Best thing about Frosh Week? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just the partying, but rather the big (free!) concert on campus that wraps up the revelry on Friday evening. This year, we’ve got always-reliable CanCon faves Sloan headlining, and local upstarts controller.controller kicking things off death-disco style.
As it happens, the Controller crew have a blistering new record, X-Amounts, due out Oct. 11 on Paper Bag Records. Before they hit the road (yet again), guitarist Scott Kaija took some time out to chat with The Varsity about life in a band on the rise.-TS

TS: Tell us a bit about the new record. Was making a full-length a different challenge than your debut EP?

SK: I’m really happy with how the new record turned out. I think it’s a little more eclectic than the EP. I wouldn’t say there’s a dramatic shift in sound but there are a few nice surprises. The main challenge for us was simply finding the time to actually work on it. We toured a lot since starting recording. It can be difficult to balance the two. Although, it did give us the opportunity to play a bunch of the new songs live, which was helpful.

TS: You guys have toured a ridiculous amount over the past year. How has it changed the band personally and musically?

SK: Touring can be incredibly difficult but also a lot of fun. You get sick of one another pretty fast and it’s a challenge to eat or sleep well but you get to meet a lot of new people and see places you’ve never been to before. Eventually, I think we were able to figure out a good working dynamic, though, and now I’m excited for the next tour. Musically, you get tight as hell.

TS: Best/worst tour story?

SK: Best: Going to the UK with Death From Above 1979 was pretty amazing. I had never been there before and we managed to see a lot of England and a little bit of Scotland. (I think we did 14 shows in 14 days or something, from Brighton to Glasgow) Plus, because DFA are doing so well over there, we played for some pretty big crowds and again, met some incredible people.
Worst: We actually had a fire in the back of the van as we were on the highway to Chicago. We managed to pull over and deal with it before it caused too much damage, but it was a pretty intense couple of minutes.
Oh, and once, on the way to Hamilton, one of the back tires came off as we were barreling down the QEW. I was driving and could see it rolling down the highway behind us in the side mirror. Scary shit.

What: Sloan and controller.controller
When: Friday, September 9th. 3:30-6:00 pm
Where: Back campus field, St. George just south of Hoskin Ave.