Broken Bricks

FERNTV

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Sometimes the most strangest encounters can lead to the most delightful things. This can be said for Toronto’s own psychedelic rock band Broken Bricks who have been tearing down walls since their days at school. Their debut album “Pasquale” was dropped a couple of years ago which has been working out to their advantage ever since. Now because of their original sound that has been compared to that of The Kinks in addition to their witty performances, Broken Bricks are ready to play their music on a larger scale during Canadian Music Week. Staying true to themselves as well as their music, the formula for their success is definitely on track. Ironically, there is nothing to be fixed for the Broken Bricks because nothing is broken. FERNTV caught up with Marlon Chaplin and Luke Kuplowsky to talk a bit about their music and their take on who the Lonely Vagabond actually is?

FERNTV: Do you guys remember your first jam was together and can you tell us where it was and was then when Broken Bricks was formed?

Marlon: It happened at school, at the arts school that we went to. We didn't quite know each other at the time but it was a quiet time in the hallway, and I was roaming the halls aimlessly with an acoustic guitar in hand, as I usually did at that time. I heard from one of the classrooms a harmonica, and so I decided to inquire. I walked in playing some fast folk thing I think it was, and we just locked in together. It was definitely the first time I'd had a first meeting like that before, because we didn't speak and I just walked out playing. About a month later, I'd just left my old band and decided to ask Luke if he wanted to join my as of yet un-named, one man band.

Luke - I recall somewhere in that jam playing a stripped down Ziggy Stardust cover. An odd but fortunate sign.

FERNTV: Are you happy with the feedback you have been getting with your album "Pasquale" and was it difficult to put this album together?

Marlon - The feedback has been mostly in our favour. I don't mind reading anything about us or our record as long as whoever's written it has done their homework and has actually listened to our music, listened to our band, that's all that I ask. Beyond that they're entitled to their own opinion, and it's been interesting so far. 'Pasquale' took a very long time, but you wouldn't know it would you? The whole thing was done on an 8 track Tascam console and we didn't use any computer programs or any cut and paste techniques. It was recorded in a kitchen with a couple of old dogs hanging around barking a lot, so it had its challenges.

Luke - For the most part, all the tracks on Pasquale were recorded by Marlon and I. For this reason the recording was a somewhat lengthy and difficult Frankenstein Monster of Overdubs. Nevertheless, it was an amazing learning experience and I was surprised at the wonderful sounds we were able to create.

FERNTV: What is it like to be compared to The Kinks.

Marlon - It's not at all bad being that we've been compared to the Kinks, for the time being. For this record we've put out, it's quite a great compliment to be compared to them. There is so much music out there and so many songwriters and songs, and bands, and albums that all anybody can do anymore is compare bands to other bands and music to other music, it seems. We're at a time when independent music is so accessible that so much more can be exposed. The world twenty, thirty, forty years ago was living in a brand new land at the time with all of these musical revolutions happening. Now we live in a dense, heavily over-run jungle. But if we're still being compared to them on the second, third album, that's when we'll have a problem in Broken Bricks land.

Luke -The Kinks have one of the most versatile and truly brilliant catalogues of all time, so to be compared to them is incredibly flattering. I was raised on their music and for that reason their influences are inescapable in my song writing. I think it’s perfectly natural to write in the tradition of artists you love, though its habit I’m trying to wean off of.

FERNTV: Do you think the city of Toronto have been craving this type of music for a while and now have finally found it through your band?

Marlon - I think to some extent that could be true, I don't know really. I think people generally are always craving something real. People respond to us and our live act mostly because we are nothing but true. No show is ever the same, and we wouldn't want it to be. I think human beings no matter what the medium, can sense falseness right off the bat whether it be instinctually, in their subconscious, it doesn't matter. The city right now is swimming in a sea of indie hipster shit, and that type of thing will always be around, that element of fad. But the unfortunate part of the story for the people looking for something in that whole scene is that the wide majority of those bands just don't mean it and therefore will die a quick and painless death.

Luke - I feel incredibly out of touch with what Toronto wants or needs. However, I believe the songs Marlon and I write are good songs and I’d like to think that good music is always welcome in Toronto.

FERNTV: How do you feel about your upcoming performance at CMW?

Marlon - We don't know. It could be an immense gig with all the right faces there, or it could be a dive dead end. I'm looking forward to playing Canadian Music Week either way, we've never done it. We're playing at the Central on March 11th.

Luke - I think of CMW as a firm handshake to some new friends.

FERNTV: Do you guys know the Lonely Vagabond?

Marlon - Lonely Vagabond is someone almost everyone I know has met except me. Or at least they all say they have. I hear he lives in a concrete bunker in the backyard of a former circus family. All he owns is a laptop and a Metro pass.

Luke - He’s a super computer that aligns exuberant adjectives with obscure musical references.

www.myspace.com/brokenbricksoffical

www.sonicbids.com/brokenbricks4