Life flies by in the fast lane for Vancouver musician Peter Ricq. When not performing with Robbie Slade as indie electronic duo Humans, he keeps active creating animated media (his past work included the television show League of Super Evil). Things are busy, he says, and it seems to be true: Humans recently finished up a North American tour in support of their new EP, Feels.
“This one is 100-percent new stuff,” says Ricq about the material they played on the tour, adding that most of the time they play 20 percent new material live. “The response has been pretty positive. People go crazy dancing.”
Ricq says that he and Slade are incredibly happy with their new material, and their fans are too, judging from the responses they’ve seen so far.
“It’s more clubby,” says Ricq about the new material, “and it’s darker, I think. I feel like everyone always says, ‘Oh, this is a bit darker from what you’ve done before.’ I feel like we’ve always had this touch of darkness.”
Ricq says he and Slade listen to lots of different kinds of music, and that comes through in Humans’ sound.
“What I like about our music is that we find we can mix a lot of the genres together in electronic music, maybe more so than other types of music. It’s going to be more liberating; it’s just a little more experimental and fun that way.”
Taking those sounds and putting them together in a live setting means a lot to Ricq, who loves connecting with a crowd.
“Some people say, ‘I met my girlfriend at your show,’ or, ‘I met my husband at your show,’ and I’d like to keep that going, you know? People have an experience to remember.”
Humans like to engage with the audience at their shows, and they even take that so far as to sometimes go into the crowd while they’re performing, says Ricq.
“That was my motto since day one,” he says, regarding interacting with the crowd. “Robbie is really good at that. I’m always looking down at the gear and trying to make the song work.”
The band are also working on their next release, says Ricq, which will most likely be out in the spring. He says it’ll be an extension of the sounds that are on Feels; for now, he’s looking forward to coming to Victoria.
“We’re looking forward to the next show and getting ready for the album,” he says. “There’s a lot on the plate that we’re doing. I’m excited.”
Humans
Friday, February 9
$15, Capital Ballroom
sugarnightclub.ca