Why the label shift from Blue Curtain to a self-release and then Copperspine? Why did you decide to go it alone after Blue Curtain, and did the results of that venture prompt you to look for label support?
From what I understand, Blue Curtain Records exists because Carl Newman set up his own label in order to receive a grant for his solo record. I'm not completely sure about that but I think it's one of the requirements. Maybe Carl had intentions of doing something with the label at one time, but really there has never been a Blue Curtain label. It's just a name. That being said, it was a good name to be connected to and I appreciated Carl's support.

I hadn't seen or heard from Carl in about four years, so when our next record was finished I took a look at other record labels out there. Most labels seemed crowded and I didn't have any connections to them to speak of, so I thought I'd just burn a bunch of copies and play some shows to get them out there. A short time later Copperspine said that they would help us out and get our CD packaged up properly. I said thank you very much.

Chart-wise, it seems Tipi did quite well on its own. Has there been renewed interest since Copperspine re-released it?
Yeah, that was kind of neat. I sent the new record, then called Please Feel Free to Enter the Tipi, to CBC and they played it quite a bit. But once we had made actual copies and had distribution we were discouraged from getting it airtime until the proper release date. It felt very strange to ask CBC to please not play our CD too much.
I'm not sure if there was any renewed interest since the re-release. Friends of mine now and then still say, "Hey, I heard you guys on CBC the other day!" That feels pretty good. CBC has been very kind to us.

Why the decision to rename the re-release of Please Feel Free to Enter the Tipi as Sleeves and Wigs? And to avoid any confusion, is it spelled "Wiggs" (as on all the PR material) or "Wigs" (as on the album spine)?

I really liked the name Please Feel Free to Enter the Tipi although others tried hard to dissuade me. When we were setting up the artwork for the new pressing, I decided I liked the bearded guy on the cover instead of the alligator. I liked the song title "Sleeves and Wigs" and felt it suited the new cover art better. Wigs, Wiggs, I'll leave it up to you.

The band lineup has gone through some pretty radical changes since it began. It started with six, went down to two, then added two more, then lost three, then took back on two of those three, added and lost one, added and lost one again, and finally added another one (have I forgotten anything?)... making a current grand total of four. What explains all the arrivals and departures?
I could really spend a lot of time on this question, but really it's not that interesting. It's basically just life stuff that caused the changes. Some people didn't want to tour, one ex-member is now an ex-girlfriend, a couple of people moved away... that kind of stuff.
I'd have to say I'm happiest with the current lineup. A few of us have been through a lot together. That makes for a solid foundation. There's also two new members who have brought some excitement and fun back into the band.

Okay, then you're up to five members now. Who's the fifth, and what does (s)he play?
The two newest members are Erin Jane and Kevin Cromie. Erin plays piano, trumpet and sings. Kevin plays trumpet and guitar and sings.

After all those roster shifts, has Neins Circa settled into a pretty solid unit, or do you count on more shake-ups in the future?
Oh, for sure. Things change all the time, that's life.

You've got a classic, almost quaint sound, with buoyant vocal harmonies and pleasant hooks. How does your sound fit into the Vancouver scene? I take it the local reception among audiences has been quite good? And how has it been when touring further afield?
Thank you for the compliments. I'm not too sure I know what's happening in the Vancouver scene these days. When we play a show we usually get a good turnout and people seem to like the music. I do wish we did have more exposure, though, or maybe some higher profile shows.

We haven't toured for years now, so I don't know how people would respond to us. We're pretty fun. I think we'd do well.

Didn't your website mention a possible UK tour?
I was planning on staying in London for one year and we were going to try and tour in the London area. But sometimes plans change. We've been trying to get a West Coast US tour set up without much luck, so it looks like a Canadian tour this spring. Canada's a little more affordable for us -- no P2 visas and lots of places to stay.

You had mentioned at one point that the BBC is Neins Circa crazy, thanks to some UK promotion from Copperspine. Are you getting any play on Radio 1, then, or were you joking? And what were you doing over in London, if you don't mind me asking?
I was joking. Not very funny, is it? We got a little attention from overseas with our Sunday Anthems record thanks to CBC Radio 3.

I was in London collecting clay pipes along the Thames. You can find quite a few at low tide. Tobacco became popular in Europe around 1600 and there were over 1,000 tobacconists in London alone. I guess like most things they chucked 'em into the Thames when they broke.

Your lyrical style is very... verbose, for lack of a better word, minimizing a lot of the numbing repetition that characterizes classic pop. If anything, your choruses tend to bookend the songs, as on "Here Comes Vancouver" and "This Is the Way I Used to Be." Do you spend a lot of time inventing and crossing out lyrics, writing something that might stand alone on the page, or are you the type who sings the first things that come to mind?
I pretty much just write about what's going on in my life or about things that I'm interested in at the time. I like to take creative liberties, for sure, and for the Neins I try to stay on the positive side of things. Sometimes words come easy, sometimes they don't. I've been trying to figure a chorus on a new song for a month now, whereas the song "Faster Than Them" came in one day.

I have a very specific way of writing. I can't tell you all the details but I'll let you in on some. First, I have this rabbit costume (the rabbit is my spirit creature). I put it on and go to this room in my house. The room's all white: the carpet, the walls, the furnace vent -- all white. That's all I can tell you.

For some reason, two phrases jumped out at me on the first listen: "the airplane over the sea" (from "Faster Than Them") and "life on Mars" (from "Bright White"). Are these passing nods to Neutral Milk Hotel and Bowie or am I reading far too much into things?
I love the songs those guys guys write. They're part of my life, too, so I like to slip 'em in there when the time is right. I usually don't have any hidden meanings.

Speaking of which, what exactly does the line, "Every fall down makes your balls round" mean? Is it figurative, or is it making a direct reference to the male anatomy?
" Every fall down makes your balls round" means every time things don't work out it makes us stronger.

Are tracks like "Eddie the Eagle," "Ave Corinne," "Percy Francis" and "Welcome Home Eugene Choo" based on real people or, say, strange newspaper stories, or are these little profiles as fictional as they are surreal?
All of those songs are about real people. Sometimes I change names around or mix the story up a bit, but it's always connected somehow. Eddie the Eagle was a guy that hung out at the arena in the town I grew up in. Corinne was a girl I fell for. Percy was my grandfather's name and Francis was my grandma's name, but the song was about a friend of mine who killed himself. Welcome Home Eugene Choo is the name of a clothing store on Main Street in Vancouver. An old girlfriend used to work there.

Did Eddie the Eagle really make a hobby of buying glass eyes on the Internet? Even if it's not true, just say it is. I'd hate to think something that wonderfully strange could be a "creative liberty."
It's true.

Your first album appeared in 2005 and the follow-up (Tipi/Sleeves) appeared not long after. Are you already working on new material for a third album? And have you become the sole songwriter, as you were on Sunday Anthems, or are you sharing songwriting duties?
Yes, we have an EP all ready to go. I was working on a new full-length album but I decided to move to London for a year and we were running out of time before I left. So we went with a nice little EP. It was recorded really quickly and maybe a little loose, but I like it. I don't know when it'll be released. I think we're going to try and tour in March, so probably then.

I'm still writing the songs, but I think my bandmates may get in on the act soon. I've got lots of new songs and want to record, but these things take time -- usually because of lack of money.

What's the new EP going to be titled, and do you think it's going to be released on Copperspine too?

The title is a secret for now. I'm not sure who will release it -- most likely Copperspine.