A Silver Mt. Zion: Hi, How Are You, Efrim Menuck?

So, how do you find the whole interview process then? As icebreakers go, it's probably in the same realm as "Do you come here often?" But when Efrim Menuck, of Thee Silver Mt. Zion (and Tra La La Band) - that's A Silver Mt Zion to anyone shy of a mouthful - responds with "Actually, I like to talk, conversation is good" the feeling is that, however basic the ploy, it has served its purpose well.

The stony silence that persists straight after suggests that the relief was perhaps a little premature. What to talk about in the tricky opening exchanges? Politics proves the saviour on this particular occasion. Menuck has previously aired his views on the hotbed of acrimony that is the Middle East. "Whenever the question comes up I'll speak about it. As a Jew I have big problems with the state of Israel, because whether I like it or not, with everything they do, there's a presumption that it's been done in my name. And what's going on there is an unbearable, untenable situation."

Can we presume that this has been one of the driving forces behind the creative ethos of this complicated band? "No! Our politics are no more profound than what people talk about in bars when they get a couple of drinks in front of them. Our politics are pretty much the points that everyone can agree on anyway, we just write songs about it."

Menuck is, despite protestations to the contrary, an activist at heart. Conversation turns to the fact that the entire new album, 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, was written and played live for a couple of years before being committed to record; a process Menuck says has "Affected the sound of those tracks in clichéd ways. They're louder, more aggressive and more focussed." In addition to this, a live album has been slated for release in the summer. However, this record, tentatively titled Fuck Thee Drakula, enticingly serves as a vehicle for the distribution of a 50-page pamphlet ranting against the nature of the music industry.

"The live record is like an audio visual component to accompany the essay," he reasons. "It's the old variation on musicians getting fleeced or people who love music getting fleeced. The music industry is an exploitative and dull industry from the top to the bottom. Its operating assumptions are destructive and reducing." Strong words, but does Menuck have any definitive conclusions to offer? "It would take me at least 50 pages to get into that."

Is it not harsh to stick the boot into an industry on the cusp of fundamental change?

"The industry has already changed," Menuck suggests. "It's just different companies now. So instead of big nasty evil major labels, which were easy targets for everybody, now you have Apple Computers and every single internet provider in the first world. There are just as many millions of dollars changing hands, they're just going into the pockets of different wealthy CEOs."

Confessing a proneness to boredom if his life and music aren't progressing at the desired rate, Menuck gives absorbing insight into the modus operandi of a band that are typically described as post-rock, but who in reality owe more to the classical composers as guiding influences. "I think the one ethos is that we are always trying to play things that are just a little bit beyond our ability to play. That's important to us, so there's a way that everything sounds a bit wrong, a bit sour, a bit tense. More than any aesthetic decision, that approach is good for us. It's literally just pushing ourselves a little bit beyond our technical abilities so it sounds like we're not quite hitting it at any given point."

There was a considerable internet-based hoo-ha about the fate of his other band, so it seems prudent to ask in parting: any chance of a Godspeed [You! Black Emperor – currently on 'indefinite hiatus'] reunion? "Well, Montreal is a small town and we still see each other all the time. I'm not sure how that will pan out." All of a sudden, it seems we can't shut him up as he adds without prompt... "The scene there is in a state of, not decline as such, but scenes have different ebbs and flows and right now it's at the end of an ebb period. We'll see where it goes from here. It's still a good town with lots of good musicians. I just think the amount of attention this town got in the past few years because of one particular band [this would be the Arcade Fire] that became world wide famous has kinda fucked things up a little, but I think it will repair itself."