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<\/a>\u201cWe grew up in the \u201990s, so we\u2019re Smashing Pumpkins fans,\u201d says Wright. \u201cHowever, we are also smashing watermelon fans, which is the origin of this whole thing. Dave [Monks, bassist\/vocalist] met with a friend of his who is a photographer, and I guess they got the bright idea that they should smash a watermelon and take a picture of it. That turned out great and it became the cover for the first part of the EP. We were just sitting around brainstorming what to call it, and someone just cracked wise and said \u2018melon collie\u2019 and someone else said \u2018and the infinite radness,\u2019 and we said, \u2018Yup, let\u2019s do that. Done.\u2019 And we never talked about it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the standout songs on the first EP was \u201cNot My Girl,\u201d an upbeat and easy-to-relate-to song about love, dating, and breaking up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s why I love songs that are so perennial\u2014because everyone\u2019s gone through some version of it,\u201d says Wright. \u201cIt\u2019s your nostalgic rock and roll love song, you know, \u2018This is how it was and this is how it was when it was good and this is how it is now, and perhaps that\u2019s not so good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing up together in Newmarket, Ontario, Tokyo Police Club is a quartet of extremely close childhood friends. They\u2019ve stuck it out together in the music industry while, as they recently learned, many others haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve known each other since we were, like, 10,\u201d says Wright. \u201cWe never learned how to play instruments first, we were just like, \u2018Let\u2019s form a band, that\u2019ll be fun.\u2019 And we sort of learned how to play instruments in the context of writing songs. We\u2019re getting these tour dates ready and getting some hometown stuff ready as a 10th anniversary celebration. Our agent was like, \u2018What bands were you guys playing with in the beginning? We should call them up and get them to come play with you guys again.\u2019 And we went down this long list of all the bands that were playing with us in 2006 and none of them exist anymore; some of them were really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something else that\u2019s changed over the past 10 years is the impact of the internet on the music industry. Wright\u2019s opinion on whether it\u2019s been a good or bad thing has swayed back and forth over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve held both opinions very strongly at one time or another,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s just changed the game so completely. I think it\u2019s enabled a lot more bands to make a living; there\u2019s been a rise of blue-collar rock bands. You can go, you can get in a band, you can put out records and tour, and you can make a living off it. But you\u2019re not getting rich, and you can\u2019t really stop or retire, and that didn\u2019t used to exist\u2014you could make a bunch of money or you could make no money was the dichotomy, originally.\u201d<\/p>\n