“None of the music is actually minimalist in the formal sense. I just rip off the good bits.”

The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is an arctic mammal of the Bovidae family, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odour emitted by males, from which its name derives. Allana Mayer braved the stench to experience Muskox's lulling instrumental mixture of horns, banjo, and percussion.

First, could you give me a runthrough of the band's members and their instruments? A short history would be nice, as well.

Muskox is currently comprised of me, Mike Smith on banjo, Mark Laver on alto saxophone, Pete Johnston on double bass, Jamie Drake on vibraphone and percussion, and Ali Berkok on electric piano. We all take turns on harmonium. This line up has evolved from a four-piece group I put together to perform some of my music at the Bummer In The Summer in 2006. We have since released two mini-CDs, played a handful of shows, and are in the midst of recording a third mini.

What's up with the minis, anyways? There are a few bands around that like the format. What's your interest?

It's like an LP side, only cheaper. It's pretty difficult for me to take in more than 20 minutes of music without some sort of break, so the mini fits the bill perfectly. Also, they are cute.

Muskoxen are usually from northern Canada and Greenland; where are you all from? Has anyone in your band travelled to these parts?

Let's see, Ali's from Kingston, Jamie's from Mississauga, Mark's from Scarborough, and Pete is from the exotic climes of Windsor, Nova Scotia (The Birthplace Of Hockey). I guess I'm the winner, since I'm from Bedford Park and my back fence borders North York. That said, they have three or four muskoxen at the zoo, so Mark gets big ups on that count.

"It is thought that the muskox was able to survive the last ice age by finding ice free areas away from prehistoric peoples." How are you all surviving this record-setting Toronto winter?

It's horrible. I hate it. Having a band with a vibraphone, a double bass, and electric piano means lots of driving, which is awful. It isn't nearly as awful as navigating a double bass through snow on foot, though. At least the tundra is flat. On the upside, we've done a pretty good job of avoiding prehistoric peoples.

Typical lifespan of a Muskox is 15-20 years. I guess this means you're all old and decrepit. Is this why your music sounds so mature, reserved, calming?

No. We're just boring people.

Wikipedia says that dominant males will drive the other males out of a herd in spring, and that the rejected males will band together. Is this why you have no females?

This certainly has no bearing on the lack of females in the group, but most certainly plays a role in the genesis of this music. I could go on.

Please do!

Studying jazz at university left me feeling a bit like a square peg, and it took me quite some time to realise that I wasn't really writing and playing the music I wanted to. Fortunately, along the way I had met some like-minded folks, and thusly you get a band out of the deal.

It's been around a year and a half and I still haven't gotten around to learning to describe the sound of Muskox all that well. The word that most often gets tossed about is "minimalist", although none of the music is actually minimalist in the formal sense. I just rip off the good bits. As a result of our instrumentation and respective backgrounds, there's a fair bit of jazz floating around, although I try to suppress that the best I can. Overall, we sound like a cross between Town and Country and early Oregon – at least that's the impression I have.

"During this period all males are extremely aggressive. Bulls will even charge birds if they are close by." Is this the case? Do you, in fact, charge at birds?

Not generally, but I do have an important tip I learned from a magazine about nature photography. If a muskox sees you taking its photo and decides to charge, your best course of action is to stand still until the animal is two or three meters away. At that point you are advised to step to one side, as the muskox will continue to charge on in the same direction. That's how we roll.

By Allana Mayer