A mere two months into 2011, Braids are already having a big year. The Canadian quartet's debut album, 'Native Speaker,' is dazzling fans and critics alike with its experimental dream-pop melodies. In an interview with Spinner, drummer Austin Tufts and singer-guitarist Raphaelle Standell-Presto -- both SXSW first-timers -- discussed their move from Calgary to Montreal, the "European sex circle" that influenced their song 'Lemonade' and their unwillingness to tour with Miley Cyrus. XSW
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Download Braids' 'Plath Heart' (MP3) off 'Native Speaker'
At what point did Braids go from a high-school hobby to a full-time job?
Tufts: It took about four years to get to that point. For the first six to seven months, we were still finding our bearings as a band. I'm a year younger than the rest of the members, so Taylor, Raphie and Katie decided that they were going to take a year off after high school and not go straight to university and just play music. That was the first stepping stone. It felt really good to me that I was part of something where people really cared about me and was willing to wait for me. And then after that, we decided to move to Montreal and that was another big step. But after two years of university, we just thought that university will always be there, but we have a record coming out, and we're sitting on this record that we feel really good about, so we took time off and took a leap of faith.
How was the move to Montreal?
Standell-Preston: There were some really hard points, especially because I wasn't fluent in French, but I think
