Forest City Lovers Interview: SXSW 2010

If they never do anything else, Forest City Lovers may earn an enduring spot in the pop music pantheon simply for the inspired couplet, "If I were a tree, I would give you wood/ Make you a dendrophiliac," which manages to sound naughty and eco-friendly at the same time. For the uninitiated (or those without Google), let's just say Shel Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree' would blush at the very thought. In an interview before the band's SXSW appearance, principal songwriter Kat Burns (and all-around sylvan enthusiast) expounds on the band's origins, Ewoks, and Kevin Costner as an enduring source of artistic inspiration.

Describe your sound.

The melodies your mind sings when you're walking along a creek bed, swollen after the rain, wondering if you'll grow up to be the person you wrote about in your grade seven notebook. In other words, folk-tinged pop music with a focus on melody and arrangements.

How did your band form?

Once the band was just me. Then it was me and a drummer. Then me, a drummer and a bassist. Then we added violin. Then organ. Now it's all of us, and we make pretty noise together as one. Christian Ingelevics on drums, Kyle Donnelly on bass, Mika Posen on violin, Tim Bruton on organ.

What are your musical influences?

As a group we have vastly different musical tastes, and obviously they change often. As a songwriter, my influences include everyone from traditional Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac and Julie Doiron to Bjork, Parenthetical Girls and Andrew Bird for their more experimental creations. Other influences in the band range from Dvorak to Frank Zappa.

What's your most embarrassing musical influence?

Well, I'm not sure if they could be counted as influences, but I'm a sucker for really slick pop songs. Kyle and I can really get into the Beyonce, Usher and Lights on long overnight drives. Pump up the jams, man!

How did you come up with your band name?

I watched 'Dances with Wolves' repeatedly for two months.

In the history of fictional forest city lovers, who do you think would be a bigger fan, the Ewoks or the Na'vi?

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what a Na'vi is, but I'd vote Ewoks any time. They're so cute and furry! I would love to see a bunch of Ewoks dancing to our music. That might make my fictional-forest-city-loving year.

What's your biggest vice?

Sugar? We're a very edgy bunch, you know.

What's in your tour survival kit?

A notebook and pen, a novel, iPod, headphones, trail mix, reusable coffee cups and water bottles. And a really comfy van outfit.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

The Canadian cast recording of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' Wow. I can't believe I just shared that with you.

What's the craziest place you've ever played?

It has to be a three-way tie between a converted strip club in Sarnia, Ontario, an outdoor pot-luck party next to the Adriatic sea in Italy and playing behind the bar at a packed club in Amsterdam. Those were memorable, certainly!