Interview with BESTiE (Zaphod's tonight!)

I tried to connect with BESTiE singer Tristan on the phone, but through various technical issue it didn’t happen. So, I managed to quickly send a few questions to him via email, and he responded! I wish we had audio, but this is the best we could do with this one!

BESTiE are based in Vancouver, and have a very cool summery-surfy blend of guitar twang and fun songs. They’ll be playing tonight at Zaphod’s opening up for Shane Philip (who I can swear I saw walking down Bank Street at lunchtime today!).

Check ’em out!

BESTiE has something cool going on, it’s a bit ska, a little island influence, very surfy-guitar…what is the goal of BESTie…besides enjoying yourselves?

Really I think the main thing, other than having fun, is to make good music. Something you are proud of.

You work with a site called WinnieCooper based in Vancouver…since 2008. We’ve got a similar thing going on here with The Revue…how busy does that keep you? Why do you feel that it’s important? I used to keep very busy with it and put a lot of work into it but now I mainly have other writers helping with it.

You’re a singer, writer, also a filmmaker…tell me about your film work…you were nominated for a Gemini award? What project was nominated?

It was for a documentary series on different seminal / influential Canadian filmmakers and their first films. It featured people like David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman and their breakout films. It aired on Bravo and the Knowledge network. It was really low budget which which was cool. I got to wear a lot of hats and it was like being thrown in the deep end for a crash course in real life TV production – as director for it – right out of film school.

And that is a natural fit for a band to have a member who can also make videos. How long have you been balancing these endeavors?

I think I’ve been doing both from when I was 13, thinking about it.

I particularly like the video for Foolish Hearts…the dancing was a great touch…how do you approach mixing all these mediums…music, film, dance?

Well i’m not a dancer but thank you! I think you just approach all of them doing what you like and what feels good to you. For the Foolish Hearts video is was pretty improvised as to where we would shoot We just got out there and started doing it, which is usually the biggest hurdle. With the music video, I mainly tried to flesh out imagery that could work with the tone and lyrics of the song.

This is a quick jaunt out of Vancouver for a week or so…how you dealing with those long drives?

It’s been testing. I think I have van fever but I think liking the people that you’re in the band with is essential and makes it fun. We were just listening to Roy Orbison’s “I Drove All Night” and that is our new tour song. I think you go kind of crazy and have to find a way to enjoy that and explode that containment into your next performance.

And how were the first few gigs? IN Kelowna, Calgary, and Saskatoon?

They have been great. It’s amazing that there are people that know the songs and that we have fans. That blows my mind and were extremely grateful for them and being able to do what we do. Getting excited to play for our upcoming East Coast shows to brand new audiences while getting tighter on the road.

I love Saskatoon…who did you play with there?

We were just stuck there, as our van broke down. But we played with the lead singer of the Pistol Whips, who opened for us and did a solo thing for our show.

You’re playing Zaphod’s on Wednesday…with Shane Phillip…you spent much time in Ottawa before? Let me know if you need any food recommendations. 🙂

Yes and no. I’ve only been in Ottawa briefly so please tell us all of your secrets! Also, we would love for you to come to our show so just let us know if you need any guest list! We’re trying to find a place to crash also so if you hear anything!!