The Not-so Lonely Island

Putting the SBS Origin Stories on hold for the moment – talk about my recent experience outside of the studio…that’s right…every once in a while they let me out of the studio for fresh air. The SBS Team mumbles something about “basic human rights” as they push me out the door for the day and into a vehicle…and I guess this is where it starts….

I had arranged with fellow music enthusiast and creator behind the nine-years-running Vancouver Island Music Awards – James Kasper, a daring string of interviews on a tighter timeline than I’m normally used to by a long shot! You know me – I’m the talkative part of SBS – so when the plan was proposed to do this I figured that if I couldn’t get them all for an hour on my own show – we’d make a killer SBS Island Day Special – and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. And from what I saw in this experience? Definitely reasons to go back by the earful. But we’re not there just yet…

No no no. Not even close sadly. I had arranged to meet James around 1:30-2:00pm, which would mean I had to get on a ferry by 11:00am – and out of the house to get there no later than 9:00am to get through tricky and never ending construction all over the BC roads.

Well, I suppose it wasn’t meant to be a smooth sailing….this adventure out of the HQ. Not only had I missed my ferry – but that also means an upcoming two hour wait for the next one.

And what James didn’t know yet – was that I had already been up for an entire day making sure this Cinged interview went as well as it possibly could go – they did a fantastic job on their end, so it was time for us to hold our own with pictures with more filters and colours – to somehow attempt to match the creativity output of Cinged (I know right? Good luck SBS on that one….) and it really has been an inspiring week of life overall. One of connections both near and far. But so exciting that I really couldn’t sleep! Rob @ SBS has been so busy with the re-design of the SBS website (Getting close!!!) and other members either have other bands or other projects they’re working on – and some with just “normal” lives working jobs 9-5 like so many indie artists we meet. And just like in the situation for the indie artists – when this time is spent, it tends to be the time for the art that then suffers that first hourly cut-back.

So – content, as you have noticed has been largely left to me during this time. Our team all have the same dedication and standards – and we all push ourselves to do better – something you’ve been able to see in the show. Something that we also love to see in the bands we work most with. But being the way we are requires that respect for the music – and that the proper research, reading and listening to whatever we can get to before our time with that artist. Flat out – you all deserve that much respect – and if you’re not getting that from the person interviewing you, then my advice is to walk away – fast.

So I literally, spent the entire day and night before that working and caffeinating myself into a journalistic fury. I was deep into the research of the 5 bands that I was heading to see, arranged for by James Kasper. And I was beyond excited – didn’t matter who I looked into – Sir James of Kasper had arranged what surely seemed to be an all-star line-up. Sleep or no sleep – I was going. Just so happens that it ended up being no sleep.

So believe me when I say, that sitting in a ferry terminal at this point, some 38-40 hours in, and knowing that I was going to be sitting for two hours waiting…well – this was the hardest part of the day. Hmm…maybe…now that I think about it….

If I somehow fell asleep now at this point, I’d be out for a full days sleep (four hours max) and miss the boat. Same thing once I got on – can’t fall asleep or even that horn the ferry blows won’t wake me up. I might not get a lot of sleep – but my body understands the rareity of it and really powers down in these short times.

Finally making it to the island – I had gone on as a foot passenger, so that meant a bus ride on the other side. According to the driver of the bus, it was at the last stop. Perfect! That is easy for a guy like me that needs everything explained to him in childlike details! So I sat on the bus and continued the adventure.

I met a man called Earth – not from….well, I suppose both – but you cinemaphiles know what I mean… just so happens he was promoting a magazine that was kind of from the same ideals as our studio – it blended all styles, and had nearly everything in it but music! I have the feeling that I have not heard the last from this guy…very cool to meet – good chat and good warm-up for getting the energy back after getting owned by construction, traffic and the ferry.

So the “last stop” to me – was the one where the bus parks and shuts off, the driver gets off and a new one gets on and the dot on my google map says I’m a millimeter away from where I need to be. I need to learn to zoom in – I was still about twelve to fifteen blocks away. In another sweet turn of events – my bag was so full of cameras and stands – way too heavy on the shoulder. I was born to rock, and I’m a lover not a fighter. Translation being – I’m not a “man’s man” and I have zero muscle. So brutal once I realize what has happened and of course the bus is now rolling and gone.

Can I get a worse start than being late, awake too long, sweaty and gross? Yep. How about because I was looking so hard into that google map now, combined with the ferry fiasco – my phone was dead. Thankfully I had written James’ number in my notebook – or even that would have been a disaster. But of course, our modern age being what it is – I was rejected by three stores in my asking for two seconds of a plug in their wall or the use of their phone. Thankfully – a nice lady at Rexall – to whom I basically offered my entire wallet to in exchange for a simple phone call, let me make that call to James. Endless thanks – she saved my day.

So – late – but we’re here now – and this is why I am here – I’m so relieved to finally be getting to the part I love the most – meeting excellent indie stars and strong voices from new perspectives. So enough of my whining – let’s talk about them!

THIS DAY BURNS – I met Jon and Jasmine from the band – and let me tell you – when you stay awake as long as I do – without the energy from these two to start it off I might have very well failed completely throughout the day. So complete thanks for taking it easy on me J & J – this J appreciates that incredible start to the day. As this blog is now a couple of days past this actual experience – I’ve now heard a large portion of their new album and they are posting their songs online for you to hear….you know how sometimes you just want MORE of a really good thing? Yeah. This is that. And we want more. I’m interested to see where this goes in the next couple of progressions of this band. While they have influences like Deftones and A Perfect Circle you can hear in the music – the song writing is completely stellar and unique to themselves. And with Jasmine at the mic up front – I don’t see any issues with This Day Burns continuing on what will surely become a very successful path – we wish them all the best of luck, look forward to meeting the others someday soon!

KYLE TRUELOVE – Show me a more chilled out guy than this! Big respect from me for being the first performer of the day for me – absolutely awesome to talk to this guy. I mean – this is the kind of guy where, you can see that he’s writing stories in his mind all the time. It also takes a lot of courage to rock a sidewalk you know? And Kyle has been from busking to playing for us right there on the spot, and I’m sure everything in between. It was great to meet all of these personalities and I can’t thank them enough for their time though I relentlessly try – but with Kyle, I gotta say I was so comfortable interviewing him – just felt like talking with an old friend.

CHELSEA-LYNE – As you might have read about in the first posting on Facebook – is a genuine soul and for some reason – though unintentionally – I found myself almost grilling her on what defines pop music. You all know that I’m just interested, on a music fan level, always wondering about the conviction artists have in the dedication towards their craft. Let me say this – Chelsea-Lyne was both insightful and incredibly gracious. She answered my questions without hesitation and truly spoke for her music and the direction it is taking.

And let’s be real here – she’s a fantastic singer songwriter and future star – and I was a sweaty-man-child-Yeti mess, so the fact she gave me any of her time whatsoever was gratefully appreciated. So big thanks to you Chelsea-Lyne. Listening to your music come from you and not just a computer screen sure gave me a larger sense of what you’re capable of and I’m excited to see what you create in the future.

MAN MADE LAKE – What an insightful bunch of well spoken guys. Really, really enjoyed talking to them but I’m totally bummed that I forgot to ask about their song “Rock of the Woods” – but there’s always next time! For the record though guys – I was dying to know how that song came about so if you are reading this hit me up with the story at jeremy@sleepingbagstudios.ca – I’d love to hear it.

Seemed to be a natural conversation between Colin, Steve, Nate and myself – filled with musical tidbits and references to Nirvana and the Arcade Fire among others. I’ve pretty much enjoyed every track from these guys and it was clear from talking to them that they believe in the music they’re making. Always good to see – and plenty of reasons why – check one of them out here.

KERRY JAYNE – Was the last of my appointments that day. Such a nice person she even offered to drive me back to the ferry! I tell it to you straight people – you could wander around a very long time on Earth and not meet someone like Kerry quick enough. Bio read that she sounded somewhat like the Cowboy Junkies – ’tis true!

But one thing that the Cowboy Junkies nearly lost over time was that extremely relatable chord they had struck with many of us early in their career. Kerry Jayne – like Kyle Truelove as well, make you want to pick up a guitar and just sing it out. She put on a couple of great performances.

Bah – those performances merit more than that one sentence. Ok it’s like this – she played a fantastic first song – and both James and I loved it – but we were certainly interested in hearing another one. I’m pleased to say that when you see the island special, that second song will be what you see – again, not to discredit that first performance in anyway, but I’m sure if we could have somehow stopped paying attention to Kerry Jayne’s second song I’m sure we would have seen people stopping to listen nearby. Like when we had Erko play acoustically on our show from his band Throttlecaster – this was one of those truly special one of a kind moments in performance. I remember looking over at James Kasper – looking right back at me – both knowing that we were witnessing that kind of special moment in time.

So again – thank you so much to you Kerry for a fantastic talk and performance. Great way to end a great day with so many fantastic people. And James Kasper sir – you are a musical champion – this was a fantastic experience out there with you and your musical army and we hope to see you again very soon.

Is this longer than normal? Feels suspiciously like it – haven’t scrolled up yet…..but just in case – quickly…..

– Go see THE PIT Live at the Cellar In Vancouver February 8th. And check out the new video we posted up from our collaboration project with them for their new song “The Machine.”

– Check out the video interview with Cinged, cause they’re awesome and it rules.

– Definitely check out the podcast with Jeff Jeffries cause he rules – and we talked about Nixie – a band you’ve all been hounding me to find out about. So we will! But in the meantime check out episode #4 of The Great Canadian Hit List!

And lastly – AETERNA is coming to SBS Live This Week on Feb. 6th and 10th. These incredible metalists are now long past their hiatus and ready to come back storming. The throwdown from this band in the SBS HQ during filming was nothing short of completely mind-blowingly epic. We literally couldn’t get enough – and like true music champions, though they had other commitments – they rocked until they were sure our neighbours heard them…….three blocks over. Thank you so much AETERNA – you really kicked some musical ass in here. Beyond excited to show you that performance.

Alright! That’s your update!

Keep the volume up!