To be a rock and not to roll

>> Tricky Woo do it their way

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

Tricky Woo continue to be one of the most prolific and constantly evolving bands in Montreal. While most bands cook up tried and true formulas, the Woo continue to prod the listener with more challenging material on each subsequent release. With their fourth full-length and a mess of EPs, the Woo have proven their longevity. Often criticized for constantly changing the band's sound, the Woo's guitarist and singer Andrew Dickson insists that he's got nothing to apologize for.



Mirror: Has the recent change in members been frustrating or beneficial for the band?

Andrew Dickson: A bit of both. By getting to play with different people, it's easy to keep things fresh and reinvent the language you use to work with the music. Our new keyboardist [Phil Burns] has really added a lot to the sound as he is playing organ as well as having a great singing style. That has obviously opened up the spectrum of writing songs. Our bassist [Ryan Myshrall] has lent a lot of fresh energy, which is really inspirational as well. It can be frustrating, too, because audiences can get freaked out when members leave. For audiences it's more of a visual thing.

M: You've mentioned before that the current sound was always the goal, even when you started out as a garage band.

AD: The definite philosophy from the beginning was to keep the band striving to do something interesting with rock music without succumbing to being a retro thing. At this point it has been a mixture of some vision and some happy and unhappy accidents.

M: Can we expect an even more experimental side to the band in the future?

AD: I think we are heading more towards the roots that make up rock 'n' roll, that being R&B, jazz, country and blues. Being a music fan, you're hearing new things every day and obviously that is going to inspire you as well.

M: You guys were quite the buzz band with a lot of major labels after Sometimes I Cry, and you seem to shun commercial success and move in different directions. Could you attribute that to being a band from Montreal?

AD: That's definitely a big part of it as we can work in relative obscurity while being in Montreal. We are actually a lot less popular here, which is kind of strange but also good because we can come back here and have time to think about what we want to do next. I think hype is a horrible thing as far as being creative goes and I thought hype would've killed the band eventually. I think we practiced some restraint against hype this time around.

M: What direction do you see rock taking?

AD: Hopefully it has gone through the phase of not being the only kind of music people would listen to, to being one of many genres. We have rap, electronica, soul, musique actuelle and so on, and I think that these genres have all kind of fallen into their own compartments, somewhat. I am hoping that the storm is over and rock bands can ignore the hype and start making good music again.

With Blurtonia at la Sala Rossa on Saturday, Dec. 8, 9pm