Canadian band has carnival approach

I have not seen the film “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, but according to imdb.com, it stars Jane Fonda, it takes place during the Great Depression, and it’s about an insane dance marathon that drives Fonda’s character almost to suicide.

Knowing that, I had some questions for the band called They Shoot Horses, Don’t They, a seven-member Canadian collective who are set to play at Carmen Verandah in Bar Harbor this Saturday. Par example: why call yourselves They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

“As soon as somebody told us about the movie, and the title, we were like ‘Wow, what a bummer,'” said Nut Brown, frontman for the band. “We thought, ‘That would be perfect,’ in an absurd kind of way. I like that dance marathon thing – taking fun and turning it into torture. It’s like, y’know, the smile on a clown’s face. He might be grumpy as hell, but he’s got that smile.”

So it comes as no surprise that They Shoot Horses, Don’t They make music that’s chaotic, sweaty, sometimes difficult but always fun. Picture Captain Beefheart and John Zorn as the ringleaders of a circus, except the circus is made up of members of bands like Gogol Bordello, King Crimson and Akron/Family.

OK, was that confusing? Sorry, my inner music nerd got loose. I try to keep her under control, but she breaks free sometimes. I’ve been looking into medications for that. Anyway, how about I just call it jazzy carnival folk-punk, played by a bunch of crazy art students. Which is true, since all seven members of the band met while attending the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Like the rest of the band, Nut Brown had no formal musical training. The seven would get together and honk on saxophones, tinkle on pianos and pound on drums. They just wanted to make cool sounds.

“I don’t consider myself a musician. I don’t practice scales. But I do play instruments. I’ll play any old guitar. I’ll bang on anything,” said Brown. “I’m not concerned with musicianship. I’m more concerned with just creating. The thing about artists is, they gotta do art.”

After a year or so of free-form jamming, the actual band began to form.

“We never wrote a single song. We never really thought of being in a band,” said Brown. “And then one day, we were. It just sort of happened.”

They Shoot Horses has since released two albums, 2006’s “Boo Hoo Hoo Boo” and 2007’s “Pick Up Sticks,” both released on indie powerhouse Kill Rock Stars records. Tracks from “Pick Up Sticks” can be streamed at the band’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/theyshoothorses, showcasing its loose-limbed, mischievous approach to music.

Brown said that though they aren’t musically very similar, he and his band draw inspiration from the late Syd Barrett, the first singer for Pink Floyd and a brilliantly warped psychedelic songwriter.

“There’s a humor there, that’s not a joke,” said Brown. “It’s a playful kind of whimsy. Not that we sound anything like him, but there’s that whimsical energy. For me, it’s about joie de vivre.”

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They will play at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, at Carmen Verandah in Bar Harbor. The show is 21+. For more info, call 288-2766. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.