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Fish: Andy, how does it work when there are three singers – are you just jamming and coming up with things together?

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Andy: A lot of these songs existed to begin with, so I was lucky enough to be a fan coming in about a year and a half ago. Nolan’s an amazing songwriter, but it’s really awesome seeing Corey, who has a lot of cool ideas. We’re really branching out.

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Fish: And how does having two drummers work – I imagine things have to be pretty tight and in sync.

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Sam: The idea is to not improvise as much as possible and make it an actual part that we’re all playing together.

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Andy: And the idea that you forget that you’re two drummers and get this, “Holy f— those guys are so loud!”

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Sam: I think that’s where the whole double drum thing’s really cool. And if we’re nailing it we’re not just playing over each other, which I think we’re good at.

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Corey: Part of the fun is when I turn around and look back at them, it’s like two dolphins jumping out of the water together. (everyone laughs)

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Andy: When Sam and I are playing, I have to watch him more than anybody I have in a band before. We’re looking at each others’ hands, feet, I’m looking at his face. I can see his body when he’s about to crash huge.

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Edmonton’s Big Evil Rat has a brand-new album. Photo by Fish Griwkowsky /Postmedia

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Nolan: I also want to shout out to Becca, who’s been in the band since 2018. She’s a big force in what makes the sound.

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Andy: And her specific bass tone is just huge. It felt like such a massive void in the spectrum when she was on a trip for a couple months.

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Fish: Can you talk about how the album was tracked? It feels a lot like the live set caught on flypaper.

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Corey: Yeah, we did them as we laid them down in the set, so we just ripped each song a couple times and took the best take.

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Andy: We went in to record a single, maybe a couple songs, and we ended up recording a whole album, to everyone’s surprise. (laughs)

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Fish: The old versions of the songs online are cleaner and janglier and you guys are just messier, which is so much fun. It was monsterless before, and now you have Nolan doing that insane Big Evil Rat voice saying the band’s name, and the crowd cheering added in…

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Andy: That vocal effect makes me laugh every time.

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Fish: Yeah, it’s very much like you guys aren’t taking yourselves seriously, even though the playing is very serious and well done.

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Nolan: Yeah, it’s disarming, I think, the Rat, especially in a live show where it takes the place of stage banter. We don’t have to talk, it’s just a nice transition to the next song, whenever someone has to tune or whatever.

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Fish: Why did you decide to release the album as a tape?

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Nolan: It’s the cheapest medium. I used to run a label with friends, Sweetie Pie Records, so I just have a love of cassette tapes. I work in a record store but the majority of my music is on tapes. Everything’s digital these days so it’s nice to have a physical thing you can hold while you stream.

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Fish: Ironically, you guys are the first band I ever streamed using ear bids off my laptop after you sent the link, so I was like, “Oh my god! I can research and clean my apartment at the same time!” I’m about 150 years behind on tech.

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Corey: Happy to be of service!

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