Sharing the stage starting in April with Ladytron on their North America Tour, is the electro band The Faint, who hail from Omaha, Nebraska. On their Toronto stop at Phoenix on Monday (April 6), The Faint totally stole the show. Before their set, iheartthemusic did some theft work of their own and stole a few moments with The Faint’s keyboardist and backup vocalist, Jacob Thiele.

iheartthemusic: How many times have you guys been in Toronto?

Jacob: I think this is the sixth show we’ve played in Toronto. No, sorry, seventh. We played with Bright Eyes at that place that’s near the water.

iheartthemusic: Koolhaus?

Jacob: No, it’s a different place. There are driving ranges and a go-kart track over there. I can even see it from the CN Tower.

iheartthemusic photog: The Docks [now the Sound Academy]!

Jacob: Yeah, we played there. So this is the seventh show.

iheartthemusic: You guys are playing Toronto today and then heading over to Montreal tomorrow, what do you guys most look forward to when playing Canada?

Jacob: As oppose to other places, Canadian people are very friendly. The shows are probably very similar to other shows in North America. I mean, we just like to play, and it’s fun for us to be playing in a different country technically. But other than that we just like to play shows and we appreciate the politeness of Canadians as a whole.

iheartthemusic: I guess in terms of playing the States…

Jacob: We dread the border sometimes, that can be a real hassle, especially during the Bush Administration going back into the States. It was sometimes kind of a nightmare.

iheartthemusic: Yikes!

Jacob: We had an LD that was deported. He was denied entrance to America one time and we’ve been held up at the border probably for a grand total of six hours. But this time coming into Canada was easy. I think our bus driver is Canadian, so that might have helped.

iheartthemusic: I’ve actually had horror stories too, especially passing through to the States, but I’ve never heard Americans having a hard time crossing the border.

Jacob: It happens. There’s a documentary made some years ago, where they had a funny episode of [people] trying to cross the border and they’re trying to explain to the border people what they do for a living and what they’re trying to do. [Laughs.]

iheartthemusic: Haha, that’s crazy. In terms of your routine, you guys are pretty busy with your shows and you all play day after day, what would you say your daily routine is, especially before playing a show?

Jacob: I kind of wake up and usually, if I have time, I’ll go get some breakfast and coffee somewhere. I have some internet responsibilities like the Twittering and Facebooking and MySpacing. But other than that, sound check and finding the time to call my wife and if we’re lucky we get a nice meal somewhere, but we don’t really get to see too much. We don’t get to really do too much unless it’s close to the venue, like if there’s a record store nearby. So mostly it has to do with the show; setting up our gear and sound checking and sometimes interviews.

iheartthemusic: You guys are touring with Ladytron in North America and they’re one of the most known electro bands at the moment, do you have any stories from touring with them?

Jacob: They’re very nice people. We’ve only been in the road with them for less than a week so we haven’t really hung out that much. We’ve had an after party in Chicago and they had one in Milwaukee and I’m just really glad that they’re really nice people. They have similar tastes and they’re cool to hang out with.

iheartthemusic: Cool. I know your band has also moved record labels. How’s that going?

Jacob: It’s working out probably about the same as it would have in Saddle Creek [Records]. We’ve thought pretty long and hard about different ways to put out this record and after pretty much doing everything else ourselves we decided to put it out ourselves too because it seemed like it was the right thing to do with this particular album. We would have that option for future albums and possibly other projects that we might be involved with as well as friends’ groups and that sort of thing. We’ve always had a lot of artistic freedom and what not with Saddle Creek and now we still do since we just answer to ourselves. Yeah, no complaints. I think other bands in our position will be well off to do the same thing.

iheartthemusic: And for the people who haven’t seen you live, what should your audiences and fans expect?

Jacob: It’s kind of a flashy, energetic live show. We tend to play the songs that work best in a live scenario. We’ve played a lot of shows, hundreds over the years and we certainly have our favourites and I guess we play our favourites, which is maybe a bit selfish, but I think it makes for more energy and better morale.

iheartthemusic: That’s so true.

Jacob: There’s also a lot of ridiculous dance moves happening on stage. We try to set an example through our actions. I’ve seen bands that can inspire dancing without moving a lot or bands that don’t move a lot but then try and tell people that they should be dancing. I think the best way to do it is to just enjoy the music yourself. Sometimes it’s hard to get the crowd moving and then I just kind of ignore them for a while and get into my own world. And by the time I start paying attention to them, they’re all into it.

iheartthemusic: I think it’s good that you guys are playing your favourite songs because if those are your favourite songs, then it would totally show in your performances too.

Jacob: Yeah, that’s part of the whole idea.

iheartthemusic: What are you guys look forward to in the summer?

Jacob: We don’t really know. We were going to do some festivals and shows in Europe but I think we kind of decided against it because of the economy and where we are as a band. In Europe it’s really hard for bands from America, especially bands like us that have a lot of gear, to get our gear over there and travel and accommodations and everything, to come home without losing a decent amount of money. I hope we can figure something out and still play some of those festivals and do some travelling and maybe get to Mexico or something, but yeah, right now it’s totally up in the air. We’re kind of just keeping our fingers crossed hoping that we can do some more travelling or do some more shows and work on some new music.

iheartthemusic: Is there anything else you want to add that perhaps I didn’t ask?

Jacob: I guess I could tell you that we’ve spent a lot of time trying to make the live show work well with programming lights, making videos and making all these things ourselves. Because, I want people to appreciate the fact that we’re a very hands-on band. We’re just trying to make the show as good as it can be whether we’ve hired someone else to do it or we do it ourselves.

iheartthemusic: I know a lot of people I’ve spoken to in the line-up are expecting and looking forward to seeing the show, and many are very excited.

Jacob: Awesome. Yeah, Ladytron is really good too. It’s difficult to have completely different looking shows on the same stage, or on the same tour, but I think we’ve managed to work it out. I think it’s a good show overall and everybody that I’ve talked to seems to have thought the previous shows went well, and I think it will only get better from here.

Interview conducted by Chris Jai Centeno

Photography by Joyce Wong