Future Peers‘ frontman Luke Correia-Damude discusses the band’s upcoming EP “I’m Sorry,” due out November 2nd on Garment District Records, as well as how the band came together, their creative process, and making music in the digital age. Featuring Correia-Damude, as well as the musicians Mike Lobel, Antonio Naranjo, and Will Culbert, the Toronto-based four-piece cemented their direction during an artistic residency at the Banff Arts Centre. Formerly called Boys Who Say No, their work during the residency with producers like Kevin Drew, Charles Spearin and Shawn Everett allowed the band to expand in new directions resulting in their 2016 self-titled LP.
This week Future Peers return with their new 6-song EP “I’m Sorry.” Recorded by producer/engineer Tom McFall (Stars, Bloc Party, Regina Spector), who flew to Canada to work with the band, the album continues their foray into experimental pop with even more attention placed on the intricacies of arrangement and vocal production. Describing their sound as “dance-pop meets art-rock in a demolition derby,” “I’m Sorry” features an energetic sound that combines danceable beats and infectious hooks with anthemic choruses. This week Correia-Damude took time to discuss the band and EP via email. Below, you can read a transcript of the proceedings, as well as watch videos for EP standouts like “Madonna Trash” and “Didn’t I Deny.”
LETV: Hello Future Peers. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about the band and your upcoming EP “I’m Sorry.” Before we delve into the upcoming record, let’s cover a little background about the group. If I understand correctly, it looks like things really got going for you guys after an artistic residency at the Banff Arts Centre—though you guys were part of a band called Boys Who Say No before that. Can you tell us a little bit about how the band came together in the early days and how your residency at the Arts Center, as well as your time in LA working with Shawn Everett, helped cement your new direction?
Luke Correia-Damude: Boys Who Say No was a project we started in our early 20’s. It was so much fun and it allowed us to travel a lot and form a tight musical bond. We had a pretty good following and toured internationally. All of the members of FUTURE PEERS were, at some point, members of Boys Who Say No. We knew that we loved making music together but the group consciousness was starting to shift in sentimentality and sonic palette. We started making more weird stuff that was simultaneously pretty poppy. The band was diving deep into mixing in synths and playing with interesting orchestration. We all felt that it was time for a major change.
This feeling of want coincided with an invitation to attend the “Indie Music Residency” at the Banff Arts Centre. We had been selected by Canadian music heavyweights Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin to participate in this amazing program. The residency was a real awakening for us as a band. It gave us the time and resources to stretch our legs and explore what this new sound we were tooling around with could really be. Producer/Engineer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, War On Drugs, Julian Casablancas) was brought in to work with us during the residency. I remember him and Kevin coming into our rehearsal space the night before our first session with them. We played them the song we were thinking of working on and Shawn was really stoked on it. He said, “Woah, you guys are actually really good.” We took that as a compliment.
Our sessions with Shawn and Kevin were really exciting and the energy in the room was super positive. We did some really great work with them, and, as a result, Shawn invited us to record with him in L.A. at his studio. I would say that it was this time out in California that truly realized what we were trying to achieve with this new project and allowed us to emerge as FUTURE PEERS. We spent many months out in LA working with Shawn and fitting into his busy schedule. It was a really inspiring experience. Shawn is a genius and he takes his craft very seriously. He is adventurous and driven. This coupled with his immense skill is a magic combination. We decided to put our old name to rest and emerge as a new project and that is how FUTURE PEERS was born. The group felt that the music we had recorded with Shawn and Kevin was too special to be released as a third album from a mildly successful Canadian band. We wanted to offer up this new sound and these new tracks as a fresh idea and a new opportunity for us to play/create music for people.
LETV: On November 2nd you guys will release a new 6-track EP called “I’m Sorry.” What can you tell us about the recording process for the upcoming record? For instance, did you return to work with producers like Kevin Drew and Hal Wilner—or Shawn Everett?
Luke Correia-Damude: “I’m Sorry” began immediately after releasing our last album. We were so incredibly inspired by our mentor/producers Kevin, Hal and Shawn that we wrote feverishly for months and sketched probably 15 pieces. We then narrowed that down to a few that really excited us. One day, kind of magically, our phone rang, and the person on the other end was someone who, from across the pond, had heard what we were doing and wanted to throw down with us. That person, turns out, was producer/engineer Tom McFall (Stars, Bloc Party, Regina Spector). So Tom flew across the ocean to realize these songs with us–it was a beautiful thing. Some of the bed tracks had been done in a cottage in the countryside that we’ve grown fond of recording in. The rest were recorded at our studio in Toronto–Copper Sound Studio in Guelph–and some of it was even recorded in a bedroom. Tom is such a fun and funny gentleman, we immediately clicked. He also has a really precise ear and we learned a lot about the intricacies of his process especially when it comes to arrangement and vocal production. This album puts the vocals way up front, which is a bit of a new thing for us, and I think we wouldn’t have felt so comfortable doing that without Tom.
LETV: I’m curious to know a little bit more about the band’s creative process as far as writing music goes. You guys have such a unique and eclectic sound that blends elements of dance music and art rock. Is there a track on the new EP that might be emblematic of your process and allow us to peek behind the scenes as far as writing and composing goes?
Luke Correia-Damude: We write collaboratively so most of the work is done together in our studio on the west end of Toronto. Often our songs blossom out of a jam or a little idea we have in the room. Sometimes one of us will bring in a nugget and share the idea with the band and that triggers the direction for the song. I generally treat the vocals as a tonal instrument at first. I am less concerned with words and lyrics when we are creating something. Usually, the vocal melodies begin without words attached. A sort of melodic free association mixed with mumblings. Once the structure and frame of the song are set then I will focus in on writing lyrics and words. A lot of times I find words and phrases I would have never thought of through listening back to the mumblings I sing in reference recordings. I think what is special about our musical relationship is that we all bring our own style and inspirations to the table. Mike was a real Industrial kid, Antonio loves ballads and more soulful songs, Will is our Prog-Rock aficionado, and I started as an acoustic singer/songwriter who was obsessed with the likes of Elvis Costello and Soundgarden. It‘s a real confluence of influences that manifest themselves in a pretty distinct sound.
LETV: This year the band returned to play a show at 587A College St. in Toronto—the site of the old Whippersnapper—an art gallery/venue that you started back in the early 2000’s. Sounds like it was quite the place and that it hosted some very cool music shows back in the day. While those were very different times for indie music and the arts, is it fair to say the spirit of what the old Whippersnapper was trying to accomplish still lives on to this day in what the band is about?
Luke Correia-Damude: I learned a lot building Whippersnapper. I think that starting and running Whippersnapper was one of the most significant character building and educational things I’ve ever done. We have surely torn a page from the book of that old place. It was a really exciting time for music in the city and it was thrilling to be so connected to the art and music scene. I think what we draw on most from the Whippersnapper days is the knowledge that putting in the work and offering something up can be rewarded. When we perform or record music we really give it our all and we inject that amount of effort into this so that people can absorb it. Whippersnapper was a really hard thing to pull off and it took an amazing amount of work to get off the ground but once it was open the community really embraced it. The space became a real hub and earned a loyal following. People knew that we were out there curating interesting and fun things so they would return again and again.
This is what we hope to achieve with our music. We want people to enjoy themselves and know that when they come to see us or when they listen to our music they are receiving an offering from us. This contract between the audience and the performer is important to continually live up to. We want people to know that when they see FUTURE PEERS they are going to have a blast and see a bunch of people working hard to deliver something genuine to them. Whippersnapper hosted a lot of amazing artists like Ariel Pink, Future Islands, Matt and Kim and Ian Mckay to name a few. It was really a pleasure to be a young person surrounded by these amazing artists and musicians. It makes you respect the craft a lot and it really made me understand that making art is dedication and diligence.
LETV: Continuing on that topic, how has the music scene in Toronto changed thru the years and how does the band navigate the current climate in the wake of those changes? For instance, your music seems to embrace both dance culture and art rock. Is that a reflection of the climate change or a representation of the band’s interest thru the years?
Luke Correia-Damude: When we talk about a city the size of Toronto, it’s best to think in terms of music scenes. As in plural. This city has some of the best bands, in any genre, a music lover could hope for. Always has. That said, the major change in recent years has been the loss of so many great music venues to the condo culture. Bands are now having to get very creative in terms of finding spaces to perform in. Speaking to the blend of art rock and dance-pop influences that you’ve picked up on in our sound, we’re only doing what comes naturally to us as a group. We write all of our music collectively, and I don’t think we’ve ever set out to write a dance hit, or rock anthem, or whatever. We just write the songs that we’d like to hear. I think it is fair to say that we do love dancing and having a good time so that definitely bleeds into our songs.
“What would a future that looks back on this current era with nostalgia and reverence look and sound like? That’s our starting point…”
LETV: As far as musical influences are concerned, who does the band look to sonically for inspiration? Additionally, art and fashion seem to play an important role in the band’s style. Who inspires you in those realms?
Luke Correia-Damude: Well, first and foremost, our producers. Shawn Everett on the first album and Tom McFall on the new EP. Both of these guys felt like the fifth member of the group during the recording sessions and, as such, we trusted both of them completely to co-pilot the musical vision of the band. As our name suggests, it’s a vision of a future that peers backwards into the present. It’s been said that the current era contains all the cultural tropes of history, existing simultaneously. What would a future that looks back on this current era with nostalgia and reverence look and sound like? That’s our starting point. When we play these songs for people we are performing and it seems that the performative element seems to get lost in a lot of live music engagements these days. We like dressing up, moving our bodies and making an impact on the audience. When people work at an office they put on a suit. When we play a dazzling, high energy gig we dress accordingly.
LETV: While so much has changed in the music business over the last twenty years, in your experience as a band, have things like social media and platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and YouTube made it easier for groups to find success—or is the reality more of an empty promise?
Luke Correia-Damude: I don’t think many people really understand the music business, even the music business doesn’t understand the music business. The rise of digital platforms and social media blindsided everyone except the early adopters and now we’re all trying to figure it out. The future of music turned out to be totally different then it was in the Grunge era when we were coming of age. That’s where we grew up. MTV was the big conglomerate promoting the biggest acts, the top 1% of music if you will and going to your local record shop or your friends’ house was where you went to discover new music, the stuff they didn’t play on the radio. That’s really informed our musical sensibilities.
There are obvious benefits to this digital sharing renaissance, like the democratization of art and the ease in which you can own it. That’s the gift the internet gave us, but, like anything truly open and free, it’s only a matter of time before companies learn how to tilt the table towards themselves. On the other hand, we have fans in other parts of the world that likely wouldn’t know we existed if we were back in the MTV era. And we can all go back and forth between these two positions all day long, because it’s a difficult and dense conversation, and, learning to live comfortably in the grey is probably well advised #FuturePeers. All we ask is that if you really like an artist and you steam their music all the time take a moment to buy their music online. Even better, go see their show when they come through town and buy a record out of their sweaty hands.
LETV: Last month you guys released a really awesome video for the track “Didn’t I Deny” directed by Ryan Thompson. Looks like it was quite the production! In addition, you have a new video for “Madonna Trash” directed by Bill Allinson and Andy Friesen. How did those videos come together and how important is video production to the band’s aesthetic?
Luke Correia-Damude: We have found that music videos have been really important for fleshing out our aesthetic on a whole. These videos breath new life into the songs. It is a way to have the music live in a different medium and you can gain perspective on the music you write by collaborating with filmmakers and artists. Their take on your work can be really refreshing and insightful. It also feels really good to work with artists in different mediums. We have formed a real bond with Ryan Thompson and we look forward to working with him again on our next project. Similarly, we have had Andy make two music videos for us and both have been incredible. I love expanding our community and working with people on creative projects. There is a real mutual respect and admiration that occurs when you work alongside great people. Mike and I both work in film production so it is a passion that we share with the directors of these videos.
LETV: Thanks for taking some time to answer questions about the band and your upcoming release! I’m sure you guys must be pretty excited to be putting out “I’m Sorry.” What kind of plans do you guys have for wrapping up 2018 and celebrating the EP’s release?
Luke Correia-Damude: We are really excited to let this dove fly free! It’s always a relief to release something you’ve been working on for a while. We’ve done a little tour surrounding the release including Halifax, Fredricton, Montreal, Guelph, Sarnia, and Toronto. We play our hometown release on November 8th in Toronto at Sneaky Dees. This was one of the hot venues back in the early 2000s so we thought it would be a really fun throwback. After the release, we are going to focus on some writing and gear up for our first European tour in the spring of 2019. This is a real bucket list type thing for us. I can’t wait to travel around Europe playing music for people!