Crossing Swords with Montreal's Heat

From left to right: Raphael Bussieres (bass), Susil Sharma (vocals, guitar), Matthew Fiorentino (guitar), Thom Drew (drums) / Photo courtesy of Heat

Very rarely does a band sound "tuneful but tone-deaf," or "go down like a neat scotch while also lacing your designer drugs." Yet Montreal‘s Heat accomplishes all of these things, at least according to the band's press release, as written by lead singer Susil Sharma. “When I wrote that I was describing the sound we were going for at the time," he laughs. "We’re really about giving a cool vibe in our music.” The band also includes Raphael Bussieres (bass), Matthew Fiorentino (guitar), and Alex Crow (drums), how they vibe and work together in the studio is of paramount importance.

Despite being a New Brunswick native, Sharma has been a mainstay in the Montreal indie scene for the better part of a decade, playing bass for multiple bands around the city. Eventually he stopped engaging in this constant rotation of bands and started writing his own songs, which finally took the form of a three track demo, Heat. “I was writing all these tunes, and from there I’d have all these open interlocking guitar parts and would throw around different sonic ideas until something stuck,” he says. “Somehow that turned into a rock band.” Several line-up changes later the band followed those up with their 2014 self-titled EP, which gained attention for its 70s Echo & The Bunnymen-like sun-trodden guitars sounds and Sharma’s Lou Reed-inspired vocals on songs like “25.” While not ashamed to wear their influences on their sleeves with each new record, Heat wants to continue unearthing their own sonic aesthetics in the process. “I think we just like mixing our influences together,” Bussieres explains. “But now we’re starting to work in a new sonic direction, and at the end of the day we just want to create something special.” We caught up with the band before their spell-binding performance at the Drake Hotel to talk about “crossing swords” with Mac Demarco, the magic of melody, and working with Solid’s Adrian Popovich.

Noisey: Is it true that you use to play shows with Mac Demarco and swing your penises around on stage?
Sharma: [Laughs] The second part is definitely correct. I use to party pretty heavily, and there was a lot of crazy stuff happening that I won’t get into, but it would shock and confuse you if you saw it. I do know Mac, but we’ve never played guitar together.

You guys get a lot of comparisons to Lou Reed and artists like Jesus and The Mary Chain. Do you feel you sound is comparable to theirs?
Sharma: Sonically, I know we get a lot of comparisons to Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain and they are warranted, but I’m not really sure if that’s completely true. We’re not trying to copy anything. We’re just trying to stick by our art and make something cool at the end of the day. If we can do that we’re all right. When Lou Reed came out he initially got Bob Dylan when he started. The easiest thing to do is make a comparison, and we get that.
Bussieres: Everything is a remix of what’s already been done now anyways. Now we’re starting to work in a new direction, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen now but it’s pretty cool what we’re getting.
Sharma: We should make rap city titles. I’m tired of this shit. I’m tired of the Strokes.

You guys were once asked about lyrics over melody, and you guys all picked melody. Why is that?
Sharma: I don’t know. I’ve personally never been a lyrics guy. I think the whole thing for me is playing with a specific vibe and sound in mind, and that’s always transcended the words. Like some of the sounds Matthew gets out of the guitar just create these sublime moments.
Fiorentino: For me it’s always been melody. Lyrics are always important, and I love all the great lyricists like Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, but there’s something special about melody that you can’t explain. Words you can kind of trace but melody is the greatest magic.

When it comes to the music do you come up with a melodic skeleton first, or do the lyrics inform what happens with the song?
Sharma: Generally for me music starts with a melodic idea or a key phrase. I think they both serve each other—the lyrics and melody. So, it’s just finding the sweet spot. I think every song kind of starts with one key or a riff. This new song we’re working on kind of has a gospel feel to it and plays like how we wanted it to. When we’re in the studio we’re just crafting like a sculptor would and chiseling away at the songs until we’re satisfied.
Fiorentino: Everyone’s taking off a piece.
Sharma: Yeah, egos are left at the door.

Now that you’re gaining more attention, what aspects of the music do you want to improve on?
Sharma: I mean it’s funny because we’ve been a band for around three years. When we first started it was a five piece band, then a three piece with a drum machine at one point. But now it’s a four piece currently for around a month, and it's been the best so far. We’ve laid down a lot of groundwork over the last couple years, so it's super exciting because we’re kind of new again, and there’s this freshness everyone brings to the table. It’s a really healthy relationship.

You guys just finished making three songs with [Solid’s] Adrian Popovich right?
Sharma: It’s being mixed right now actually. We have a specific vision, but when it comes to the songs themselves I’m not that great at playing with words or fiddling with knobs. But [Popovich] is really good at reading and feeling out what we want. It was also recorded with a lot of input from everyone, so it’s a real improvement from our past songs.

So the songs you did with Popovich are going to be on the album?
Sharma: I think it’ll be an EP or a seven-inch EP. It will definitely come out before the album.

Is there any chance of a debut album coming out this year?
Sharma: I’m not sure what’s the game plan for that yet—maybe Spring—but we’re definitely going to have new material ready. We’re just recording a couple tracks right now.

In regards to the EP you Susil once said, "All the songs are about my life, I wanted to talk about specific events that have happened to me.” What is the most important song you’ve made so far?
Sharma: I mean they all come from personal times. Some from places I’m no longer in, others more currently or moving towards. I’ve lived through all of them. I believe once you write a song you have to commit to it and then let it go. In a way the song is not even mine anymore. I’m kind of going back to when I was a different person and reinterpreting that. I think with that the song I feel closest to is the song “25” although I’m not 25 anymore. I wrote about those experiences at that age and it’s something I can still relate to and feel every time I perform.

One of my favorites from the demo is the track, “Chains.” Why didn’t that make it on the EP?
Sharma: We have a very specific vision for that song, and we want to wait until we have all the resources to make it great. But for now I’m just happy with the EP and the resources we do have. It’s really interesting seeing all the attention it’s getting now—when we recorded it about a year ago—since we’re just looking forward.

What is the endgame for Heat?
Crow: We’re just trying to make our sound as concise as possible. We want to be a “kick you in the face” kind of band with sharp hooks and stories without being overly aggressive. We just want to come at you hard.
Sharma: My ultimate vision for the band is to create good music, and I hope people are still interested in that. We’re kind of buzz-y right now which is great but I mean there’s always a new buzz band, so I don’t put a lot of stock in that anymore. It’s more important to me if we can use that wave of interest to keep creating more music.
Fioriento: I want to learn how to be a better human being and make music we’re proud of even if it never gets released outside the four walls of our studio. At the same time I definitely want to be famous and trash hotels. That’s very important [laughs].
Bussieres: I think we just need to keep pushing our sound forward. We work very well together so it will be good.
Sharma: There’s a lot of cool funny irresponsible shit you get to do when you’re in a band and I think that’s rad but I realize a lot of people get into it for that reason. Sometimes you forget “Oh I’m playing guitar with my friends.”

Jabbari Weekes is a writer living in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter.