By Valerie Bennett

It’s that wonderful time of year, filled with joyous holiday spirit, gingerbread houses, and snow dusted rooftops. It’s a time best spent with family and loved ones. And that’s just how Oh No Forest Fire’s vocalist/guitarist Rajiv Thavanathan plans to celebrate the holidays. On Saturday, December 12th, 2009, his band will be wrapping up Audio Blood and Third Estate’s second annual Jingle Bell Rock show at the Horseshoe Tavern with the ones he loves, because for Rajiv, his bandmates Brock Swanek, Matt Del Buono and Adam Nimmo, are like his family. Audio Blood, Third Estate and the bands kicking off the show are his loved ones. To prepare us for it, Rajiv took the time to meet with Valerie Bennett to chat about their successes this year, the energy they bring to a live performance and just what to expect at this year’s Jingle Bell Rock.

Valerie: Oh No Forest Fires have had a pretty big year. Tell me about it.

Rajiv: Yeah, we’ve been busier than I thought we would be. I guess it makes sense because our record came out in November last year. I kind of thought everything would happen in 2008, but that really only leaves six weeks for anything to happen. Most of the really fun stuff happened this year; all of our fun shows in Toronto, opening for people or doing our own nights where we’d try to create the most ridiculous party we could. Most of the tours we’ve done have been this year so it’s been really fun.

Valerie: What tours have you done?

Rajiv: We did an Ontario and Quebec thing with our friends Arietta in May. In March we did a northern Ontario tour, which was really fun and resulted in a hilarious night in a place called Sudbury, Ontario. We created a lot of special memories in Sudbury and I can’t wait to go back with this band. (Laughter) Then of course we took a trip to Newfoundland in August and then we toured to Halifax, we did Pop Montreal and Halifax Pop Explosion. Yeah, I never thought… I shouldn’t say I never thought we would but I wasn’t expecting us to get to do east coast stuff any time kind of soon but then it worked out that it made sense. So yeah, we had a pretty busy year and I’m really happy that with what it worked out to.

Valerie: I read that your first single hit number three on CBC Radio 3, what was that experience like, finding that out?

Rajiv: It did. It was weird because it was unintentional. We didn’t submit it. When we released our record, we didn’t push it to any kind of radio. We sent it to XM and we sent it to Radio 3 and campus radio but that was literally it. We didn’t try to pick a single or make a video. We were just like, “Here’s our record – I hope you like it!” just trying to be as positive as we could about it. Then every different outlet, whether it was campus radio or XM or Radio 3, picked different songs to play. To XM, the single was the third song on the record, where as to Radio 3 the single was the first song on the record. It was great for us because instead of us having to be in charge… (Laughter) which is kind of irresponsible in a way because you should really pick one thing and push that so everyone kind of knows one [song], but instead we were like, “Let’s be a little more haphazard about it. Let’s let them pick what they like.” Radio 3 happened to like that first song on the record and they kept playing it and I’d do phone interviews or go down to the studio on Front St. and we’d talk to them. It was really nice. I met a lot a bunch of people at the building down there, like really sweet producers and the radio people.

Valerie: Awesome. You were nominated for the Verge’s Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, as well. How did that feel?

Rajiv: Uh, surprising. Again, we didn’t pick a single and it was like, “Yeah, if you like it, you like it.” I was actually at a cabin in Orillia and I was in quite a mood at this cabin in the middle of summer and Sari was actually the one that text me and was like, “Hey, you guys are like the short-list for this thing!” and I was like “What?!” I thought it was a joke, I thought she was fucking with me or something. Then I actually found the website and I thought, “Oh, look at that. Someone seems to have taken an interest in us. That’s really good.”

Valerie: Did that surprise you?

Rajiv: I mean, not that I don’t have faith in the band or not that I think, “Man, I can’t believe that anyone likes this,” because I obviously love it. It’s my favourite band and I’m totally comfortable saying my band is my favourite band. I don’t think we’re the best but we’re my favourite, you know. It’s two separate things. But yeah, I was really grateful and I was surprised. I’m comfortable admitting that. I was happy and I was flattered and proud of it. There are a lot of things that go through your head, the first being, in my case, disbelief because I’m kind of a Doubting Thomas. But after that I was telling everyone I could. Not like bragging, but just proud of my guys. All four of us worked pretty hard and it was cool that someone would ever begin to put us on a list of bands like Arcade Fire. The fact that we were on the same list as the bands that we look up to and have looked up to for years, like the Weakerthans, was ridiculous. If there were a hundred bands, and Arcade Fire and Oh No Forest Fires are mentioned at the same time, my musical aspirations are complete. I did what I was supposed to do.

Valerie: Well, congrats. So tell me what a live show is like for you guys.

Rajiv: I can tell you that we get really excited and really happy. We just start playing and it’s get really, really loud – sometimes you can hear what you’re singing, sometimes you can’t – and we just start running around. Adam plays really loud and when I hear drums or bass, my reflex is to start dancing and moving around because I find it difficult not to. And especially if I get to play along with it, then we automatically go into twelve year old with a hairbrush singing Madonna in front of the mirror kind of mode. And that’s why it looks the way that it does! Sometimes at the end of it, we’ll be really excited, really loud and we feel like we have to really amp it up and start trying to one up each other. Inevitably people start standing on things, jumping off things, throwing things and that’s why all my guitars are not worth as much as they should be.



Valerie: (Laughter) Well, at least you’re having a good time when you’re doing it and you put on a good show.

Rajiv: Oh, I’m having the best time! There’s that moment when someone comes up to you after the show and they’re like, “Man, that was so fun! You guys look like you were having a great time!” I’m always like, “I am having a great time! I get to play the guitar and sing!” Playing the guitar is literally my favourite thing in the world, so what more could I ask for than if someone says it looks fun. It’s so much fun. You’ve got all sorts of pedals to play with, you get to change your sound, play something that sounds pretty or play something that sounds really gross. Play stuff that makes you want to throw up or play stuff that makes you cry or smile, run around. It’s very cathartic. Tuesday night is when we practice and that’s the high point of my week. When I get to turn up my guitar, sing with my friends and write songs – that’s definitely the high point of my week. I think the rest of them would agree too, but Brock definitely because we’ve talked about it. Shows are fun to but I like practice. I like writing. If I could write every day I would. Actually I do kind of write every day.

Valerie: So what can we expect from the show on December 12th at the Horseshoe?

Rajiv: Adam’s got something planned. I don’t know if it’s going to work or not. (Laughter.) I don’t want to give away any surprises or anything, but the word “pyrotechnics” was involved. I don’t think he literally means fire though, I think he means something else. Or at least I hope he means something else. Either that or he wants to put sparklers on the drums or something. So who knows, maybe we’ll burn down the Horseshoe. So expect an actual forest fire at the Horseshoe. We’re going to try to keep it a bit festive and try to keep it in the spirit of the season. I don’t know if it’s going to be like a Bruce Springsteen show where Santa Claus is going to show up and give people stuff but maybe we can find someone to give gifts to people. If you catch us in a good mood, we’ll probably buy you a drink or a shot or something. We’re really lucky when we get to play with all bands that are our friends, like people we know and hang out with. We’re going to try to keep that attitude for the whole show. I think the responsibility is going to fall on us a little bit more because we’re playing last but I think we can come up with something that will be a nice bonding moment and a nice festive moment. Hopefully we can create that.

Valerie: Christmas sweaters?

Rajiv: We’ll see. I’m really out of shape and I need to learn how to not sweat to death when I play so I feel that wearing a wool, extremely warm sweater is probably a bad idea. I’m used to wearing light, button up shirts that I can wear open and undo buttons until people are all grossed out and there’s sweat going everywhere. A Christmas sweater would be counter-productive. But if I can find a loose, button up, Christmas-y shirt, or if you can find me one, I am open to the idea of wearing one.

Valerie: (Laughter) All right, I’ll keep my eyes peeled and keep you posted. Are we to expect lots of energy at the show?

Rajiv: I think that’s a pretty safe bet. It’s going to be our last show for 2009. I’m going home to Newfoundland like four days after that. That’s our Christmas break and we’re all going to be apart for two weeks. It’s the first time we’ve played Toronto since September 25th so we’re kind of itching to play for our friends in our hometown again. We’re all from different places, you know, but Toronto is our home base. I’m glad our last show of 2009 after a three-month break gets to be here and we get to go a little crazy with people that we trust and trust us.

Valerie: So you’re going out with a bang.

Rajiv: Yeah. It’s pretty much as close as we can get to playing a New Year’s show because generally I’m back in Newfoundland and Brock’s probably going to be in Barrie. So if we’re going to have a holiday extravaganza, this is how we’re going to do it – on our terms.

Valerie: Awesome. Do you have any final words for Fazer readers to tell them what to expect?

Rajiv: Closing thoughts? Hopefully you come to the show and if you do, please come talk to us. We’re the most social people in the world. My favourite part about playing in a band is meeting people, like even just in the passing of life. It sounds kind of cliché or tired but we want it to be an event, like a bit of a party. Not just to celebrate Christmas or to celebrate the bands but there’s a reason we’re all getting together. Audio Blood has been together for a year now and Third Estate is part of the show too. You get two great organizations like them and you get the Horseshoe, who have also come to help us out, and you’ve got four bands who love each other and get along. Then you have hopefully a couple hundred people that are just willing to embrace all these things or hopefully have something to do with at least a couple of them. We can create an explosion of gooey warmth. I think it will be fun.

Valerie: Sounds great, I can’t wait for the show! Thanks for your time and I’ll be seeing you at the Horseshoe Tavern on December 12th!