Who is Arcade Fire?

As the Grammys were winding down last February, I saw a Facebook status that said: “Arcade Fire won Album of the Year and why don’t I know them?”

The same sentiment echoed throughout the Internet culminating in a Tumblr account, whoisarcadefire.tumblr.com — a website that posted tweets of the bewildered worldwide audience.

So really, who is Arcade Fire?

Formed in 2001 by Win Butler, the Montreal-based band is one of the biggest acts in the “indie” rock scene. Through the years, Arcade Fire has gone through personnel changes but in its most current form, it is made up of eight musicians: Win Butler and wife Regine Chassagne, Will Butler, Richard Reed Perry, Jeremy Gara, Sarah Neufeld, Tim Kingsbury, and Marika Anthony-Shaw.

Known for their guerilla-style gigs around Montreal and New York City, the band made its recording debut in 2004 with Funeral which produced hits like Wake Up and Rebellion, garnering critical and commercial success. Soon after, they followed it up with “Neon Bible” which has led them to open for U2 and headline musical festivals such as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Reading and Leeds.

Their coup de grâce is 2010’s “The Suburbs” making it the no. 1 record in the US charts and winning this year’s Grammy for “Album the Year.”

Arcade Fire’s Will Butler spoke exclusively to On the Radar about Eminem, their recording process and touring, among other things.

Their latest album “The Suburbs” has reached dizzying heights of critical and commercial acclaim garnering the #1 spot in the UK and US charts and winning “Album of the Year” in this year’s Grammys beating out Eminem, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.

ON THE RADAR: Your album “Suburbs” hit no. 1 in album sales and won this year’s Grammy, how do you feel about your critical and commercial success? I also read somewhere that you beat Eminem on both attempts?

WIN Butler: We beat Eminem to number one when we were on our first week and he was on his sixth week. One week later he was back at the top. But I’m not going to lie — it still felt good. It was a close one, too. The word on the street was that he had won but we squeaked by because people had underestimated independent record stores.As far as the rest of the success, it feels very good. We always claim that we make the music we make because we like it but it’s certainly very affirming to know that other people like it, too. And that makes it a lot easier to keep making music when you can make a good living out of it. We feel very grateful and a little almost confused, like, “Who, us? You like?” whenever we hear people’s reaction to our music.

Was there any pressure to write and record “Suburbs” after your acclaimed albums “Funeral” and “Neon Bible”? Did you do anything different for this album as opposed to the previous ones?

We put a lot of internal pressure on ourselves to make the best albums and best songs that we can, but I can honestly say we feel very little outside pressure. I think on “The Suburbs,” the songs have been realized to its fullest. For “Funeral,” we had limitations of time and money, and for “Neon Bible” had limits of experience. I think we had benefited from learning a lot on those past albums. I’m sure by album four we’ll have a different perspective.

What sets Arcade Fire apart is ambition and enthusiasm, while most of your peers seem to be reveling in obscurity. Your drive can be heard in your music and seen in your performance.

Do you consciously challenge yourself at every recording or gig?

I think we challenge ourselves but it occurs naturally. We don’t look in the mirror and psych ourselves up and make plans. But we have an innate desire to keep making things new. And we are very critical. I mean that, both in the “nit-picky pulling apart the little details” way, but also in the sense of having a wider view of the history of the art. We don’t want to find our niche and stick in it because we want to be part of the force that moves art forward.

I’m sure you’ve read both the New Yorker and Spin magazine pieces calling you, in so many words, the case against mainstream/major labels, what’s your take on that?

I think it’s more that the world has made a pretty decent case against mainstream/major labels, and we are an example of a different way forward. But we are by far not the only weird success story in the last 10 years. I think that’s part of the new music business world, it’s the variety of paths forward.

Despite all the success and headlining festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella, you’ve still managed to perform in smaller venues/clubs. Does this make you feel in touch with your core fans and why is this important?

It’s not so much about feeling in touch with our core fans as much as it is feeling in touch with any sort of crowd. The days are long past when we would play for an apathetic room that was waiting for the main act. Back then, that was a real challenge, and to be honest, we miss it a bit. Playing in a small room gives you a chance to really confront and interact with any individual there. These days, most of those people already really like our music, but it’s not so much that they like it. It’s more the opportunity to really play the music to specific people, not just a big mass.That said, we’ve learned to play music for the masses. And there is a satisfaction in doing that well, too.

Any plans to visit Asia?

Sadly, no plans to visit Asia at this point but we’re always torn between getting to places that we want to go, and getting back home and getting into creative work. 

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To know more about Arcade fire, visit their websitewww.arcadefire.com/

Thanks to Dounia Mikou of Quest Management for making this interview possible.

Grace Velasco blogs at www.divasoria.ph.