DUREX Interview
Montreal's DUREX is Alex (vocals), Kelly (drums), Hannah (bass) and Felix (guitar). They just released their second tape "SHAME". Interview contributed by DJ Buckingham Palace.
Q1: To start, I’d like to give some props to Kelly who came through with an excellent engineering and mix-job from behind the drum kit on this new tape! It would seem that you guys are well capable of handling pretty much any and all band things internally from recording, to artwork, to merch, and all the rest. However, I can’t help but notice one unfamiliar name in the SHAME credits! Who is Papa Boom Bam Sam and how did your working relationship form? Should we attribute DUREX’s masterful balance of cutting clarity and searing noise to the audio mastering of Mr. Papa?
Alex: Kelly's daddio.
Kelly: Papa of boom bam sam obviously.
Hannah: Father of kellington.
Q2: You guys started back in 2023, right? How did the band come together?
K: I don’t remember the brunch maybe I wasn’t there – but Felix asked me outside of a show if I wanted to drum in a new project a little after they moved here. Originally it was me, Felix and two other people it didn’t work out with for scheduling reasons. We flailed for a bit but got Alex on bass, then Hannah on vocals. I didn’t really know Hannah yet which is probably why I wasn’t invited to brunch.
Felix: I approached Kelly first cuz I needed a drummer, this would’ve been like, spring / summer 2022? I had moved to Montreal at the end of 2021 and hadn’t been doing much rocking in Ottawa previously cuz of Covid. I was anxious to start playing in bands again ASAP. I think Kelly was at this brunch – some spot in the old port I think – but I also remember telling Hannah they would be good at doing vocals in a hardcore band before that.
H: They asked me to join over brunch, it was very posh. They told me their name was Durex and I was like "LOL okay."
Q3: Are there any specific bands or styles that inspired you guys in the beginning and have there been new additions and/or crossed out names on that list?
A: KISS and THE BEATLES
F: Originally I really wanted to imitate fast European-style hardcore with a good mix of d-beat and tupa tupa parts like RIISTETYT, KAAOS, WRETCHED, etc. All mostly have relatively clean / not totally blown out guitars too, which I dig. Of course all the Swedish stuff and the bands that rip that off are big for me. KREMLIN and ASILE are two Canadian bands who had really excellent takes on that style and I go to a lot when I’m writing tunes. I think we’ve just dialed into the style I mentioned more as time has gone on.
Q4: Your “press” photo on bandcamp shows the four of you with the lonesome remains of Prince Edward Island’s defunct Science & Adventure theme park almost 40 kilometers from town. I gather that the group doesn’t mind making a detour for the sake of recreation between road shows. What makes for an ideal sightseeing destination when there’s time to kill on tour? Any favourites from the past?
A: I can’t remember if we saw it from the road and had to stop by or if we found it on google maps but the groundskeepers did not like us exploring the space shuttle … I have a general knack for seeing oversized or miniature objects – however, my favourite stop we’ve done on tour as a band was going to Niagara Falls and chilling on Clifton Hill… although, we did not hit the upside down house – another personal favourite. Notably, Biff took us on an EPIC tour of Buffalo and exploring the abandoned train station was awesome as well.
K: We were definitely just driving and saw the shuttle and were like "what the fuck is that." As the resident party pooper/schedule keeper I’m often shutting down detours and stops in favour of being on time and not missing soundcheck. It’s a balance.
F: Buffalo central terminal ruled. Waterfronts are a must – PEI ruled for that.
H: I love an abandoned building or somewhere very high up. Hard to go wrong with that.
Q5: On the topic of exploration on tour; what are your tips on uncovering the best / oddest / rarest geographic gems on the road? How often does the band stumble upon something cool by accident?
A: I mean we are two drivers in the band and we don’t like to drive for long amounts of time, so scheduling in time to stop is important. Doing your research or just asking people can help with finding fun stops.
F: Just walking in a random direction away from the venue between soundcheck and doors can be fruitful.
H: Asking people who live in the area for tips on where to stop has been hands down the most guaranteed good time.
Q6: On the flip, what are some niche activities you would suggest to an out-of-town band in your hometown of Montréal?
K: Sending people up the mountain is always a good bet. If it's a longer visit, I’d bring people to the estacade. Historically I’d always want to bring people to Fattal because it’s an important experience.
F: Always suggest good restaurants – ideally that buddies are working at.
Q7: Is it better to have a bad set at home or on the road? Or do you guys prefer not to perform poorly at all?
K: We had a rough set in Toronto last weekend but Felix made up for it by tackling Alex to the ground and that’s mostly what the people remember. And I think there’s a good lesson there? I think?
Q8: SHAME is the kind of record title that’s so immediately effective it could function as a single-word summary. Does that title indicate a through-line? Is SHAME a noun or a verb or both in the case of this project?
A: Both. This is music for perverts.
Q9: In contrast, SHAME also bears a handful of pretty benign song titles in its track listing with oddball headscratchers like "cow/boy," "jack offman," "coldplay," and "boymode." At least a couple of these feel like they could have derived from inside jokes. How far does the humour extend from titles to lyricism if at all?
A: I think "jack offman" might be the only funny song lyrically but it’s also like about some guy jacking off, which sometimes is deeply unfunny (see Louis C.K.). "Chemical 2.0" was also a funny one about goblins and piss but we never re recorded and the song has hit the graveyard.
K: I’m pretty sure half the titles happen before the lyrics are written. Maybe we’ve gotten away from that somewhat but maybe all the songs on the first demo were “named” before the lyrics existed. But I’m not a lyrics guy.
H: I'd say on average the titles are often more playful than the actual songs… Some of the titles have nothing to do with the actual lyrics, we just like the way the word sounds.
Q10: I guess this is a bit of a leading question, but are the jokey or not-so-serious titles a way to make songs with heavier lyrics more approachable on the surface?
A: Yeah: most of the songs (at least the ones I’ve written) are coming from a pretty painful place. I would hope people are not trying to make sense of what I’m saying. Maybe I'll get more cryptic and feel comfortable releasing them but for now just silly titles.
Q11: It’s good to be well-humoured as a band. Do you guys like to laugh and smile?
A: :0)
F: I like to laugh – I like to have fun too.
H: We love to laugh, live and love 👉🏽👈🏽
Q12: I understand that Hannah was the original singer of the band before swapping roles with former bassman and current vocalist Alex. What caused the switch up and how did that period of transition / adjustment play out?
K: The first show where Hannah realized they probably couldn’t do vocals was SOTO Fest two years ago, we were supposed to be playing the park show. And rather than not play, or play without a vocalist (boring), we decided to karaoke our songs. Which, because no one really knew our songs anyway, meant a bunch of our friends ad-libbed lyrics. It was extremely fun and cute. Highly recommend if you ever find yourself in this situation, especially if that situation is also in the park.
H: I broke my voice from improper yelling technique and working at a call centre at the same time. I got something called muscle tension dysphonia. It hurt to talk for about 8 months so I barely talked. Anyways no one knew how long it would go on for and we had tours and shows planned so we had to come up with a solution fast. I didn't want to be the reason we cancel everything so originally Alex being the vocalist was a temporary solution. But as time went on and my voice still wasn't 100% we decided it’d be best to make it a permanent switch, for consistency.
Q13: Does Hannah reserve any involvement in lyric writing as the OG wordsmith? Are the words something you guys talk about as a group?
A: I kinda write the songs on the spot at jam and then doctor them to be better. I generally just ask everyone if it sounds OK but I don’t think they can really hear me. Anyone could chime in if they wanted to.
H: For lyrics we kind of reserve all the word power to the vocalist, so that's all Alex now. For titles to EPs and demos we all brainstorm together.
Q14: Who’s going to take over the role of vocalist next?
F: You – The Reader of The Counterforce.
Q15: Would you / have you considered incorporating the actual Durex brand logo on your merch or would that be some kind of sin? I think it’d be funny.
A: I have tried to suggest it. We have joked about including their slogans “love your way." Personally I think “Love. Sex. Durex” is kind of unhinged.
K: I refuse to dress up as a condom.
H: I think we should all dress up like condoms. We should also give away Durex condoms at shows. I think it'd be awesome
Q16: I’m pretty into the innocuous band name trend in punk right now. Shit like LYSOL and KLEENER. I not only count DUREX in this class of bands, but I also think it’s like, the best band name I’ve ever heard. I recall Felix mentioning something about the name being a point of heated disagreement early on. What was up with that?
A: I thought it was really good because it’s hard and sexy.
K: When Felix first suggested the name, it was before Alex and Hannah joined, and the members then were NOT enthusiastic. As I remember, Alex was down right away though.
F: I had been saving it for a while. I thought it sounded kind of like that band MATRIX – not that the tunes ended up being like that, but it made me laugh and it just sounded like a dumb hardcore band.
Q17: What’s everyone’s favourite riff or musical moment on SHAME?
F: I think Knife is my favourite track.
H: The breakdown in diver is my fav.
Q18: What are your least favourite DUREX songs and why?
A: Lasso and we don’t play it anymore.
K: There are a few on the demo that fall flat for me now, we were still figuring out what the vibe was though so that makes sense. We’ve been pushing faster and meaner.
Q19: If you could organize a dream show consisting of two Montréal locals, two Ontario bands (since I know three fourths of you are from Ford Nation) and one out-of-town band from anywhere on the planet, what would that be and at which venue would it go down?
A: SIYAHKAL, Us?, FAZE and bring FERAL back from the grave (5 bands is too many)
F: Are we one of the Montreal bands? Let’s say us, BRAN VAN 3000, any band from Ontario that Emily Hohenadel plays in right now, BARROW WIGHT (Tolkien themed black metal from Ottawa) and IRON MAIDEN.
Q20: Are there any trends in punk right now that you love, hate, or hate to love?
K: I’ve been really here for fast, a couple tasteful breakdowns if you want. But the releases that have really grabbed me recently are silly breakneck fast hardcore punk.
F: I’m hoping to see more fake British accents – HOMEFRONT sort of does this. And a return of drunk punx.
H: I love a gimmick. Costumes. Maybe an unpopular opinion…
Q21: Any future plans?
A: West coast? North East US? Asia 2026……………………………. ?
K: We’re playing Lawnya Vanya in Newfoundland in June and I’m excited to either see icebergs or whales.
F: Full length release in the works.
Listen to DUREX's newest tape SHAME here: https://durex.bandcamp.com/album/shame-2
DUREX