Shimon Karmel

Five Band Members, Only Four “X”s | Hmmm... someone in You Say Party! We Say Die! got shortchanged when they titled their new album XXXX.

YOU SAY PARTY! WE SAY DIE!
w/ Little Girls, Christian Hansen & The Autistics. New City Suburbs (10080 Jasper Ave). Fri, Nov 27 (9pm). Tickets: $10, available at New City, Megatunes, Blackbyrd.

For You Say Party! We Say Die! vocalist Becky Ninkovic, XXXX (YSPWSD’s latest album) is a bit of a saviour. Burnt out from a paralyzing stint of shows and cross-Canada tripping, she felt like her travels had left her with a bit of a distorted soul. Speaking, yes, from the road, she says she’s turned a corner. Focusing on XXXX got her off the pavement and into her head.

“We were on the road all the time and were touring ourselves into the ground,” Ninkovic says. “So, when we started creating XXXX, it was after quite a lot of touring and we’d really run ourselves down, particularly I had run myself down and was dealing with a lot of personal issues. So when I started writing lyrics for XXXX, I tried to capture the journey I went through and the darkness that I was feeling and going through. In doing this, I was finding a lot realizations along the way.

“I think I can only speak my own truth and go with my own experiences,” she continues. “It’s a very liberating, positive experience for me. That is a part of this album too. Finally finding that freedom of feeling to totally express my heart and not hold back at all. I worked out so many personal demons; this album is my way of really breaking out.”

When making an album, the other paramount ingredient besides drive is time — time to slow down and focus, time to pay attention to detail. The difference between XXXX and the rest of YSPWSD’s other albums is that on this occasion they had plenty of it.

“In the past, the albums usually felt like this rushed process and you wished you usually had more time to do a few more takes,” Ninkovic says. “You hear things later on that you wished you would have added or changed. But with this album, we had so much time in the studio that the whole process felt really good from beginning to end. I am really satisfied with the way it turned out.”

And now some insightful silliness for those who want to know more, but are afraid to ask the hard questions.

SEE Magazine: If you could be any man in history, who would you be?

Becky Ninkovic: If I had more time to think about it, I might pick somebody who was more of a social activist or something like that, but I’d have to say Peter Gabriel. I always really loved his ability to be emotionally honest in his songs and yet he was still able to create really awesome music.

SEE: What is your spirit animal?

BN: Definitely for XXXX it’s been the owl. I found a lot of insight symbolized in the owl ... characterizing love and wisdom.

SEE: If you got to choose the way you got to die, how would you like to die?

BN: I hope I’m laughing and really happy.

SEE: Would you rather be able to run fast, breathe underwater, or turn invisible?

BN: Oh! Breathe underwater! I’ve always wanted to be a mermaid. Ever since The Little Mermaid came out when I was in Grade 2, I’ve always had this aching feeling in my heart to live underwater. It was the most romantic idea to me. This is awesome!