INTERVIEW WITH DIE MANNEQUIN'S CARE FAILURE: NOISE JUNKIE MAKES GOOD

It’s a Friday afternoon and I’m chatting on the phone with Care Failure as she takes a moment from her busy tour to walk the streets of Windsor, Ontario, and unleash the story of her menacing past, and the musical journey that led to the birth of Canadian rock outfit, Die Mannequin.

“I got banned from music when I was 12 when my best friend tried to commit suicide,” she explains. “She wrote a note with all these band symbols in it, and this was right after that Columbine tragedy, so the cops were really up on blaming music. They pulled my parents and me in, and tried to blame her suicide on me, explaining that music was the root of all evil.”

This obstacle didn’t stand in the way for Failure, however. Leaving home at the age of 16 with a few belongings and her guitar in hand, she continued to pursue her musical aspirations. “I had to leave in order to do what I had to do, so the ‘banning me from music’ thing didn’t really work. Within a couple months I got some industry work, which eventually led me to EMI and all the other people and labels I work with now. It was like, do or die.”

Following a tumultuous battle with drugs, Die Mannequin collaborated with music mogul MSTRKRFT, who recorded and produced Die Mannequin’s thrashing four-track premier EP How To Kill. Their second, Slaughter Daughter, was completed just yesterday. “Sonically, it’s a little more me,” Failure notes, about EP number two. “We did two songs with Ian D’sa from Billy Talent, and the other two we did with Junior Sanchez, who’s a legend of his own. I’m a noise junkie. I turn on my amp, plug in my guitar, and make a sandwich listening to the feedback. But I didn’t want to just do another EP with four songs of bashing guitar. There’s a little more versatility on this one. It’s a little more dangerous.”

Although Die Mannequin is still in its early stages, the band has already received a considerable amount of attention, including the opportunity to tour alongside Guns ‘N’ Roses on its recent Canadian tour. “The week before, we were playing clubs for like 20 people,” Failure says, “and then you go and play in front of like, 20,000 people. It was like the same clubs, but on acid, you know?”

Failure is refreshingly humble, even in the face of burgeoning success. “I don’t expect anything, so everything’s always a pleasant surprise,” she admits, when asked if she’s pleased with the way things have been going for her. “Why should I expect anything? I’m just a white kid in North America, life won’t ever be that bad.” And as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. The trials and tribulations of Care Failure’s youth are merely stepping-stones for this music maiden. “[Sonic Youth’s] record Small Flowers Cracked Concrete just totally reminds me of my past,” she muses. “If you look down at the concrete on the sidewalks, the flowers will still find a way to grow around it.”