The Constantines built their rep through steady cross-country barnstorming; these days, though, their name appears less often on the marquee of your local rock club. All part of making the indie band lifestyle more livable, says Cons singer/guitarist Bry Webb, who chatted with EYE WEEKLY about touring and the band’s recent fourth album, Kensington Heights, in advance of their set at this weekend’s Toronto Island V-Fest insanity.

Kensington Heights is dedicated to Winnipeg amp maker Gar Gillies. Why?
We used a few of Gar’s amps — that kind of turned things around when we were having a sound crisis. He’s a really important presence on the record. But, also, Gar passed away when we were making the record. He was a guy who owned and was completely connected with the products of his labour, from conception to completion, for his whole life. He had his hands on wires from the moment he started making amps to the moment he died — he was still hand-making amps for people. And he ran the company. It’s a great story. It’s the way I would love to live.

Are you?
I’m definitely trying. It seems like now when we tour I feel more like that than I’ve felt ever before.

The band seems to be touring less. How many shows do you usually play in a year?
Between 100 and 150, but with [2005’s] Tournament of Hearts we kind of burned ourselves out. We had to rethink things a little bit. Like, I can only do five shows in a row before my voice blows out. We set more limits now — which is just a part of getting older, too, I guess.

So how many shows will you play this year?
It’ll probably be under 100. It’s still hard to turn down shows. The only reason we do that now is because of health, mental and physical health. I think we’re just now figuring out the balance. We’ve pulled back a little bit and now we’re figuring out what we can do.

At the same time you’ve been pulling back, you’ve signed on with a label that’s very ambitious. Have Arts & Crafts had their feet in your asses?
I think that’s pretty accurate. Ambitious is a great way to describe Arts & Crafts. They’re a small label but they have a lot of ambition as far as being played on the radio, or getting people to notice them and notice their bands. And they’re really good at promotion. That’s their strength. They’re really savvy with that side of things.

Has there been any tension as a result of them wanting the band to do more than it may be comfortable with?
Yep, for sure. I can’t go into specifics, because I think it would be unfair to all sides of those arguments. It’s a bit of a push and pull, but that’s fine too. As long as you know what you want and what you can do, and you’re willing to stand up for it, it’s not a bad thing to have somebody else trying to challenge you or push you in new directions. You just have to be aware of what your limits are.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Boyd Devereaux gets an organ credit on the record. How did the band meet him?
He was playing for the Red Wings and came to see us play one night at this great dive in Detroit. He left a little napkin that said, “If you ever want to come to a game in Detroit, give me a call. Thanks for the show!” We didn’t get in contact with him then, but he ended up playing for the Leafs. He’s a huge music fan, and eventually we got to meet him and we struck up a friendship. We were recording during the last hockey season and he would come down after a game and listen to tracks in the studio. And he played one note on “Time Can Be Overcome.”

It was one note, huh? I was going to ask whether he had any chops on that Hammond.
Well, he nailed that one note.