You also did an EP with Cœur de pirate and The Bronx under the name 'Armistice' so can you tell us how this came together, and how fun this process was for you? I met Bea around the time of the Olympics, and we started talking about making a record together. We wanted to make something that had a kind of classic desert love story feeling, like an updated country and western duo. She has such a beautiful voice, which sounded surprisingly good against my tendency to be really raspy. Anyways, I had toured with the Bronx before and I loved their mariachi project. We called them up and went down to an LA and recorded that in about three days. I'm really proud of that record, it definitely captures a moment in time.
What's been the hardest process for you to achieve as a solo musician and why? Figuring out where music and life separate, trying to not fall into the vortex of the work. I'm working on that one.
Can you tell us about the formation of Pirates Blend Records and how this idea came about in the first place? Eon and I along with our longtime friend and manager Dave Guenette wanted to create a home and platform for not only our projects but other people that we thought were fantastic artists. It’s a tough time right now for music, I think originally it was almost an art project for us. Dave runs the label with Sony Canada and he has been brilliant at putting out amazing records; from Saul Williams, Young Empires, Kreif (the dears), to Michael Rault and Nneka so he has done an amazing job. I see him as an amazing curator, which i think is where things are going.
“We were watching a documentary on Iceland and we decided it would be amazing to go there and shoot. It is one of the most striking and beautiful places i've ever been” How did your last european tour go (as Bedouin Soundclash) and do you have any particular highlights from the tour that you can share with us? We went to Jersey for the first time to play a festival, which was really interesting... The show at KOKO was pretty immense.
How excited are you for the Revival Tour here in the UK and what should attending fans expect? Well, I won't be doing any Bedouin songs, it will be mainly the classical compositions i've been working on. This is the first time I'm only going to be playing piano onstage as well. I love Chuck and his band, it’s going to be just a really great night of collaborations onstage. Although, there has been talk of doing a ten minute Bartok piece when we hit Hungary, which should be a bit mind-blowing.
What else does 2012 hold for you? I've moved into a new home in Vancouver, spending time with my family there and Oscar the dog, and making a really good Deadcoast record.