The Birthday Massacre have been making a name for themselves since they started in 1999. By mixing solid rock with cold synth and wrapping it all up in the image of corrupted childhood that Wednesday Addams would relate to, they are one of the best known dark alternative bands to emerge from Canada. To date, they’ve four albums under their belt and have toured the US, Canada, Mexico, UK and Europe and have played alongside the likes of KMFDM. And now they have been kind enough to answer a few questions for Neuweltmusic Magazine readers. Here is our interview with Chibi.

First of all, what’s in a name? Where did you get the name The Birthday Massacre?  We felt that the name reflected the atmosphere that we were working to capture in all the elements of the band. The music combines contrasting musical styles – pop and industrial, metal and synth; the images we made for our albums and merch are sort of innocent and creepy. So it was all about putting together opposites. “Birthday” and “Massacre” are pretty opposite.

What have the press reactions been to your latest EP Imaginary Monsters like so far? Good or bad?  Pretty positive, from what I have seen.

Your song “Burn Away” is my favourite from the EP. What’s the song about? What’s the story behind it?  For me that song is about repeating potentially destructive or unfixable patterns. Sort of running in the same spot, and focusing on the past at the expense of the future. And breaking out of those patterns can feel so awful, so horrifying, but it’s often the only way to move forward.

Is the release doing as well as you’d hoped?  For an EP, for the climate of record sales today, for the genres that we appeal to, yes. I mean, I don’t know if there’s ever been any sort of genuine WOW, THIS RELEASE TOPPED THE CHARTS AND WE BEAT OUT KANYE AND LADY GAGA AND NOW WE CAN BUY A CASTLE!! sort of hope for anything we have ever released. We want our music to satisfy the people who like and support the band, and I think this EP has done that.

The band is very well known for its presence on the internet when it comes to promoting its work. Do you have any advice for a musician (or anyone else) who wishes to promote themselves online?  Bands can pretty much do it all for themselves nowadays. There are bands who release records and tour and make merch all without any sort of label support. The internet is a great spot for creating a community among fans, for talking to fans, for sharing all sorts of video and music and artwork. You’re in control of interacting with your audience and presenting yourself in whichever way you like.

Do you think file-sharing has a positive or negative impact on music and bands?  Gah, everyone asks this question and it’s a tough one to answer because it is very good and very bad. People can access your music, which is great. Your music gets out and people share it with each other, which is great. But then they may not actually buy the record, which is not so great.

You’ve made quite an impact on the international scene, but not as much in your home country Canada. How come you’ve not been able to attract much attention from the Canadian media or music listening audience?  That is a question that I used to wonder about, but not so much anymore. We have a wonderful fan base in Canada, which is so appreciated considering that most of the big free-press magazines and outlets around here have very staunchly ignored our existence for a decade. It really is a puzzle. I used to be bummed out about it, but it’s just the way it is. I mean we have achieved a lot here, done a lot of things, toured internationally for years, travelled, released multiple records and videos and worked very hard, played amazing shows in Canadian cities. We headlined a JunoFest show this past spring, we have a headlining Indie Week gig in a few weeks here in Toronto. But yeah – you won’t hear about it, haha.

Do you feel that your reputation as a “dark alternative” band has hindered your efforts to establish a solid foothold in the Canadian scene?  Maybe. I really don’t know. I honestly feel as though it is their loss. And I don’t mean that arrogantly – there is a lot of really cool stuff going on in Canada, and if the media outlets are ignoring what we’re doing, then they’re also ignoring what a LOT of people are doing and achieving and it just makes you lose faith in the Canadian media. That’s another reason why the internet is pretty damn cool. You don’t need to rely on what the media decides is “cool” enough to make it into their papers and TV stations. You can look for things yourself and find all kinds of awesome art and music that you’d never hear about otherwise.

Do you have any plans to play Ireland in the future?  I definitely hope so! We’ve never played there before. It’s a place I’d love to see.