Orchestral Manoeuvres

Godspeed You! Black Emperor don't often give interviews. (They declined to do so for this article.) The Montreal post-rockers don't have a frontman or leader. Recently, they conducted an e-mail Q&A with , in which they issued answers as a collective, and made it clear why they rarely speak to the press.

"We started making this noise together when we were young and broke - the only thing we knew for sure was that professional music writers seemed hopelessly out of touch and nobody gave a s*** about the s*** we loved except for us. Talking about punk rock with freelancers, then as now, was like farting at a fundraiser - a thing that got you kicked out of the party.

"We knew that there were other people out there who felt the same way, and we wanted to bypass what we saw as unnecessary hurdles, and find those people on our own. We were proud and shy motherf***ers, and we engaged with the world thusly. Means we decided no singer, no leader, no interviews, no press photos. We played sitting down and projected movies on top of us. No rock poses."

Godspeed - who will be performing at the Vine Centre 2 in Wan Chai on April 15 - are committed to making music, rather than treating music as an image or a lifestyle. Their lack of posturing has given them the freedom to make records on their own terms, and develop as artists.

Last year, Godspeed released their fourth studio album on their longtime Canadian label, the Montreal-based Constellation. Their previous record, , came out a decade ago.

begins with , a track that lasts nearly 20 minutes. The song contains all of the Godspeed trademarks: first, a few notes drift in and repeat. Other instruments are added, building the sound to a crescendo. Then the spell is broken by an onslaught of virtuosic guitar riffs. The music demands attention, and achieves it without a hook or technological gimmicks. It is the result of collaboration, of musicians coming together and uniting their talents.