their talents with other non-musical skills they've acquired from their working days to make a good
records sometimes without even spending a penny.

Meet THE EARDRUMS! A Canadian based experimental /punk/rock 'n' roll trio living in Winnipeg Manitoba. All multi-instrumentalists, singers and songwriters with a hint of enticing fun that makes you wonder how nice it would feel jamming with these guys, especially with the kind of lively atmosphere they create with their music. I had a short Q & A session to get to know the band, talk about their recently released four-track EP titled Not From Toronto and a chance to cool their feud with Haunter.
Read interview after the jump.

101D: What makes up THE EARDRUMS?

A. Two freakishly tall fraternal twin brothers (Tim and Grant Partridge, who look nothing alike) and their good friend James MacLean, who is not freakishly tall, just freakishly talented. All of us are singers, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists.

101D: How long have you been around?

A. 28 years each, but we've only been a band for four.

101D: Being an independent band from a small city like Winnipeg (Go Jets!) ...What keeps you going
creatively?

A. When we first started the band, the three of us had very different tastes in music. We magically
struck onto a unique sound right away that all three of us loved, and we've been experimenting with
how far we can bend it before it breaks.

101D: It's pretty easy to tell how fun you guys are from your records. Obviously you have a lot of fun
making these amazing records. Do you care to elaborate on that?

A. You're too kind! Besides the band, we all work full time jobs, so it's a major commitment to be
making records on top of that. We wouldn't do it if we didn't really love it. Also we do it all ourselves
- no outside producers, engineers, mixers, or anything. It's a huge amount of work, and the only way to

get through it with your sanity intact is to have a really good time doing it.

101D: Now on your myspace page, there were a bunch of things listed that THE EARDRUMS are
not. Does that mean you really are not interested in any of those opportunities if presented to you? Well, except for living in Toronto of course.

A. Record labels, studios, producers, and the government grants that pay for them... these things are all
well and good, but they're JUST NOT NECESSARY if you have the skills and resourcefulness to do it
yourself. And we do, and we take an immense amount of pride in that.

101D: Which brings us to "We're Not From Toronto" your recently released EP. Is the track itself a
personal dislike for Toronto or just a message we are not getting.

A. "Personal dislike?" I thought Toronto was universally disliked.

101D: Apart from 'We're Not from Toronto' you released a "mini LP" titled 'Eardrops' a couple of
years back. Knowing how under-funded Canadian bands are. What length did you go to make
that awesome LP?

A. The band's been together for four years, but individually we've been working towards this for our
whole lives. All those hours I spent in high school designing artwork for mix tapes and recording bad
electronic music has now paid off ten years later, because now we can do almost everything ourselves.

We're all pretty much on the same page with what we want to try and achieve, and we judge success on
our own terms. It's all very punk rock, but that word doesn't mean what it used to, so I don't really use it
anymore.

101D: I know you guys get your fair share of gigs. Which was your most memorable?

A. Our last gig was at the West End Cultural Centre, but it was our first time playing there. It was a
dream come true and a quintessential Eardrums experience - a near-disaster in more ways than one, but
a night that a lot of people are going to remember for a long long time.

101D: Are there any plans to tour North America in the future?

A. Baby steps. No plans to tour on the current EP, but for what we have in the works, it'd be a shame
not to take those songs on the road. A trip out West would probably be our best bet.

101D: Are there any future records or projects you are currently working on?

A. We want to do a proper LP. Albums may be going out of style but they still mean something to us.
Recording is underway; we're tracking drums right now. I don't want to jinx it, but maybe we'll see it
pressed to vinyl. That's kinda the ultimate goal - Eardrums on wax. Earwax.

101D: are there any messages you will like to pass on to your new and existing fans?

A. We apparently have a beef going on with another local group. We've never met them, but it's all
very official; they issued a press release and everything. Given that, we should probably fan those
flames a bit. Here goes: Haunter is about as rock 'n' roll as Stephen Harper. There, I said it.

For more news about The Eardrums, and past releases visit eardrums.ca or their bandcamp page.

For full details about the mentioned ongoing “beef” with Haunter, read uptownmag article and view
Haunter's press release making the beef official.