Canada is known for its mounted police force and Niagara Falls, but now the country has brought independent rock fans something even better. Hot Hot Heat comes sizzling straight from Victoria, British Columbia. The four bandmates Steve Bays (keyboards, vocals), Dante Decaro (guitar), Dustin Hawthorne (bass), and Paul Hawley (drums) made two stops in the area this week during their fourth month of touring.

They rocked out Sunday at Carrboro’s Go! Room 4. On tour with The Pattern, Hot Hot Heat performed an electric show with openers the Washdown and the Von Bondies.

The excitement didn’t stop there though. Hot Hot Heat played an awesome, free show at Gate City Noise in Greensboro Monday. The small venue allowed fans to get close to the band.

Following the show Monday night, Decaro, Bays, and Hawley of Hot Hot Heat told their views on independent rock, labels and their new record. The interview has been edited for content and length.

SB: I think there is something like 50,000 independent releases put out in North America each year.

PH: To be one of the 200 that people hear about is cool.

SB: That relates to us, but to indie rock in general, I think there is a good set up. There is kind of a network of things that is really cool - record stores, like these for example (Gate City Noise). I can go to the listening booth and there’s like the 30 coolest releases this week and I can listen to them all, so I get to use their expert opinion.

SB: We played at Good Records in Atlanta - no Dallas. Criminal Records in Atlanta - that place was pretty cool, but not as cool as this place, though.

PH: It’s a hot potato. You gotta handle it, pass it back and forth.

DD: It’s like I was saying, where we’re from college radio means nothing, and there really isn’t one in our town.

PH: There is one.

SB: Yeah, there is one.

DD: Oh, that like four people listen to.

PH: Yeah, four or five people listen once a day.

DD: So to us it’s like an alien culture.

SB: Actually, after being on tour now I realize the significance of college radio for the indie rock scene. College and community radio is the most relevant form of advertising, but it’s not paid advertising. It’s just people playing what they want to hear. It is kinda relevant to us. In Canada we’re from a small community where no one listens to the radio, so it does help us.

SB: It’s really brand new; we have no clue. We could say it’s the best, but that would just be speculating.

PH: So far everybody at Warner has shown a high level of enthusiasm and courteousness and friendliness and very good work ethic. I think we wanted to have the same relationship with the people at our new label that we did with Sub Pop because we had a great relationship with them. It was very personal. It was never legal. We want to have the same thing with our new label, and I think we’ve found someone, a label that can deal with an indie band that know how to because it can be hard if you’re not Limp Bizcuit or Linkin Park or those big acts that will sell millions. A band like us-we might sell a 1,000 or we might sell 10,000. That might be it, you know.

SB: From a mainstream perspective it’s fine that we are lumped into that because we don’t sound like Madonna or Linkin Park, and that’s the best way to do it. From our perspective, each genre has sub-genres which have sub-genres and sub-genres. As far as everyone in this record store, I don’t think they think we sound like those other bands, but 10 years from now I’d rather be compared.

SB: Well, I just bought a new Spoon release based on what it sounded like in the listening booth. It sounds pretty rad.

PH: I just bought Need New Body. It sounds pretty freaky.