Absolutely Free is a powerful and ambitious three-piece band from Toronto, Ontario. For years, Matt King, Moshe Rozenberg, and Mike Claxton used to play together in a fantastic post-punk outfit called DD/MM/YYYY that put on one of the best live shows in the world. After they broke up, King, Rozenberg, and Claxton eventually reconvened to create music that was a little less frenetic and possibly more dynamic; they seemed keen to explore psychedelic, textured pop and Krautrock as touchstones for something unprecedented. The latest manifestation of their work is their first full-length, self-titled album, which is out October 14 via Arts & Crafts, and on Saturday October 11, they’ll perform the record with a special hologram/laser light show at the Long Winter Bloor Hot Docs Theatre Take Over Event in Toronto. Here, Matt and Moshe talk about throwing vegetables into the fire, DD/MM/YYYY and 11/11/11, absolute freedom, guitars and synthesizers, you can stop the rock, RHCP with an emo twist, misinterpretations and the right comparisons, that time I emailed Moshe during a show, a dysfunctional band can be like a bad tooth, Absolutely Free keeps getting smaller and more impossible, sister act, the rough side of Richmond Hill, southern Ontario hardcore punk, Dan Deacon in Toronto, Mike Claxton was in a band called Plant the Bomb, MuchEast and the Wedge VHS collections, loving the Super Friendz, Jack Grunsky, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion, the Offspring, Green Day, Nirvana, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, adult excitement for music, mixing textured vocals kinda low, Steve Clarkson, mistakes, hazy trends, my SCTV Complete Series box set, the way in which Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up produced and contributed to the new record, life and time and light, existentialism and transcendence, climbing the ladder, external considerations and receptions, scoring the film Two Cares Due None, releasing a bunch of unreleased material, holographic versions of Absolutely Free are playing Long Winter this Saturday while the actual band is in Hamilton, Toronto Laser Services, the song “Earth II,” and then we’re absolutely free.
Related links: absolutelyfree.ca torontolongwinter.com vishkhanna.com
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