Koreas Advice

The Two Koreas
From: Toronto, Canada

Stuart Berman singer with Canadian Fall/Pavement fans The Two Koreas (first featured on the Devil's blog way back in March 2007, The Two Koreas)
took some time out to chat to the Devil about fortuitous coincidences, facial hair and their disdain for fluorescents.

The Devil: Why Two Koreas?

Stuart: Years before we actually formed the band, our guitarist Kieran Grant would always say that The Two Koreas would make for a great band name, and that he couldn't believe nobody else had claimed it. So we essentially formed the band to lay squatter's rights to the name. Kieran's a big history buff, particularly military/war history, so I assume the name stemmed from that fascination on his part. But, naturally, given a) our vocations as writers in Toronto and b) our none-too-subtle fondness for Pavement, many have assumed our name is a reference to the "Career! Korea! Korea!" line in "Cut Your Hair." But that's really just a fortuitous coincidence, one that we will nonetheless gladly take ownership of.

The Devil: What other names did you ponder before deciding it had to be Two Koreas?

Stuart: None. The band name existed before the band itself, as did several of our song titles.

The Devil: Who are the biggest influences in your life and on your music?

Stuart: Musically speaking, we never disguised the fact The Two Koreas initially began as a Fall tribute act, but using our own experiments in plagiarism instead of incompetent cover versions. But on our new album, Science Island, I think we've moved beyond that primitive post-punk/garage-rock base to absorb elements of everything from Cheap Trick to Spiritualized to Rush circa "Subdivisions." However, beyond any direct musical influence, I'm very inspired by artists like Grinderman, LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, The Ex, The Flaming Lips and Wire - bands that are still making relevant, challenging work and turning in visceral live performances well into their 40s and 50s, and wiping the floor with bands half their age. We started this band relatively late in our lives - I'm the youngest member at 36 - so it's reassuring to know there are models for doing this without feeling like you're that creepy middle-aged guy still hanging out at the bar, or without feeling like you need to tone down your music to suit your age. If anything, we're supposed to get crankier as we get older - and we want our music to reflect that.

The Devil: What was the first record you owned and what was the first record you ever bought with your own money?

Stuart: The first record I remember playing constantly was KISS Alive II, which belonged to my older brother. The first record I remember handing over money for was The Beatles' White Album (or just The Beatles if we're being pedantic).

The Devil: What makes Two Koreas stand out from the millions of other bands across the world? What makes you unique?

Stuart: Our proper appearances, ineffable politeness, lack of facial hair, disdain for fluorescents and the fact that only two of us have tattoos.

The Devil: Which bands or artists on the current music scene make your spine tingle with joy? Which bands make you jealous?

Stuart: According to my iTunes play counter, my most-listened-to albums in the past month are Destroyer's Kaputt, Cut Copy's Zonoscope, The Dears' Degeneration Street, Malachai's Return to the Ugly Side, The Ex's Catch My Shoe, The Smith Westerns' Dye It Blonde, Cheveu's 1000 and Wire's Red Barked Tree. I am jealous of Deerhunter because they the hit that sweet spot between beauty and discord with increased accuracy on each album, and I am also jealous of U2, but only because they get to travel in separate jets.

The Devil: Favourite song?

Stuart: An impossible question, of course... I've always thought that your favourite song is the one you choose to listen to over all others at any given moment in time, in which case, right now, it's The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil."

The Devil: Favourite book?

Stuart: Currently, I am immersed in Keith Richards' Life (which as the preceding answer suggests, has reacquainted me with my Stones albums for the first time in many moons). As far as rock bios go, is the new gold fucking standard for the first chapter alone.

The Devil: Favourite Movie?

Stuart: Tie: Brazil / Dog Day Afternoon / Goodfellas. More recently, Children of Men, which has achieved the status of the aforementioned films in that, when I stumble upon it on late-night TV, I have to watch it all the way through to the end, no matter what the hour.

The Devil: Favourite word?

Stuart: Bacon. (Much more elegant than tofurkey.)

The Devil: Tell me something that you've never told anyone before.

Stuart: I can't really get into the James Blake album.

The Devil: If you weren't in Two Koreas or writing about music how would you keep yourself occupied?

Stuart: In previous lives, I've been a paper boy, a telemarketer, an auto-parts delivery-truck driver and a file clerk at an accounting firm. Not wishing to fall back on any of those vocations, I would probably just spend an obscene amount of time dicking around on the internet.

The Devil: If you were interviewing yourself what would your killer question be and how would you answer it?

Stuart: Question: "What are your biggest influenzas?" Answer: "Stomach, London 2008."

The Devil: In these recessionary times what tips can you give the Devil's readers on saving money?

Stuart: Buy all your beer in Mexico, where you can get a bucket of seven bottles for the equivalent of 6 Canadian dollars (or 3 quid). Even when you factor in the airfare to get there, it's still a steal.

The Devil: Is there anything else you'd like to tell the Devil Has The Best Tuna readers?

Stuart: If you've made it this far, I'll assume you're a dear friend or relative, in which case, thank you for taking the time to click the link I posted to my Facebook.

Go Try

Haunted Beach by TheTwoKoreas

Diamond Geezer by TheTwoKoreas

Go Visit

The Two Koreas - Myspace : Website : Last.FM

Go View

The Two Koreas
Midnight Brown