CMW 2008: Oh No Forest Fires

02/29/08 3:00pm

Hometown: Toronto, ON
Official Website: www.myspace.com/ohnoforestfires
Members:
Rajiv Thavanathan (vocals/guitar)
Brock Swanek (guitar/vocals)
Matt Del Buono (bass)
Adam Nimmo (drums)

"Members of Five Blank Pages, Most Serene Republic and Fox Jaws walk into The Boat…" isn't the set-up for a punchline only Stille Posters will get, it describes the genesis of Oh No Forest Fires. ChartAttack spoke to the spiky indie rock band's Rajiv Thavanathan to get the lowdown on their upcoming Canadian Music Week appearance.

So, you're about to play the big industry event that is Canadian Music Week. What's the most shameless thing you've ever done to promote your band?
Rajiv Thavanathan: Surprisingly, as a group we've been somewhat dignified about things we've done to promote this band. In previous bands, however, we've all made asses of ourselves in one way or another, be it postering in the freezing cold with no mitts, or having a band name shaved in our chest… I wish I was kidding.

What's the hardest part about being an up-and-coming band?
Getting around. Like, transportation-wise. Getting a van or sometimes two cars together is the biggest pain ever. Also, not having any money and moving from lousy sketchy job to the next lousy sketchy job is always a little hard. Maybe I could apply for the advertising sales position you guys have open. I could shave "Chart!" in my chest hair.

How important is it for your band members to circulate and flirt with the audience before or after the show?
We love it more than anything. We're all really into meeting people and we're also all very talkative and bubbly, so it's a relatively easy thing for us. Now, that said, when we finish a set, we're all soaked in sweat and, often times, various kinds of alcohol. So having a hairy, loud, sweaty, maybe slightly drunk brown guy with a guitar come up to you and be like, "That was fun, let's hug!" is probably more "creepy" than "flirty."

Have you ever stolen from someone else's rider? If so, who was it and what did you take?
Oh God, yes. Who hasn't? My reasoning is that most people don't finish everything they ask for in their rider anyway, and there's starving kids in Africa. I'm not letting a bigger band throw out a half-empty bag of Tostitos, no sir. At our level, it's not like a lot of bands have separate green rooms or anything, anyway. There's lots of sharing and love, so what the hell. I've never stolen beer or anything "fancy" before, though. Just, like, chips and veggies and dip and stuff. Wait, should I even be saying this? Am I gonna get charged with a crime now?

Have you ever been graded before according to ChartAttack.com's Rock 'n' Roll Report Cards?
Oh No Forest Fires hasn't, although I imagine we soon will be… I think all of our previous bands have been graded at some point or another, some with really, really great results, and others apparently a little more lacklustre. This year we're gonna wear our coolest indie shoes, and make sure we get really cool indie haircuts and then we're gonna have lots of "organization" and "cool equipment." Actually, you know what, I can tell you right now what our two greatest strengths and weaknesses will be — use of stage/teamwork and pronunciation/sexiness, respectively.

How did the grade make you feel? Does the idea of being graded bring back bad memories of being in elementary school or high school?
Good grades make people happy, I think. I was always an overachiever when it came to academics. I did really well in school so I never really had any bad memories of that kind of thing. Although it is why so many of my friends/teachers were visibly disappointed when I moved to Toronto to do guitaring instead of, say, medical school.

Have you done anything new or interesting this week?
Well, my new thing is that for 11 days in a row now I've been going for a two mile run outside every day, which is an embarrassingly small distance and should give you some kind of indication how hard it is for me to run around all the time on stage. I'm not very fit. But I'm trying to change that. Also, I like the looks people give me when they see me chugging along in -25 C weather wearing short-shorts and a hoodie. Also, I've recently fallen in love with scrambled eggs on pizza, and tuna mixed with refried beans. Yum!

Oh No Forest Fires play the Horseshoe Tavern on Thursday, March 6 at 2:30 a.m. as part of the annual Chart/Horseshoe/Canadian Music Week showcase.