Hot' in here

Part Clash, part Flock of Seagulls, the alliterative Hot Hot Heat has been getting media attention and radio play with its unique yet enjoyable sound. The Daily was able to catch up with Steve Bays (keyboard/vocals) recovering from Heat's previous night's show at Axis. We talked about the music scene in his hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, the band itself, and a lot of random stuff.



Tufts Daily: How did you first get interested in music?

>Steve Bays: I played classical piano music at the age of eight. At 12 I wanted less conservative, more rebellious, so I started playing guitar. I played in a Rolling Stones cover band.



TD: What was high school like for you?

>SB: I usually was in like three or four bands. I was just trying to get through school, spent most of my time in bands. I still did well in school though.



TD: How did you together with your band?

SB: We all played in the local punk music scene. We all played in the same bands-it was only a matter of time.



TD: What has been your best performing experience so far?

SB: It's really hard to say. After the record came things have been really insane. The crowds have been singing and dancing along. Even the crowd last night was singing and jumping up and down. The West Coast has been especially good to us and the UK.



TD: What would you say were your musical influences?

>SB: Beatles, Led Zeppelin -- bands like that. Singer songwriters Steve Wonder, Michael Jackson, Billie Joel. A lot of underground punk. I grew up in the indie rock scene. There were so many new bands with new ideas that were more happening than the mainstream, especially in the 90s.



TD: Who are you listening to right now?

>SB: Moving Units, the Walkmen, Spoon, Patsy Cline, and the Pogues.



TD: How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?

>SB: New wave punk but for a new generation. Its new wave and it's pop but it doesn't sound like it. It's quirky and extremely catchy.



TD: What do you do when you have some down time?

>SB: I don't have any downtime, that's a problem .We just keep going and going and going. If we do have any spare time it's before or after sound check. We'll just play songs on guitars or if someone has a laptop, watch DVDs.



TD: Were you satisfied with the outcome of the Oscars?

>SB: I didn't even watch it this year. The only thing I head about that I liked was Michael Moore's speech.



>TD: What's your favorite color?

>SB: Navy Blue.



TD: What was your favorite cartoon growing up?

>SB: Not including The Simpsons? I was into Muppet Babies, but that may have been because they had that choice 10 o' clock time slot. I also liked Pee Wee Herman. [Pauses] Wait; looking back I would say He-Man.



TD: What's the best lie you've ever told?

>SB: When were bored with living in Victoria we would go to bars and lie about where we were from. But sometimes they would figure us out, or sometime s they would see us like three weeks later and say "Didn't you say you were form Boston?" I like to lie to strangers regularly



TD: Okay, its 4 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon and you've got to dance. What do you put in the CD player?

SB: [After establishing details, location, and style of dance] Track one of the Moving Units CD that's a great dancing song. [Pauses] Often at 4 p.m. we are loading into a club and the Pogues are a good drinking music band. Sometimes they'll have a pool table and we'll play pool while listening to the Pogues. It puts you in a good mood to play in

a pub.



TD: What question do you always wish you were asked in an interview?

>SB: [after a moment to think] What is your favorite water slide?



TD: Fair enough. What's your favorite water slide? We aim to please.

>SB: The ones that are really, really, really long. Not the ones that are short and fast. The ones that take a long time to climb up.



TD: Read any good books lately?

>SB: I stated reading Michael Moore's book, Stupid White Men. And Van Halen, David Lee Roth's autobiography. I really want to see Old School.



TD: What would you say is the moral to the story of your life?

>SB: Don't eat glue.