Odonis Odonis || „Doing this collab EP was great to have lots of different creative processes with each artist.”

Rolling post-punk energies, pulsating madness and liberating hardness. On September 28, Odonis Odonis, a Canadian electronic industrial group, will exercise the part of our brain responsible for hearing. Before the show we asked them about the band history, the songwriting processes and about their new EP, titled ICON.

Let’s start from the beginning. What made you want to pursue a career in music? What was the purpose behind founding Odonis Odonis? What challenges did you have to face during the band’s formation?

I’ve always been compelled to make music since I was a kid. It has been my rock and best friend in the hardest times. Odonis Odonis started as a bedroom project after I left my previous band Ten Kens. I ended up teaming up with Chris Slorach from Metz and he helped me piece together a live band after we got signed to Fat Cat Denholm Whale and we’ve been collaborating ever since.

Where did the name Odonis Odonis originate from?

It’s not an amazing story. My ex gf was a pharmacy technician and she would list off interesting names that would come across her desk. She said Odonis Odonis one day and we started laughing couldn’t believe it was a first and last name. It kind of just stuck after that.

You’ve been a band for over 10 years, and during that time, you’ve experimented with various genres including post-punk, EBM, industrial, shoegaze, pop, and surf rock. In which genre do you feel you’ve been able to express yourselves the best?

I think it’s all relative to what type of music we are interested in at the time of making the record. Early on it was definitely rooted in punk, shoegaze and surf rock but there was always electronics involved. Eventually the electronics replaced a lot of the guitars but it was very organic. It really just depends on what headspace we are and what inspires us in the moment.

What accomplishment in the band’s history are you most proud of? A particular concert, album, song, or musical recognition?

Opening up for Front 242 was a pretty awesome concert. More recently opening up for Molchat Doma and getting a Juno nomination last year were some recent highlights. We’ve definitely been fortunate to be able to play with a lot of artists we are fans/friends with over the years. As far as records I am really happy with how spectrums turned out overall. I think it’s a strong record and I’m happy with how it came together.

Your EP titled ICON was released in June. What emotions and associations are connected to the new tracks?

Since the tracks were made in a very collaborative way they kind of took on different meanings depending on who we were working with. I like leaving the meanings up to the audience to create for themselves.

As ICON shows, collaborating with other artists is not unfamiliar to you. Is there a collaboration you dream of?

I’d still love to work with some old school goth/Industrial projects like NIN, Ministry, The Cure but I think doing a collaboration with someone like Danny Brown or Jpegmafia would be pretty fun and probably more interesting. We have already been working on some ideas for ICON II , so we’ll see what comes together.

What does your songwriting process look like? Where do you draw inspiration from? What roles do each of you play in the songwriting process?

The process is always evolving and I’m a believer in challenging yourself and breaking habits and setting limitations to create. I usually come up with the demo ideas and bring them to Denholm but sometimes we will just set up gear and do some mushrooms and get a fully formed track out of it. I also really love having movies on in the background with the sound off when creating. A lot of horror movies or visually stimulating material. Doing this collab EP was great to have lots of different creative processes with each artist.

How would you describe the interaction and connection with the audience during a concert? How do you experience these moments?

It can be some of the most rewarding experiences when you click with an audience. Having done this for a while now it becomes a little easier to connect and let go in the moment. I used to have intense stage fright when I was younger and now it’s totally gone. It can be a borderline spiritual experience where you kind of lose yourself in the moment. I still to this day find it strange that you have these intense experiences yet I usually rarely remember any of it. It can almost feel like a dream where it’s so vivid right after you come off stage but you totally forget what happened a few days later.

This isn’t your first time touring in Europe. Have you noticed any differences in the reception between Canadian and European audiences? Where are people more receptive to your message?

We’ve always loved playing Europe and we’ve really missed playing there. Europe was the first place to embrace us and we’ve always been grateful for that. It’s hard to compare the two but Europe in the past just felt like they had more of an overall appreciation for art. We are playing a lot of new markets on this tour and since it’s been a few years since we’ve played I really don’t know what to expect. Regardless, we are going to have fun.

You’ll be concluding your European tour in October. What other plans do you have for the future?

We are working on more material for either a full length or Ep’s singles for next year. We are hoping to come back to Europe next year and do some touring in the US/ CAD. We are letting things play out more organically these days so we’ll see where the chips fall but we have a lot of songs we are sitting on atm.