Low

Indie rock band Low’s eight song 1999 Christmas EP, originally championed by John Peel,  is often referred to as one of the seminal alternative festive releases and, like Santa returning down the chimney each year, is a gift that music lovers return to every winter to get them in the seasonal mood. This Christmas, Low will be packing their sleigh and scooting along to the Arts Centre where they’ll be getting us all in a merry mood. I spoke to drummer Mimi, one third of the band, about being married to your bandmate, working with Steve Albini and what her favourite Christmas song is.

Mimi, you’ve known Alan since the early 90’s. When you first started Low, the music scene in the States was pretty much devoted to grunge. What was it that made you want to take a different route?

We’ve actually know each other longer than that, but the band started in the 90s.  We didn’t necessarily start the band as a reaction to grunge but we knew that wasn’t going to be our style.  Probably mostly due to me. Alan chose a style that he knew I would be into.

You’re a married couple. Is it difficult to keep your home life and professional life separate or does it all merge into one? 

At this point the band and the marriage are pretty much merged. It can lead to certain difficulties but then every marriage has challenges. From the beginning we knew we wanted to work together and the band has allowed us that. Our kids have been able to come with us on tour to pretty exotic places that we never would have gone to otherwise.

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Your songs are often about love and relationships – is it sometimes hard to sing those songs which might be about your partner on stage, especially as those emotions may have been a long while in the past?

I think we struggle more with the idea that anything we say is valid or worth others hearing, or if our lyrics can speak to others and convey a meaning that is more valuable.  We realize that we might be singing about each other but we know that is part of the bargain.

Legendary producer Steve Albini produced two of your albums – what was it like to work with such a guy?

Albini was a great influence on us.  He’s a very intelligent and creative person and honestly we were honoured that he wanted to work with us.  His style is pretty dry and upfront, he’s amazing at capturing live sound and I think that shows in the recordings.   

You were also signed to Sub Pop in the early 2000’s and have remained with them since. You haven’t released too many actual albums but have created a huge body of work. Do they support this style of yours?

From the get go Sub Pop has told us to do what we want and they’ve never had us change or redo anything.  We have been free to create the records that we want.  

You’ve changed and developed your sound with a subtle touch through the years, and it seems to get bolder and stronger at every turn. Is this a deliberate move, to keep it interesting, or is it more of an organic move?

For the most part it has been a very organic process for us. After we put out our first record we kind of wondered if we would be able to write more songs. It was a bit daunting at first. But we carried on and it has come very naturally. Our songs aren’t contrived at all; we’ve never had a concept album or anything, but we might mess with the recording process a bit more that we used to. As we get older we know we can do whatever we want as we’ve got nothing to lose so to speak!  We have been working with a creative producer - BJ Burton.  He’s very forward thinking and adventurous and we love that.   

You’ve had periods where various members have left and come back, or not returned at all. How have you dealt with those perhaps jarring times, and what has kept you together for so long?

Being in a band is a very unique experience.  It can be hard at times collaborating with others but we’ve been very lucky to have worked with all the people that we have. Ultimately we’ve decided to continue even after a difficult  departure. Honestly I can’t imagine it’s too easy to work with a married couple and deal with all their crap! We’ve stayed together as a band because we’ve stayed together as a couple and we don’t have a backup plan.