URB Magazine | October 2006 Issue One:Forty

Holy Fuck / Alarming Electro

Brian Borcherdt admits he's naive about electronic music. As the founder of Holy Fuck - a ramshackle Toronto band that recreates dance music live on stage without proper samplers, turntables or drum machines - that might seem like a problem. But whatever perceived knowledge gap she has are meaningless when confronted by the group's transcendent live shows, which generate as much energy (and expletives) as any dj performance.

"We're just really excited about drilling pulse and rhythm into people's heads," he says. "When we started, I didn't see the band turning into this big, heavy monster that's capable of scaring small children."

The group delivers an intense improvisational performance, stripping the genre down to a raw, almost tribal level. Alternating drummers Glenn Milchem and Loel Campbell with bassist Kevin Lynn lay down mechanical rhythms while Borcherdt and Graham Walsh fiddle with their "table toy," containing everything from toy laser guns to garage-sale Casio keyboards plugged into amps through the headphone output. Unleashing present rhythm tracks and spitting lo-fi melodies back and forth using mixers and their keyboard's cheap samplers, the duo creates ribbons of crunchy electronic fuzz, sounding like a tweaked take on Konono No.1.

"We try to keep gadget from turning into a Blue Man Group kind of thing," says Borcherdt. "At the heart of it, we want to make serious music."

Borcherdt, who previously played in indie band By Divine Right, started Holy Fuck in 2003 as a side project, recording short tracks alone before forming a full and in 2004. Since then, the group has toured relentlessly, developing a raucous live show that has earned them spots opening for fellow Canadians Wolf Parade and backing avant-rapper Beans. New material is being readied to record a follow-up to the band's eponymous 2005 debut, a live studio recording released on Dependent Music. It guarantees the band's expletive-laden name will be on the lips of more and more music fans.

"I think the name is ironic and self-deprecating in a cool way, and not at all about shock value," says Borcherdt. "I take a bit of happiness in knowing that we kind of own such a happy exclamation."

Patrick Sisson / photography by Keith Claunch



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