After forming during their high school years in Calgary, Alberta, the four best friends who make up BRAIDS moved their prairie Canadian behinds to the cosmopolitan wonderfulness of Montreal. Entrenching themselves in the city of poutin and painfully cute artsters, the foursome holed up in a dilapitaded house in a Hasidic neighborhood to craft the tracks that would make up their upcoming debut album, Native Speaker (out January 18 on Kanine). Picture rolling arpeggiated synth lines, swirling effects and echoing background vocals like a chorus sung deep in the bowels of a shadowy cathedral. And over it all, singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s voice is sewn like silk threads through their 6+ minute sprawling tracks that veer on the experimental, but remain entrenched in warm pop sensibilities. Oh, they’re also a Stereogum Band To Watch, and one of their “Best New Bands Of 2010” — if that carries any weight for you. Read our interview below…To Whom It May Concern: Be it cat, man, fish, moon-walker, sweet-talker, left me standing, under-handing, all I had, was all you had, you’re so good baby, you’re so bad…

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m…
KRAT of Braids

You can find me…
In Canada in Quebec in Montreal in Outremont, yellow house up the steps.

I’m usually posted up at…
Cheskie’s Bakery, the Hasidic Bakery down the street, waiting in line for Chocolate Bobkas’ before practice.

I pay my bills by…
Hahahahahahaha… McGill University research studies???

You might’ve heard of me because…
The internet is a very playful place.

My next order of business is…
TO RECORD THE LONGEST ALBUM IN HUMAN HISTORY AND THEN FOR IT TO PLAY FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!!!!!!!!!!!!  But first to release Native Speaker, 43 minutes, write new bouncy songs and come play in the United States of America.

If I was taking a train from Paris to Madrid, and I could choose one person to share the cabin with…
It would be Italian Spiderman. Please, look him up on Youtube….. so many hours with Italian Spiderman. [Actually we love Italian Spiderman, too! -Ed]

Check out “Plath Heart” below, and hit the Jump to continue reading our interview with BRAIDS…

The best part about my job is…
What job?

The worst part about my job is…
Having to think about a job!

If it wasn’t for __AZEDA BOOTH__ I wouldn’t be where I am today.

The first piece of music I heard that I remember waking up my ears was…
FEELS.

The last piece of music I heard that woke up my ears is…
Stop Making Sense.

If you want to put a smile on my face, you…
Probably want to go to Puppydreamdate.

If you want to wipe that smile away, then you should…
Wipe it away.

The last time I saw the sun come up…
I was driving from our Toronto show back to Montreal — pulling an all-nighter with Jelly beans and Red Bulls, pepperoni sticks, rain water and ‘Holy Fuck’.

The person I admire most is…
Morgan Greenwood.

The last time I lied was…
Because I had to get myself out of something.

If you hit shuffle on my iPod you might be shocked to find…
The Barenaked Ladies.

If you hit shuffle on my iPod I’d be embarrassed if it landed on…
The Barenaked Ladies.

When I get my first really big check, I’m gonna…
Go score a van with a working door, purring battery, clean windshield and squishy seats.

But it’ll never replace…
Our van. :(

My one magic power is…
Hydrogen psychosis, the crazy-eye.

I’d like to give a quick shout-out to…
YO YO YO ALEX AND SEBASTIAN COWAN, WE BE JAMMIN’ HERE IN BELIZE MAN!

And lastly, If I was Lost In a Supermarket, you’d find me in…
Only in the finest Sparkle Market.

BRAIDS 2011 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

1/20 Montreal QC – La Sala Rossa RECORD RELEASE PARTY
02-04 Dallas, TX – The Nightmare *
02-05 Austin, TX – The Mohawk *
02-07 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade *
02-08 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder *
02-11 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel *
02-13 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie *
02-17 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
02-18 Montreal, Quebec – Il Motore *
02-19 Toronto, Ontario – El Mocambo
02-21 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner *
02-22 Urbana, IL – The Canopy *
02-23 Iowa City, IA – Gabe’s *
02-24 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry *
02-25 Madison, WI – Der Rathskellar (University of Wisconsin) *
02-26 Chicago, IL – Subterranean *
03-01 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey *
03-02 Portland, OR – Holocene *
03-04 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop *
03-05 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour *
3/10/2011 – Detroit Bar – Costa Mesa, CA***
3/11/2011 – Casbah – San Diego, CA***
3/12/2011 – Neon Reverb Festival – Las Vegas, NV***

* with Baths, Star Slinger
***with Asobi Seksu