Exclusives

Our Exclusive Chat with Science is Fiction

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Get ready to meet your new favorite band! Ladies and gents, meet Science is Fiction!

How did the band get together?
Pavan Singh (guitar/vocals) and Kirk(guitar/vocals) had played together in basements since their teens with different lineups. We were too shy to play any shows, but recorded some songs that we sent out anonymously into forums and chat rooms. Pavan moved away and in the meantime, Kirk met Matthew Anderson (drums) and they started playing guitar together. After Pavan’s return from years of living in Europe and India, he showed up at a jam night with some original songs – Matt decided there were too many guitars in the band and switched to drumming, learning the instrument as he went! Shortly after, Pavan introduced Blair Lipkind to the band and they now had a bass player with professional experience in multiple Calgary bands. Due to sleeping kids and increasing volumes we moved out of the basement and started rehearsing at the neighbourhood skate shack and eventually got the nerve up to hit some open mic’s, book some shows and get our EP out to college radio.

What is the story behind your name?
Every night after practice for over a year we would go out for beers and brainstorm band names, but over 300 ideas later we still couldn’t come up with something that everyone liked that wasn’t taken. After switching names every time we played for a while, we entered into the CBC spotlight contest at the last minute, so we needed something permanent. Pavan used his powers as despotic band leader to force an old name he had come up with – Matt hated it so much, that he threatened to quit the band! We usually like to let people make of it what they want (whether that it’s comment on fake news, that we’re conspiracy theorists or creationists, etc.), but it’s maybe something to do with the conflict between the hard science that accurately describes the world we live in and the narratives we create to help us make sense and add meaning to our modern lives.

How would you best describe your sound?
Our general recipe is to start with a neo-1978 guitar riff, come up with some over the top lyrics and a righteous melody sung with vocals registering on the low end of baritone pushed to its limits. Add some backing high-end wailing for depth along with some frenetic rhythm guitar, restless bass riffs, driving drum beats and it’s time to dance. We end up with something familiar, but that takes a bit of a left turn – it maybe sounds like a bit of a mix between the Modern Lovers, Spoon and Parquet Courts.

Who are your biggest musical inspirations?
Pavan: Jimi Hendrix, Jonathan Richman, Pixies, REM, Doors, Thin Lizzy, Kinks, Violent Femmes, B52’s
Kirk: Seeing Prince live in a smaller auditorium back in 2002, Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis, Lil’ Wayne’s 2006-2008 mixtape run
Blair: Grateful Dead, Phish and a heavy Talking Heads influence
Matt: I like B bands – Blue Rodeo, Big Sugar, Black Keys, Big Wreck and uhhh The [B]orthern Pikes

What is your typical songwriting structure?
Pavan: I hear a melody in my head. Usually comes after listening to something amazing, or watching a great film or looking at art, or waking up out of a dream. Record that immediately. Bank it. Start playing guitar to it immediately trying to figure it out on guitar and some chords to match. Hum along throwing out random words and sometimes not so random words. Sometimes something comes out of it right in that moment. Sometimes not. If not revisit later with lyrics from a notebook of funny quotes, sayings, rhyming couplets, prose. Listen it later and make sure I haven’t completely ripped someone else off. Tweak if ripped off. Haha. Repeat. Bring it to band practice and everyone else comes up with their parts, suggestions and complaints to flesh it out into a full song.

Do you have any upcoming shows?
Just in the progress of booking our first out of town gigs, based on the mild college radio buzz the EP has received – we are planning the tour around western Canada over the next few months.

What is your biggest goal as a band? Is there a 5 year plan or something like that?
Record the full album we have written and put it out there. Play some festivals. Play some tours in Europe. Our more general goal is to play with other musicians we admire and bring some joy to people who love live music.

What is your favorite science fiction film?
Top 5:
1. Aliens
2. The Martian
3. Galaxy Quest
4. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
5. There are no other good science fiction movies