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1.) We’re very excited to have some time today with acclaimed Canadian alternative duo extraordinaire, VIOLET NIGHT; greetings and salutations you two and welcome to Vents Magazine! Before we dive into the proverbial Q&A mosh-pit, could the both of you say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive reading audience?
Hi, my name is Connor Pohl. Vocals, guitars.
Hi! My name is Tay Ewart. I play the drums in Violet Night.
2.) Congratulations on your freshly-minted new single “Does It Even Matter?” which is lighting up record charts and listener’s hearts throughout the ever-lovin’ world! Connor, what’s the story behind this gem of a ditty?
With DIEM, I’d been sitting on the demo for a while, and the “do do doo do doo do” hook just wouldn’t leave my head. It was one of those things, annoying in the best way. In a moment of sheer genius (or desperation), I showed it to Tay, and it actually excited him. And if you know Tay, you know he’s not easily impressed. Tough critic. Which I weirdly love, because if I can get a reaction out of him, I know I’ve got something.
The song itself? It’s about this habit I have of romanticizing the worst times in my life, looking back at moments of discomfort or suffering and feeling nostalgic for them. Which sounds insane, I know. But if we’re unpacking it, I think it’s because, even in those dark times, I still found these small moments of comfort, these tiny joys that made it all feel worth something. So when I look back, I don’t just see the pain -I see the beauty in surviving it. The song asks this almost rhetorical question: If I’m happy, sad, or somewhere in between… does it even matter?
3.) Connor, what differentiates “Does It Even Matter?” from the distinguished competition on the 2025 music landscape?
I don’t really see our music as existing in some kind of competition. Art isn’t a race, and I’m not looking over my shoulder at what anyone else is doing. If there’s anyone I’m competing with, it’s myself, or maybe someone with a vision so grand it reshapes the landscape.. someone like Bowie. DIEM? isn’t about fitting into the 2025 music scene. It’s about bending the lens people see it through. It’s nostalgic without being a rerun, self-aware without being ironic. There’s this tension in it, this feeling of looking back at the worst times in your life with rose coloured glasses, almost romanticizing them – because at least they made me feel something. That’s the energy. It’s not chasing a trend or trying to be the biggest song in the world. It just IS. And if that resonates with people, if it makes them feel less alone in their own contradictions, then that’s the real win.
4.) Tay, what does the touring/performing dance card look like for VIOLET NIGHT in the coming weeks and months?
Our bags are always packed and ready at the front door. We want to bring Violet Night to play everywhere and anywhere. We are currently planning a Canada/USA tour with a bunch of festivals in between. 2025 is going to be a busy year with shows and more music!
5.) Connor, in the wake of the release of the new single, can fans look forward to a possible EP or LP release from VIOLET NIGHT sometime in ‘25?
Oh yeah, it’s coming. We’ve got a couple more singles, and then the LP. Name’s locked, tracklist is set, all very official There’s a theme. A concept. It’s the most cohesive album we’ve done. We feel we’ve definitely found our sound on this one. Announcement soon.
6.) Tay both you and Connor hail from Western Canada. How do those specific roots inform VIOLET NIGHT and the music which they create?
Tay: I grew up just north of Toronto. Being so close to the big city made it so I was constantly around the music scene, seeing shows, and playing shows. Growing up there allowed me to see it was possible to do music if you really want it and work hard at it. I think Connor and I having such polar opposite upbringings is part of the reason we mesh so well both personally and creatively. We both bring a different perspective to things that come together to achieve the same goal.
Connor: I was born in western Canada, raised 12 hours north of Vancouver, where it’s cold enough to make you question your life choices but also kind of forces you to get on with it. If you want to make money, you work in oil and gas, forestry, coal mining, the kind of jobs that break your back but build something in you. Resilience, perspective. It’s a strange place, really, at times bleak and isolating, at others warm and oddly cinematic. Loads of space, loads of quiet. Less of the chaos you get in big cities, more room to think, or spiral, or whatever. If we’re talking about what really shaped me musically, the MVP is my mother, no contest. I’ve been listening to music since I was basically in the womb, she made sure of it. I remember when I was six, she’d sit me down and quiz me on the names of every member of The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin. It wasn’t just music in the background – it was something to know. Something to understand.
7.) A question for the both of you: Who are some of your key musical influences?
Connor: for me it’s always been about people who build something bigger than themselves. The scope, the vision. I could go on and on about different influences but I’ll name a few and carry on – David Bowie, Gerard Way, Tom DeLonge, Damon Albarn, Billy Corgan.
Tay: I have to thank (or blame) my dad for introducing me to blink-182 and Green Day when I was 6 years old. It was immediate – I knew I wanted to play the drums and I knew I wanted to play fast. Beyond that initial introduction, bands that heavily influenced my playing were AFI, Every Time I Die, and A Day To Remember. Practicing at age 14 just meant playing their albums from front to back every day.
8.) Connor, what’s the VH1-Behind the Music secret origin story on how VIOLET NIGHT came together to form the tight and harmonious duo which we hear so brilliantly on the new single “Does It Even Matter?”?
I was already a fan of Tay’s work in one of his other bands, just one of those things where you clock someone and think, yeah, they get it. Around that time, our manager put something out online saying we were looking for a full-time drummer, right when we’d just dropped “freak me up” off A N T I H E R O E S. A week later, Tay was in my living room, and we were shaking hands each trying to figure out if this thing made sense. I think what pulled us toward each other was that we’re both relentless, like, no off switch, no Plan B, just music. It’s funny, because where one of us is strong, the other’s got some blind spot, so it weirdly evens out.
9.) Tay, any final thoughts you might like to leave readers with regarding the new VIOLET NIGHT single Does It Even Matter?
We just want to thank everyone who has supported us by checking out our music or has come to a show so far! It’s so exciting to see the positive feedback DIEM is receiving, and we can’t wait to share more music and hit the road soon! Thank you.
