Ontario-based quintet the Constantines will bring their Fugazi-inspired rock to the Duck Room Wednesday.
The veteran band continues to take a grass roots approach when it comes to touring. They toured Canada this year starting in old St. John’s, which is as far east as you can play, unless you’re in Sponge Bob’s band. They proceeded to travel all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon, hitting towns of all sizes along the way.
They continue to support last year’s strong release, Kensington Heights. It was produced with the help of a government grant, which is very much a foreign concept down here. I guess I shouldn’t hold my breath for Obama to push ‘grants for rock stars’ anytime soon.
Guitarist/vocalist Bryan Webb possesses a winning combination of Britt Daniel’s timing and Jon Spenser’s soulful wail. I caught up with him recently.

RC: You certainly don’t neglect Canada when it comes to touring.
BW: We did a similar tour four years ago with the Weakerthans called the Rolling Tundra Revue. It always meant a lot when bands came to London or Cambridge when I was growing up, so I know it’s appreciated.
RC: I heard you moved to Montreal. What do you like about the city?
BW: Its great ‘freak scene.’ It’s the kind of place where you’ll be in the park and see a 65-year-old lady wearing camouflage biking past Medieval reenactors, a big hippie drum circle and a group of crusty punks all hanging out together. It’s just a collision of craziness.
RC: Do you have a literary background?
BW: I studied English in London (Ontario) and the few arts teachers that were there were determined to do interesting things. I had a great sociology professor who was once an advisor to Castro and told anecdotes about hanging out with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I also was the music director of our radio station which was a great experience.
RC: How does the grant process work?
BW: You send your demos to an organization called Factor and explain how you want to record. They expect you to pay it back at $2 per record. If you don’t pay it off on time they just write it off and it makes it harder to receive a grant next time. We were lucky that our label (Arts &Crafts) had a track record of paying off their other releases, like Broken Social Scene, Feist and Stars. All of the expenses have to be legit - we can’t just say we bought $20,000 worth of beer.
RC: The band is named after an Art Bell reference - do you still listen to the radio show?
BW: Yeah, we were doing recordings recently and I was able to listen to it driving back home late at night.
RC: Any UFO sightings by anyone in the band?
BW: Not that I know of — or that anyone has spoken of anyway.

CONSTANTINES with CRYSTAL ANTLERS and OLD LIGHTS
9 pm Wednesday, Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room, $12
http://www.myspace.com/constantines

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