Purveyors of: Industrial Punkgaze
File next to: Pixies, Big Black, THIGHS
Playing next: Night two of WL14 Friday, February 14th @ Adelaide Hall (250 Adelaide St. W.)

The stage is dark, and after a barrage of electronic drum beats comes a spatter of guitar that matches the strobe-light colours flickering on the figures on stage. Through a steady/woozy groove, a distorted voice barks out at you, and suddenly you're feeling paranoid. Warning: Odonis Odonis may cause/cure seizures, panic attacks, regrets, dancing.

Wavelength: All right! First off, bring us up to date a bit. We've been hearing about Hard Boiled, Soft Boiled for a while now... is that still the next thing out?

Dean Tzenos: Yeah, it’s officially coming out April 15th, 2014. It’s been a long-ass wait but it’s happening.

WL: Are these still the versions that you mostly recorded on your own?

DT:The record that is coming out is the original recordings I did before the band existed.

WL: Have any of the songs changed a lot with the band getting their hands on them to play live? How do reconcile your creative momentum with the practicalities of the long loop required to put out a record?

DT: It’s been a difficult process to have a backlog of material waiting to see the light of day while constantly evolving with band. The happy medium has been how we have dissected those songs and piece them back together as band. We have been treating a lot of the material as if they were covering those songs and taking some liberties in song structures and overall sound. What we thought was going to be a dreadful process of digging up the past has led to some really cool versions of the songs that people can only experience at the show... unless we pump out a live record.

WL: One element of the band that I don't think has been commented on enough is the strong visual sense. You have a background as a visual artist, yeah?

DT: Yeah, I would say I’m just as much a visual artist as a musician, and they've kind of always gone hand in hand.

WL: Live, the band seems to always play with projections instead of stage lights. What led to that visual presentation?

DT: Most of the music usually has a visual inspiration that goes along side the music. I don’t know if I'm hard-wired to think of music visually, but it has always seemed to manifest that way. I usually have a movie muted in the background or a image in mind whenever I start making demos. I find working like that help sets a tone to the music right off the bat. It was something that I had in mind for the band from get-go.

WL: Digging through the videos you've directed for OO, I'd say there's a definite aesthetic: equal parts experimental film and B-movie horror. Are you familiar with those worlds?

DT: Definitely. Most of the time when I’m creating the music, I'll throw on a B horror flick in the background to set mood. The "Blood Feast" video is basically a B horror greatest hits.

WL: Yeah... there’s a sense of goofy camp there. But even in that video (and more so in the later ones) there’s also a darker edge: the visuals suggest a broken, hermetically-sealed world, all anxiety and hazy disorientation. It's as if you're trying to hotwire a shortcut directly into the unconscious mind... and it's dark there.

DT: Haha, this is pretty bang on. Couldn’t have said it better.

WL: You've also directed (or otherwise worked on) quite a few videos for other people. Do those tend to be a bit more "work for hire," or do you have the same sort of connection that you have to your own videos?

DT: A lot of time when I work on someone else’s videos I really try and create what the musician wants without too much of my own ego getting in the way. I find everything I do whether I like it or not has my stamp on it anyway so my focus is always the most practical way of getting the job done.

WL: Philosophical question: is found footage (which gets used a lot in your work) our society's collective subconscious?

DT: Now that you’ve pointed it out you could definitely look at it that way. It’s a visual history and when you pull all those moments together it’s basically just a visual collage.

WL: Do you consciously bring a “collage” approach to music, too?

DT: Yeah, I just love throwing everything in the blender and seeing what comes out on the other end. Every time we add another element outside of our comfort zone the more exciting it is.

WL: Does collaboration in film work play out in a similar way as it does with music?

DT: Not in my experience. Although there’s an overlap between music and visuals the process is pretty different. What I’ve always enjoyed about music is the instant gratification, you can be in the moment as you create with other people. Most of my experience with film work is all about pre-planning before you execute any ideas, especially when you're collaborating. You can have a lot more freedom with music videos because you don’t always need a narrative driving it forward. Most of the time it’s more important to capture the vibe of the song which why I like using found footage. You can find moments that work in context of the song and the process is more immediately gratifying. Otherwise it can be a long, drawn-out and sometimes painful process.

WL: Do you ever seeing yourself pushing further with non-narrative film outside of music?

DT: Yeah I’ve already been dipping into that pool with short films and full length films. Some are still waiting to see the light of day. It’s going to be a process before I feel confident in unveiling any of that. I think you’ll likely see some sort of mobile game first, ha!

WL: One of the non-concert events at the festival is a talk called "The Toronto Music Moment." I know that I’m constantly awed by the sheer number of great bands and good shows going on here, but I don’t have as much context to compare. Having had a chance to play in a lot of places and see what’s going on in other cities, do you think there’s something special happening in Toronto right now?

DT: 100%, I’ve always pushed the Toronto scene every chance I get. I think because we live here it’s really easy to take it for granted, but once you are on the road and you get glimpse of so many other music scenes, you really start understanding how good we have it here. Touring the U.S., you definitely find pockets, particularly in poorer areas where art scenes are thriving and are important in a cathartic way, but like anywhere, they’re few and far between. We love playing UK/EU because they treat you like gold and it’s awesome to play there, but it was hard to even find a DIY scene, let alone one so tightly knit as we have here. Most of the scenes that we came across are splintered the way Toronto was maybe five years back. Whatever is happening now is cultivating something that will likely be looked back on 10 years as a really important movement.

WL: Which, of course, leads us back to Wavelength, and everyone else working to build our community. Thanks for your time! I’m looking forward to the show and the new album coming up.

[photo credit: Melissa Fisher]