Splendid: Perfect

Amy Millan: Okay, So you want to ask me some questions?

Splendid: Yeah, I want to ask you a bunch of questions.

Amy Millan: Okay.

Splendid: First, as a lover of the love song, I just want to thank you guys for keeping it alive.

Amy Millan: Oh, well thank you for loving. Without lovers, we wouldn't be alive.

Splendid: Well said. But do you guys ever feel like, in your writing process, that the love song... Do you ever feel like you're wasting your time? Like you're beating a dead horse --

Amy Millan: No. It hasn't crossed my mind for a single second. (laughter) You know what I mean. Like, I'm in rock 'n' roll, I don't have time to question what's coming from my gut. You know what I mean?

Splendid: Of course, totally.

Amy Millan: I don't care if other people see a dead horse. I see a fucking white stallion ready to mount. (Laughter all around)

Splendid: That's beautiful. So you're on the verge of touring, right? With Apostle of Hustle?

Amy Millan: Yes, Apostle of Hustle.

Splendid: Yeah, Andrew (Whiteman). Are you looking forward to that, to getting back on the road on and going through the land of free?

Amy Millan: Apostle of Hustle is... definitely my favorite guitar player and by far one of my favorite musicians alive today.

Splendid: Really.

Amy Millan: Yes.

Splendid: High praise. Any other Canadian musicians you want to give a shout-out to?

Amy Millan: (distracted at the counter) Sorry?

Splendid: Any other Canadian musicians you want to give a shout-out to? At the risk of alienating our non-Canadian friends?

Amy Millan: Yeah, The (unintelligible). They're from Toronto.

Splendid: The who?

Amy Millan: Yeah, The SILT. S-I-L-T. They're from Toronto. I love them.

Splendid: Are you in Toronto right now?

Amy Millan: No, I'm in Montreal.

Splendid: Why did you guys end up gathering in Montreal as opposed to Toronto or New York (where bandmates Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman were previously planted)?

Amy Millan: (Distracted by cashier) Sorry.

Splendid: No prob.

Amy Millan: Why did we gather in Montreal? Well, it's, uh... cheaper. People touch each other's asses more here than anywhere else in Canada. And, I don't know, it's nice not to run into people I went to kindergarten with.

Splendid: You grew up in Toronto.

Amy Millan: Yeah.

Splendid: I thought I read that you grew up in Cabbagetown.

Amy Millan: I did.

Splendid: Brilliant. I lived in Cabbagetown for a couple of years.

Amy Millan: You did?

Splendid: Gorgeous area. I loved it.

Amy Millan: It's pretty great. It's just a small town within a big city, which I like a lot. I love Cabbagetown.

Splendid: Yeah, it's nice that you can feel a little isolated and still be downtown.

Amy Millan: Yeah, Exactly.

Splendid: On the Arts & Crafts website there's a diary --

Amy Millan: Nothing to do with me.

Splendid: No? It's not your handiwork?

Amy Millan: No. That's the dead chil' star.

Splendid: Do you know the dead chil' star? Do you, uh, communicate with the dead chil' star?

Amy Millan: Not about the website. I've never even seen the website.

Splendid: Well, the dead chil' star has a list of ten things we didn't know about Stars. Do you know about this list?

Amy Millan: No, what does it say?

Splendid: It says that, uh, for example, three of the Stars spent two days in jail. In New York.

Amy Millan: Yes, I was one of those.

Splendid: Oh yeah? Is there a story behind that?

Amy Millan: Oh, it's a long, long story. But we were thrown in jail for about 38 hours and then we had to get in a cab and go directly to Jersey and play a sold-out show opening for The Trash Can Sinatras. It was a very bizarre experience to have no sleep --

Splendid: Did you feel a little bit more rock 'n' roll that night?

Amy Millan: I always feel rock 'n' roll. I felt... depressed about the racism problem in America and how 98 percent of the people in there were black. It kind of killed me, but it was a good lesson.

Splendid: On that same list there's also a statement that "Stars think The Magnetic Fields suck".

Amy Millan: That's got nothing to do with me. I have no comment on that. I've never said that. I don't even know The Magnetic Fields. I've never heard a song in my life.

Splendid: (Laughter) Fair enough. They're not bad, you might want to check them out.

Amy Millan: (Distracted by cashier) Hi, sorry, I'm buying my wine now and you know how it's irritating when someone's on a cell phone, so can you hold on just one second?

Splendid: Yeah, of course. Take your time.

Amy Millan: (Takes her time.) Hi.

Splendid: Hey.

Amy Millan: I'm buying some wine for rehearsal. So, I don't know The Magnetic Fields. I guess Torq and Chris played with them one time and they were not very nice, but I don't have any comments about that.

Splendid: That's very good of you, by the way, to not speak to me while the cashier is helping you out.

Amy Millan: Oh, thanks. I'm Canadian after all. I try to be polite as I can.

Splendid: It's the Canadian nature.

Amy Millan: Now that's rock 'n' roll (laughter).

Splendid: Uh, Junos (Note: Like the Canadian Grammys). You're nominated.

Amy Millan: Yes.

Splendid: I imagine you heard that.

Amy Millan: I did! Yes, second nomination. Very exciting stuff.

Splendid: That's awesome. You guys have some pretty good company: Arcade Fire, Feist --

Amy Millan: Oh, I know, I know. I'm excited about the company I'm in. I love The Arcade Fire. Feist is a close personal friend who I love and adore. I think "Let It Die" is a classic song that should be around forever and ever. So, I really don't mind that we're gonna lose.

Splendid: Do you know Feist through Broken Social Scene?

Amy Millan: Yeah, that's how I met her, about five years ago.

Splendid: I was looking at the Juno list and there's an Adult Alternative category. Have you seen that?

Amy Millan: Yeah, Sarah Harmer, Ron Sexsmith.

Splendid: Those are great artists, but why do you think there's a need to separate things that way?

Amy Millan: Probably, for instance, because Sarah Harmer, when she was nominated for best record for You Were Here, she was sort of put in the same category as Celine Dion and I guess it's just making a little bit more of a niche for actual songwriters and not just Best Record, because I think that's something that's overlooked. People who are actually writing their own songs.

Splendid: It keeps them out of the popularity contest.

Amy Millan: Yeah, and I actually think it's not bad. I have great respect for all of those songwriters and I think that's something that hasn't been acknowledged in our country the way it should be. There are some great songwriters in this country.

Splendid: That actually leads me to my next question, which is that perceived dichotomy, sort of, in Canada, where you're either like, the consciousness of Canada: brilliant and well-praised, like you guys and The Constantines, Howie Beck, and Feist, people who critically do so well...

Amy Millan: Uh-huh...

Splendid: And then there's the people who get completely slagged. Celine, Bryan Adams, Nickleback, and Canada's really either loved or hated. Do you sense that?

Amy Millan: Yeah, I think that's just sort of normal when it comes to underdogs and the battle of commercialism. I think that people feel bitter towards Nickleback and Bryan Adams because they're played 300,000 times a day on the radio and forced down the listeners' throats, and then somebody calls up and requests "Ageless Beauty" and they can't even play it. Not even if it's requested, because it's not on a song-list that's been handed to them by their superiors.

Splendid: Right.

Amy Millan: So, I think there's just an inequality that people are frustrated with and I understand that. And I understand that if we started getting played on the radio 300,000 times a day there would be a backlash.

Splendid: Maybe a small one, but I think it does come down to music itself, as well, besides the popularity aspect.

Amy Millan: Yeah, it's just that -- (wind blows into the cell phone) Sorry, I'm walking down the street and it's very windy and very cold.

Splendid: Yeah, it is cold. Is it a long walk?

Amy Millan: No, I'm gonna just go get some lunch. So yeah, you know, I think it's bizarre because when you travel the country, people get very provincial about things. The people in Toronto feel very differently than the people in Saskatoon -- (Confusion as she runs into a friend on the street) Sorry. That was our violin player. I just ran into her on the street and I need her to be in our video!

Splendid: How big is Stars now, like when you guys tour. You normally have five members, right?

Amy Millan: There's six of us now. We have a new member. His name is Steve Ramsey. He's the new guitar player. It's very nice to have him. He's a wonderful man.

Splendid: So, your violin player --

Amy Millan: She played on the record. Her name's Marika and she's gonna be in the video. She did a little mini-tour with us when we did our release in Toronto in Montreal.

Splendid: Cool. What's going on with your solo album, Honey From The Tombs?

Amy Millan: I'm finished all the tracking. It's being mixed in the next two weeks. It should be mastered by April and hopefully it will be out in... maybe the summer?

Splendid: Are you going to tour that one, as well?

Amy Millan: Yeah, it's going to be very exciting.

Splendid: How does it sound compare to Stars?

Amy Millan: I don't think it sounds anything like Stars. (The songs from Honey From The Tombs) are songs I wrote seven years ago or more, so all of those songs were written before I'd even joined Stars and, uh, it's been a long time coming.

Splendid: Yeah, people have been waiting. There was all this excitement about the album, we were all expecting it last year --

Amy Millan: Oh, I know, but I've been very busy. I've been on tour with Broken Social Scene, I've been on tour with Stars, so I'm finally ready to settle down and do the record.

(At this point her cell phone starts to crackle. The inevitable "lost signal" signal kicks in. Count to 30 and ring her up again.)

Amy Millan: Hi, sorry. My phone got cut off.

Splendid: No, problem. I guess I'll just ask you about the actual album, then. That's the most important thing.

Amy Millan: What about the album?

Splendid: For starters, the quote you use to start things off --

Amy Millan: Oh, the Douglas thing?

Splendid: I'm sorry?

Amy Millan: Do you mean the opening of Set Yourself On Fire?

Splendid: Yeah --

Amy Millan: And what's your question?

Splendid: (Laughter) Uh, Should I know that quote from somewhere?

Amy Millan: Oh, no, no. That's a Torq quote.

Splendid: Was that an idea going into the album or did it turn out to be a sort of quasi-theme...

Amy Millan: Well, there's been something like that at the beginning of all our albums. Like on Nightsongs there was a poem by Camus, and on Heart, there was, of course, "These are our names and this is our heart." So it's just been something that's always been nice to introduce the record. (The voice) is Torquil's father, who was one of the founders of Stratford, and his beautiful, god-like voice --

Splendid: You feel like it has to come from somewhere in the annals of great quotations --

Amy Millan: Yeah, so it's just these things that we wing. It actually happened in mastering, but it had been an idea that Torquil had had for sometime, to have his father on the record in some capacity. I called him in Vancouver and was like, "We need your dad," and he was like, "Yeah, we do. Okay, call him up. He's having his eggs right now." (Laughter)

Amy Millan: "Get him to say 'When there's nothing left to burn, set yourself on fire.'"

Splendid: Good man. Content-wise on this album, there are songs like "Celebration Guns", which people are interpreting as branching out from the love songs of Stars. Do you see it as that, or do you see it as a different type of love song?

Amy Millan: I guess... it would be... love... in some capacity, for... the human being that is being intensely oppressed in the world climate right now.

Splendid: Right.

Amy Millan: That song specifically is about Guantanamo Bay, which is to me one of the things that, 30 years from now, will be thought of as the most disgusting thing, and my children will say "I can't believe you were alive when people were doing that." So, in a way it's about love, because I can't really comprehend how people could do that to one another -- take away their rights completely in a time when we're supposed to be so advanced.

Splendid: Right. Like, we chastise the people of 40 years ago for doing the things they were doing, but we're still doing the same thing now.

Amy Millan: Exactly.

Splendid: I assume you play that song live.

Amy Millan: No, we haven't yet.

Splendid: Because of the content? The vibe?

Amy Millan: No, we will. I don't know if I'm ready to embark on it yet. I get very upset. So we choose to do "He Lied About Death", which is along the same political lines, but gets out more of an aggression, a total disgust. I think it's more of an inclusive song. People can dance to it. People can release to it. I don't know if I'm ready for "Celebration Guns" yet.

Splendid: So, writing a song like "Celebration Guns", then -- is that a very conscious effort on your part to branch out?

Amy Millan: No, I, you know, I just pick up the paper and I go, "Jesus Christ, I cannot believe this is going on," and Chris is sitting at the keyboard and it's just what comes out of me.

Splendid: Do you write all the lyrics for the band?

Amy Millan: No, but I did write that song.

Splendid: How did the band respond? Totally supportive?

Amy Millan: Oh yeah, everybody's really supportive of each other.

Splendid: When the press talks about the group's sexuality, they all seem to point a finger at you. Do you want to stick up for the boys?

Amy Millan: I don't know what you mean.

Splendid: Well, it's a pretty sexy album, right? But a lot of the press sort of points at you, being the band's female figure, as the source of the sexuality --

Amy Millan: I don't know, I think the boys are very sexy in my band.

Splendid: Yeah, that's the impression I get, too. They just don't seem to get the props.

Amy Millan: I don't know, I don't really read press (laughter). I don't really know what you're saying. But I live a very sexy existence with the boys in my band -- in fact, too sexy. In fact, I get into trouble sometimes.

Splendid: Oh, no. Well. don't worry, I won't make you go there.

Amy Millan: Good.

Splendid: Alright, I have one last question for you, unless you have something you feel I need to throw in.

Amy Millan: No, you just give it to me. Whaddaya got?

Splendid: Love: As strong as horse or as fickle as a woman's heart?

Amy Millan: Both.

Splendid: Both?

Amy Millan: Love is everything! Love is forgiveness. Love is... horrible and love is beautiful.

Splendid: Thanks. That's the perfect way to end this interview.

* These "certain circumstances" are in no way meant to reflect the status of my current relationship, which is fine. Annie, if you're reading this, you're going to have to talk to me eventually.