Die Mannequin back with a vengeance

Above: Care Failure (vocalist) and Anthony Bleed (bassist)

     Meet Die Mannequin. These punk-rock Toronto natives are finishing up their Canadian ‘Danceland Tour’ and have recently starred in the Canadian film, ‘Hard Core Logo 2’ (a mockumentary directed by Bruce McDonald). As the cherry on top of all their success thus far, their new nine-track EP, ‘Danceland’ will be released on Tuesday June 12^th.

      The album is compiled of previously recorded and unreleased tracks, and a live song ('Suffer'). Lead vocalist, Care Failure, reveals, “This album is unique in a way because it’s made up of stuff we thought would be left unheard. It’s music that was being locked up in the Die Mannequin closet, which is now coming out. It was basically a cool accident. This record also has a harder approach compared to previous ones.”

Above: The cover of the 'Danceland' EP

     As they face the hardship of a record label change, they are forced to not release any new material [just yet].  It would take six months to a year of being signed to do so as part of a contractual agreement– which Care felt was an awkward timeline for new music to be released, “If it were up to me, I’d say that new material would be out by tomorrow! This is why we released Danceland now so we didn’t keep our fans waiting any longer.”

     A lot of the music on the EP coincides with Hard Core Logo 2. For instance, ‘Candide’ is the title track in the credits and ‘Orson Welles + 2012’ is central to an important scene in the film wherein Care is 'channelling' the spirit of Joe Dick (the main character of the first Hard Core Logo film). However, certain songs have other inspirations. "Tony's song, 'Just Go Away', is about narcotics and girls. Pretty straightforward," Care laughs. 'The Other Tiffany' was inspired by a combination of a couple of things, "You know that photo with Caroline Kennedy on a horse? It's pretty creepy. That inspired it, and the song 'Sweet Caroline' by Neil Diamond," she says as she pleasantly hums the song.

     A lot of lines are blurred regarding the movie and reality, since many similarities exist. Peter Moore, who has worked with Neil Young and Diana Krall, plays Simon Less in the film and does Die Mannequin’s mixing and engineering both in the movie and in real life, which some people tend to find confusing. The band found that Danceland (the place, four hours south of Regina) was a memory in itself while filming Hard Core Logo 2 and recording music. Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly are amongst the greats who have played there - and now, Die Mannequin. "The way it's seen in the movie is how it looked when we showed up. Set and props were pretty much done: taxidermy on the walls and the strange feel it gave. It's not really a typical place for song writing and recording either," Care states.

    But the life of a rock star is not all that it's cracked up to be. As the lead singer of the band, Care needs to be responsible with her voice since it is her instrument. "I'm like the granny! I don't have many days off, but when I do, I usually go back to sleep at the hotel. But I do hear stories from the others," she begins. "Right now we are touring with Dearly Beloved. The drummer Andrew, who is usually quiet, was banging on the door of me and Tony's motel room early in the morning. Apparently the night before, while he was out drunk at night, the cops roughed him up. He made them drive him back to our blue tour van, and the literally kicked him out and left him there." 

     On the contrary to this madness, Care says that the band usually experiences routine on tour and there isn't too much time for site seeing. Die Mannequin is also on a rather busy schedule, having 2-3 shows a week.

     Fortunately, they are in Toronto on June 15th, for all you lucky Torontonians! They are performing at the Mod Club with Dearly Beloved (19+ show). Be sure to catch them there!

 

Anthony Bleed and Care Failure were a pleasure to talk to. Big thank you to Die Mannequin for their time!