HAVE LOVE, WILL TRAVEL
The Handsome Furs have been halfway around the world and back. And it shows. The Montreal duo/couple comes along with a stash of on-the-road tales, be they about small-time promoters, dodgy cops or getting lost in Saigon - all of it just side effects of bringing their music to an international audience. Having just released their Eastern Europe-lovin’ sophomore Face Control, Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner made their way to our tiny city recently for a hot showcase and to chat us up on the merits of travelling light.

So how have Asian crowds been treating you Furs?
Alexei: I’ve been super impressed. We really didn’t know what to anticipate, to be honest. We thought that a lot of the shows wouldn’t be well-attended but every single one has been lovely. And it’s amazing ‘cos that means we can come back. The thing about touring is you end up feeling a little bummed ‘cos you don’t get to spend enough time in places that you’d like to. But the great thing now is knowing where you wanna go back to.

So how has it been working and touring with your husband/wife?
Alexei: Well, I thought I would hate it! In the rest of my life, I do a lot of writing and I spend hours of my time totally alone so I never thought I would be able to work creatively with someone else. I don’t know why but it works for us. And we don’t fight on the road.

Did you have to work at your chemistry as a band or was it already there?
Alexei: No, the chemistry was there!
Dan: Definitely. It was just a matter of figuring out how to present the music with just a drum machine, guitars and keyboards. I never really played electronic music before so that was like one of the fun, experimental journeys. Then after we put out the first record, it was realising what we could actually do and what we had. It was pretty exciting.

Did you guys consider recruiting more members?
Dan: A lot of the songs we were writing were also very personal and about our relationship, so we wanted to keep that aspect pure. Adding another person would kind of ruin it. I like our presentation too: all of our stuff fits into a backpack and a small suitcase.
Alexei: And it means a lot for me to be able to work off his energy. I think it would really change our dynamic if we have another person.
Dan: It keeps the musical connection and emotional connection down to just 50-50, which I think is a challenge, but also what I wanted to do.

And now you Furs have the best job ever playing your music everywhere – literally everywhere – around the world.
Alexei: It is!
Dan: I never thought I’d be able to travel at all.
Alexei: It was a new thing for both of us, so to be able to places both boring and unusual has been the most fantastic realisation of a dream. It feels like you’re doing what you actually wanna do, reaching out to people in the world…
Dan: Yeah, it doesn’t feel like you’re going into another North American city, checking into another motel and going to another club, you know. You actually have to work at it and it feels like more of a…
Alexei: … a triumph!

Read the full interview in the December issue of JUICE, now out at these spots.

www.myspace.com/handsomefurs

Text: Min Chen
Photography: Chuck Reyes
Interview courtesy of: Home Club and Broadband Wildlive

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