Michael le Riche is a musician, singer, and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. Formerly a member of the band the Darcys, le Riche struck out on his own to find an outlet for his own darker rock and punk leanings, which he now has with the acclaimed band Fake Palms. Following up on their well-received 2015 self-titled debut record, Fake Palms is releasing a new EP called Heavy Paranoia via Buzz Records on September 30 and playing select shows, which you can learn more about at buzzrecords.ca. In mid-August, I was in Ottawa for the Arboretum Festival and so were Fake Palms so that’s where Michael and I caught up to talk about his various names, Ottawa and Alanis Morrissette, getting punched in the face and being able to take it, a bar Cold War, the weirdness and Ottawa, the Darcys and trouble, Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck and Justin Trudeau’s shirtless photo bombing, leaving the Darcys, a musical downsizing and the dawn of Fake Palms, the Huff Po piece and financial infrastructures, going from home demos to putting together Fake Palms debut record quite quickly, Motown-y to heavy town-y, Simone TB’s amazing drumming, seeing Fake Palms in St. John’s, being a real band, Maria and Fuzzy Logic, Buzz Records, popularity and credibility, Toronto suburbs and Beaton, Ontario, working at chain record stores, customer service and the bizarre HMV no-receipt-return policy, resealing used records and selling them as new, learning how to play guitar and taking jazz lessons, knowing too much, the Buzz Records buzz, the vibrancy of Toronto’s music community right now, METZ and Fucked Up, the effect the late Mayor Rob Ford had on Toronto’s punk scene, how local music reflects the atmosphere in Toronto, the new Fake Palms Heavy Paranoia EP, losing his brother, the collaborative aspects of Fake Palms these days, an intimate but not so interactive podcast episode, the song “Holiday” and then no one got punched in the face.
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Related links: buzzrecords.ca/fakepalms/ vishkhanna.com
