Contactmusic.com spoke to Paul from the band Hot Hot Heat.

How's it going today?

Its going all right, I just did some shopping and some much needed laundry other than that we did a sound check and have just been enjoying the city of Leeds and its all going all right.

How are you finding the UK so far and in what ways is it different to Canada?

Finding it easily its like opening a glass door and its right there
,I mean I like it I like it a lot and everything is the same. Its like
would I ever live here! sure I don't know if it would be for a few years,maybe I will settle down with a nice English farmer one day or something,but the difference between Canada, I don't know, I mean, I think that the traditions are different here and every regions very different from city to city, there's different pools rules and different signs and different languages and everything is so tight but whereas in Canada its much more Homogenous??? They speak English and in Victoria they speak English in Halifax which is three thousand miles away.

How Did hot hot heat come about?

We kind of all met on the scene in Victoria doing shows. Steve was a promoter for a while and we'd all seen each other playing in different bands and so we were friendly that way. We got together a few years ago and became quite good friends and then one night
we just started jamming and clicked because we'd all been playing different musical instruments in different bands at the time Steve was the drummer Justin was a guitar player I was playing guitar but then

everybody changed, Justin played bass I played drums and it just felt really good and we just decided to go with it and eventually all the other bands broke up but this one sort of became our priority and we had a different singer for a while the first couple of years we just played locally then about two years ago Dante joined and by that time we'd become influenced by different music and our focus had sort of changed to writing songs and learning, learning how to write songs and working better together as a band and from when Dante joined we decided to start touring and then we got signed and toured more and things started happening over here and since then its been a pretty natural production.

How was recording with jack Endino and how did the deal with subpop come about?

The deal with Subpop was we had a bunch of different labels we sort of sourced our demos to
, we sent out a bunch of E mail's and a bunch of packages andSubpop was the only one that replied and its the only one and its the biggest one. Its the only one we really wanted to be on and it worked out quite well, but what ever the reason t they said send your stuff? was they gave it time and then we sorted it out from there and developed a better relationship with them.

You see we don't like to work on a business level with people. We don't like it to be like you're the label and we're the band, we like to develop friendships and it helps your relationship with the people you have to work with because you have to work with them constantly ya know.

Jack Endino had done a record for some friends of ours in Vancouver and we loved the production on that record and we said we want to do it with that producer at that studio. So we did and it turned out that he was a fantastic guy very smart and soft spoken but puts his mark on you and doesn't put too much of his personality into things. So we pretty much ended up co-producing with him just because we had a strong vision of what we wanted . He's great to be around and we tried to get all the stories out of him. Some people I've met who were active with Kurt kurbain and Courtney - some of them like to tell you their stories and some of them just don't wanna go there.

But I understand, I mean, I would tell stories too - but after telling stories five hundred times you just might be like "No".

Are you looking forward to playing festivals in Europe this year?

Yeah, I mean I look forward to any time we play. They're always a bit weird you know. I mean shows like this tonight you are always in your control; the stage is under your control and lights and the sound but at those things its just such a storm you've gotta get from here to there and the place is so huge its just crazy. Once you're through playing you get a chance to chill and watch other bands and stuff but i'm looking forward to seeing the English version of a festival I've heard it can be a very chaotic thing.

What CDs have been on rotation on the tour bus whilst you've been touring?

The White Stripes - Elephant - but I'm still not sure about it. I've gotta think about it and listen to the album a few more times. I like all the Beatles and Stones records I get inspired by many other bands. I mean any time I listen to music the whole idea is to listen to it and feel inspired and listen for ideas and listen to melody's and listen to how instruments works with each other so whenever I listen to music I go away feeling there's so much more to be learned and there's so much more to know.
My Mum and Dad were musicians and it was always around me. It was all classic rock so there were always records and tracks flying around. I think that my parents are really excited about what's happening .When I was a kid they thought that what I was doing was completely right and I got the idea from them that it was right but I don't even think that they ever thought that it would become something more than just an hobby but its still just a hobby but to the point where I don't have to get a job.

How do you go about writing music? who usually comes up with the basic idea for a new track?

It's a bit different every time but a lot of the time Steve and I contribute just because we live together and write a lot of stuff at our apartment. I like to practice at home alot and write a load of stuff then occasionally Dante will write a riff that we will build a song around, but most of the time its like a bare bone sort of idea of a song.

There's everyone involved in our song writing and everyone wouldn't feel right if they didn't get to put their part into a song like if they felt like they were just playing a part of what ever instrument they're playing they wouldn't be as psyched on it so its important that every one feels like they have a piece to put in there.

If someone comes to see Hot Hot Heat live what can they expect?

Well we'll be on stage playing and I dont know....I mean it will be loud and we'll dance around sweat and go crazy and hopefully if the crowd goes crazy well go a bit crazier!!

You won't be bored - you'll either wanna stay or go, which most people who come to see us wanna stay and watch and maybe an odd few might wanna leave cause they wanna puke or something. If you like the album you wont be disappointed by the show.

If you were to have some one to join you on stage tonight (dead or alive) who would it be and why?

I Think ill have to go with the standard John Lennon just because I'd wanna kind of see him in person but you know I wouldn't wanna change my life to see him personally. It would be kinda cool if I could choose dead or alive you know to hear him sing..... I've heard his voice recorded so much it would be kinda cool but to hear him sing in person....wow!

contactmusic has an area dedicated to unsigned musician's what advice would you give people starting out in music?

It depends on which level you're at - if your just starting with an instrument I would say practice and
practice because you wanna and not because your parents tell you and if you're a new band practice writing songs. Just do it like a job because you love to do it and don't expect anything to happen - don't have too many expectations the advice that I would give to these people is only what I I know of how to get where we got and I think that every band has a different story and every band has a different way to get to where they are. So I can tell you general guide lines but you've kinda got to make your own story we can whine ~ we get tired but I wouldn't want to do anything else.

To listen to Bandages plus streams of four more tracks from the album Click Here