GLOBETROTTERS CONVENE IN VANCOUVER

We Need Surgery, which consists of Canadian, American and Korean members, originally formed in South Korea. More recently, they filmed a music video in Japan. Right now, they’re a little spread out.

“Our Korean guitar player is in Korea and our Canadian guitar player is in Japan,” vocalist Miso Stefanac tells BeatRoute. Soon after our call, the band reunites in Vancouver to promote the release of their self-titled album.

I speak with Stefanac and the band drummer Brandon Butler. By odd coincidence, BeatRoute conducts this interview while in Gwangju, South Korea, a city where drummer Butler spent five years teaching English. Just prior to the interview, the band writes on Facebook, “Wait — we came all the way from Korea to be based in Vancouver and now the BeatRoute BC writer is gonna interview us tonight by Skype, from Korea. Weird.”

The band hails the new album as the culmination of all the music they have been playing over the last five years. “It’s like a greatest hits album,” jokes Butler.

Stefanac shares that the album was not what he expected. “We got fresh ideas from working with producers. I had a vision for the album, and it surprised me in the end,” he says.

Given their history, it’s not surprising that they don’t feel settled in the Vancouver music scene yet. “We’re really outsiders still,” says Butler. With the album release, they want to dive in. They intend to do a Canadian tour in the near future, and with the same adventurous attitude that has guided the band’s decisions so far, they will choose which cities they visit based on where their songs rank on college radio charts. Early data suggests they will be visiting quite a few towns in northern Ontario, although it’s too soon to know for sure.

We Need Surgery’s self-titled album is out now.

By Ana Bedard
Photo courtesy: WeNeedSurgery.com