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Never Netherland >> Local musician David Sanders gets the Rotterdam blues by TERRENCE McCAVOUR
David Sanders: I don't do interviews. I leave that to all those "kiddie bands." You know what? Never trust nice musicians, nice singers--except the blues people. Blues people are okay. But none of the rock-star types, never trust 'em. Mirror: Why not? DS: 'Cause if they're nice, they're not genuine. They're all pricks, man, all the real good ones are pricks ... M: So what happened in Rotterdam? DS: January 11th, I landed in Brussels. My guitar was smashed on the plane, the neck was snapped off and my passport was ripped off--this is all Day One--and my hotel didn't exist. It was being renovated. And not much cash on me either. M: What were you doing there? DS: I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Somebody gave me money and a plane ticket and I went. I hadn't slept in a day, so I spent money on another hotel--"Hotel Bienvenue"--great, huh? 78 gilders a night, that's 70 bucks... And they give you breakfast there, too. So what you do is get up really early, and you eat like a pig. Go back to your room, take a shower, read a book, whatever, then go back up and eat again! M: Did you finally get to play or not? DS: Yeah, I played one Turkish afterhours bar. And there's a girl at the bar that kept on going like this (snaps his fingers repeatedly) "Beer!"--everytime, quick as I could drink it. I think she was the owner or friends with the owner. This is Day Four--still depressed out of my mind, right, no money, fucked up. They said come back the next day, they'd take care of me. I never went back. M: Where'd you go? DS: Well, I got some money finally on Day Five. It's good to have parents, saviours. It's very expensive there, but people are cool. Everybody's busy working. Architecture. Bunch of new cars, nothing old. New cars that look like Volkswagens, but they're made by Ford! Drank some wicked beer--Westmall, it's called, or something like that. They have a law where you can buy hash in a café, but no booze. So these smart cats, what they do is open two places: a bar across the street where you can smoke the hash and drink, and the café where you can buy it. The Nightown Café. It's open 'til 6 in the morning. At 3 they open up the back. M: What's in the back? DS: I don't know, some fuckin' techno shit they played, really weird. This fast techno. I don't like techno anyway: if DJs had any balls, they'd play guitar or learn what a B minor is. At least pick up an instrument. You ought to give every one of them a guitar. If they can't play, get the fuck out. That's it. See ya. David Sanders and the Scrolls play Barfly, Friday, March 5, at 10pm with opener Richard Brennen
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Local musican David Sanders recently returned from a trip to Rotterdam with enough fodder to write for another year of rock 'n' roll. The singer, songwriter and photographer has recorded and distributed his own CD, Space Docking and Christo. This interview was conducted by Terrence McCavour and assisted by Gary Sharp, former owner of the G-Sharp bar (now the Barfly) on St-Laurent. We join the interview in progress...