Song: “End of Love Song” by Fevers, from their Passion is Dead EP.
Fevers occupies the same musical headspace as Stars and the Postal Service: that dancy, bloopy, singy sound. Where they set themselves apart is in the complexity of their arrangements, the beauty of their melodies and the heartwarming atmosphere they exude in every song. A quintet, the band consists of Colin MacDougall, Jim Hopkins, Martin Charbonneau, Mike Stauffer and Sarah Bradley. For some reason (perhaps madness, perhaps kindness) they’ve decided to give away their latest EP on their Bandcamp. To accompany their strange acts of charity, the band has been hitting such festivals as Junofest and Tulipfest, and have the distinction of being on the cover of one of the final edition of the Xpress.
We asked them questions about stuff. They answered. That was nice of them.
How would you describe your sound?
We’ve always found this a tough question, as we tend to genre hop quite a lot. There is always an ongoing theme of electronic music, but mixed with indie-rock song structures. So we usually go with Indie-Electro!
How did the group start?
Colin MacDougall and Jim Hopkins met a couple of years ago through mutual friends and a love of music. A couple of jam sessions then turned into demoing on Jim’s laptop. Because of the lack of a ‘band’, they used electronic instruments and drum loops and programming to fill out the sound. Colin would always sing in this falsetto, consciously or sub-consciously envisioning a female lead would eventually take over vocal duties.
Once they decided they wanted to perform the songs live, they set about forming a full out band. Through friends they met multi-instrumentalist, Martin Charbonneau, who happened to have his own jam space. Mike Stauffer signed up for drum duties upon hearing the demos, and the last piece of the puzzle was Sarah Bradley. Sarah had recorded some demos with Martin, and Martin immediately played them to the rest of the band. One phone call later and Sarah was jamming with the band. The rest is history!
What can we expect from your Bluesfest performance?
We’re hoping to play our best show yet. We just played a couple of warm gigs this past weekend in preparation for this show, so we’re more than prepared.
It’ll be a big sound, that’s for sure – we really hope people will dance and rock out with us!
How do you take your coffee?
No coffee for Jim—he’s British. Two milks, one sugar! Martin drinks about two extra-large coffees a day. Colin is known to dabble in a fair trade coffee every now and again. Sarah would love an espresso right about now. And Mike—strong and smooth.
Fevers plays the River Stage Thursday July 5th at 6pm.
