Win Butler

watch Win Butler call Arcade Fire the Best Rock Band, discuss sexual assault, more

Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler was interviewed for George Stroumboulopoulos’s The Strombo Show, where they discussed a lot of different stuff in the nearly-40-minute interview. They bring up Win and Regine’s 4-year old, why Win is wearing a ton of classic Michael Jackson buttons, experiences Win had at his school boarding school Exeter, and some heavier stuff.

One particularly good quote comes when Stroumboulopoulos asks him if Arcade Fire are the best band in the world:

GS: You have by all accounts the best band in the world. Do you feel that way?

WB: Yeah, maybe for rock bands, yeah, yeah.

GS: When do you feel like you got there?

WB: Well, by the time we made Funeral we were already a really great band. I mean we had been going for a while, but there were a lot of other bands at the peak of their powers going at the same time, like the White Stripes and the Strokes, and you know, there were a lot of other really great bands, and you kind of look around and there aren’t too many of them that are still going, you know what I mean? The bands that we really, that we really loved and respected coming out of it… where they are… it’s just like they’ve had different lulls and valleys and stuff like that… we’re in a pretty amazingly fortunate position

Stroumboulopoulos also asks Win about all the sexual assault news in Hollywood, which Win sort of avoids answering but does bring up the fact that the “important conversation” is happening with a “president that’s literally been accused of rape.”

Stroumboulopoulos also asks him about the Vegas shooting and if events like that change how he performs, and Win says “that’s kinda what our band is there for” and talks about playing Manchester after the attack at the Ariana Grande concert, and playing Vegas not long after the Vegas shooting.

Win also discusses songwriting, memorable shows, and more. You can watch the whole thing below. The sexual assault bit starts at the 34:30 mark.