January
26, 2002
Interview by Kevin Pollock
First can you
introduce the band names, ages & position in the band?
Well, I'm Paul Sharp, I play guitar
and sing, and I'm 18. Magic Laczny plays bass and sings and
he is 17. Steve Valentini plays drums and is 18. Our newest
member, Chris Reilly plays guitar and is 22.
How did the
band form & how would you describe your sound?
Well Steve, Magic and I started jamming
in August 2000. Steve and I had started the band after our
old band broke up. I'd met Magic a few weeks earlier and called
him up to see if he would be interested in playing with us.
We had one practice together and instantly we clicked. So
we formed that day. We were originally called Nothing To Say.
We'd played a few shows and released our first two demo EPs
independently, and in March 2001 we found out there was a
band called Nothing To Say, somewhere in Eastern Canada. So
we changed our name to 11 Minutes Away. The name has no meaning
at all, but everyone at the time thought it was how long it
took me to drive to my girlfriend's house, but they were wrong.
We just thought it sounded cool. January 2002 saw the addition
of Chris on guitar. We wanted to sound "fatter" live, so we
needed a second guitar. That's how we got our name and current
line up.
How would you
describe the punk sceane in Georgetown?
Things with the label are great. Chris
treats us and all the bands on the label with respect and
works his ass off for us. Ever since we signed with East End,
he has been there for us, helping us get shows and promoting
the band. He joined after we mentioned we were considering
getting a second guitarist. He said he was interested, and
we knew he was capable since he'd played in Outspan for several
years, and he was very committed. We had one practice together,
and we all agreed Chris should join. So right now we're practicing
hard teaching Chris all the songs, and even writing some new
stuff, which will blow you away. Better than anything we've
ever written before. Chris is scheduled to join the stage
with us in late March, early April depending on how things
go. In the mean time all the shows between now and then will
be with the original three-piece line up.
What are some
of your hobbies outside of the band?
Well for me it would be playing the Molson Amphitheater with
Blink 182. That would rock. I'd like to play some large outdoor
venues. I choose Blink because they are my favourite band
and have been for years. Other than Blink, I'd like to play
with The Ataris, MxPx, NFG, and NOFX.
Who writes
your songe is it one person or a whole band effort?
Yes, the video for 'The Morning After' will be released
soon. We shot it over four days in October and November last
year. Shooting was both fun and hell. You get up at 5am go
to the shoot to get makeup done, then you stand in front of
the camera, and play the same segment of the song a hundred
times! At first you're like "wow, I'm making a video", but
soon you just want to get it done and go home. It was fun
though overall. Just getting up at 5am for three days killed
us. We were a little crazy at some points and we started to
piss off the film crew. We weren't very professional, and
joked around a lot, and started a fight with an old man on
the street during filming. He thought the music was too loud
and walked right into the shot. We kept playing, ignoring
him, but after the shot was done the director came out to
try to calm him done. I on the other hand made some rather
crude jokes about loud noises, and the director got very upset
with me. In hindsight I can see why, and it probably was a
mistake, but it was funny. For any band making a video, know
how much work it is, and that you'll probably have fun and
be in hell at the same time. Oh yeah, you'll hate the song
you're doing the video for, because you'll hear a thousand
times!
For the girls
boxers or briefs & for the guys whats your best pickup line?
Well Steve plays hockey, and Magic plays
soccer. Chris works full time and then runs East End, so he
is super busy. As for me, I do nothing really. Chill with
my friends, go to school, work. At night I spend a lot of
time e-mailing people trying to get shows, promote the band,
etc. That's about it.
Where do you
see the band in 5- 10 years time?
Hopefully we'll still be around. I don't see us breaking up
anytime soon. I'd like to be able to tour a lot, play some
really cool shows all over the world. I see us doing a lot
of touring, releasing some more albums, and pretty much doing
everything we're doing now, only bigger and better. I'd like
to make a living playing music, so I could tour all year,
and quit my two jobs. Getting paid to play music and act stupid
is a lot more fun. But I think things will only get better
for us in the future.
If you could
play with anyone & anywhere who would it be & where?
I think there are a few moments that are highlights. I'd say
the coolest moment, was the day we picked up the first box
of Picking Up The Pieces CDs from Chris. I remember we all
went to Magic's house, opened the box, and we felt like we
made it. Just to have a real CD out, one that people all over
the world could buy. Something that we'd worked so hard on,
and was finally in our hand in completed form. It was a rush.
If you could
change one thing about yourself what would it be?
Well right now we're working on two tour ideas. One would
be a mini-tour in March break down to New York, New Jersey,
and Quebec. Chris is trying to book that up right now, so
we're hoping that comes to fruition. The second would be hitting
the road for a few weeks in the summer, all across Canada
and hopefully some stops in the states also. We're starting
to book that right now too, so we're hoping it will all work
out. We really want to go on tour.
where can the
fans learn more about the band & order your merchandise?
11 Minutes Away fans can learn all about 11 Minutes Away from
our website, www.11minutesaway.com
or www.eastendindustries.com/11minutesaway.
They can read the band bio, individual bios, look at photos,
download songs, and contact us. If they want to buy our merchandise
they can order it from the East End site or our site.
Thank you so
much, and goodluck in the future.
Thanks a lot
