Oh, dear

>> The big time catches the Dears off guard

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

After releasing their gem of a debut album last June, and staging a stunning show at Cabaret to launch it, local tortured pop ("romantique") stars the Dears have gained a reputation as one of Canada's leading live acts. Before taking a well-deserved break to get psyched up for a new round of recording and touring, the band will play one last show on their home turf. The Mirror sat down with the Dears' frontman Murray Lightburn to discuss how his band ended up in the spotlight.

Mirror: You're famous now. Explain yourself.

Murray Lightburn: Since the CD launch it's been a bit of a whirlwind. The last time we were in Toronto, there was a lot of hype. It was so stressful that I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to deal with that kind of nonsense on a regular basis, but all is forgiven once we're on stage. We've been playing lots of shows and the band has become a real live force.

M: Your video for "This Is a Broadcast" must be helping too. Claude Rajotte loves you guys.

ML: Yeah, it's because of him and our video being played that we're selling records in remote parts of Quebec like Rimouski and Trois-Rivières where we've never been and don't know a soul. It's surreal. We're filming another video next weekend, for "End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story," and we also just finished filming "Heartless Romantic," which should be out next week. The life of that video will be short, but that's fitting because I don't want it out there very long. The song is a little bit harsh--we haven't played it live since the launch.

M: Will the stage set-up for this show be as mammoth as the last one?

ML: There's only gonna be about 10 or 11 people on stage--there were 16 or 17 last time. We decided to drop the string section because it's a logistical nightmare. I really just wanna have fun. I don't wanna stand there conducting my ass off.

With Julie Doiron at Café Campus, Thursday, Nov. 23, 7:30pm, $8