Controller.controller are known for their fierce live show-all five members usually dressed in black, backlit by eerie red spotlights. Then there’s their music-‘death disco’ may be an overused term of late, but it fits controller’s sharp stomp perfectly.
So it comes as a bit of a jolt to find the quintet hamming it up and ribbing each other like schoolkids during a loose photo shoot at a Queen West hipster vintage shop. Guitarist Scott Kaija gleefully seizes a necklace that spells out B-L-I-N-G (no, really) in metal letters, singer Nirmala Basnayake’s wearing a chain belt as a necklace, everyone howls at drummer Jeff Scheven’s “granny” shawl, and bassist Ronnie Morris and guitarist Colwyn Llewellyn-Thomas are trying to outdo each other in the tight pants department.
Their jovial rapport carries over into the interview over drinks and a bite at a juice bar down the street-it’s hard to get a straight answer out of any of them. We’re there to talk about their label, Paper Bag Records, the local-indie-that-could that celebrates their second anniversary tonight, but the controllers are having none of it.
“Why did we sign to Paper Bag? It was blackmail!” sputters Morris. “They had naked pictures of Jeff.”
“Who doesn’t?” counters Scheven with a shrug.
Hmm. So maybe that sense of fun’s not that surprising after all. It’s in the glint in Basnayake’s eye as she sneers, “You wanna hear about parallels? How ’bout the 49th?” into the mic, or Kaija’s Energizer bunny pogoing as he rips off a hot riff. It’s the perfect balance to their dark, edgy sound and what sets them apart from the rest of the trendy post-punk pack. Ever seen a member of Interpol crack a smile?
It was Paper Bag’s similarly easy-going nature that drew the band to the label. Kaija and Morris knew the PB trio (Amanda Newman, Enrique Soissa, and Trever Larocque) from the local music scene, so when the label expressed interest, Kaija got in touch when the band had almost completed recording their History CD.
“It sort of happened really organically,” Kaija recalls.
“It was completely preconceived-we had charts and graphs and everything,” cuts in Morris. “No, they work hard at what they do, they really believe in what they do. They like to put out stuff by bands they actually like, so it actually makes some sense. They’re not as worried about the bottom line as some other people, so they’re not just going to go for what they think is a safe bet.”
Nothing’s ever a sure thing in the fickle music biz, but to those who watched controller’s ascent in the local scene from afar, their success seemed quick and almost a given. But it took the nascent band over a year and a half to release the powerful History, Kaija points out.
Morris invited old pal Kaija to jam with some folks he’d been playing with, and when they started looking for a vocalist, Llewellyn-Thomas called up his friend Basnayake.
“There’s always this apprehension, you know, being in this room with people you don’t really know, but we sort of plugged in and started noodling around and sort of instantly there was this chemistry like everything just like fit together,” Kaija explains. Then Nirmala came to rehearsal and I think it was a slow build at first, but once we turned it down a notch so we could actually hear her, it was perfect.”
With its dueling guitars and hardcore-inspired beats, History has been raptly received by the music press, including love-to-hate-’em U.S. indie website Pitchforkmedia, which gave the band a rarely heard-of 8.3 (out of 10) review.
The band takes the attention in stride, even putting up with the endless tiresome P.I.L. and Gang of Four comparisons.
“I understand like the necessity of it,” Morris offers. “That’s how people get into music if they haven’t heard you, especially if your first point of reference is on a website or something and someone has to say, ‘Oh, what does it sound like?’ and you’re a lot better off with comparisons than when they try to hammer you into a particular genre. Like Emo, or pop-punk, or new New Wave, or whatever. It’s just so that the communities can relate to each other.”
Being signed to a well-regarded label and good word-of-mouth aside, it’s never easy being an independent band. Between Kaija’s gig as producer of innovative Canuck music site UmbrellaMusic.com and other band members’ day jobs, scheduling everything from rehearsal to large-scale touring (the band is touring across Canada and the U.S. for the next month and a half with West Coast campus radio faves The Organ) is a challenge. Not to mention scrounging up enough cash to survive on the road.
“My dad asked me, ‘They don’t pay for your meals?'” laughs Basnayake. “‘No… Well, sometimes.’ ‘Well, who pays for your room?’ ‘Well, we do, technically.’ I think all along he assumed that everything was free. Even though we may not be getting paid (at times), he thought at least stuff would be covered.”
“I figured it was a bad idea to tell our parents how much money we actually make so they can continue to be supportive,” Morris grins.
“It’s a weird sacrifice playing in a band,” Kaija surmises, while his bandmates nod in agreement around the table. “You give up a lot-you’re broke, you’re away from your family… But then there’s this weird pull, too-coming into our four-week tour, it’s like, I’ve wanted to do this since I was 14. So the satisfaction you get out of doing it balances out all the crap.”
Controller.controller play as part of Paper Bag Records’ second anniversary bash tonight at Lee’s Palace along with Magneta Lane, Fembots, Uncut, and Jake Fairley. Tickets are $8 at the door, and don’t forget to bring a non-perishable item for the food bank.
Special thanks to 69 Vintage for letting us take over their store for the cover shoot. Check them out at 1100 Queen St. West (416-516-0669) or at www.69vintage.com.
