Shots of <b>Ladyhawk</b>

"We live near each other, we hang out, and we’re on the same label. But the other day I read a press release, and someone had referred to us as ‘Black Mountain’s kid brother band,’” says Duffy Driediger, singer and songwriter for Vancouver-based indie rockers Ladyhawk. "I was like ‘Hey man, what the fuck is that?’” If Black Mountain are the Pink Floyd of our time, Ladyhawk are the Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Marked by fuzzy guitar anthems and Driediger’s bitter lyrics, this couldn’t be clearer on Shots, their sophomore album. To create the record, the band set up in an old barn with no working bathroom in their hometown of Kelowna, BC. Isolated from the distractions of the big city, they found a new sense of direction.

"For the first record, we didn’t really know what we were doing, and with the EP (2007’s Fight For Anarchy) we just went in there and got totally high out of our minds,” Driediger says with a laugh, "For Shots, we had a very clear idea of what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it.”

The recording process was filmed for a documentary titled Let Me Be Fictional, an idea that was uncomfortable at first. "When you’re not used to having a camera in front of you, it’s really hard not to edit yourself and over-think what you’re doing,” Driediger explains, "If you’re Coldplay, it makes sense for there to be a documentary about you, but if you’re just some unknown band from Western Canada it seems weird.”

Awkwardness aside, the film portrays a band that would rather make homemade sangria than make it big. "We just want play tunes and have fun, tour around the world and meet people,” Driediger says. "I’d rather do it now and be fucked for money than be financially stable and always wish I’d toured around with my band when I was younger. It’s a no-brainer.”