June 11 2013 – North By Northeast (NXNE) is here and we are excited! NXNE may not be as well known as SXSW in Austin Texas but for us rock lovers in Toronto this festival satiates our musical hunger. We love discovering bands and take the opportunity of NXNE to find out more about some of them.In 2012, T-Mak World initiated extensive coverage of NXNE and we saw a total of 51 bands/artists and interviewed the following 15 bands as part of our Emerging Artist Spotlight series:
Our wrap up article from 2012 is here and we are excited to be back in 2013 and to interview more bands to our Emerging Artist Spotlight Series. Today we focus on a band from Toronto, Canada and their NXNE profile reads:
Sweaty, DIY skater punks with battling guitars. The four-piece is sans gimmicks and influenced by The Clash, Buzzcocks, and The Kinks.
Here is what they had to say to us:
- Hey The Bare Minumum, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. Let’s start off with the obligatory introductions. Who’s in the band and what instrument does everyone rock?
The Bare Minumum:
- How about the history of the band, when did you get started and how did it happen?
The Bare Minumum: Mick and I met through a mutual friend and started jamming and going to open mics about 2 years ago. We shortly formed a full band from craigslist and childhood friends. After 2 EPs and a rotating rhythm section, we’ve hit full stride and are excited about the future.
- Who are some of your musical influences?
The Bare Minumum: Individually, we’ve got some pretty diverse taste, but one thing we all have in common is punk from the 70’s through the 90’s. The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Kinks. Honest, raw music with non-throwaway lyrics. Arthur (Or the Decline and fall of the British Empire) by the Kinks (1969) is a personal favorite. There’s a couple of active bands we all swoon over, I’m sure they have some influence over us; Dead to Me, Lawrence Arms, Burning Love, Propagandhi… they all really push and inspire us to create something worthwhile.
- Congratulations on being selected to play at North By Northeast, what does the opportunity mean to you?
The Bare Minumum: We’ve been attending to NXNE since we moved to Toronto, and it’s been one of the best festivals to see slews of our favorite bands along with discovering more. Some years have been better than others, but we’ve got some great memories prior years. It’s an honor to share the stage with other talented bands playing.
- When and where is your NXNE gig? And more importantly, why do you suggest a music fan come and see your show instead of all the other choices available to them at that time?
The Bare Minumum: We’re playing at Cherry Cola’s Rock’n Rolla Cabaret Lounge on Weds, June 12 at 11pm. We’ve got a short and powerful set, a hit and run of loud, energetic rock. Minimal banter, ego, bullshit, mustaches.
- What’s it like being on stage? Do you get nervous or are you thriving on the adrenaline (or somewhere in between)?
The Bare Minumum: It’s euphoric. Everything happens so fast and before you know it’s over. No time for nervousness, only breaking strings, making your fingers bleed and sweating too much.
- What does 2013 hold for you?
The Bare Minumum: We’ve just started recording a full-length album, and we’re hoping to release it towards the end of the year. We’ll also be playing a smattering of shows in and around Ontario. We’re going to make some sweet Twitter posts too, so watch out for those.
- Imagine that you were asked to be the opener for any band’s world tour (both current and historical). Which past band’s tour and which current tour would be your dream opening gigs?
The Bare Minumum: I would have loved to open for Cocksparrer in their prime. I imagine their shows were a riot… literally. Now, we would love to open for Dead to Me. They just keep getting better and better and I want to steal their secrets.
- How important is the performer/audience connection for you? Can you rock a show as hard for 10 people as if you could playing an 80,000 person festival?
The Bare Minumum:. It’s self-perpetuating. Give more, get more, give more, get more. An amped up crowd definitely helps with the energy. Playing in front of 10 pairs crossed arms is awesome too. They are there, they are listening, they are participating in a scene, and that gets us excited. So, yes we can.
- Where can people get your music/CD, is it being sold anywhere?
BANDNAME: To celebrate the start of recording our new album, we’ve put are previous 2 EP’s up for free on our website and bandcamp. You can pickup physical copies of our music at our shows or at some local small record shops (Soundscapes, Sonicboom).
- At the end of 2012 we published our picks for top 10 albums of 2012. Lists like those are always a reflection of personal tastes so if you were making the list what are some albums you would you have had on it?
The Bare Minumum: We made a list of our 2012 picks on our blog here: http://blog.thebareminimum.ca/best-music-of-2012/ . Our top ones were Burning Love – Rotten Things to Say, Gaslight Anthem – Handwritten, Teenage Bottlerocket – Freakout, White Lung – Sorry and The Darkness – Hot Cakes. Justin Hawkins is a badass in a leotard.
- Any closing remarks for our readers?
The Bare Minumum: Go to live shows. There are heaps of talented awesome bands in the city.
Thanks so much to The Bare Minumum. We hope that you can see them live. In the meantime check out their video below from YouTube.
