That’s precisely why Luke says he’s often uncomfortable with the music The Dirty Nil makes being considered ‘art’ – because it all stems from reckless and dangerous abandon. But he shouldn’t be uncomfortable. Not only did the band, who formed in 2006, receive an award for Best Breakthrough Group at the 2017 Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the BRITs and GRAMMYs), but Fuck Art demonstrates that beneath the band’s penchant for crafting balls-out dirty rock’n’roll, there’s plenty of substance to these songs. This isn’t just a record to turn up loud and headbang to, but one that also sees, at times, the ’Nil present their much more fragile and romantic side. Much of that, it seems, is the result of the natural evolution and development that comes with getting older.
“Our first album, Higher Power, was more or less about going out and having fun and dying, basically,” explains Luke, “whereas [follow-up] Master Volume was more about revenge. And once you make a revenge record and you’ve purged yourself of all of your feelings of vindictiveness and vitriol, you just start to look inward because there’s nowhere else to go. So this album is – dare I say, with a cringe in my heart – a more introspective record, but there’s also a healthy amount of wagging our finger and putting up our nose at things.”
One of the many things Fuck Art wags its finger at is the internet and social media, both in terms of the underlying pernicious nature of companies like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and the way that being online has distorted our worldview at the same time as expanding it. Whether that’s people presenting false versions of themselves on social media or the relentless barrage of negativity that seems to flow through every newsfeed, Luke is concerned about the detrimental effects it can have on people – especially those who feel the need to constantly prove themselves to be fighting the good fight.
“I’m just fascinated with what I see on the internet,” Luke says. “We’re still learning how to grapple with what is not necessarily a benevolent technology, so you’ve got to find a balance with the internet. You have to not let it tell you to be sad all the time, but also not put your head in the sand at the same time. And that balance is really difficult for a lot of people. It’s hard to draw the line between trying to enjoy your life and trying to make a difference – especially when you often feel like you can’t make a difference.”