The Constantines [rank: 528] based on users subscribed

"The Constantines are an indie rock band from Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The band was formed by Steve Lambke, Bryan Webb, Doug MacGregor, and Dallas Wehrle in 1999, following in the wake of the emotional hardcore band Shoulder. Their style has been described as 'art-punk,' and they have been compared to a mixture of bands like The Clash, Fugazi, Bruce Springsteen, and Nick Cave. They relocated to London, Ontario and then to Toronto, where in 2001 they released their self-titled first album, which was extremely popular on campus radio and was nominated for a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album.

In 2002 they released the EP The Modern Sinner Nervous Man. Shine a Light followed in 2003. Will Kidman joined the band before this album. In 2005, they embarked a cross-Canada tour with The Weakerthans, called The Rolling Tundra Revue. Their album Tournament of Hearts is their last official release of Toronto record label Three Gut Records. It was released on September 27, 2005 in Canada, and October 11, 2005 in the United States. In early 2006, they released a vinyl only split-album with The Unintended. The Constantines did four Neil Young covers, while The Unintended did four Gordon Lightfoot songs."

[reproduced or excerpted from the Wikipedia article "The Constantines" and its use is thus licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License]

Bandega Interview with Bryan Webb of The Constantines (April 2008)

Drink wine with The Constantines and laugh at the stars.

Q: How have your shows changed over the years? Has your perspective on performing live changed?
A: The idea when we started was to play as many different types of spaces as possible. That's still part of the mandate. The only thing that's changed is the set lists got longer once we started trying to write rock ballads, and we play less tight with more confidence now. When we were younger, we tried to cover Ride On by AC/DC, but we were to jumpy and uptight, so it sounded terrible. We relearned it a few years ago, and after spending most of our twenties traveling together, we could finally pull it off. We gained some strange sensibility that's particular to long-touring rock musicians.

Q: Describe the most memorable live show you've played.
A: We played a show in southern Italy a few years ago, in an abandoned sports complex. There were dogs running around the building, people smoking crack in the band room and vomiting on the overgrown clay tennis courts. No one knew who the hell we were, and five hundred people came to the show. The promoter put us up in an eighteenth century farmhouse in an olive grove outside the city, where the proprietors made us a five course pasta dinner, and we sat up drinking wine on the roof next to a stone belltower, laughing at the stars.

Q: What venue do you consider to be your "home", where you feel most comfortable, with the crowd and the place itself?
A: I don't know that the rest of the guys would feel this way, but to me it's Call The Office in London, Ontario. I grew up there, and I've been playing shows in that room since I was fifteen. Tony, the manager, recorded my first band's first cassette. The Constantines wrote our first song in a rehearsal space above the bar, and my grandfather saw me perform naked once.

Q: Describe the most enjoyable show you've ever experienced as a fan.
A: The Barmitzvah Brothers and The Mudpuddles at 106 Huron Street in Guelph, Ontario. This was the best show that happened at our house in Guelph. The Barmitzvah Brothers were just tots at the time, and they played in the living room. I'll never forget the sight of six kids laughing in a mess of electronics and toy instruments, playing for a house full of people drinking cheap wine out of bottles and smoking in the window room behind the band. The Mudpuddles played in the basement, with broken keyboards and out-of-tune guitars, and it was one of the heaviest, most inspiring sets I've ever seen. I was sitting between a guitar amp and the furnace, and I'm getting chills just thinking about it now.

Q: You've recently changed labels to Arts & Crafts. What was your reason for a change at this point in your career?
A: We wanted to bring the business back to Canada, and they seemed nice.

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