It's all in the itty bitty details
Winnipeg pop-rockers The Details have managed to do all of that since 2006, making them look less like your typical Canadian band and a lot more like the couple down the hall who fast-tracked it to a live-in relationship—the exception being that The Details sound less like 3 AM squabbling and more like the Decemberists fronted by a 20-something Robert Smith. And apparently, they’re quite content living with one another.
“I think now we’re starting to feel like we’ve found a bit more of a groove,” says guitarist Sean Vidal. “When we did the album we had only been a band for a little over a year, so that still felt kind of newish—but the record has been out for a year now, so we’ve had a chance to write some new stuff. We were all familiar with one another, but the four of us had never played together.”
When Vidal and fellow guitarist/former bandmate Jon Plett pooled their talents with friends Keli Martin and Shaun Gibson in 2006, they began rehearsing and rifled off an EP entitled Marching Sound (which, as its title suggests, offers a heavier sound than 2007’s pared-down full-length Draw A Distance. Draw A Border.) Since then, the spanking new band has leapt into the rigmarole of working musicians: headlining shows, making TV and radio appearances, and the like.
“I think our motto from the start was that we never really want to stop,” Vidal admits. “We played our first show and recorded our EP the next weekend, and at that point we were ready for our album. Two months after that we recorded our album. We haven’t really stopped touring, and we haven’t been without a plan. I don’t know that we really want to slow down too much,” he laughs, “it’s fun to keep going!”
The Details’ comet-like ride even propelled them to March’s SXSW festival in Austin, alongside acts like My Morning Jacket, Band Of Horses, and Be Your Own Pet, among the hundreds of others. Oddly enough, it was fellow Canadian’s who made the experience worthwhile.
“We played on the first night, which was kind of fun, because we had the rest of the week to explore other bands. Ironically enough, we basically only watched Canadian bands that we knew of already, so we didn’t really discover anything new, but we had a really good time down there.”
Despite the warm reception of both Draw A Distance. Draw A Border. and their performance at SXSW, the band are now turning their attention to keeping the momentum that made the last two years a success. As with any relationship, it’s a matter of keeping things exciting.
“We’re going to take the summer to write and go back out once or twice in the fall. That’s about as far ahead as we’re thinking at this point.”
“The problem is just finding enough time to actually learn things as a band because it seems like as soon as we have a few weeks off, we’re getting ready for something else—that’s kind of frustrating,” chuckles Vidal. “We’d like to have more time to practice and learn some new stuff.”
