How long have you been writing songs and playing music?

17 years.

Did you take any kind of music lessons as a kid, or are you completely self-taught on your instruments?

Formal guitar lesson(s) at age 8 from "Mr. Music" in Oshawa. The second lesson was canceled because the instructor said that my hands were too small. I cried as I walked home.

Who are your biggest influences? (The cover of Isaac Hayes' "Wrap it Up" on the Double Yolk 7" really surprised me.)

Beatles and Beach Boys. Dave and I did "Wrap it Up" much as a tribute to the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Favorite bands?

My favorite bands can be found in any reasonably organized 60s pop category in a record store. Current bands include Built to Spill, Wooden Stars, Rheostatics, Grand Theft Canoe.

Favorite albums?

Friends (Beach Boys), Introducing Rubin Gonzalas, Loaded (Velvet Underground), Revolver (Beatles)... etc.

Favorite songs?

"Getting Better" (Beatles), "Memphis" (Chuck Berry).

Just for personal curiosity, what is your opinion of the Beach Boys?

The Beach Boys are one of the most important bands ever for many reasons but the one I will tell you at this time is that they had a very low "cool" factor and yet they still were going round for round with the Beatles. Furthermore, they were essentially the vision of one man and not the vision of a stacked songwriting group. You can't just dismiss the Beach Boys because they kept changing sounds and even lead vocalists within the band. Occasionally you'll find yourself against the ropes when your fighting the Beach Boys fight and someone raises the question of the lyrics to "California Girls"!

I know this is a somewhat stupid and clichéd question, but what is your process (if you have one) when you're writing? Do you always write on guitar, or do you write on piano sometimes? Do you prefer the acoustic or electric guitar for writing? Do the lyrics or music come first? Do you usually play your songs to anyone before you go in to record, or are they a very private thing before you record?

Although the songwriting process is never the same twice, there are some things that seem consistent in mine: (1) Always the music first with the one exception of "T.S. Eliot" on Hilario, and (2) I always have 80 per cent of the songs in ship shape before I record them. Yes, I do play the songs for people close to me. I don't just sit there with a guitar and belt it out; I'm far too shy. I usually write the songs on guitar. I always did, even when I was in the Inbreds. In fact, it was frustrating sometimes to sacrifice what those two extra strings were doing, but who knows, maybe it was in my best interest. I do have a tendency to overdo it. I've started to write stuff on the piano; a bunch of the new songs have repetitive piano figures. My wife Mimi says that it's not "really playing the piano, it's just patterns", well so was tie dye, sister, and it SWEPT THE WORLD. Lyrics are little fragments that fit the melody and sometimes, when you put it all together, your brother accuses you of writing a song about your dad! (When it's really about him.)

What is the Mike O'Neill Band? All of your recordings, as I understand, are completely solo efforts, so is the Band just a thing for the live shows, or will there one day be Mike O'Neill Band records? If and when you tour again, how would you go about that in terms of the band? Just as a side note to that, do you prefer performing live to recording or are they both satisfying?

The Mike O'Neill Band is an embarrassing moniker for a band that I, Mike O'Neill, have assembled and who will be playing my songs. I assume the leader status. I suppose the crude way of saying it is that they are hired guns. Two such hired guns I have had the pleasure of working with are the awesome talents of Mike LeBlanc and Drew Yamada. We have a lot of fun practicing, although we rarely play. When I make these tapes, however, I play all the instruments. This is not always practical. It takes the longest time since you're not laying down guitar, bass, and drums all at once. Some would even say that it loses a "feel". I have plans to record a CD late this fall. I think at that time I will ask a few friends to play, who will be handpicked for their skill. Matt Murphy comes to mind. So does Don Kerr, who plays with Ron Sexsmith. The lead singer of No Doubt... just kidding. If touring followed I would assemble a band to travel with. I love recording, all aspects of it, and I fear and respect live playing. Sometimes I do alright, sometimes I go home with my tail between my legs.

Why did you and Dave decide to come to Halifax when you did? It seems that your music was an easy fit with the extremely pure pop sound of the "scene" here a few years ago, so was that intentional or was there even any connection at all?

Dave and I came when we did because all of our closest friends had graduated from Queens and scattered across the country. We had fallen in love with Halifax when we were touring with the Rheostatics in 94 and met a lot of cool people here. Our management was located in Halifax as well, but I won't try to convince you that that influenced the move. I mean, we left one "scene" and joined another. We weren't really looking for any additional recognition. In fact, a lot of people criticized the move, thought that it cheapened us. We were doing it for personal reasons, and it was possible due to the compact nature of our band, so here we are still...

What are your thoughts on the bands in the city now? It seems like there are a lot of people (like Mike Leblanc and Drew Yamada) who show up in numerous bands. Do you think there is as strong a scene here now as there was when you moved here, at a time when two other great bands, Jale and the Super Friendz, were still together?

One thing that I kind of always feel guilty about is the fact that I almost never go out to see other bands. It puts me in a position where I cannot complain about attendance at a show when I can pose to myself, "Well would you be here?" I thing there is a very strong scene here. For instance, when the Birdland closed down a few years ago, and then that all ages place on Barrington (Café Ole), bands and organizers responded by finding new places or converting existing places to set up shows with such frequency that it seemed to be business as usual according to the tale of the postered phone pole. Jale and Super Friendz were great bands and great people who continue to do great things. Matt - Flashing Lights, but he took that to Toronto. Who can blame him? He argues his strategy well in interviews. Charles and Drew, like me, are from Ontario originally and along with Ron Bates and Kevin Lewis are documenting the scene through the Mullet recordings. How exciting is that? And that's just the "where are they now?" files. You're asking this guy who never goes out, right?

A couple of times, you've released more than one version of a song, such as with "Moustache" and "Reason Why I'm Shy". Is there any reason for this, like being dissatisfied with the original version? With "Reason Why I'm Shy", the 7" version is presumably a demo, but with "Moustache" there are two wildly different, but equally "finished" versions. Was the album version just a playful take on the song, or were you unhappy with the 7"?

"Moustache" was recorded during the It's Sydney or the Bush session in 96 right here at Idea of East. For some reason we decided that it should be saved for other purposes. Another song that we did simultaneously was "Yelverton Hill". Both songs sounded good but it just didn't feel, well honestly they didn't sound good enough. So 2 years later we recut them with Dave Clark and our energy is appropriate and they sound great, so I think we made the right decision. "Moustache" was a good opportunity to show off the country blues fingerpicking style I had painstakingly learned in University. Now, "Reason Why I'm
Shy" is a mock demo; in other words recorded after the album version... long after, in fact. Colin Mackenzie always suggests that I should do these demos on acoustic. I'm glad if it sounds like a demo, though. So, I hope it isn't disappointing, but I'm so stingy with songs and I've decided to go for spotless albums instead of singles (he laughs to himself thinking of all the spots, or craters really.)

"Why Do You Act So Shy" is a country rock song in a similar vein with some 1960s rock bands like the Buffalo Springfield. This country influence seems to show up a lot in the local bands. How important is country to your songs?

The interesting thing about "Why Do You Act So Shy" is that it is "Back of My Mind" backwards, exactly. I always listen to my newly recorded songs backwards (as you might have noticed on Kombinator). I don't know, but my country influence is an even blend of country blues from the thirties (Bill Broonzy, Mississippi John Hurt) and the Byrds. Certainly Rubber Soul made an impression as well. I hate almost all new country.

What is the significance of Hearts to you? Winning Hearts, "Are We Waiting" - it seems to pop up from time to time.

"Winning Hearts", or at least "win hearts", came out of someone else's mouth. I just grabbed it and switched it around. They were describing the Inbreds at the time. "Are We Waiting?", which is new, is a song that is straightforwardly about a friend I know who has been waiting for over a year for a new job, and still doesn't share the burden or ask for the consolation of his friends. In that song I say "Let's play hearts" because I wanted to say "Let's play cards" but "cards" fit better elsewhere - "You may cut the cards" - so I changed the first phrase to "Let's play hearts". Welcome to Mike O'Neill's mundane world of lyrics editing. Incidentally, Mimi helps me immeasurably in that regard.

With the Inbreds, your songs often seem a lot more personal than many of the other bands from Halifax. On "Wind Picks Up", you sang, "When I sing all about my life, I kill the mystery inside". Now, though, if it's even possible, your new songs seem to be even more personally revealing. Certain songs like "What You Get For Paying Attention" seem to deal with specific feelings and situations. Also, in some sense, they seem even more mature than the earlier ones. Maybe I'm imagining things, but has marriage affected your songwriting?

I've always sang personally because it's about the only thing I know about. I hate when bands, particularly Canadian bands, sing about American cities. Why? Is it because they think they are writing to their potential audience and some American will say, "Hey, this band Bran Van's pretty cool because they were drinkin' in L.A. at 26"? Now, having said that, I did say Mexico once, but I did try to say the "Gulf of Mexico". So I sing introspectively and sometimes it really speaks to some people. Maybe at best it says something they've tried to say and that feels good to me.

Marriage. I love it. I'm much happier, when I'm happy and when I'm sad I have someone who helps me feel better. I've got a lovely cat now. We're a happy family. Has marriage affected my songwriting? Yes. I do less of it now because I'm busy doing things that seem more fun but I'm working on making that a part of it too...