years after the release of Haulers, their debut full-length, the group has reconnected as a quartet and has gone to work on its second record. Eric Arthur spoke to singer and guitarist Dave Schoonderbeek by email.

IT'S BEEN A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS NOW SINCE THE RELEASE OF YOUR DEBUT RECORD. NOW, FOLLOWING A HIATUS IN THE FALL OF 2005, YOU'VE ANNOUNCED ON YOUR WEBSITE THAT YOU'LL SOON RETURN TO DOING SHOWS AND START WORKING ON A SOPHOMORE ALBUM. ASIDE FROM YOUR WAVELENGTH SET, WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT IN 2006?

We're about half done our next record. We had some setbacks in the past little while, so we've just taken some time to start over. I think after releasing our first record we took things a little too seriously and started thinking in terms of what a rock band was supposed to do, and not about what we wanted to do. There was a bit of writer's block that came along with that too. Not that I was trying to become a hit factory or anything, but I was thinking that good live bands need uptempo catchy tunes, and forcing myself to write that way just wasn't happening.

WHO'S IN THE BAND THESE DAYS? WHAT OTHER BANDS AND PROJECTS MIGHT NEW LISTENERS KNOW YOU ALL FROM?

The band now consists of myself, Steve Krecklo, Nathan Rekker and T. Craig Toutant. They were all members of the Carnations when the band started along with Thom D'Arcy, who was originally our bassist. Steve still plays with Thom in Small Sins, formerly of Ladies and Gentlemen, and Nathan is getting his own project started as well. I think he's calling it I'm Only Sleeping, but I'm not positive about that. Craig plays with a group called Isumah who are based out of Oshawa.

ALTHOUGH ANOTHER BLUE DOOR WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED AS A SHOEGAZER ACT, YOU'VE DEVELOPED A POWERFUL LIVE SOUND AND GAINED A REPUTATION FOR ENERGETIC LIVE SHOWS. NOT A LOT OF BANDS GO THROUGH THAT SORT OF DRAMATIC CHANGE IN MUSICAL DIRECTION. WAS THERE A CONSCIOUS ATTEMPT ON YOUR PART TO DEFY EXPECTATIONS AND DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, OR WAS THIS JUST THE DIRECTION IN WHICH YOUR MUSIC TOOK YOU?

I still love Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, but I think I learned very early in the band's lifespan that I wasn't that kind of songwriter or guitar player. I also rediscovered a lot of music that I initially rebelled against, like the Band and CCR. I hated those bands because my dad would play them to death when I was a kid, and to me it was old people music, but really they're classic songs arranged really well. I don't think it was a conscious effort to change directions. I think we're somewhere in between those worlds.

YOUR BIO ON THE STINKY RECORDS WEBSITE MENTIONS THAT YOU AND TOURANT WERE DRIVEN TO MUSICAL COLLABORATION AS A RESULT OF FEELING 'œMUTUALLY STULTIFIED BY LIFE IN SMALL TOWN, RURAL CANADA'?. HOW DOES LIVING IN A CITY AS VIBRANT AND MUSICAL DIVERSE AS TORONTO COMPARE IN TERMS OF DRIVING YOU CREATIVELY?

I wasn't completely out of the loop when I came to Toronto, but when I finally did move here it got a lot out of my system. Creatively, I just had more to draw from in my writing. More life experiences and more points of view. It's kind of funny that now that I've learned to write from various standpoints, I'm starting to write about back home more from angles I wouldn't really have seen before.

SPEAKING OF TORONTO, YOU'VE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO WORK WITH A NUMBER OF ITS ICONS. YOU WERE SIGNED TO STINKY RECORDS AFTER DAN BURKE PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, AND THE RESULTING RECORD WAS MIXED BY NONE OTHER THAN IAN BLURTON. WHO ARE YOU GRATEFUL TO HAVE WORKED WITH, AND WHAT DO YOU HOPE THE FUTURE HOLDS?

Dan was a big supporter early on. We got hooked up with Ian Blurton because he had done some of the Carnations recordings. I think he did an amazing job mixing our record. I felt like a gushing fan being in the studio with him because I listened to Change of Heart's 'œTummysuckle'? record endlessly in high school. They played Oshawa once and Ian came within an inch of bashing his guitar into my head. I also feel lucky to have someone like Thom D'Arcy help us out so much. When we started the band he was actually the one who started booking us shows in Toronto and got us out of Oshawa. Also, as a producer he's been incredibly helpful. We're very different in our personalities and tastes, but I take it seriously if he tells me something sounds like shit. He also was kind enough to drive us on our first two tours. We would've been screwed without him. I hope the future holds a couple more Another Blue Door albums, and hopefully some 7'? singles. Do you know anyone who prints 7'? singles?