By: Kristen Chamberlain
Image: Pete Nema

First off, how do all the members of Oh No Forest Fires know each other?
Rajiv: It’s a long history.

Brock: And it’s different for everybody.

Rajiv: Adam, our drummer and Matt our bass player grew up together in Brampton and they’ve been playing in bands together since forever ago. They literally grew up musically together. I met Adam when he was on tour with his old band in St. John’s Newfoundland, which is where I’m from. We just really hit it off and became good friends and when he went back home we stayed in touch, and he convinced me to move here, so I moved here. My first weekend in Toronto Adam was like, “Man, come see this band that I love called Fox Jaws.” So, we went to the Horseshoe and Brock was playing with his old band, Fox Jaws, and obviously I loved them because they’re an amazing band. Then me, Adam and Brock became good friends, met Matt and then around Christmas 2006. Adam was out of Most Serene Republic and we were kind of  bored with our bands, so we just started playing together. We just got together and somehow were a band.

You’ve all played in various other local bands, did Oh No Forest Fires come together with specific musical goals or did it sort of just “happen?”
Rajiv : No, it was just total idleness. Maybe that isn’t even the right word; maybe just feeling unfulfilled. We really, really loved all our other bands. But, we just needed to do something else. We got together, and it was fun. I’d say, “How do you like this song?” and then we’d start writing songs not even intending to be a band. Then, we just realized we had a band on our hands.

There’s got to be a story behind your name. Let’s hear it.
Rajiv : Forest Fires was the original name and we had this demo of 5 songs that were just guitar and drums and bass that we never really showed anyone, but our friends. Then we decided that Forest Fires was too safe of a name. It sounded too easy, so eventually we just kind of tried a couple different band names; one of them was Oh No. We thought Oh No was a great band name, but then one day I was at a show at the Mod Club and there was this amazing rapper from Cincinnati called Oh No. We tried a bunch of different names that all kind of sucked. So, one day we just decided to put the two names that we liked together. So, it was Oh No Forest Fires, and it stuck ever since.

Would you ever do collaboration with Oh No the rapper?
Rajiv: We want to. I think in a perfect world we would.

You’ve been praised for your energetic live performances. Where does this energy come from?
Brock: The amount of candy I eat.

Rajiv: It’s weird and embarrassing because I can’t play a show without people thinking or assuming I’m really drunk or on drugs or something, because I’m not. I don’t know any other way of playing music other than enjoying it while you’re playing. For the most part, we play super up beat tunes so I don’t see a reason not to run around.

Brock: When you love what you’re doing, and you love what you’re hearing, and who you’re playing with, it makes you want to have a great live show because you just feel it – and then realize you’re jumping around like a lunatic.

Any quirky rituals before hitting the stage?
Rajiv: I stretch a lot, for sure.

How important do you think it is that a band has a great live performance?
Rajiv: It’s a weird balance because you can have a band that’s really amazing live, but doesn’t necessarily have great stage presence, and then bands with really great stage presence but that are not necessarily amazing. I just think it’s important that you play well. You can have fun on stage, but it is really important to play well; and it’s even better if you can do that and have fun.

Is this the first time you’ve played  NXNE?
Rajiv: With Oh No Forest Fires, it is.

Brock: Everyone in our band has played it before, with their old bands though.

Where are you most excited to play this year?
Brock: Barrie.

Rajiv: Yeah, it sounds stupid. Most people look forward to festivals or shows with big bands but we really can’t wait to play The Foundation in Barrie with our friends.

Brock: To get people to actually go to a show in Barrie is near impossible, but if we can play a show in Barrie on a Sunday and bring out a hundred people, it’s amazing.

A lot of people say we are fortunate to have such a live indie music scene in Toronto. What are your thoughts?
Rajiv: I moved here because there was no scene in St. John’s. There were a few local bands, but no bands ever go there. Here, any night of the week you can go to a great show and that’s something to be grateful for. It sucks when people aren’t grateful for that.

And finally, did you know Smokey the Bear was real?
Rajiv: Seriously?
Brock: I love outdoors and camping and I did know this. But you know, Boo Boo’s not real.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 2:49 pm.