Ahead of their sold-out concert inside their hometown arena Saturday night, brothers Brett and Jay Emmons of Kingston’s The Glorious Sons sat down with The Whig’s Peter Hendra after a rehearsal this week to answer a few questions, from what winning a Juno award for their album Young Beauties and Fools would mean to them to what’s different about playing a show in their hometown to what they like to do when they’re not onstage.

* You’re playing the K-Rock Centre 10 years, almost to the day, after The Tragically Hip opened the venue. Was that date a coincidence or was that on purpose?

Jay: It was by coincidence, I think.

Brett: We were going to play the K-Rock Centre anyway this year — that was the plan — but I think while we were actually organizing the show "¦ our agent stumbled upon the 10-year anniversary thing.

* Speaking of The Hip, they’ve always maintained that playing in their hometown always comes with more pressure. Have you found that to be the case so far?

J: Yeah. You just want to make sure everyone is taken care of, and there are a lot more people here. If we play in Edmonton, for example, there might be 10 people you need to take care of; here, it’s like everyone you’ve ever met. I’ve heard from people I haven’t heard from in years and they’re like, ‘Dude, I’m so excited.’ (laughs)

* The Glorious Sons have been out on the road a lot this year in support of the new album. What’s the first thing you do the day after you get back?

B: We’ll probably get in at who knows what hour — 3 or 4 a.m. — so I’ll most likely sleep. Take a long rest and rejuvenate.

J: I’ll see my girlfriend, my dog and my parents. And I’ll be able to sleep in a comfy bed. And maybe meet up with friends.

* What do you miss about Kingston when you’re away on tour?

B: No matter what, you do miss home. We have a pretty tight, solid foundation in this city. Our parents live here. Like Jay said, everyone we’ve ever known or loved has lived here, so I think that’s the main thing for me. I find myself comparing Kingston to other cities as we go along, and I still have trouble finding a city I like more, but I am biased. When I started living downtown around age 21 "¦ those were my years of real growth and finding my life, and taking some real steps toward something. This city’s been there for that, and that’s probably one of the biggest reasons I miss it and love it so much.

J: Family, friends, routine. While you’re on tour, though, you also have a routine that you get used to as well. You can lead a healthier lifestyle, but then you go out and have beers with the guys more often. (laughs)

* After seeing as many cities as you have because of touring, is there something you think Kingstonians take for granted?

B: I kind of describe the city like this: it’s like a ski resort without the hill to me; everybody kind of knows each other. It’s a beautiful city, no doubt about it, and it’s a small city. It’s not too big, but it’s not too small. But I don’t know if people take that for granted.

J: I feel for the most part Kingstonians stick together, they have a real sense of identity, whereas in a bigger city that can exist in, say, the sense of a neighbourhood, but when you say you’re from Kingston, it’s kind of like one big neighbourhood.

* When you’re travelling on the road there are often many hours to fill between stops. What do you guys do to bide your time?

B: A mixture of things. I do some reading "¦

J: We watch a lot of sports in the fall. Football, hockey.

B: When we’re not travelling, the main thing that we do is we go out and eat good meals. You can name a city and Jay will often know three or four really nice restaurants to go to that aren’t too expensive but are good spots. We go to a lot of those. Jay, (drummer Adam Paquette) and I do that a lot.

J: I’m a creature of habit, so it’s kind of nostalgic to go back to the same places. We’ve been to these cities a bunch of times now, and we find out about them from the people we meet and get to know.

* I know that you watch some TV shows and movies to fill the time, too. What was your favourite TV show or movie on the last tour?

B: We watched Nathan For You.

J: (The movie) Dirty Work (with) Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange was the highlight for me.

B: We also watched Family Feud. (Guitarist Chris) Koster got us onto the Feud. It’s actually hilarious. Jay doesn’t watch it.

* The day after Saturday night’s concert you hop on a plane and head to Europe for your first tour overseas. Is there something in particular you’re looking forward to seeing or doing?

B: The history for me. Just being in those towns that are thousands of years old. I think that will be amazing. Also, just getting over there and see how we’re doing. We don’t know how Europe has responded to any of our music.

* When you return, you have a few dates in the States and then it’s straight to the Juno awards in Vancouver. You attended your first Juno ceremony a few years ago, when The Union was up for rock album of the year. Was there something you want to do this time around that you didn’t do the last time?

J and B (simultaneously): No.

J: We don’t get caught up in that stuff too much. It’s cool for our family and friends to go and experience that, though.

B: I remember they asked me the first time who I wanted to meet, and I said, "Eugene Levy." He was the first Canadian to pop into my head. I didn’t want to meet anybody. (laughs)

J: It’s nice to sit down with other musicians and talk, but this isn’t the kind of event for that. We had a lot of fun, though.

* How important would it be for you to win a Juno, or is it just an honour, as they say, to be nominated?

B: If you know anything about the Emmons brothers, we’re big fans of winning. Super-competitive dudes.

J: There’s no point playing for fun. (laughs)

B: If we get nominated, we want to win. I think there is something to be said for being a Juno award winner, and it is an honour to be nominated and an honour to be there. Somebody’s thinking of us, and it feels great.

J: It won’t mean we’ll make any big changes. It’s nice, but we do have our sights set beyond that.

* If you won a Juno, have you thought about what you would do with it?

B: I would give it to my parents. 100%. I always thought I would give it to my grandfather if he were still alive.

J: I’ve never really thought about it.

* In between the Junos and another U.S. tour you have a month off. What will you do?

B: We’ll be writing and stuff, but there will be a lot of chilling and a lot of us time.

J: That might be the last time we really have a large block of time off until Christmas. Festival season is coming up, and we have some scheduled overseas and in the U.S. It’s harder than touring because you’re always flying somewhere.

* What do you like best about touring?

J: The camaraderie. It’s a lot of fun.

B: It’s like a (break) from the rest of your life. You’ve got one job and six people to entertain and love. (And it feels like) that’s what you’re meant to do and that’s what you’re doing. It’s the best.

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