Toronto’s BB Guns are band members: Alana DeVee, Mike Warne, Charlotte Marie, Clint Rogerson and Laura Hermiston. The group have only been together a short time yet has grown an impressive fan base. The BB Guns have shared stages with groups such as the Crocodiles and are in the process of recording new material. FAULT caught up with BB Guns to find out more about their influences, recent gigs and plans for the rest of 2011.

FAULT: How long have the THE BB GUNS been together?

1 year.

FAULT: How did you come up with the group’s name?

Laura came up with the band name 3 years ago and her obsession with the name and the aesthetic surrounding it motivated her to start a band. The name plays on the hard and soft of our personalities. It’s a little cute, a little mod, a little punk, and rock n roll. Great music is equal parts masculine and feminine.

FAULT: How would you describe your sound?

Still waiting for someone to make up a new genre that we can properly fit into.

FAULT: Were any of you involved in previous music projects prior to joining to the band?

Yes. Currently Mike is in Pkew Pkew Pkew, and Clint is in Action Makes. Alana was in a post-punk brat band, Machetes, as well as a short stint in the Vicious Guns.

FAULT: What are some of your musical influences?

With 5 people in the band it varies a lot, but generally falls on a similar spectrum. We get compared to The Cramps, X-Ray Spex, Wire, The Raincoats, and The Tammys quite a bit, which to us are big compliments.

FAULT: What’s your song writing process; is it a collective group effort?

Both. Laura is constantly writing songs with lyrics and ideas for arrangements; she brings her songs to practice and we all play it out. Everyone assists in writing their separate parts and arranging. The best songs are the ones that seem to magically fall in place. As the band progresses, we motivate each other to bring more to the table.

FAULT: Where have you been recording your tracks?

It’s a big luxury to get into a studio these days as many studios have folded in Canada. We recorded at Inception Sounds Studio in Toronto. We record live off the floor and this studio allowed us to do that.

FAULT: Do have plans to release a full album anytime soon?

Yes and No. We feel recording a full album as an indie band in the state of the music industry as it is would be the wrong way to go about things for us. Instead we are recording an EP, which will be sold on vinyl as well as CD and MP3 this fall. We are recording at Inception studio again. What is real exciting is that we have a producer on board with us, Brian Borcherdt, who has been in amazing bands such as HOLY FUCK and runs a label called Hand Drawn Dracula in Toronto and is an old friend of the band.

FAULT: Will you be releasing any new material this summer?

We are currently recording and will release our EP this fall.

FAULT: You just finished playing NXNE  how did that go?

It was a whirlwind of the best kind of fun. We played a packed show to a lot of new people and good things have come from that show which is exactly what we aim for at festivals like this. We got to party with some of our favorite bands, which is a nice plus to the whole festival.

FAULT: What bands did you play with during music week?

We opened for Crocodiles. They played an amazing show and Dum Dum Girls joined them on stage. They were fun to play and party with.

FAULT: Who would like to collaborate with and why?

We throw in early skinhead reggae covers into our set sometimes, so it would be cool to work with any band from the 2-tone records era like The Specials or Madness.

FAULT: What’s the music scene like in Toronto?

Its huge. What stands out about Toronto is the equal representation of females in bands- its awesome. We’re so proud of our generation and our city right now.

FAULT: Do you have any shows coming up?

Aug. 26 in Toronto w/ Gardens (from Detroit).

FAULT: What can we expect from the THE BB GUNS’ the rest of 2011?

An EP. A Music video. Touring. Festivals next spring/summer.

FAULT: What is your FAULT?

Smoking.