Buddy's got issues

>> Rosebuddy's Neil Briffett lets it all out

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Talk about tenacity. After six years of self-destructing indie labels and frustrating stop-starts, local emotive raunch-pop trio Rosebuddy are bound to have some issues with the snakes-and-ladders game of Canadian indie rock. Hence the new EP called Issues. The Mirror contacted singer/guitarist Neil Briffett, and between crying jags and manic tantrums, he issued some answers.



Mirror: As the only original Rosebuddy member, with a different lineup on the new CD, do you have issues with your former bandmates?

Neil Briffett: Au contraire. Still friends and all. Kris Wagner is still in Montreal. Rod Bonet shuffled off to Brazil--I think he had weather issues.

M: Likewise, this is what, your third or fourth label change? Have you dealt with your issues relating to the short lifespan of indie labels?

NB: Third, but who's counting? First one collapsed under the weight of its own hubris. The second one was more of a vanity label than a "label" label. The present one, No, is actually the first label to pay for something, so no issues there. How do we "deal" with it? Alcohol and denial, natch.

M: The musical landscape's changed since you started--the indie explosion has died down, kids today are rap-rockin' it with Korn and Limp Bizkit and that there bass 'n' drum music. What issues do you have with kids and their music today?

NB: Well, we're not like the Smashing Pumpkins, whining that they only sell two instead of five million albums nowadays. Actually, we do have issues with Korn, who stole our EP title. As for the kids, anyone 17 and pimply needs a soundtrack for their own issues.

M: What, never even a spot on Rita MacNeil's show? C'mon, you must have issues with Rita.

NB: Actually, our last time out east, we got a photo of us in front of Rita's Tea Room, a dive she owns, so that counts for something. Getting cancelled, she must've had issues with the CBC.

M: Shoulda asked this first. Do you have issues with discussing your issues?

NB: Only regarding the porn mags. Never can have enough issues of that!

With Chino and Howling Mind Glide at Club Zone on Friday, Aug. 18, 9pm