Japandroids: Down to Earth and Not Japanese

We had a chance to chat with Brian King and David Prowse of Japandroids, a rock duo set to perform in Beijing later this month, and it turns out they want some advice on what to see when they swing by the capital.

It seems like you guys are on tour a lot. How do you keep yourself entertained on the road?
Being on the road is always entertaining. Playing shows is our favorite thing to do, and we are always in a new city that we have a chance to explore for a day or two. It’s a lot harder finding ways to be entertained at home, since there isn’t anything new for us there anymore.

Do you get homesick?
At certain points you get tired, and it would be nice to sleep in your own bed and see your friends and loved ones. But at the same time, we both know how lucky we are to have the opportunity to travel all over the world playing our music and we wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world.

How much do you get to see of the cities you play in? Is there anything in Beijing you’re looking forward to doing?
It depends on how the tour is scheduled. Sometimes you show up, play the show, and leave the next day without seeing anything. But if you’re lucky, you have a day off so you try and see as much as you can. We actually have a day off in Beijing, which is amazing! I have no idea what to do or what to see while I’m there. People should email us at japandroids@gmail.com and tell us what to see!

Your song “The House That Heaven Built” has been used as the Vancouver Canucks’ entrance song. How does that feel?
I’m not really a big sports fan, but at the same time everybody in Canada knows hockey. So having our song as the Canucks song for a little while was pretty surreal, and all our friends and family were very proud and excited for us.

Your last album, Celebration Rock, made several “album of the year” lists. What’s your favorite album of 2013 so far?
I’ve mostly been listening to older stuff this year. The only new records I’ve been listening to regularly are Run the Jewels’ self-titled record, and Besnard Lakes’ Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO. Run the Jewels is a great hip-hop record. Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO is a lush, beautiful record I listen to when I need to block out the noise of our sound guy Lewis’ snoring.

See Japandroids play live at MAO Livehouse on Aug 23.