BSW: Tell us who Cyclone Records are and where you are based out of?

Brad: I am the founder of Cyclone Records. Myself, along with some other talented and passionate people such as Nadine Adam and Tony Dewald make up the heart and soul of the label. Bands are also an integral part and we have developed a powerful, cross-functional and supportive community. We began in Calgary, Alberta and have just relocated to just north of Toronto, Ontario before Christmas. This puts us in a better position to develop contacts and be in the thick of the action since major music vendors such as Socan, CIRPA, The Lacquer Channel and Sony are located here.

BSW: What was your initial motivation for starting Cyclone Records?

Brad: Simply put, I was motivated to bring the best music I could find into the forefront so that great musicians can be heard, recognized for their talent and enjoyed by others. I have been a drummer for over 20 years and have worked with some of the best musicians around and most, if not all, fade into obscurity because of the obstacles and challenges facing them in this business. The music machine can be a very costly, discouraging and take-no-prisoners kind of business. I am working to find the safe path and lead bands in the right direction and avoid the typical pitfalls of the business.

BSW: What I found different about Cyclone Records is that you have produced compilations of different bands, instead of full length c.d.’s. How do you feel this benefits a band that has little money? And how do you feel this benefits you?

Brad: The cost of releasing a full-length CD is prohibitive because it means having to record that many tracks, press upwards of 1000 copies and then try to promote, distribute and sell those discs. The Cyclone Records compilation series addresses this by requiring bands to record only one song which along with 10 or more other bands, is released with a distribution of 1000 or more copies. The beauty of these compilations are that a band that has a small, developing fan base can be promoted to a larger audience by the efforts of the other bands on the disc. As they distribute their portion of the discs, they are also promoting all the other artists. Plus, a band can typically earn up to $1000 through sales of their portion of the discs..

Working with bands at this stage of their development benefits me because it gives me an opportunity to see the personal dynamics of the band, their creative process, their dedication and business sense... all very important aspects of a band's longevity, perseverance and chance at success. Another residual effect is that the bands on the compilations form a small, symbiotic community and share shows, costs, members and promotion.

And just a heads up... I'm looking at doing a Manitoba compilation by year's end so if bands are interested, get in touch.

BSW: Tell us a bit about the services you offer.

Brad: We are a full-featured label and provide whatever a bands needs to move their careers to the next level. Our main focus is the compilations mentioned earlier, full-length releases and digital releases. We also do promotional items such as photo shoots, stickers, apparel, websites, graphic design. If there is something that we don't do, we will find someone that does and negotiate the best rate in the business.

BSW: Running a record label is time-consuming and competitive. What sets Cyclone Records apart from other labels out there?

Brad: Cyclone Records runs a lot leaner than other labels. That means that our overhead is lower and those savings can be passed on to bands. We are in this for the long run so do not gouge bands for the sake of making a quick buck. We stand behind our integrity. A band's success is our success.

BSW: Do you seek out bands or do they come to you? And what do you look for when considering new artists?

Brad: In the beginning, I approached as many bands as I could to get my name out and begin dialogue with them. I was an unknown to them so it wasn't always easy. Now, more and more bands are approaching me. When considering new artists, I want to see a band that has an accepted leader and yet harmony amongst the members. They need to have a solid recording and a bunch of songs written and be willing to get out and play lots of shows to get their message heard. Most importantly they have to have a business sense and be willing to care of that side of things, since after all this is a business.

BSW: You mentioned that you have plans on re-issuing several older discs online. How did you come up with this decision?

Brad: There is a growing trend towards online availability of tunes with a decrease in CD sales and an increase of online downloads. To remain on the leading edge, Cyclone is offering bands the opportunity to re-issue their music digitally through a variety of online download retailers such as iTunes, Napster, MSN Music, etc. Because of several high-profile releases, such as Inner Surge's "Signals Screaming" and the 14-band metal collection "The Greatest Underground Show on Earth" receiving international attention, this allows bands the opportunity to make their previous music strategically available to the international marketplace. Another benefit to digital only releases is that there is not the huge financial outlay in replicating and distributing CDs.

BSW: Name a few of the artists you have recently worked with, and do you have any personal favorites?

Brad: Its always hard to pick personal favorites. I won't work with bands that I don't personally believe in or believe in their chance at success. I have to be a fan of the band first. I work constantly with Creature Republic... they are a band going places. I have also worked extensively with Inner Surge because of their upcoming CD release, videos and movie soundtrack. New additions to the roster are Wormbox and Windsor, Ontario's, Pitch Union and they will be featured prominently in my plans down the road.

BSW: Any new releases we should be looking out for?

Brad: "The Greatest Underground Show on Earth" is a collection 14 of the best metal bands from Calgary. I am particularly proud of this disc. It will be on the street on February 28th but pre-orders are being taken now through the Cyclone Records website. Inner Surge's upcoming release "Signals Screaming" is getting critical acclaim worldwide and is on its way to becoming a premiere release, even before its April 1st release date.

BSW: Where can we find out more about Cyclone Records?

Brad: Cyclone Records and our discography is available online at www.cyclonerecords.ca.

BSW: Thank-you Brad, and good luck with your future endeavors!

BSW: Please introduce the band to us and where you are all from

AS: King of Allentown- ATOWN, obviously C Vicious- South ATOWN, the dirrrrty south Johnny Cockring- from Whitehell, formerly of the Serial Rapists, 17, hs dropout

BSW: How did you all meet?

AS: At the local welfare office, we were all their scamming the local Puerto Rican broads with kids and absentee fathers, cheap dates!

BSW: Who came up with the name of your band? And why “The Atown Sluts”?

AS: King of Allentown, it came to me in a dream, some may say I'm a dreamer (like John Lennon and MLK JR)

BSW: How would you describe your music?

AS: Punk fucking rock

BSW: Do you have any “message” with your music?

AS: We have 2 mottos, Choke On It and Swing on This

BSW: Tell us in three words what we could expect to see at one of your shows.

AS: Us real high on drugs, KOA setting up impromptu abortion clinics in the bathroom!

BSW: Do you have any cd’s out? If so, where can we find them?

AS: Yes ATOWN SLUTS s/t all songs on our website or available by mail, lee 1481 lehigh pky s, allentown pa 18103, $7 1)Greed Rock 2)Drilldo 3)Beehive 4)Landmine 5)Tainted Seed 6)Buried Alive 7)Jet Boy Jet Girl In studio currently working on 2nd album called Choke On It! 7 songs, 1-choke on it 2- new entertainment 3-time to kill 4- dying to please 5- hookers and drugs 6- white trash holocaust 7-sonic reducer hookers and drugs video coming soon , featuring koa and his army of blow up dolls!

BSW: Do have any funny or weird stories to tell us that has happened at one of your shows?

AS: Sometimes we play good, sometimes we play real bad! We played all female college dressed as women and got thrown off stage and cops called after changing all our song names and simulating oral sex on stage, we have this on videotape, also got thrown off TRL when we tried to run up on Shakira and grope here, also on video!

BSW: Any shows coming up in March or April we should know about?

AS: Yeah, the ATOWN SLUTS world tour, were planning all over ATOWN!

BSW: Where can we find out more about The ATown Sluts?

AS: http://greedrock.tripod.com http://www.myspace.com/allentownsluts atownsluts@Hotmail.com kingofallentown@Hotmail.com

BSW: Thanks for the interview!

AS: No problem, hookers and drugs! -King of Allentown

Brian David Melnyk is no virgin to the Winnipeg music scene. After playing in various bands, he decided it was time to go solo. We had the chance to catch up with him to see how his solo project is going.

For a group of guys that hasn't been "on the scene" as a band too long, these boys sure have accomplished alot! Their in-your-face, old school rock will be coming to a stage near you this Spring! So keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, the "Doctor" is making house calls!

BSW: First off, please introduce Dr. Rage and The Uppercuts to us.

Colin: Well we have Chris Parkes on Rhythm Guitar, Les Dzialik on Bass, Dr. Rage on Lead Guitar and Vocals, and Myself on Drums.

 

BSW: Tell us a bit about this jam session that brought you all together. Were you all friends before forming as a band?

Colin: Well the jam session was just that. Actually it was Les, Dr. Rage and myself just jamming out some songs to see if there was anything there. We invited Chris over (He lives next door.) to jam out with us. It turned into something that we could all see was going to take on a sound of its own. All the components were there. We were all friends before joining the band and had been hanging out quite a bit before the impromptu jam session.

BSW: You were offered some pretty cool gigs, and you hadn’t even played a show. That must have been pretty exciting for you all. Tell us what it was like to open up for legendary Bo Diddley. Did you get to meet him? If so, what was he like?

Colin: Well getting the opening gig for Bo Diddley was huge for us. Chris had never played in a band before and we wanted to make sure that he was ready for a show of that magnitude. We whipped him into shape pretty quickly. As far as meeting him there were some complications with his accommodations and he arrived to the gig a bit late so I only spoke with him briefly and mentioned to him to have a great show. He mentioned that he thought we were a great band but he didn’t like our last song as much as the others. I can’t really say that I blame him. We played Revolutions off of our debut CD which is the one song that is vastly different than the others on the disc. It is a pretty loud and crushing song and in hind sight we probably should have closed with something else but we were pumped up and wanted to leave the crowd with something to remember us by. Well that was accomplished but we really should have been a bit more sensitive to the crowd we were playing to instead of doing our own thing, but we always do our own thing because that’s how we roll. Well be better prepared next time.

BSW: You also graced the main stage of Manitoba Summer fest; another huge accomplishment for a band that hasn’t been around that long. I know of many bands that have been trying for years to get onto the main stage, but are lucky if they are picked for the side stage. What do you think that sets you apart from other acts?

Colin: Yeah that was also a cool gig. We definitely had some breaks during the spring and summer that’s for sure. Most of the bands that were trying to get spots on the main stage don’t have the sound that this particular event was trying to promote. As well musically a lot of them just aren’t there yet, it takes time. Although we have one member in our band who was a little green the rest of the band members are seasoned veterans of the Canadian music scene. That allowed us to get our sound as a band in the pocket quickly and write a lot of original material in short period of time, which in turn set us up to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us. The thing that sets us apart from most other acts is the intensity level we bring to the stage as well as the originality and unique sound of our music. Very few bands today have a sound like ours or are even playing the type of amped up Rock/Funk/Blues that we have chosen as our identity. Although the sound may be familiar to people it is still original music.

BSW: Have you met any of your idols through your music career? If so, “enquiring minds want to know”!

Colin: As far as idols go I have meet some of them. I personally really like Fishbone and with my other band Guerrilla Funk Monster (out of Calgary) we had the privilege of not only meeting but partying with all the guys from Fishbone. Angelo Moore, Norwood, Spacey T, Dirty Walt and John Stewart who replaced the great FISH on drums. We have pictures of Norwood wearing a GFM shirt at a gig in Montreal, that was pretty cool, so we put it up on our GFM myspace account. Some other people that I have meet would be Jeff Healy, Bo Diddley, George Clinton (Parliament/Funkadelic), Xavier Rudd there are a few others but that’s all I can think of right now

 

BSW: You recently completed a western tour. Are there any gigs that stick out in your mind? (that you can tell us about?)

Colin: The western tour was good, a little short but good. The Canmore gig at The HO (Major shout outs to the HO!!!) was a two day thing but it was an awesome weekend. There was a great party afterwards. It happened to be Halloween weekend so the town got a little crazy. Later while we were partying we ran into “French Caveman” and partied with him and his buddies that was definitely a great time, strange but great. We also ran into the “The Toe” as we aptly named this guy because of his Narwhale horn of a toenail sticking out of his sandal. He was standing in the hall when we got to the hotel to check in and he asked us for some smokes. Nobody in the band smokes so we told him that we didn’t smoke and we couldn’t help him out. Well this didn’t sit to well with “The Toe” and he must have felt that we were holding out on him and just freaked out and said really loudly “Awwwww Come On!!!”. Well we just told him to settle down and went into our rooms to laugh it off. If you were there you would be laughing too. It really was quite surreal

 

BSW: Were there any differences as far as crowds went from city to city?

Colin: Well Canmore is a really awesome crowd. They are very receptive to all kinds of music but they want you to entertain them until the very end of the night. This can get ugly if you don’t have enough stuff or you aren’t putting out. They really pick up on that stuff. We didn’t have any problems they were totally into what we were doing. It was all good. Edmonton and Calgary were good crowds as well. I honestly find Winnipeg crowds to be some of the toughest in the country. They have been spoiled because of all the great acts to come out of here. It seems they have higher expectations than a lot of other cities so you better put out or it could get real quite after each song if you aren’t giving it your all.

BSW: Sticking with the tour, are there any places you wanted to go but didn’t get to play? And are there tour plans in the works for this year?

Colin: We didn’t get a chance to play in Banff which I really would have liked but we’ll hit it up in the fall. As far as tour plans go I have a small tour planned for the end of March into April. We will see how it all works out. Other than that we have a few festivals to play during the summer and there will be a fall tour probably in mid-September.

 

BSW: Tell us about your debut album “Hittin’ Wood and Diamond Hard”. And where can we purchase a copy.

Colin: The album actually was originally going to be 17 songs because we had so much material but we decided to cut it down and save some stuff that wasn’t quite ready for the next album. The next album will be really cool because we have the second wave of the bands sound and it is very different than the first but still has our signature sound and style. Copies of the CD can be directly purchased from Into the Music, Music Traders and Planet of Sound. Other than that you can buy a copy from the Absurd Machine Studios on 1905 Main St. or on CD Baby. That’s about it. I am currently looking for a distribution deal but it is taking some time to sort it out.

BSW: Any gigs lined up for March/April for you guys?

Colin: We have a few gigs coming up March 3rd at The Kings Head, April 21st also at The Kings Head, and April 28th at Shannon’s Irish Pub. We anticipate decent crowds to all of the shows. Other than that I am waiting to see what else comes along.

 

BSW: Where can one find out more about Dr.Rage and The Uppercuts?

Colin: You can go to our website www.drrage.com or our Myspace account at www.myspace.com/drrageandtheuppercuts. Or go to www.absurdmachine.com which is the record label web site

 

BSW: Thanks so much for the interview! Keep us posted on the happenings with the band!

Colin: I definitely will keep you posted on upcoming events. I would also like to thank you for the opportunity to do an interview with Backstage Winnipeg and we look forward to working with you in the future.

- The POWER of RAGE compels you….

Dr. Rage & The Uppercuts

BSW: Welcome to our ezine! What exciting news about your CD etc. do you want to share with us today?

Well, the CD "Signals Screaming" is being released April 1st through Cyclone Records and we're very excited. You'll be able to buy individual tracks online at iTunes and Napster, as well as other online retailers. For copies of the album, you can order it through www.innersurge.com or www.cyclonerecords.ca. To keep up with other aspects of the album, like the music video, keep checking the main site as well as www.cabrassoundtrack.com.

BSW: When will you be heading east to Winnipeg guys?

Hopefully very soon. There's a lot happening with this album, and I'm sure it will be pulling us in every direction soon enough. We can't wait to get out there with it.

BSW: What was the most exciting part about recording your CD?

Working with Casey at Echo Base studios was exciting, as he's someone a lot of people in the Calgary music scene admire for his musicianship and production skills. Also, getting these songs recorded was very rewarding, and the response so far has been overwhelming from fans and reviewers alike. It was a great experience that has us already looking forward to the next recording experience.

BSW: What studio/Producer etc. did you use to record your CD?

Casey Lewis at Echo Base Studios, and I would suggest any serious artist contact him to record. He worked hard with us and it shows. He practically became a 5th member of the band.

BSW: What is each of your favorite road experiences?

We haven't done a full scale tour as of yet, but that should be coming in 2006/2007 as this album hits the stores.

BSW: What advice would you give to a new musician?

I don't think anyone's in a position to give advice really, but I would encourage any musician to play your own music, and not succomb to the various 'scenes', whether it be trendy indie pop music or what the kids call 'hardcore' these days. Don't worry about the scenesters. If your music has passion, people will listen. In fact, if scenesters are the bulk of your fanbase, you are probably putting effort into appealing to fashion sensibilities/etc rather than actual music. Blaze your own path.

BSW: Who are your musical influences?

Public Enemy, Faith no More, Dillinger Escape Plan, Refused, Tool, Radiohead, the Mars Volta, Tom Waits, Sinead O' Connor, Portishead, a wide variety really. I mostly respect artists who aren't afraid to say what they think, even if they are not mainstream ideas.

BSW: What are your expectations for this CD and your next?

We have high expectations, and the airplay should be very good, as Cyclone Records is promoting this album pretty hard. The movie "Cabras" and Fredy Polania(director) are working hard as well on promoting the film's soundtrack, which we'll be featured on. The music video will be available at www.cabrassoundtrack.com as well as for request at Much Music, so that will help the album a lot. We hope to be well known by the time we release the next album. We'll be riding this wave for a while.

BSW: What can we expect to see at one of your performances?

You can expect relentless honesty. We are an aggressive live band, but not without a point. We'll give you something to think about and hopefully something to take home with you.

BSW: How do you feel about the music scene in general?

It's hard to generalize something so vast, but I think there is too much emphasis on style and scenes. For every genre, there are 'scholar' bands, and hordes of them, who are so into a particular style that they focus on the "We're metal" or "We're hardcore" more than actually being a great band. And I think it's actually extremely difficult to be a great band if you limit yourself to such a small paradigm. If the sense of the unexpected or the sense of adventure is lost in music, there's nowhere to go. We need to re-energize our music and demand more. And there's also so many bands with nothing to say, or they focus all their creativity on a theme. We've seen everything from zombie bands to pirate bands, to hardcore bands talking about martyr's over and over. Just hit me over the head with something honest. Rip my throat out. Lay it down. This is just getting ridiculous.

BSW: How do you feel about the new laws that are emerging regarding the taxation of videos on the internet on your own private pages?

I haven't heard of these to date, but it's just another attempt at stopping online downloading that won't work, in my opinion.

BSW: Thanks for the interview and we look forward to seeing you, when you hit the ol’peg.

Thank you, Backstage Winnipeg! See you soon!

BSW: Poured out your hearts and souls on this cd “Your Ghosts is a Gift” Describe what that was like?

Ligeia:We recorded “Your Ghost is a Gift“ with Ken Susi of Unearth in December 2004 and April 2005 at Ken’s home studio System Recordings. We tracked in December 2004 and April 2005 due to Ken’s busy touring schedule. At the point of production, the band was unaware of any label pressing and releasing the CD. It was only luck when Carl Severson from Nora (Trustkill) decided to sign Ligeia to Ferret Music. At the time we were beyond excited to be part of the Ferret family and we were big fans of other Ferret bands so it worked out perfectly.

BSW: What does your band name mean?

Ligeia: Ligeia is a story by Edgar Allan Poe. The band was drawn to the story due to the dramatic, overly romantic, yet depressing vibe that the story portrays. The story overall was very gothic yet Ligeia is not a gothic band what so ever. We needed a band name in time for a hometown show with Shadows Fall, Candiria, and Nora in Springfield, Ma. We annouced ourselves as Ligeia for that show and decided to keep it as our permanent band name.

BSW: So you’re touring a ton from now until March. Do you have any memorable road stories to share?

Ligeia: We have done a couple small east coast and Midwest tours and we’ve ran into all sorts of obstacles dealing with lack of funds. Our van once broke down in Mt. Pleasant, PA, a small town where literally, everyone knows everyone else, something out of a movie. We were taken in by a family that gave us hammocks to sleep in and fed us better than we eat at our own houses!. It ended up being a positive experience, but I admit it’s a relief to have a booking agent. We are touring now with Ion Dissonance (abacus) and August Burns Red (solid state) and then we head out for a month with Ringworm (victory), Demericous (metal blade) and August Burns Red

BSW: Who are your musical gawds?

Ligeia: Gawds? I don’t know about that one. We like all sorts of music hardcore, emo, metal, blood for blood and even coldplay. "Your Ghost is a Gift" hits stores March 21st everywhere!!

BSW: I noticed Winnipeg wasn’t on that list of dates. Will you be coming up to Canada?

Ligeia: Hopefully this summer for sure. We would love to play Canada, Ligeia has never played anywhere in Canada so it would definately be a tremendous oppoportunity.

BSW: Your Ghost is a Gift, what exactly does that mean?

Ligeia: Our guitar player Ryan Ober came up with it a long time ago when we started the band. It definately just clicked with the album subject matter and it fit with our band name Ligeia so we deciced to use it. Lyrically I just try and be as honest as I can. With Ligeia I wanted to give a listerners an in depth view of some of the situations i have been through in my life. Although I keep the vocab on a normal relative basis I try to say as much as i can with what little words people actually understand in normal conversation. I think bands today are too busy using large words to sound intelligent and succeed to say nothing when you can say more with words people can actually understand without looking in the dictionary. The record as a whole helped me cope with some rather difficult times in my time. I hope that people can listen to our record and get some sort of therapuetic redemdy for situations in their own lives. Although that may sound ridicoulus, i think listening to music helps people identify with universal human issues. We all go rough times in life and this record just shows the effect it can have on a person. No matter what, life brings you problems and it’s all how you deal with them. This is just how i dealt with my own, I definately lashed out as much as i could on paper without doing any accutal harm

BSW: Let’s say I hadn’t heard your music. How would you describe your music?

Ligeia: Heavy, moody and 100% honest.

BSW: What could we expect from one of your shows?

Ligeia: Lots of energy, dancing, pile ups and a relative good time.

BSW: Thank you very much for the interview. Anything else you want our readers to know?

Ligeia: Ligeia’s Ferret Music debut “Your Ghost is a Gift” hits store March 21st. Please visit us on myspace.com/ligeia or ferretstyle.com. Come out to our shows and say hello!!!!

BSW: First and foremost, please introduce yourselves to us and where you are from.

ONLYFORWARD: Yanik Frenette, drums... born and raised in Montreal, Jesse Sauvé, guitar... born in High River, Alberta... raised in Vankleek Hill, Ontario Dave Martel, guitar, vocals... born on the south shore of Montreal...moved around a lot growing up in towns throughout Quebec and Ontario...currently residing in Montreal; Ian Yule, bass... born and raised in Winnipeg, MB... came to Montreal a few years ago to study Jazz Drums at McGill University... currently residing in Montreal with his wife, Sue.

BSW: Is there any meaning behind your band name? And how did you come up with it?

OF: "Only Forward" is the name of a book written by British author, Michael Marshall Smith. It's a crazy sci-fi adventure book about a guy (Stark) living in a futuristic society where every city is completely divided from the others.... they're called, Neighborhoods. A very important man is kidnapped, and Stark has been contacted to rescue him. All of a sudden, halfway through the book, in a strange turn of events, he finds a way to enter dreams... awake! It's a place called Jemland, I believe. Anyway, it's an interesting read.... I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone because it is rather vulgar and graphic! But the whole point behind the story is really interesting. Stark had an enemy that he was never able to free himself from. He realized it was simply because he never dealt with the problems between the two of them. He was always moving forward without dealing with the obstacles that would present themselves to him along the path of life. When he realized that was the main thing prohibiting him from being free, he decided to go back and deal with his past problems... and only in that was he able to free himself in the end. Anyway, that's what I got from the book. Now, our band name doesn't necessarily mean exactly that to me. That’s what's fun about it, it can mean a lot of things. Sometimes people share with me what it means to them, and I just love hearing about it. I love it that it's always different... it can mean what you want it to. I like it because it's positive. When I first considered it as a band name... at that time it meant to me, "if you've got no other reason to get up in the morning because you have no choice... because time moves forward... then just go back to bed!" basically it was a call to try to encourage myself and others to LIVE! To make something of their lives.I also like it because it reflects exactly what happened when I became a Christian or even further than that, when I was baptized at the age of 21. The whole process symbolizes an end to your old ways... and a new beginning. It’s what we all need to hear (at least I do), "Just keep going." don't let yourself be held back by the mistakes of your past. We’ve all made mistakes.... doesn't mean you need to stop trying.

BSW: You have a new video for your song called "Trees". Tell us a bit about your experiences making the video, and was this the first video your band has made?

OF: yeah, "trees" was our first video. It was a blast. We went to this studio downtown Toronto and worked with the wonderful people at Syndicate Films. Actually, it was pretty much like I thought it would be. We performed the song over and over and over in front of the cameras, got as many good shots as we could, and we were done. There was a whole lot of discussion between Syndicate and us as to what we wanted... our ideas really worked well with theirs! Oh... one fun thing was having makeup people! I sweat a lot... so after each take, someone would scream, "MAKE UP!" and Bianca, our makeup girl, would come and powder me down... sweat don't work on camera! The video is just us rocking out and having a blast in a studio. I’m really impressed with it. i think Syndicate did a phenomenal job! I hope we get to do another video soon!

BSW: The "Trees" video is currently in rotation on Much More Music. (wow, good for you!) How did it feel the first time you saw your "mugs"on television?

OF: Well, I haven't actually seen it on TV. Oddly enough, the day our video went on the air, the cable went out at my place, when it came back on, much more music wasn't in our package any more. I think we were getting much more music by accident before (for free), and my roommates don't want to pay for more channels right now... anyway, whenever I am somewhere that has much more music, I try to watch it as much as I can, but I still have yet to see our faces on the screen! We receive emails from time to time from fans telling us they saw us on TV and how excited they were about that... so that's cool.

BSW: "Everything's Perfect" is the name of your current c.d. Any particular reason for the name? Is "Everything Perfect" in your lives so far?

OF: Well, the term was coined by our producer, Mitch. He and I were hanging one night after working in the studio all day, we were making plans for the evening, and everything just fell right into place. I remember him looking right at me with a smile and saying, "Everything's Perfect." Doesn't sound super interesting, and you kind of had to be there... but it was great! The first album title we had was, "Incognito" we used to play a song, that didn't make it on the record... and we were thinking of naming the record after it, but I remember I was sharing the idea with a friend, and he told me Celine Dion had a hit years ago called, "Incognito" that didn't sit well with me so we kept thinking and when I suggested, "everything's perfect"... everyone loved the idea. It's another name I like because it can mean so many things! To me it meant, "maybe it doesn't look like it, but the plan is still working itself out perfectly." Our first drummer, Roy, shared something with me that I thought was really cool. He took it to a more personal level, he said to him it meant, "I don't get why everyone thinks they have to be happy all the time, and that when they're down or discouraged... they feel like they've failed, in a way. You can't have the ups without the downs; everything feels perfect when it's all going your way. Well, in that aspect, everything is still perfect even when it seems like everything around you is falling apart!"

BSW: You worked with producer Mitch Girio for a full year on this release. Why did it take so long? And do you feel that this benefited he final product because you took your time?

OF: Mitch, Mitch, Mitch. One of my favorite people on this planet, super, all-around pleasant character, really nice guy and the guy understands music, and songwriting! It was such a blast working with him. It took a long time because we could only work on weekends. Obviously, we're not making any money from the music yet, so we need to have day jobs to survive. In order to balance the two... we'd work during the week, and meet up with Mitch whenever we had the chance. Also, he's a busy guy with lots of projects going on, so he wasn't available every weekend.We did pre-production for the first five months; that means working and reworking the songs... trying to make them sound better... help the band play together more.... get rid of songs that weren't right for the record... all that stuff. Then we got into the studio to start laying down some tracks. We all took the week off work to do that. That week, we laid down the drums, the bass, and some guitars. Then, Mitch brought his portable studio to wherever we had instruments and recorded the vocals, additional guitars, pianos, percussion, and whatever else! So it took a while, but looking back... it really was the right process to doing this record. I’m really happy with the end result. Mitch did a phenomenal job... and Richard G Benoit did an amazing job mixing the record. We had the right people working with us, and it all worked out!

BSW: How would you describe your music? And what do you write about?

OF: Well, the phrase we're using right now to describe our sound is, "The fulfillment of all your hopes and dreams." I guess that doesn't really say anything... that's why we love it! hmmmm? Well, some people have told us how they would describe our sound, we've heard things like: Radiohead in The Bends days Jeff Buckley meets John Mayer stuff like that. I play the acoustic guitar; it mixes well with Jesse's dreamy lead guitars. Ian is a smooth, and solid bass player and Yanik is just this drum phenomenon! The music is very dreamy and melodic, it's groovin', at times, it's really intense rockin' stuff so, it covers a whole range of stuff, but I’m not gonna pretend like it's nothing you've never heard before...we're a rock band.

WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?

Well, the only thing I can write about... stuff that happens in my life. I had a long and horrible breakup with the woman I love, a couple of years ago, and I still write to this day the effects it's had on me and my outlook on life. I had a friend who was dealing with suicide, and one night I was thinking about that while writing a song. Most of the stuff is about my faith and life through the eyes of a Christian, I guess. I can sing about a broken relationship, and say that life's just not fair, but I don't think that way. I can talk about someone dealing with suicide and conclude that there's nothing out there worth living for, but I don't think that way. I believe our story has a happy ending, there's so much to live for every day.... I try to have that hope underlying everything I choose to sing about.

BSW: Do you each have a favorite song on this album? If so, which one and why?

OF: I think Jesse's is “Mr Weakling”, it used to be our favorite song to play. We just loved the way we grooved when playing it, the bass, drums, and guitars are all fun to play and the intensity that builds throughout the whole thing is awesome! I don't know what ian or yanik's favorite song is. I think mine would be "promises, promises" I really wanted to have a song with that beautiful dreamy feel to it on the record, and I think we succeeded very well with that one. I don't know.... we're talking about the album here. Live, I would have to say something different because with our new drummer... just overall how far we've come in the last year and a half... it's so different today.

BSW: Any gigs lined up for March/April?

OF:

March 2nd... Sudbury, ON... Townhouse Tavern

March 3rd... CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK... Toronto... Cameron House

March 10th... I’m doing a solo show at the Legion in Montreal

March 18th... NEW YORK CITY... The Underground

March 23rd... Montreal... w/ my brother's band, Downhere.... La Place a Coté

March 24th... Windsor... Phog Lounge

March 25th... London... Last Drop

BSW: How can our readers find out more about "only forward"? And where can we purchase your album?

OF: Well