Rococode, an indie pop duo from Vancouver, will be in Ottawa on Nov. 14, at House of Targ. The Charlatan chatted with half of the duo, Andrew Braun, to get their thoughts on playing in the city, their new EP Young Ones, and what’s next.
The Charlatan (TC): Young Ones came out back in June. What’s it been like since then?
Andrew Braun (AB): Young Ones has been warmly received. We’ve had a lot of support from college radio across North America, and people everywhere have been really positive about our live show. We tried to zero in on much simpler songs with relatable messaging for this EP, and people have definitely reacted to that.
TC: What is the one song off your EP that you’d recommend to first-time listeners?
AB: Our favourite is “Can’t Get Enough.” It’s got a head bobbing groove and catchy chorus, while exploring some deeper subject matter. This track possesses all the layers and sonic treats that we enjoy, wrapped around a straightforward melodic pop tune.
TC: You’ve both got very distinctive voices. How do you keep the music flowing when there’s such contrast between you two?
AB: It’s definitely not always easy… but we’ve always tried to embrace the dichotomy and turn it into a strength. We have always loved to play with juxtapositions of light and dark, heavy and soft… and having two distinct singing voices to choose from gives us even more colours to choose from. The Young Ones EP is a little different from our previous releases, in that, it’s very much three Laura songs and three Andrew songs. There isn’t as much intermingling of our vocals within the individual tracks. We took a different approach to the writing this time – collaborating with new people – and weren’t even in the same room when writing the vocal melodies and lyrics. But even through this distanced process, we still tried to maintain the natural unified sound that makes Rococode what it is. Overall, we’ve always embraced the contrast and tried to make it an integral part of our musical identity.
TC: You’ll be returning to Ottawa to play House of Targ on the 14th, what are you most excited for?
AB: Perogies, pinball, beer. What more could you ask for?
TC: What does the rest of 2017 look like for Rococode?
AB: We finish up 3 months of touring on Nov. 18, in Toronto at The Rivoli, drive the long road home, and hibernate for winter.
TC: And what does 2018 have in store?
AB: In 2018, we will continue to work on what will eventually be another record after a bit of a break to catch up on some other parts of life. We’ve been going pretty hard writing, releasing, and touring without a real break for the past three years, so, we’re looking to catch up on some other things.
