Do Make Say Think Play LOLA

09/16/08 4:30pm

by Zack Vitiello (CHARTattack)

It's been nearly half a year since Do Make Say Think played a gig. But with the London Ontario Live Arts (LOLA) Festival quickly approaching, the Toronto post-rock collective are dusting off the cobwebs and gearing up for their headlining performance at one of the Forest City's premier cultural showcases.

DMST have yet to experience LOLA, but founding member Ohad Benchetrit is intrigued by the similarities he feels it shares with Guelph, Ont.'s more established Hillside Music Festival.

"The whole vibe of Hillside is so warm and inviting and it just has a great atmosphere. It's always a good time and there’s always great bands playing and everybody enjoys being there. If LOLA is anything like that, I'll be ecstatic."

Much like Hillside, LOLA is a festival dedicated to shining light on local artists. It was founded three years ago by Andrew Francis, who wanted to spread knowledge about London's cultural scene.

"I saw an opportunity to create a forum for contemporary artistic expression that our city really, really needed," says Francis. "LOLA is an opportunity to see amazing artistic output for free in an urban setting that gets people involved in a critical discussion about music and art, and that’s really something that I thought needed to happen."

With all of DMST's core members finally home from their tour-speckled summers with affiliated bands, the group accepted Francis' request to play LOLA.

"It has been a while since we've all been together," says Benchetrit. "When it's been a long time between shows, we actually get hungry for it. We had people in the city, nobody was on tour with other bands, and it just sort of came together."

In addition to the excitement aroused by a live reunion, Benchetrit and company have officially started work on a new DMST album. But don't get too excited just yet, as recording the instrumentations that mark the band's signature style is no simple process.

"We did a small recording session a few weeks ago," explains Benchetrit. "We've got a couple of ideas, and now we’ve got some of them on tape.

"The process from here on could take anywhere from a year to 18 months, but we’re fully committed and we've started the process, so hopefully we’ll be finished the record in the next couple of years."

Sticking to their formula of experimentation and improvisation, DMST tend to enter the studio without a clue and then playfully jam through ideas until something coherent emerges.

"We're all a little older," concedes Benchetrit. "Life can get distracting at this age — maybe other jobs, kids and other things — so for the members to say goodbye to all those other things and focus on this one idea of making a Do Make record takes a bit more commitment than it did when we were younger.

"Sometimes, in order to kick-start the process and get it running, we'll force a record date with no material ready. Hopefully in that process, we come up with ideas and little road maps of points As and Bs. Through this process of trial and error, we weed out what we don’t like and keep what we like, and slowly formulate a song."

Though hearing preview material from the forthcoming album would be a real treat, Benchetrit glumly notes that the new songs are nowhere near ready for public ears.

DMST are perhaps the biggest name on the LOLA bill, along with recent Polaris Music Prize finalists Holy Fuck and Plants And Animals, but Francis says the rest of the lineup will be equally talented.

"Though some of the acts aren't as well known, they are fully capable of hanging with the more established acts in terms of quality and ability. We were looking for the best mix possible, regardless of name recognition. We're not really as name-driven as we are quality-driven."

With such dedication to quality, it’s hard to imagine that LOLA won't soon experience major growth.

"We're prepared to get as big as the community wants us to be," notes Francis. "It's up to people to come out to the shows and support us.

"We don't have any limits. We can keep getting bigger. As long as the quality is there, I'm all for expansion."

LOLA Fest runs from Thursday to Saturday. Do Make Say Think play the Victoria Park Bandshell at 9:45 p.m. on Friday.