If I look Strong; You Look Strong

Noah Michael Rabinovitch strikes me as a likely candidate for an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type scenario. After sharing a bottle of wine at his rented Sunnyside band house, he asks me if the correct etiquette would be for me to wash the wine glass I used before leaving. Since I’ve known him for several years and kind of adore his social awkwardness, this question elicits a mutual chuckle before I inform him that this is certainly not the case.

While lending his talents to a wide swath of the local music scene, Rabinovitch has also been lovingly crafting his own musical thesis. If I Look Strong; You Look Strong is a bright, bizarre concoction of post-punk, prog-leaning, power-pop that tends to blow minds. Before his faux-pas with the wine-glass he let me in on some things I’d always wondered about.

BeatRoute: What’s with the band name? What is IILS;YLS all about?
Noah Michael Rabinovitch: The band Hella was one of my main inspirations and, in an interview, their guitarist faced this question and responded with, 'Nothing special, I just really like the word Hella and other slang.' For me, it's the same thing. It's a misremembered quote from one of my favourite video games! The band is my ultimate vehicle for musical solo self-expression that isn't filtered by compromise, or genre.

BR: What are your favourite bands and inspirations? Why are you in so many bands yourself?
NMR: The main bands that opened my eyes to insane possibilities are Blink 182, The Locust, Hella, Boards of Canada, Devo, King Crimson, Tera Melos, Aphex Twin and AM Overcast. I'm in so many bands because I think playing live music is the ultimate part of music. The instant connection between total strangers, as well as the visceral energy you can feel, is only supported as long as the band members can correctly play the song. I love that aspect of music and strive to spend time in that situation. Secondly, it helps me branch out socially into different scenes and genres which helps each band I'm in via cross promotion.

BR: It still blows my mind that you managed to teach people how to play these songs of yours live, given their ever-changing structure and technical complexities. Your current drummer, Vlad, has been doing it for quite a while now. You’re old friends aren’t you?
NMR: Vlad and I met in private religious school in Grade 6 after he moved from Ukraine to Canada. He's fucking insane and really sweet. He's been in and out of this band on different instruments over the years, but finally recently stuck to drums, solidifying the lineup in the last year or so. He's the smartest mathematician I know.

BR: Were the songs on the album created as self-contained pieces of music, or parts of a larger work? They seem to run together pretty smoothly.
NMR: The album is comprised of songs written over the last six years, since the start of this project. So, at the time each one was a self-contained piece, because I never thought it was actually going to coalesce into a full-length. However, looking back, each song is a snapshot of my life at the time of writing it, as well as being a segment of my whole life which runs together.

BR: I heard a rumor that the next IILS;YLS record is going to be purely electronic.
NMR: Fo sho', my next full-length is gonna be electronic-based. In the meantime, I'm gonna record eight or nine new rocking tunes pushing the boundaries, to be released on various splits or comps. - BeatRoute

"If Smile was Brian Wilson's "teenage symphony to God" for the baby-boomer generation, this album must be Noah Michael Rabinovitch's teenage symphony to God for the ADD generation. Joyously hemorrhaging a thousand ideas from every sky-blue vinyl groove, this is schizophrenic post-rock at its most exciting and good-humored. It plants a Crayola-bright flag at the midpoint between Yes and Weezer and somehow doesn't suffocate under the weight of its own pretensions. A very fecund and warm-hearted imagination lurks behind the showy guitar/drum fireworks, timing changes and tension dynamics. Littered with disarming sonic jokes, found-sounds, tiny jingles, strange keyboards and homemade sing-alongs, this record is full of mirth and mischief. I've had a minor crush on this band since overhearing a summertime practice session, but the record blows my mind. Check out the video to first single, "Tribute to the Bow Tower," for the perfect gateway drug to this weird and awesome album." ~ By Jesse. J. Powell on Self Titled LP to be release Feb 29th, 2012. - Beatroute