The members of Boxhands, an Ottawa-based three piece band, joke that the most common interpretation of their name is something dirty, but insist this wasn’t their intention.
One member commented that the name reminds him of a cartoon of robots with box hands, while another said, “I like the irony of a band with boxes for hands and how useless that would be.”
The members of Boxhands all have Carleton roots, as guitarist Nick O’Gorman is a third-year history student and bassist Colleen McKeracher is in third-year architecture. Drummer Eric Larsin is a film studies and English graduate. All three contribute vocals and said they enjoy experimenting with sounds and harmonies.
Boxhands described its sound as “throwback punk-rock with a bit of garage thrown in.”
The members said their greatest influences are funk-soul drumming and At The Drive-in’s album Relationship of Command, while O’Gorman said he began playing the guitar because of the Misfits. However, they said they prefer to hear how others describe them and have heard comparisons to Sonic Youth, Joy Division, the B-52s and Metallica.
Their new EP, Instant Disaster is a low-fi album that the band said was recorded in a dirty basement over the summer.
O’Gorman, who writes the majority of the band’s songs and is considered their “Benevolent Dictator,” said he attempts to combine his memories of high school angst with new perspective, but acknowledges that their best songs evolve organically through jamming.
Larsin said he considers it his role to keep the band away from metal and “screamo” and its lyrics clear.
“As a lyricist, I have to know what I am hearing, otherwise I can’t get into it,” he said.
The track, “1972” is about a boy who went missing in 1972 and the idea that even though there is such a slim chance he is still alive, no one ever wants to move on from tragedy.
“Angel,” the band’s first slow song, was written about a late friend of O’Gorman’s. Another song, “Worst Case Ontario” incorporates hip-hop drumming, a techno outro and an intro featuring a drunken audience member yelling at a live performance.
Within the group, this man has become a sort of legend and they joke that they hope to work with him more in the future.
Boxhands has been releasing its own albums and the members said by using a do-it-yourself (DIY) method, their music remains in their control without having to change their sound.
The group jokes that it end up writing jingles but insist they would only promote things they use, explaining the practise is, “Not so much as selling out, as buying in.”
The band also said DIY is affordable and makes its music accessible, allowing the members to produce something tangible as proof of their work.
Listening to music is a drawn out process and a song often requires several listens to fully appreciate it, Larsin said.
“A three-minute song could change your life,” he added.
Boxhands is playing on Ottawa Live Music on CKCU Feb. 4 at 11 p.m.