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Maybe a year and a half ago I got a message from a friend on MySpace asking if I was going to The Birthday Massacre show that night. I admitted to not knowing who they were and all I got as a response was a link to the bands video for "Blue" (which can be found here). Of course, trusting him not to link me to something horrible, I clicked the link and have been a fan of the band ever since.

I was lucky enough to get an interview with the bands lead singer, Chibi, and pick her brain about the Toronto scene, inspiration and being a master of naps.

“I think it is ridiculously hard to get any sort of mainstream support from the Canadian industry. I know bands who've been working hard for years and years and can't break into it.”
Chibi: The Birthday Massacre.

For our readers who don't know who you are, Roll Call! Who are you and what do you do for the band?

Hello! I am Chibi and I sing for the Birthday Massacre.

For people who have never seen you play, how would you describe your sound and live show?

When we play live we invest lots of energy into it, so that everyone who came out has a good time, and so do we. On our records, the music is very melodic and atmospheric, so when we play live we try to put a bit of a different spin on it. Everyone who comes to a live show should have a good time! We try to combine elements of synth and melody with heavier sounds, mixing together with metal and industrial.

What inspired you to make music?

For me, personally, it started off as a way to have fun with my friends and do something creative to invest my energy into. I studied art in college with Rainbow, and being in a band includes elements of design and fashion and creativity as well as music. It's always been a nice way to channel our creative aspirations into a project.

Being based out of Toronto, and having toured outside of Canada, how does our scene (Toronto) compare to the others that you've seen?

Toronto has a great music scene, but I do think it is kinder to some genres than others. North America in general is this way. For example, the types of big metal or gothic or industrial alternative festivals that are crazy-popular in Europe are to a much lesser degree over here.

We've always appreciated the support from independent and smaller media here in the city. I think it is ridiculously hard to get any sort of mainstream support from the Canadian industry. I know bands who've been working hard for years and years and can't break into it. We've toured internationally for years and nobody knows it over here, really. It's always sort of confused us. We love Toronto - but there are things about it that could change in terms of its support for alternative types of music. And that's why we are extremely grateful and dedicated to our audience in the city, and for people working in the industry and doing their best to show support.

What's your favourite song to play live? What tends to get the best reaction from the crowd?

My favourite song changes from show to show at this point. When we tour, some nights I absolutely dread playing certain songs, and then the next week I love those ones and not others. I guess it really depends on my own mood and feelings the night of a show. In terms of what people get the most excited about, that can be unpredictable too. I mean, a lot of people get really into "Blue", for example, but then after the show they'll be sad that we didn't play "Holiday". So we'll try to take a cue from that and then play "Holiday", but then people are sad that we didn't play "Nevermind" or something like that. It's frustrating when you know you can only play a certain amount of songs within your time allotment, and we spend a ton of time working out our set lists for shows. You can't please everybody, but we do try to.

I saw you guys when you were here with Mindless Self Indulgence, and I couldn't help but notice that after you guys performed, the crowd, well, thinned out a fair amount. How does it feel to have that kind of fan loyalty in your home town?

I didn't notice that happen! I would imagine that everyone would have stuck around for MSI, even if it was just to get their money's worth for the night! I mean, I love that we have that sort of loyalty from our home town, and we feel a very strong pride in Toronto. But if anyone walked out during MSI, they did miss a good show. They're very entertaining live. I think it is essential that bands find a sense of community and togetherness with each other, whether it is on tour or locally. Competitive feelings are never, never a good idea. We had a lot of our own fans come out to every show on that tour, which did make us proud - but I don't compare that to any other band's reception. You have to focus on your own project, but never forget that you're all in it together and every band has good and bad shows. Working together benefits everyone, and keeping that co-operative, mutual support spirit is the best way for everyone to succeed. You can smugly stick your nose in the air because you sold out one night, and then the next night you're playing to 20 people. There's always a yin to the yang in this industry. You can have pride, but it shouldn't be a smug, competitive thing.

What is your favorite song or lyric that you've written, and why?

From Holiday - "What a shame, if all there is is all that's gone away". That's one of them, anyways. I guess because I tend to second-guess myself and live in the past a lot, compare who I was to who I am, and it isn't healthy. But it's a bad habit of mine.

How has your music evolved since you started out?

Definitely. We've been able to move forward technically, by working in a studio and with different software, as well as becoming better performers through the amount of shows we've done. On a personal level, I mean, I am a very different vocalist now than I was years ago. Performing live has upped my confidence and changed my singing style. I used to sing very softly and nervously. That isn't going to work live, when you have to project and be powerful and invest emotion into what you're doing. Lightly singing doesn't cut it. I very rarely get nervous onstage anymore, and I used to be terrified. A lot of aspects of who we are and what we are doing have changed.

What's been your best moment as a band so far?

There have been a lot of them, and sadly, it's hard to remember them all. Things blur so much. I've been in instances where I said to myself, "Remember this, because it is awesome", and I have no idea what some of those are. We've had amazing shows, we've met great people. I'm going to cop out and say that the best moments, for me, are days on tour when all of us are gelling together, personality-wise, and the show has gone great with a good crowd and you feel satisfied at the end of it. Those days can be few and far between when you're on tour. My list of horrible moments is far more vivid than my list of good ones, but that's because I'm a pessimist, probably. :)

On NothingandNowhere.com you say that The Birthday Massacre is an audio/visual project. What do you feel the over all goal of that project is?

Like I was saying earlier, just being able to invest ourselves creatively into the band, get our ideas across, and ensure that everyone who likes us - and all of us - are having a good time and being inspired by something.

Now: The Sound Faction is made up of five girls who are all super random and love to make people laugh... we like to end all of our interviews with five random questions, so if you're game let's do it!

What fictional character would you want to meet, and why?

Ramona Quimby. She's got a temper, she's hilarious, and has a very real and sweet way of thinking that I've always related to, even though in the books about her she is a child, and I am, of course, supposed to be a grown up. I've read all the Ramona books multiple times since I was a little kid. I think me and Ramona would be great friends. Either her, or some sort of genie in a bottle who would give me a couple of wishes.

If you could have any NON-standard super power, what would it be?

So... excluding flying, super strength, mind reading stuff... I guess I'd like the ability to freeze time yet have myself remain lucid and active while everyone else, and the day, is frozen. Is that non-standard? I think that'd be awesome. I could go have a nap, go explore wherever I wanted without being stopped or scrutinized, "take a break" from a conversation, set up some lame practical joke...

What's your favourite 5-letter word?

Kisou. That's my cat's name.

Name one guilty pleasure anything!

I am very proud of everything I enjoy, no matter how lame it is! I do waste a lot of time playing Guitar Hero and Roch band, though, lately.

If you could be the champion of anything, what would it be? (and if you say The World, we might have to die of laughter!)

Being champion of the world implies too much responsibility! I guess I want to be the champion of naps. I secretly think I already am.

Thanks again to Chibi for taking the time to talk to us. And if you want to check out The Birthday Massacre, you can find their MySpace here, and their homepage here.