Music

HIGH FIVES: Moneen

by Sam Sutherland

Every week, High Fives asks five bands five themed questions over five days. This week, we’re continuing to prepare for the Great Holiday Onslaught by talking about holidays, tobogganing, and themed movie marathons.

Without hyperbole, my favourite show of my all-important high school punk rock formative years (I obviously mean ‘painfully emo’) was seeing Moneen play the release show for Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now? at a packed Brampton church. It was everything I had believed that music could be – massive sounding, but binding and intimate at the same time. Moneen have continued to embody that era of best-ness, evolving sonically past their aggressive post-emo roots and producing some stellar punk-influenced, mathematic rock and roll in the process, at the same time moving from the suburban church basements of their early career to the bigger, brighter stages of the world. It’s been a worthy transformation – frontman Kenny Bridges once broke his ankle jumping from a monitor mid-show, finished the set and went to the hospital after – and the band is prepared to bring it all back home this Thursday with a holiday show at Toronto’s Horsehose Tavern.

Do you celebrate any holidays during The Holidays?

Yes, I celebrate the holidays being a holiday. The day we forget that we have holidays will be the day we stop holidaying. The true passion of the human soul is to get to holiday for the sake of holidaying. I will never take that for granted.

What is the best holiday song, or holiday record?

I once recorded Halloween music using our old bass player screaming about fishing and digging holes. In the background was me falling down stairs and crying. So I would say that is my favorite holiday song. Halloween’s a holiday, right?

Forced to program a day-long marathon consisting of only one holiday movie (like they do with A Christmas Story every year), what film would you choose, and why?

Well, this year I’m starting what will be a long standing tradition of watching Star Wars every Xmas. I haven’t worked out the details yet, but it will involve Arizona Ice Tea, Doritos and an 8 month-old baby. Oh my god, that sounds terrible. He is my son… and he is excited about Star Wars, I swear.

Were you ever forced to dress up in a particularly adorable / foolish way as a child around this time of year?

Lisa makes me dress like Jim Carey and give her marshmallows. Not Jim Carey from any particular movie, but just Jim Carey going to get milk. And it’s never usually around Xmas either.

Is tobogganing a great way to spend your time over the holidays, or the greatest?

Yesm the greatest!!! I love going down hills and eventually breaking my body. It’s like swimming. Hate swimming. But love jumping in the water. So, who likes sitting on a plastic sled in your garage? Put it on a snowy hill and you are as happy as a happy guy on happy day.

I once snow boarded down Chrysler Hill while plotting to steal newly manufactured cars and hit a sweet jump landing right on my head giving myself a minor concussion. I ended the night crying in a corner bashing my head against the floor. Sweet jump though.

How over this are you?

This interview? Over it before it started. You know I only like to do interviews with you in person.