Originally published July 2013 on Chunk.ie
A big céad míle fáilte to The Standstills from us here at CHUNK.ie
We’ve been listening to your track Jesus over and over and over again here at CHUNK HQ and I think it has safely worked its way in to our Top 5 tracks of the year. Having said that, your cover of Black Betty is outstanding… It brings back memories of drunken moshing on the dance floor at Nijinskys night club… Fun times!
Maybe you could give us a brief history about yourselves and the band. How did the Standstills come about?
We met in a music program and became really good friends, we had a lot of the same tastes in music and both of us loved to go to live shows.. For a while I had been doing a solo blues thing, but really wanted to jam with a band.. Renee had played drums in a couple different projects in the past, and liked what i was doing so it was inevitable that we should jam.. We really hit it off and since then we've kept on going.
You’re obviously from Canada, a country with a rich rock n’ roll heritage… Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morissette and eh…. Justin Bieber. Where do you see the Standstills fitting in?
Right in-between Beaver Tails and Arby's loose meat sandwiches.
As I mentioned earlier, we are big fans of Jesus. With a name like Jesus, it’s hard not to hear the song as almost a prayer. Am I way off target? Is there a different message buried in there? Or for once, am I bang on target?
They way I liked to write is to give the listener a chance to make it their own, you are very much on target if that's what it means to you.
There’s just the two of you in the band. Who’s the boss?? Who gets the last say in how things are done? You don’t have to answer that obviously, or you could go down the diplomatic route, but… Go on, you know you want to answer it!
Tony Danza is the boss, that one was easy.
Pushing Electric is your second album. Was it the typical “difficult second album” or are all albums just difficult?
The writing came naturally, the recording was difficult, because it was the first time we recorded and produced it ourselves.
Over the last decade, with the growth of iTunes, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, a band now has access to a world wide audience and through clever use of the various social media outlets can build up a large following. However nothing beats seeing a band live, so do you have any plans to tour over this side of the world?
We recently hooked up with an agent and manager and do plan to branch out internationally sometime soon.
We’ll wind down now with a few light hearted questions…
What’s the worst lyric you’ve ever written?
Hold me closer Tony Danza, count the headlights on the highway, lay me down in sheets of linen, you had a busy day today.
Any Spinal Tap moments whilst touring?
Shit sandwich, don't ask
If you could get rid of one preconceived misconception about Canadian, what would it be and why?
That we all don't live in igloo's, it's true, we do, it is crazy here!
You’ve been given the power to create the ultimate rock super group of all time. Who’d be in it?
Smurfette on Drums, Scooby Doo on Guitar/Vocal
What’s the best thing about being Canadian?
Maple Syrup
And there you have it, our first interview with Canada’s best kept rock n’ roll secret, The Standstills!
As always, if you want to keep up to date on the band, check out their website, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and finally, check out more of their videos on YouTube.
A big céad míle fáilte to The Standstills from us here at CHUNK.ie
We’ve been listening to your track Jesus over and over and over again here at CHUNK HQ and I think it has safely worked its way in to our Top 5 tracks of the year. Having said that, your cover of Black Betty is outstanding… It brings back memories of drunken moshing on the dance floor at Nijinskys night club… Fun times!
Maybe you could give us a brief history about yourselves and the band. How did the Standstills come about?
We met in a music program and became really good friends, we had a lot of the same tastes in music and both of us loved to go to live shows.. For a while I had been doing a solo blues thing, but really wanted to jam with a band.. Renee had played drums in a couple different projects in the past, and liked what i was doing so it was inevitable that we should jam.. We really hit it off and since then we've kept on going.
You’re obviously from Canada, a country with a rich rock n’ roll heritage… Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morissette and eh…. Justin Bieber. Where do you see the Standstills fitting in?
Right in-between Beaver Tails and Arby's loose meat sandwiches.
As I mentioned earlier, we are big fans of Jesus. With a name like Jesus, it’s hard not to hear the song as almost a prayer. Am I way off target? Is there a different message buried in there? Or for once, am I bang on target?
They way I liked to write is to give the listener a chance to make it their own, you are very much on target if that's what it means to you.
There’s just the two of you in the band. Who’s the boss?? Who gets the last say in how things are done? You don’t have to answer that obviously, or you could go down the diplomatic route, but… Go on, you know you want to answer it!
Tony Danza is the boss, that one was easy.
Pushing Electric is your second album. Was it the typical “difficult second album” or are all albums just difficult?
The writing came naturally, the recording was difficult, because it was the first time we recorded and produced it ourselves.
Over the last decade, with the growth of iTunes, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, a band now has access to a world wide audience and through clever use of the various social media outlets can build up a large following. However nothing beats seeing a band live, so do you have any plans to tour over this side of the world?
We recently hooked up with an agent and manager and do plan to branch out internationally sometime soon.
We’ll wind down now with a few light hearted questions…
What’s the worst lyric you’ve ever written?
Hold me closer Tony Danza, count the headlights on the highway, lay me down in sheets of linen, you had a busy day today.
Any Spinal Tap moments whilst touring?
Shit sandwich, don't ask
If you could get rid of one preconceived misconception about Canadian, what would it be and why?
That we all don't live in igloo's, it's true, we do, it is crazy here!
You’ve been given the power to create the ultimate rock super group of all time. Who’d be in it?
Smurfette on Drums, Scooby Doo on Guitar/Vocal
What’s the best thing about being Canadian?
Maple Syrup
And there you have it, our first interview with Canada’s best kept rock n’ roll secret, The Standstills!
As always, if you want to keep up to date on the band, check out their website, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and finally, check out more of their videos on YouTube.