Kevin Barnes Might Hide Behind A Large Person In Toronto

Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes knows nothing about Toronto's Over the Top Festival. But when friend and fest founder Eric Warner invited him to play it, Barnes couldn't say no.

"It's fun to get out of the studio for a day and do some performing," says Barnes. "I think it's good for me to get out, since I've been such a recluse as of late and my whole life."

Barnes is keeping to himself in his attic recording studio, where he's putting together Of Montreal's Skeletal Lamping album that's due in the fall. But after deciding to part with his comfort zone for a weekend, Barnes will play a rare solo acoustic set to close the festival on a bill with Peter And The Wolf at The Mod Club on Sunday.

"It's going to be just me and a guitar," he says. "I enjoy performing like that sometimes.

"It can be a fun challenge. It can also be sort of terrifying, with no one behind [me]. Maybe I'll bring someone really large with me, and stand them in front of the stage, just in case I do feel the need to hide behind something."

But Barnes doesn't seem worried about what he'll perform.

"I haven't created a set list yet," he says. "I'll probably wait until I'm on the plane to do that."

Aside from recording the Of Montreal album, Barnes says he doesn't do much these days. But he's rediscovered an old hobby — fast-pitch baseball — and joined a league close to his home in Athens, Ga.

"I used to play a lot of sports in my youth, but I haven't done anything competitive like that in a while," he says. "Should be interesting. I just hope my teammates are not all a bunch of insane rednecks."

Barnes plans to tour Canada with Of Montreal in the fall after the album comes out. They'll most likely visit Montreal and Toronto in October or November, but he also hopes to hit Vancouver and other cities. When thinking about his times in Canada, Barnes recalls a memory familar to that of many Americans who grew up near the border.

"When I was 17, my friends and I borrowed someone's parents' car and we drove from Detroit to Windsor to go to this bar. It was my first bar experience. We had these fake IDs and, for some insane reason, the bartender accepted them. We all got drunk, shot darts and ate pickled eggs. That last part stands out the most. We made it back home and never got busted by the cops or our parents. Good times."