Review Fix chats with Pearls & Bones’ Jake Oliveira – Vocals, Lyrics, Harry Warshaw – Production and Keenan Lazich – Guitar, who detail the band’s origin and their new record, Cool Uncles.
About Pearls & Bones:
Pearls & Bones is an alternative hip-hop band based out of Toronto and Montreal. The trio write and perform music inspired by discordant influences, from metalcore and PC music to backpack rap and pop-punk. Since forming in 2012, the band has released five EPs and two full-length albums. Their third record, Cool Uncles, culminates a two-year period of technical and aesthetic development just dropped on May 28.
https://soundcloud.com/pearls_bones/sawed-in-half/
Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?
Keenan Lazich: Whether it was being forced to play piano at an early age, being in a hardcore band in high school, or being told the tuba was not a good long term investment, we all had different ways of starting out with music. It wasn’t until university that we all found each other and our collective interest in multiple genres of music inspired us to write together to see what came out. Year after year our songs have become a stronger amalgamation of our three very different personalities and we can continue to refine it today.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Harry Warshaw: Our creative process usually starts with a small idea, whether that’s a melody, a guitar riff, a lyric, or even just a song title. From there we’ll get together and Jake and Keenan will sit in silence while Harry fleshes out the idea into something that usually sounds nothing like what the other two had in mind, but is dope regardless. Then it’s a lot of back and forth, recording and re-recording parts until we get to the “curing†stage and let the track sit for 1 week to 2 yearsbefore final edits, mix, and master.
Review Fix: What inspires you?
Jake Oliveira: We’re inspired by lamb barbacoa, laggy zoom writing sessions, the Bee Movie, and botched
home renovations.
Review Fix: What does music mean to you?
Lazich: Like most people, music is an escape and a way to express ourselves with the mutual goal of enjoyment and pushing ourselves artistically. And if you listen to some of the music we listen to, it’s also a great way to make your parents think you haven’t grown up at all.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
Oliveira: Pearls & Bones sounds like a hacksaw attached to the arm of one of those Boston Dynamics robots while it slices through a pack of Kraft Singles. There is sheer adrenaline in the form of sharp lyricism, futuristic and cutting edge production, and guitar work that is slick and melts your damn soul.
Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?
Warshaw: It used to be that our live shows were the only place you could hear Keenan play guitar. But now we’ve convinced him to plug the ol Line 6 Pod into his computer and record his parts. We like to adapt our live show to the audience, so we’ll often play covers or change parts of our songs to make the performance feel fresh and tailored.
Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?
Oliveira: Our latest single “Sawed In Half†was inspired by Kill Bill’s bloody casualties and hyper-saturated colours. We wanted to touch on a pop-punk sound without leaning too hard into some of the lyrical tropes. We decided it’d be a cool challenge to write a track that sounds sugar sweet and easily approachable, but is packed with gnarly visuals. Just your standard run of the mill slasher slapper – split ligaments, haymaker punches, and being cut in half. The works.
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2021?
Lazich: Besides being able to get a haircut at some point, we want to use the momentum from Cool Uncles to continue to build the P&B name in the independent music scene. We hope to return to playing live shows and showcasing our music for new people. It also isn’t out of the question that we will have our next album fully written by the end of the year.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Warshaw: We’re working on a ton of new music. We feel we’ve really hit the sweet spot with our current sound and we’re going all in on it. The new music is heavy, viby, and makes Harry do his “ew gross†grimace everytime (which is good).
Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?
Go stream Cool Uncles now! We need them pennies! Also, get at us on Instagram @pearls_bones and on Facebook
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