Steve Bays

Come on George, Loosen up. Swing, man

Nairn Falls, Pemberton BC (Taken with Instagram at Nairn Falls)

lenfantvon asked: are you guys planning on playing some shows in Vancouver any time soon?

no…I’m mainly focused on making records at the moment. been producing bands and finishing my side project (fur trade) album, and then hhh album in fall.>!!

littlethoughtsofadreamer asked: I heard a song on the radio, I instantly knew it was your vocals but I had never heard the song before. A pretty avid Hot Hot Heat fan for years, I was disappointed when they didn't say what the song was. I'm positive it was new. Was it another artist featuring you or all of Hot Hot Heat? I hope all is well! Come back to Toronto soon :)

hey - thx! Yeah it was Neverending White Lights feat. HHH … it was a song I wrote in a couple hours and emailed to them. Then my friend Ryan Dahle played some cool parts over it (eg. the lead guitar riff) and their frontman Daniel ended up writing the rest of the music around that. weird way to do it but ended up pretty cool i think. doesn’t really sound like hhh other than my voice but that’s sorta what I like about it

herdinthehalls asked: Hello, I am a student who started high school this past fall (around the same time I started listening to Hot hot Heat, and you guys are already my favorite band) and now i'm wondering; How did you get to where you are now, Mr. Bays? What was your high school (and/or collage, if applicable) experience like? Would you're school self be surprised about your career? Thank you, and no applause allowed.

ah shucks, thx. I was just always sorta selfish with my time and always worked on anything that seemed fun. many many hours just having fun working on anything creative… art/music/film/etc. but at the time i didn’t realize that i was being productive and developing a craft (or art whatevr u may call it ;) I did make an effort to be an academic and went to university etc but i never really enjoyed academia as much as i knew I’d have to to be able to excel beyond an average career… so I’d rather accept the possiblty of being poor and just have fun all the time by playing in bands

charlestonchris asked: Curious about Hot Hot Heat, new material for 2012?

back on track this fall …! sorry for the delay but it almost didn’t happen at all, so … i’m just stoked that we are connecting creatively again

ryanrosephoto asked: Was that you who popped by Greenhouse studios on Friday (the 3rd)?

helllllz yeah!

forever-and-a-half asked: vancouverites unite!! have you noticed that in new west, by the quay, it kinda looks like seattle? beaut sunsets too, yo. :)

are you talking lonsdale quay? yeah! I’ve thought that before too! i love it here so much… why do we love vancouver? on paper it should be much less desirable i feel… but there’s something in the air that is calming

princessiz asked: Steve I am a HUGE fan of Hot Hot Heat. You (especially) are incredibly awesome! I've always wondered something... What makes you laugh? Also, where are you ticklish? Thanks! <3

I’m a big fan of a lot of alternative comedy… and some non/alternative comedy too i guess ha, 

oh and i’m ticklish everywhere. tickling is the same as pain in my eyes

eveeichooseyou asked: are you guys touring or anything anytime soon? haven't heard any HHH news in a while D:

we’ve been hibernating while we do our own things - but I just had lunch with Paul yesterday and we’ve definitely planned to finish our album (that we started last year), this fall. (although no touring planned). It’s sort of a long story with many ups and downs, but I just didn’t wanna start working on it again until we had a fresh perspective and renewed passion to work TOGETHER. But yeah, the seeds have been planted now and we are all starting to get excited again… it was close to not happening though for quite a while. I just listened to all our demos though and there is some craazy good stuff so I kinda realized it would kill me if we didn’t finish it. possible b-sides/rarities album too…

herdinthehalls asked: Do you have an opinion on file sharing?

I am a proponent of file sharing.

Sometimes i like to tell myself i’d be rich if people bought records. but then i remember that we spent most of our career on a major label where it’s really hard to make money off of major label record sales unless your band is one of the top 1% of sellers on the label, of which we were not. so if you’re on a major you’re not really making much money on sales anyway and it wouldn’t make a difference. A major did allow us to make a couple big budget records which was cool, but I ended up teaching myself to make my own records (which I do now) and so I’m able to make records without needing a label to lend me a billion dollars first… and so now, for me, i mainly just care about people HEARING the music I make - because above all I’m an artist/musician first - so file sharing is great for ME at THIS stage in my life.  Having a career in music is important too yes of course, but as long as the occasional commercial or movie plays one of my songs, or I get hired to produce a couple records a year, I can keep the lights on and stay psyched.

And then there’s a whole other discussion about how file sharing is changing the way music is evolving (AND the way people listen to music)-and that’s where I become TOTALLY a proponent of file sharing. But that’s more than just a couple paragraphs… 

tradingpossessions asked: Is there any way for me to download Kids These Days (Hrdvsion Slowburn Remix)? I haven't gotten this excited for a song in a long time.

actually yeah! you can download the kids these days remix here: http://soundcloud.com/hrdvsion/fur-trade-kids-these-days on the download tab - stoked you like it! almost done the album!

kevvymental asked: how's your dick?

excellent, thank you

I feel weird that there exists another Steve Bays and he is a way better person than me

Listening to spiritualized hey jane