The name Library Voices makes sense, in a way. The seven-piece from Saskatchewan, Canada makes catchy, jangly indie pop with erudite lyrics—a quirky, learned pop, if you will. Their newest album, Lovish (out now on Nevado), was recorded in an old funeral home, and it was written after lead singer and guitarist Carl Johnson recovered from being jumped, beaten and left unconscious in the street in a random act of violence. Johnson developed a severe concussion and inability to smell bad odors, but he was able to write seven songs on Lovish. Alongside Brennan Ross, Michael Dawson, Amanda Scandrett, Mike Thievin, Ethan Anderson and Paul Gutheil, Library Voices are back onstage and playing more gigs this summer. We chatted with Dawson about growing up in a remote town and what Lovish means to the band.

Hometown: Five of us are from a little coal mining town called Estevan, Saskatchewan. Admittedly it was pretty sleepy when we are growing up but the oilfield boom changed that. Amanda is from Moose Jaw. The city has a GIANT moose sculpture that's reportedly made out of garbage. Ethan is from Swift Current. (Unfortunately I don't have a very interesting anecdote about Swift Current.)

Homebase: We live in Regina, Saskatchewan.

How did you all get together to form a band?

Five of us went to high school together and were involved in a music scene we had to create ourselves when we were growing up. I think we learned a work ethic and ethos from those days that have stuck with us. Over the years we've all played together here and there in different projects but Library Voices was our attempt to harness everyone into one band.

Why are you called Library Voices?

It was just a decision I made in the beginning. If I had a time machine the first thing I'd do is go back and change it.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

I'm not even sure I could whittle this down to just one artist. Pet Sounds was a huge influence on me—it was the first time I really started to explore and understand artists who went beyond guitars and bass. I was actually supposed to see Brian Wilson perform the album this weekend but it just got cancelled 15 minutes ago... With that said, bands like Jawbreaker will always have a special place in my heart for bridging incredible lyrics with immediate music.

You’re from Regina, Canada—apparently a pretty remote area. The story of Carl's assault sounds terrible. Is that kind of violence normal in Regina? And does where you live in fact influence your music?

The violence thing was just random. It could have happened anywhere. In fact, it does. Regina is a city of amazing people and harsh winters. The combination of two lend themselves well to making music.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

The Misfits.

What do you do for fun?

Most of the band have young families. What could be more fun that than? We also have a number of side projects and we can all get down with a good game of bocce ball.

What's the craziest thing that’s happened to the band so far?

There's been a few amazing stories. We've met a number of people with Library Voices tattoos. It was also through this band that we met an incredible man named John Farrell. He was an influential radio DJ in the '70s and for some reason took a shine to our band and would often travel from Buffalo to see us play. We got to know him quite well and would exchange books and records with him when our paths crossed. Unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly a couple of years back. We recorded an EP called For John in his honor.

Why is your album called Lovish? What does it mean?

Lovish is by and large a collection of love songs, without being as blatant as Elton John or someone.... thus the title.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? What was it about?

I don't remember it very well but I remember the backstory. When I was in high school we had a motivational speaker come and lecture. His backstory was that he was a survivor of a Alcatraz. It turned out he was fraud who had never been there and was just stealing money from schools. My take on the story wasn't very good, but it was called "Nothing Goes As Planned."