Video Games And A Lot More Go Into DD/MM/YYYY's Music

The idea of Nintendo as creative inspiration first surfaced when Arcade Fire's Regine Chassagne began playing the Super Mario Bros theme during onstage technical glitches. Toronto's DD/MM/YYYY are influenced by the game, too, says Matt King, who sings, drums and plays the buchla synthesizer in the band.

"Personally, I never actually had a Nintendo, but I know those [DD/MM/YYYY] guys grew up being video game nerds and I grew up my whole life with Nintendo around me. I had a Sega. It's just something that's been a major experience on our lives, playing video games, and there's the sound that comes along with it. It kind of permeates your brain and it's kinda hard to escape sometimes.

"Actually, I have the final music from Mario 3 going through my head constantly these days — the part when he's falling down. I'm trying to replicate that somehow."

Incorporating video game sounds wouldn't be much of a stretch for DD/MM/YYYY, who also include Mike Claxton, Tomas Del Balls and Jordan Holmes. Their first full-length is divided into two distinct categories. The first, dubbed The Blue Screen Of Death, is 15 minutes of art-school indie rock. The remainder, The Journey To And Escape From The Fortress Of The Fluffy Love Cloud, is a sprawling collection of noise and ambience that King describes as "just songs that we put together without any real purpose."

The songs recall six months that the band spent living in an east end Toronto loft, a big, empty room they called The Fortress Of The Fluffy Love Cloud. But they were evicted when the city turned the building from a commercial space into an authentic luxury loft.

"When we finished the recording of the Blue Screen Of Death part, the first eight songs, we thought it would be good to have the one piece in the beginning and then have this document of how we were living together and the music that we just kind of created spontaneously," King explains.

"I think it's kind of a nice contrast. The first half will get you pumped up or whatever, make you go crazy, and then the second half will put you to sleep. It's good background music — good headphone music."

Living and working together made the band members privy to a lot of musical experimentation. They often switch instruments with each other and play a lot of "random stuff" — including counters, forks, walls and autoharp — that are later assembled to form album tracks.

King says most DD/MM/YYYY members still live near each other despite their eviction, but the change in living arrangements created a noticeable difference in their routine.

"I think it's definitely going to help us focus a lot more and concentrate and really work together to get something cohesive... When we get together, we get together to practice and to work on the songs, not just work on the songs sometimes and sit and play video games the other times."

Here are DD/MM/YYYY's upcoming live dates:

May 4 Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's
May 12 Montreal, QC @ L'esogriffe w/Quebexico
May 13 Ottawa, ON @ Montgomery Legion w/Quebexico
May 14 London, ON @ Embassy w/Aiden
May 24 New Glasgow, NS @ North End Rec Centre
May 25 Halifax, NS @ Gus's Pub w/Sharp Like Knives
May 26 Halifax, NS @ Eone World Cafe w/Sharp Like Knives and Be Bad
May 27 Sydney, NS @ Polish Village
May 28 Sackville, NB @ Struts Gallery w/Sailboats Are White
May 31 Guelph, ON @ Ebar w/The Junction
June 2 Georgetown, ON @ house show
June 3 Sudbury, ON @ Townehouse
June 7 Winnipeg, MB @ The Collective
June 8 Regina, SK @ TBA
June 9 Saskatoon, SK @ Jazz Basement
June 10 Edmonton, AB @ Oliver Hall
June 16 Calgary, AB @ Weeds Cafe
June 18 Winnipeg, MB @ TBA
June 20 Montreal, QC @ Main Hall w/Favourite Sons
June 21 Toronto, ON @ Rivoli w/Favourite Sons
Aug. 11 Alliston, ON @ Riverdale Park