Pleased To Meet Me: TV Erased
TV ERASED photo by: Joseph Yarmush
Introduce yourself… (Where are you from, what band do you play in etc..)
We are Alex Ortiz, Joe Yarmush, Trevor Barnes and Alex Hackett and we play in TV Erased
Why do you play music?
I think we’re all old hands at it by now, having played in a bunch of other bands for years.
Playing music is a blast. It’s a never-ending challenge, it’s therapy, it’s an education, it’s how you learn what you’re made of. And it’s an otherwise useless skill-set that you have to put to some use somehow.
What was a major influence on you as an Artist/Band?
That Doors movie with Val Kilmer. Terrible influence, for a kid. Our older brothers. Comic books. The Cure. The early 2000s Montreal scene made everyone want to be in a band. Smoking a lot of weed as a teenager. The Grateful Dead, for Trevor.
What’s a favourite book or film?
Always a tough question, so here are some recent faves picked at random:
Books: “The Book of Disquiet”, Fernando Pessoa, “Valis”, Philip K. Dick , “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, Joan Didion, “Sing Backwards and Weep,” Mark Lanegan,
Movies: “Mandy”, “Moonstruck”, “Raising Arizona,” “Wild at Heart”
Do you prefer the recording process or performing live?
I (Alex H.) really love being in the studio. It’s like a puzzle and a playground and I get all riled up. But Joe and Ortiz are in amazing live bands too, and have toured the most, so maybe live for them? I think they dig the studio too. Anyway, this Turbo Haus show will only be TV Erased’s 4th live show. We’re relatively green as a unit - which is when you want to see a band, I’d say: a little ragged, but full of tense energy and promise.
What would be a dream collaboration?
Robert Smith, Blonde Redhead, Johnny Marr, Pavement, Lana del Rey
Describe a favourite album.
The Cure’s “Disintegration” is a complete world, to me. It really moved me as a kid. It’s like what the “Stranger Things” universe is supposed to sound like. There’s something super icy and cold and isolated about it, and yet it’s full of life-affirming warmth at the same time. That’s pretty hard to pull off. It’s as if it’s happening all inside some person’s head. Beautiful moments of triumph and love all mixed up with the doom and dystopian melancholy. The sonic palette is totally unique, and now people just know it as the Cure sound, but it was the pinnacle of their evolution up to that point. Anyway, that album blows my mind. It’s aged really well, I think.
What's your favourite local haunt?
Champ’s Sports Bar on Saint-Laurent right now. But we love all of them: L’Escogriffe, Quai des Brumes, Cichetti’s, Taverne Atlantique, Foufounes Electriques, Ping Pong Club, Taverne Pelican, Bar de Courcelle, Vices et Versa… I was a big fan of Primetime, before somebody burned it down. Have we missed any?
What's your strangest experience while performing live?
I played a show in Victoria, B.C. once where literally not one person showed up. That was pretty weird. If a band plays in a venue and no one comes, do they still make a sound?
Other than that, having my car stolen by some crackhead at a gig in Toronto.
What are some of your favourite aspects of being a musician in Montréal?
So many talented people and bands, so many passionate lifers and elders and weirdos, so many stories, plentiful jam spaces, great venues. It’s a city of total music nerds who really appreciate different stuff, and can veer from appreciating classically trained jazz and classical and world stuff to punk and metal and electro cultures. The people in this city truly appreciate all kinds of music, whatever the genre, as long as it’s quality stuff.
Has the current COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine influenced your creative process?
As a band, yeah - we didn’t jam for months. It sucked. As individuals, I think we stayed productive in different ways to ward off the generalized anxiety and frustration and got up to different things.
If you weren’t playing music in Montréal where would you be ?
Probably, in no particular order: Working at Concordia, doing home renos in Montreal North, doing something sketchy in Colombia, drinking excessively as a part-owner of Champ’s Sports bar on Saint-Laurent.
Any sage advice for young musicians?
Work hard, have fun. Stop worrying and don’t overthink it. Just do your best and make something. And if you like it, keep going. It’ll take time to get it out to the world, so don’t give up.
