1. Who are you?
My name’s Alex and I’m some of Hellaluya.
2. What do you do?
I sing and play guitar and sounds.
3. How, when and where did Hellaluya form?
Well a little while ago, around Toronto and in my attic … in the minds of a few people with some fun and thrash and issues and a little time in our hands.
4. If you had a mission statement, what would it be?
Never scared.
5. What are your current obsessions?
Making cassettes and Lil Wayne, but I think I’m on the look for a new one right now.
6. How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you jam?
Someone in Waterloo today said to me he heard us and we sounded like AIDS Wolf playing with the Beastie Boys.
7. What’s the best thing someone’s said to you about your project? The worst?
The best? That it’s not like anything they’ve heard before. The worst? Ah, if people don’t like it they don’t usually tell me. And even then we wouldn’t listen.
8. What’s your idea of the perfect gig?
Any show with the gang at The Academy.
Follow ups would be Center of Gravity, Thee Oh Sees in NYC this time near my birthday after not sleeping for a long time, [experimental act] Teen Tits Wild Wives, Arcade Fire and Japanther.
9. What inspires you?
The gang. This movie called The Year That Punk Broke. Wu-tang clan. That feeling you get when you really really get it, and it works. Everyone knows that feeling, it’s the best!
10. Do you see collaborating as an important part of the band?
I think collaborating is what the band is, whether it’s with each other, friends, machines, samples, rap acapellas or other parts of ourselves.
11. What’s next for Hellaluya?
Showz, songs, mixtapes, splits, art, videos, you never can tell with bees.
12. What inspires the visual aspects of the project?
I think we’re just visual people and a lot of our favourite artists and musicians often don’t draw a line between music and art in the way they work and produce things. It’s more fun. And I like when you can be interested in one facet of someone’s art and it can lead you somewhere unexpected.
13. What can people expect from your live show on Friday?
Catharsis.
Helluya plays the Mansion tonight and tomorrow night, starting at 9p.m. with Cherry Chapstick and La Casa Muerte. Cover is $8 at the door.
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