Monday, while Canada’s indie rock band Wolf Parade was driving from Oxford, Mississippi, to Austin, TX, during its busy tour schedule, singer/guitarist Dan Boeckner was kind enough to answer some questions.
PopWreckoning talked about the band’s touring show, the upcoming performance in Lawrence, KS, and how he fits in his other act, Handsome Furs into his Wolf Parade life.
Reception wasn’t the greatest, while Dan was driving, so we kept this interview brief: 
Bethany, PopWreckoning: You guys are coming to Lawrence, KS–the area our publication is based out of–you are coming here on Friday. For people who haven’t seen you live, what can they expect from this tour and this show?
Dan Boeckner, Wolf Parade: It’s louder than it is on the record. The music is louder than it is on the album. It’s a little faster and we just play that-live rock band sound. I don’t know. It’s just Wolf Parade playing loud versions of their songs.
PW: How have you adapted the songs meant for a 5-piece to being performed as a 4-piece?
DB: It was a little scary at first, but when we dropped from a 5-piece to a 4-piece, it was pretty short notice. We had to adapt on the road. It was trial by fire and basically decide which parts were keepers and which parts were either splittable or droppable. We had to figure out how to then split up the parts and fill in the sound that Hadji [Bakara] was playing and tried to replicate it as best we could.
PW: Has it affected the set list?
DB: No, we actually realized pretty early on that there wasn’t anything we couldn’t figure something out. It affected the writing process the most; it affected the writing process on the last record, definitely.
PW: With your writing process, since you and Spencer [Krug] are the primary lyrical writers, do you write more so individually then bring it to the whole band or is there more of a collaboration for the entire process?
DB: This record, in particular, was just pure collaboration. Spencer and I would come in with a riff or Dante [DeCaro] would come in with a riff or a little chunk of music, then we’d work it out in the practice space. We’d play around with it over and over until we had something good.
PW: When you’re writing, is there something that you kind of keep in the back of your mind that this is what I want Wolf Parade to sound like versus this is what I am writing for Handsome Furs?
DB: I think it comes to the whole collaboration thing. I generally know when I am writing for Wolf Parade to keep my ideas more open-ended because there are four people to work with and they all have their ideas, but with Handsome Furs there is Alexei [Perry]. It’s a huge factor that there are only two people for that. It’s a very different project writing for two. It definitely changes the songwriting. I don’t think I’ve ever had a song crossover when writing; I always know if I am writing something for one project or another.
PW: You guys just released two iTunes tracks about a week ago. Is that what is leftover from Expo 86 or are there any plans to put an EP of extra material from that record like you had previously talked about?
DB: We had those songs done and then we had one more song, which we didn’t have time to sit down and finish together, but it could be done. Maybe it will come out or maybe it will sit there and then 20 years from now, we’ll listen to it and be like, “Oh yeah, that song. Maybe we put lyrics on it.”
PW: Ok, I think our connection is starting to break up, so I’ll try to squeeze in just one more question for fear of losing you. It seems like all your album titles come from crazy past experiences/tour stories, so what is the wildest thing that’s ever happened to you on tour?
DB: I don’t know. We’ve had a lot of crazy stuff like people going to jail or following some fans for a party 25 minutes out into the desert, which was maybe not the greatest idea. I’m not sure. I don’t know.
PW: Fair enough. Well, I’ll let you go and continue your drive. We look forward to seeing you perform in Lawrence Friday.
DB: Sure. We’re excited to play there.
Wolf Parade will play at the Granada in Lawrence, KS on Friday, November 19, with Ogre You Asshole. Tickets are available here. For more tour dates, go here.
