Whether it was seeing the Italian Stallion at the Broadway Theatre earlier that night or walking out on another band I was supposed to interview, finding two members of Ride ‘til Dawn tasting the variety of beer at a local pub seemed as though the cosmos were giving me a second chance to make myself feel less sleazy.

Hiding in a back alley with a tape recorder and cigarettes, these fine young men told me of new changes in the music, new changes to their name, beer, Kim Mitchell and their new record, which will be released May 1st @ Amigo’s Cantina.

Mitch: I sing and play guitar...I’m Mitch, eh?

Ian: I’m Ian, eh? I play guitar and I don’t sing.

Where’s the rest of your band?

Mitch: They’re around.

Ian: Fraser fixes bikes and Greg studies for finals.

How important is the word “eh” to Ride ‘til Dawn, Amigo’s?

(Both laugh)

Mitch: Oh, fairly important, I suppose.

Ian: Depends on how many whiskey and waters.

Many people have assumed that Ride ‘til Dawn, Amigo’s is-

Ian: That’s not our name anymore.

Mitch: We dropped the “Amigo’s”. Everyone started putting in the ellipsis too much and...fuck, the fucking ellipsis! We don’t want a dot-dot-dot. Dot-dot-dot Amigo’s. You know? It’s a fucking comma and we couldn’t deal with that and... (starts slurring)

Ian: I was listening to Springsteen, right? “Something in the Night”. He’s got a line about riding ‘til dawn... looking for something to tear into the guts of something into the night. (laughs)

Mitch: Yeah, yeah. That’s that line. “Into the Night”.

Ian: ‘Cause it’s got that line “into the guts of something in the night”. It’s a good one and that... (starts slurring)

Mitch: Beard of the night? (laughs)

Ian: So we’re Ride ‘til Dawn now.

The band made a transition from alt-country to what you described before the interview as power pop. When did this transition begin?

Ian: I think we sorta realized The Deep Dark Woods were doing country rock as good as it can be done. We needed to do something different and we all started getting into punk and power pop and shit. So we just decided to do that instead.

Mitch: Also, we couldn’t play as well as the Deep Dark Woods so... (Both laugh)

Ian: We’re an easier-to-play genre; more matching to our skill level. (Someone down the alley lets out an extremely loud high-pitched cackle.)

Biggest inspiration musically and graphically?

Mitch: Graphic art form? I don’t know. Well, we can start with Neil Young. He’s a big star, big influence.

Ian: The Replacements.

Mitch: The Clash, of course.

Ian: Bob Dylan, Tim Horton...

Mitch: Graham Parsons, Townes Van Zandt...

Ian: Power pop in general.

How much do you love The Diodes?

Ian: “I’m tired of waking up tired.”

They’re kind of an essential Canadian power pop band.

Ian: They’re pretty great. Good shit. Them and the fucking... The Pointed Sticks! Best Canadian power pop band ever.

Mitch: Whatever, you forgot about the Forgotten Rebels. (Both laugh)

Ian: That’s a little too Jeff Templeton for me.

Mitch: No, they’re fine. They’re a fine band.

Ride ‘til Dawn: Cheap Trick meets Groucho Marx or Minor Threat meets the Fonz?

Mitch: (laughs) Oh wow, those are good combinations.

Ian: I dunno man, I kinda like to think of myself as Rick Neilsen or whatever his name is...the guy with the pointed up hat? But uhh...pre-proto Kim Mitchell...I kinda try to go for that in all points of my life.

Mitch: Ian goes for the Mick Ronson thing, is what he goes for. But we generally try to go for a Replacements meets Crazy Horse thing. That’s what we try to aim for. It all comes between the Wilco and-

Ian: There’s a spiritual influence that’s happening, where Crazy Horse is sort of the spiritual thing and the Replacements are maybe more the musical influence.

If you were asked to be Kim Mitchell’s backing band, how would you respond?

(Both laugh)

Ian: I met one of his drummers once! When we were on tour, eh? When we were in Hamilton, we met his drummer and he was kind of a cool guy! He liked the bus. Do you remember him?

Mitch: No.

Ian: He just came up and was talking to us about how he used to play music with Kim Mitchell. Sounds like a pretty good time. I’d do it. Might as well go for a soda nobody hurts... (laughs)

Let’s talk about the new record. Where are you recording?

Mitch: We are recording with Steve Reed from Teargas Recording Tree.

Ian: We just recorded it all live off the floor. Pretty laid back recording sessions. Lots of fun. It’s sounding good. Comes out May 1st.

Are you planning to do some touring throughout Canada?

Mitch: We’re going to Montreal and back. We’re hoping to really push the record.

Would it be fair to say that without beer, Ride ‘til Dawn would not exist?

Mitch: Well...yeah, yeah...well, y’know...take or give some. We drink a lot of beer but I’m sure we could probably do without it.

Ian: I can play without beer. I play better with two or three in me, but you know...

You realize that you’re dismissing an essential ingredient for rock ‘n roll, right? You’re going against-

Ian: Well, we’re not going against it!

Mitch: We’re not going against it. It’s just...

Ian: I can play without beer. It’s okay. I like beer though. Beer is okay. (Both laugh)

If you were to name one band that is one of the top Saskatoon bands, past or present, whom would you name?

Mitch: If we can do past and present, we have to say Linus Hemmingway.

Ian: They were decent.

Mitch: Other than that, Deep Dark Woods are a good band. Shakey Wilson is good too.

Ian: Spiritual influence! (Both laugh)

Mitch: The band manager is Shakey Wilson.

Ian: If your band manager is doing anything, you’ve got the wrong manager. (Both laugh)

Any famous last words from Ride ‘til Dawn?

Ian: My favourite last words are from a writer I like, Jerzy Kosinski, who actually killed himself. He was in a bunch of trouble for...most of his books were ripped off of...he was Hungarian. Umm... (Mitch laughs) He ripped off folk songs. I’m paraphrasing, but his suicide note was, “I’m going to go to sleep for a little while longer than normal.” Those are my last words in... (starts slurring)

Mitch?

Mitch: It’s fucking cold.

Photos courtesy of r_po and kungfudrew.

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