Japandroids’ David Prowse: The 10 songs that changed my life

It’s a bittersweet time to be a Japandroids fan right now, with the beloved Vancouver duo set to drop their new LP Fate & Alcohol this Friday (October 18). It’s been a long seven years since the excellent Near To The Wild Heart Of Life, and the good news is that album four is very much worth the wait. The bad news, though, is that it’s also set to be the band’s last record ever.

So, having spent the last 18 years releasing some of the best, life-affirming punk rock on the planet, and putting on equally triumphant live shows, we asked David Prowse to take us through some of the most important music he’s ever heard (or played). From early memories through to his own work with Japandroids and everything in-between, this is the drummer’s life in music.

“My earliest music memory is dancing around to Thriller with my brother and our friends in our basement. We had that album on vinyl and we’d play that record over and over in our little basement rec room. That monster really made some great tunes!”

“I still listen to this album [1997’s Four Minute Mile] a lot. Whenever I need a burst of energy, this is the album I can reliably put on to power me through. It’s just a perfect pop-punk record – I love it so much. It instantly transports me to being 18-year-old Dave again.”

“Source Tags & Codes… what an amazing record. I feel like that was the first album I remember playing along to when I was learning drums, and it has a bunch of great drum riffs – for lack of a better word. This song is probably the best example of that. It has a great vocal melody and cool guitar lines, but it’s all about the drums to me. They make this song and everything is built around them. They really bring out the emotion and push everything to another level.”

“This band is huge in Canada. They’re of like a cross between REM and Guided By Voices, with this amazing poet for a vocalist. Technically not my first-ever concert, but definitely one of my first I remember going to where I bought the ticket myself and it was a hugely formative experience.”

“It’s the title-track from the album Living In The Past, which is an absolute monster of a record. No matter how I’m feeling, I know I’ll be feeling a hell of a lot better as soon as I hear that opening guitar riff on track one, side A of this masterpiece.”

“I first discovered this on an amazing compilation called Native North America. I suppose it’s actually a love song, but there’s a sweet sort of sadness that I hear in the chords and in his voice. It’s so simple and pure and has so much heart. It’s devastating.”

“I’ll always be very proud of Young Hearts Spark Fire. We made that way before we were anything resembling a ‘professional’ band. It’s the one that put us on the map and changed my life, and it’s still one of my favourite Japandroids songs to play live, after all these years. I love that song, and I feel so much gratitude for all the success that it brought us.”

“It was always the climax of our shows and got the wildest response. From day one, our shows were built on having a communal experience with our fans and getting the whole room going with a massive sing-along. This song brought that atmosphere out the most. Always.”

“I really loved the way we played Heart Sweats as the band went on. We slowed it down and it had more of a groove. The recorded version sounds kind of ridiculous to me now – so much nervous energy! Slow it down, my dudes!”

“Ooooh, great question! I’m gonna go with Ever New by Beverly-Glenn Copeland. I had the pleasure of seeing Beverly-Glenn Copeland perform live in 2019 and it was the most life affirming show I’ve ever had the good fortune to attend. This is my favourite of his songs and is a great distillation of the mysterious gorgeousness of his music. It puts me at ease and helps me remember how much beauty there is in the world. That seems like the vibe I want to go out on and send to my loved ones as they say goodbye.”

Japandroids’ final album Fate & Alcohol is due out on October 18

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