Hot Springs’ Rémy Nadeau-Aubin: thecheappop.com interview
By Jon Chattman
Montreal’s Hot Springs have gone the way of the Expos. The band released their first full-length album Volcano last year, and it’s their last. The pop, rock, and even psychedelic band split up recently after delivering a pretty kick ass album known for its highlight tracks like “Tiny Islands” and “Pink Money.” Life sucks what can I tell ya. In any event, before the band split, the pop spoke with guitarist Rémy Nadeau-Aubin. Enjoy the interview, mourn the band, hope for the future…whatever boats your float.
How was this recent album different than previous one?
The previous one was done without knowing much and also without expectations. We we’re a really young band. It was supposed to be only a demo but we thought it sounded good enough to be released as an actual EP.
Do you think Youppi misses the Montreal Expos? Do you?
Maybe Youppi misses them once in a while, out of nostalgia, but he can’t complain. He’s got a pretty good job now at the Bell Centre. I miss the $1 Hot Dogs day and Larry Walker, but I don’t really miss going to Olympic Stadium: so empty and boring. They should have built that new stadium downtown. That’s what killed them.
Rick Moranis is a wonderful Canadian. Is he the most important Canadian who ever lived?
Absolutely not, but he was great in Ghostbusters 1 and 2.
“Caco Disco” was a huge hit – do you ever tire of performing it?
I guess we don’t have the same definition of a huge hit . It’s still fun to play once in a while when the crowd is really pumped up and dying to dance some more.
How’d you come up with your band name?
I think it was Giselle’s (Webber – the vocalist) idea: a not so subtle metaphor for you know what. We tried to find another one at some point because we we’re afraid that people in Quebec would mistake it for the offspring but we gave up and decided we didn’t care.
Right on. All-women rock groups kind of get a raw deal in my opinion, what do you think?
There just isn’t enough of them. If there was more all-girls band, people wouldn’t even care if it was girls or boys. It really shouldn’t matter as long as the music is good. I think the best combination is two girls and two guys, that’s just perfect balance. You get all the stupid boy jokes and pseudo-machismo and carrying big amps plus all the subtleties of women and their sensitivity and intelligence and we always end up talking and trying to solve problems instead of just shutting up and getting angry.
Well put. What are your goals for the band at this point – fly under the radar or huge commercial success?
We all just want to make another record that would put the last one to shame, tour a lot in Quebec and the R.O.C.(Rest of Canada for those who didn’t know.) but also get out of here and play Asia, Europe, and why not Africa or the Middle East? Rock bands should try to go there. We want to go. If music could pay my rent, that would also be very nice thank you.
Who are some artists you listen to on the road?
Too many to name them all. You get a little bit of French pop, Aznavour, Cancer Bats, Against Me!, Heart, Turkish pop music, Iron Maiden, Nirvana…lots of classic rock radio. We like the latest Wolf Parade album, one of the only non-classic rock album that Anne [Gauthier, drummer] actually likes! The Stooges, Radiohead, Chad Van Gaalen, The D’urbervilles, Les Marmottes Aplaties, Neil Young, etc…
Holy crap that’s some eclectic music right there. What was the last song you downloaded?
I don’t do that!
OK wrapping this up, what do you make of the Montreal music scene? Is there one? If so, who should we listen to?
Of course there is one but it’s not a definite entity. It’s more like a bunch of free-spirited people all doing their things with more often than not some loose connections between everyone involved. I tried to draw a family tree of the Montreal scene and you can pretty much link everyone together using only three or four degrees of separation. You don’t need six or is it seven? Anyway, you get the idea. I don’t think there is a Montreal sound. There are many Montreal sounds. I think it’s really fun to be a part of it because if you have a project in mind you know there is infinite possibilities of who you could end up working with, if you call that working. It’s exciting to think of all the possibilities. You should listen to Shapes and Sizes, Karkwa, Kickers, Le Nom, Besnard Lakes, Avec
pas D’casque, Mille Monarques, Polipe, Dany Placard, Socalled and so many more.
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