by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Last time we checked in on Toronto's Hidden Cameras, the "gay folk church music" collective had been studied and celebrated all over the Canadian press, even before signing to Rough Trade Records and releasing their stunning, spirited debut album, The Smell of Our Own. Now it's happening in the U.K., where the Cameras have staged their sprawling communal dance parties to rapturous response and been named among a perceived new wave of cool Canadian bands. Singer-songwriter Joel Gibb has already wrapped the sophomore LP, Mississauga Goddamn (out this spring), and show-going Montrealers will get a preview this weekend, including the band's brand new single, "The Fear Is On." In light of Hidden Cameras songs like "Ban Marriage" and their recent theme concert, the "Let Coupledom Die Show," the Mirror and Gibb talked gay wedlock.

Mirror: So why Mississauga Goddamn?

Joel Gibb: That's where I spent my formative years. I hope it'll become a Mississauga classic. We tend to gravitate toward American iconography for geographical references, California and New York, banal clichés that don't mean anything anymore, and it's always considered a bit lame to reference Canadian things.

M: Hawksley Workman mentioned that recently. He wants to romanticize Canadian cities.

JG: I definitely don't want to romanticize, I want to criticize.

M: On that note, I've got to ask you about gay marriage.

JG: Well, it's cool that Canada's on the forefront of that because it reflects the progressive nature of our culture, but the whole cause is quite lame.

M: So you would never consider getting married.

JG: Oh, I'd love to, but only to bring some foreign man into the country, to use it for selfish means. No, I can't imagine doing it in a sincere way. The whole idea of marriage is outdated now, its meaning has been degraded considering what it means to be a family, what it means to be in a union in our culture these days.

M: I suspect that a lot of straight people only do it for the financial benefits.

JG: Yeah. It's a shame that the people who are good looking and normal acting enough to get a boyfriend or girlfriend get to benefit from that. It's almost discrimination against social outcasts and ugly people. Not only do they not fall in love but they're kind of economically penalized - that's a cynical way of looking at things. I only say that 'cause I'm trying to speak for single people. It's nice to be a little cynical about couples 'cause they're annoying sometimes. "Let Coupledom Die" really comes down to that, the petty things, like people making out on a bus, dressing the same, flaunting their coupledom.

M: Well, we'll see what Paul Martin does with gay marriage. It's kind of in limbo now, like marijuana.

JG: Oh, I can't wait for that. I can't wait for America to put sanctions on us.

A poke in the Queer Eye

M: With all the gay marriage debate, a lot of homophobic proclamations are coming out of churches. Where do Baptists stand?

JG: Baptists are completely homophobic but it was unspoken in the church I went to. There was a new wave of young Baptists who were still quite conservative but it was more important for them to praise God and be humble. They weren't so concerned with specific rules and regulations and teachings. There was actually a whole old-school contingent that left the church because of a push to get a pastor who wasn't homophobic - that was an issue. So it wasn't the most welcoming environment to be gay in, but it's so easy to knock the church when secular society is just as horrible and disgusting. High school is a much worse environment for a gay teen than a church, especially a progressive Anglican church. But I'd love to know what high school's like now, 10 years later. Our culture is so gay - how can you really make fun of it when you're going home to watch Will & Grace with your family?

M: How about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?

JG: Oh, right. I saw one episode - it's pretty stupid. I don't think their style and grooming suggestions are that great and they're not even funny, they're just perpetuating really lame stereotypes. To me, they typify this evil, insecure aspect of our culture, an obsession with cosmetics and cleanliness. They represent that more than they represent any kind of gay-positive media PR-ing. Those guys just aren't cool. At all.

With Two Minute Miracles and Parka 3 at le Swimming on Saturday, Dec. 13, 10pm, $12

>> Music Listings