Vinyl Exchange: Interview with Len (Druncness Monster & Planet Pea)
[This was originally published in Fall 1999 on Vinylexchange.com. Thanks to the internet, I’ve been able to repost to this wonderful archival blog]
O Canada: Len’s Druncnes Monster and Planet Pea reveal what’s behind the iron curtain of our neighbours to the north
by Ryan Pangilinan
“We get to drink when we’re 19, we don’t have to wait until we’re 21,” states Planet Pea. Canada. Home and birthplace of many great pop icons — Pamela Anderson Lee, “Kids in the Hall,” and hockey. Now, Toronto’s Len has snuck into America with their oh-so-catchy candy raver anthem “Steal My Sunshine,” and there’s more on their minds than taking back their stolen sunshine. “Our genes are different than Americans, so we get drunk faster,” continues Planet Pea. Maybe not.
Canada. It’s not really known for ill beats or the best place to dig, at least to people who aren’t hardcore diggers. Sensing that these two know where to go I ask: “Where are the best places to dig for records in Canada?” The answer is not what I had hoped for: “Can’t tell you,” says Pea. Damn. Canada must have some nice spots.
Opting for something else of Canadian culture, I hit the realm of TV. “I got a show, myself and DJ Transformer… He and I are working on a TV show, it’s called Barf TV,” says Druncnes. Barf TV? “Basically, it’s footage of people puking. Mostly me.” Hmm…
“Snake from Degrassi [High] actually saw preliminary footage of the show… he was taken back by it so much that he actually asked to guest star.” A passion for Barf TV, Drunc also revealed other possible guests for his show: “Not really celebrities, but we’re trying to get monkeys and dress them up like humans and get them to barf. No one really knows this, but you know that show, Monkey Channel? Chimp Channel? That’s actually a Canadian show.” No wonder it’s so damn funny.
Canadians have a different accent compared to Americans, an obstacle that Len had to overcome in order to complete their album. “We had to learn to speak American before we got signed,” remarks Pea.
“[Sony] put us through language schools,” adds Drunc. In post language school days, Len had another hurdle to jump over, their “Steal My Sunshine” music video. “It took a long time to film that video,” begins Drunc, “We could only get into the country (U.S.) an hour at a time —”
“— Every time we’d try to get into the country, one of the guys, had a fuckin’ Cuban cigar,” continues Pea, “and they’d automatically say, ‘Cubans? Get out.’” U.S. customs can be bastards. “And another thing is that we can’t do anything cool without us being really drunk. You can’t get drunk in the states —”
” — Because beer’s only 3% (alcohol),” interrupts Drunc.
“You have to keep going back to Canada and drinking and coming back.” Again, hmm…
Another American myth about Canada is its weirdness: the metric system, small signs, old English language. What is really the deal with Canada? “You guys gotta be saying ‘dude’ all the time,” speaks Moves in reference to Americans.
“Canada isn’t really ass backwards,” starts Drunc, “We actually look at everything that you guys do wrong, and just don’t do it.”
“We’re not ass backwards,” adds Pea, “We’re ass right.”
Len and their Canada has offered a flurry of ideas throughout the whole interviewing process. I finally asked them what their next project was: “You know how there are nine Canadian provinces, right? We’re gonna make the states the next one,” addresses Drunc. After seeing Drunc’s look, I personally did not want to stop the bum rush.
