March 01,
2002
Interview by Melissa Taite
First
off, I want to say the CD is great.
I can't wait for the new one to come out!
So, who's in the band, and what do they play??
The
new one's coming out in June. Bart Doroz plays guitar, Jon Gerson plays drums,
John Sirdevan plays guitar and Neil Hamilton plays bass. Right now Neil has mono so we've had to cancel
about ten shows. He
probably won't be able to do the tour in April, so we're touring
as a four piece
Really?
is that tough?
I
dunno, I haven't gone to practice yet to hear it.
It'll be ok, not the greatest, I mean we're used to
a certain sound. The
songs really require two guitars, but it'll be fine. Serdi (John) will play bass. The tour is gonna be really fun.
You
joined the band after it had been formed, what was that like?
And what was it like not playing with Blank Stare, especially
since The Getaway has a very different sound?
Joining
was strange, they had been trying out other singers for a
long time. Gerson
emailed my roommate Ewan, and asked if he thought I'd be into
it. I hadn't been
in a band for a while, and I was wanting to start one up -
it was convenient that one called me and they had already
put shit out on a label.
I went out and it went well, we got along and now they're
really good friends of mine - Serdi and I even work at the
same place. As for the sound, Blank Stare was very different,
and I liked it a lot, but I was never singing. I like a lot of melodic music, as well as shit
like Madball and Slayer.
It's just different. Learning to sing instead of screaming
all the time was fairly hard, but I really like the Getaway
- those guys come up with songs and I'm like, holy shit, I
can't believe how good that is, and then I'm stoked that I
get to sing them and write lyrics for them.
So
you write the lyrics - who usually writes the music...or what's
the process normally?
Gerson
writes a lot of stuff. I think that guy just sits at home
and plays guitar twenty hours a day. All of the other guys have a lot of riffs and
they all try to work it together, but Gerson comes up with
a lot too. He also writes most of the melody before he
shows them to us, so the vocal lines are usually done, but
I'll tweak it every now and then.
I change the lyrics cause often he has just written
down whatever fits the melody, but he usually comes up with
really killer choruses that I don't even change cause they're
so good. I might change
a word or two, but when he comes up with something good -
why change it just cause I didn't write it?
If it's good, I don’t fuck around too much.
Who're
the band's main musical influences? or individual song writing
influences, like Gerson?
We
all like so much stuff. I know Gerson really likes Less Than
Jake, Face to Face, and Blink 182. He also likes Death Threat, Madball, Hatebreed,
shit like that. Usually
the attitude of the heavier stuff we listen to comes through
in the songs. I love stuff like Lifetime and Kid Dynamite,
The Bad Brains, Black Flag.
That was what I listened to most, but after I joined
this band, they turned me onto some really great melodic stuff
- like The Get Up Kids, I love that band.
What
about you, and your lyrical influences? Is there anyone, or
anything that has influenced you to right something?
Writing
lyrics…hmmm. I dunno, a lot of our songs are about girls.
It seems that girls won't stop driving any of us crazy,
so I'm sure there's an endless pool of material there.
Usually stuff going on in our life. One of our songs, Lifetime, it's about my grandmother
- she died two years ago from lung cancer. I dunno, lots of stuff influences me. Just what's going on in our lives, it's what
we know best.
So,
how has R edefined Records been for you and the band?
I
wasn't there in the beginning, so I can't really say, but
they've been really cool. They've hooked us up with shows
around Ontario, and they work really hard for us. They've
helped us go on tour and they're putting out the full length
in June. I had a very informal meeting with one of the guys [recently], and
I'm really excited about what they have planned for us. We're gonna be on tour for basically all of
the summer supporting the record, and we're gonna be heading
into the states as well - which we really want to do badly.
Re define are going to be hooking us up distribution
in the US, which will make it a lot easier than trying it
DIY - booking everything yourself, doing your own promotion.
I've done that, and it works really well for some bands.
We work hard. But,
everything is easier when you have people on your side helping
out, freeing up your time to take care of writing songs and
shit.
The
Getaway had a lot of success in 2001
- being #7 on HMV's top ten punk list!
Gerson said it now feels 'right’ [after the addition
of you and Neil Hamilton].
So, are you guys expecting to just keep getting better?
Where do you see yourselves in the future?
I
dunno. Gerson will
be playing underwater drum solos in sold out arenas, as for
the rest of us, I dunno whether we're with Gerson in the sold
out arenas or not is yet to be seen.
I see us playing more and more, going to new places
and just working really hard to build a reputation and an
audience. We seem
to have a rep right now around here, and across much of Canada,
but we need to work harder and tour more.
Touring with Grade in Western Canada helped a lot.
And hopefully we can get some more opening slots like
that, supporting bigger bands.
I'd really like to do that soon, and work our ways
up, but we're not afraid of going out on our own and playing
to ten people so long as they all go out
and tell ten of their friends, so the next time we come back
there are 100 people. I
really believe in the word of mouth when it comes to hyping
new bands, especially in punk rock
Your
band is gonna get tons of hype.
I
hope so, as long as we stick with it and come back to those
places that those ten people told their friends about us.
So,
what do you think about the local Ontario scene right now?
Ontario
is cool, but it's wack. There are so many bands and a lot of them are
shit, and that's not to say that my opinion really counts
for anything, but it's all the same shit and I haven't seen
anything from around here that's really new that's stoked
me out. Most of the
scenes are pretty cliquey and it can be hard to reach everyone
because everyone is too afraid of what other people will think
to have fun at shows. Everyone
is too cool for everyone else.
It's a big contest, and that goes to the bands too.
Every time a band gets big, all the other bands get
jealous, or if a band is better than them - take No Warning,
that band is amazing, and so many people hate them. I know
those guys sometimes are a bit much to take, even for me -
and I'm friends with them.
No Warning are getting so much shit from people and
it all boils down to jealousy. They wish it was their band. Hell, I wish it
was my band that was blowing up all over the states right
now, but I'm not gonna say they're bad.
The fact that they can be dicks to people has nothing
to do with how well they play. We can all be dicks to people. Those guys are rad from Ontario and so are
Dead Letter Dept. Other
than that, I'm not feeling a lot for Ontario.
I love a lot of the people, I would never want to live
anywhere else, but people need to stop being too
busy trying to out punk each other and just have fun and create
good music. And dance
at shows. No one fucking
dances at shows - they just stare.
God, that's annoying.
Okay,
so here's a loaded question then.... do you think there's
a way for the Ontario scene to become LESS wack?
Yes.
I think I just answered it.
Everyone needs to stop being too cool for school. I don't care how many obscure bands you listen
to, I don't care if you list really out there and unappreciated
influences. Have fun. Write good songs. Half the people are so worried about who they are emulating that
it just sounds like shit.
Well, not all of the places are like that, but Oakville
is, and Toronto is like that too.
Then
where have you had some of your BEST shows ever?
Best
shows ever…hmmm. Burlington is a rad place around here to play
– kids went off for us there.
Newfoundland is amazing for us.
Hartland New Brunswick, Saskatoon.
Winnipeg was a show where we were probably the best
sounding ever. Anywhere kids go off, we have fun - that's
our best show. We've
never played a big show in Toronto, I don't think we've actually
played an all ages show in Toronto since I joined the band.
I think our next Toronto show will be our record release
[May 12 @ Rivoli], and I hope the hype will bring everyone
out.
Okay,
so aside from good ol’ punk rock, what are you guys into?
I
like a lot of Hip hop. I know Neil does, he produces beats in his
room. We're all pretty
much into pop punk and hardcore.
Serdi and I love Metal, Slayer and Maiden and shit.
Springsteen is one of my favourites.
And I also love Blues; Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker,
Robert Pete Williams. Also
Merle Haggard, old country like that.
Those guys won't let me play it in the van though.
I need to bring a walkman on this tour so I don’t have
to listen to the Dude Ranch album ten times in a row.
Thank you Gerson.
What
about hobbies?
I
ride BMX, Serdi and Neil skate. Neil does hip hop beats. We all like movies and shit. Gerson pretty much is exclusively music - writing
and stuff. He also
likes hockey and used to play it. Him and I both work out
too when we get a chance.
That's
amazing that he writes so much and is the drummer!
Yeah.
He wears many hats.
We all contribute, but like I said, he plays guitar
like 20 hours a day. None of us can keep up with him.
You
did Punk o Rama with George Stroumbouloupolous.
Yes,
I used to. Now I drop by when I can. He
likes our band, he's played us a bunch of times.
You
think he's good for the local scene?
Yes
I do. He likes the
music he plays on that show. He loves music. He has so
many CD's at his house.
What
about him being on Much Music instead of The Edge... maybe
he'll reach out to a bigger audience?
He's
worked to have a punk show on there, but Much won't go for
it. I guess they don't
think there's the audience.
But Musique Plus in Quebec has a punk show, and it
does great. Watch George, sometimes he sneaks shit in there,
like he'll put the black flag bard on his arm in marker and
stuff just cause he's bored.
He's punk. I know he's on television and stuff, but he's
rad. Plus, I hate
him cause he got to go on tour with Ozzy and ride in Ozzy's
plane. Fucker
The
audience is growing for pop punk however, thanks to Blink
182 and Sum 41. What do you think about that?
As
far as Sum 41 and shit, it's cool. They opened for Blank Stare a few times, and
then it infuriated me that they got so popular, but they aren't
bad. I'm even coming around - and I used to be one
of their biggest critics. Blink are amazing. I've always liked
them. I was at their first Toronto show at a matinee
in the Elmo, there were like 20 people there, they invited
people to come back to their hotel and hang out.
I doubt they remember me.
I even have a photo of me with tom and mark from that
night, I'm 17, looking like the biggest dork.
Ah,
Blink... that's cool. They're such jokers.
Totally,
and they've stayed true to what they've always been.
When I first saw them, they were the same idiots as
they are now. Green Day and the Offspring totally changed after getting big.
Blink have stayed true to what they were and who they
are and the kind of music they play.
What
about Sum 41?
Sum
41 are ok. I don’t ever remember them having a fan base or
being part of the scene prior to them getting big. I guess
that's my biggest complaint about them. But they're good.
Who cares if bands get popular. Everyone in a band would love
to get that big - unless you're Fugazi or some shit like that
(I like Fugazi by the way). Selling out is bull shit. It's called looking after your financial security.
That's not to say that you can't use your popularity
to try and bring things to light - like giving money you raise
at a big show to charity, or stick to your ideals. Well, when you're 15, you're supposed to hate
everything that you don't think is punk.
But when I was 15, I was still figuring out what punk
was - and it isn't dissing every band on a major label.
It's being creative, believing in something bigger
than just trends and fads.
Punk is in you, if you're it, you just are.
It's the way you live, eat, fuck, fight, breath, sleep,
think. It's everything.
Lots of people get into it and leave, but the people
that stay, they're going to be punk for life. Some might go out and become teachers or lawyers,
or shit like that, but what you take from the punk scene,
and what you learn, sticks with you.
It’s about seeing people eye to eye and interacting.
It's much more than music.
I'm not a crazy PC guy or anything, I just think that
punk is really special. I couldn't really explain it to anyone very
well who doesn't listen to punk and doesn't go to shows and
know what punk and hardcore is all about.
Punk is way more than getting wasted around the corner
form the show and then puking on the floor.
I mean, I did that, it was all apart of getting into
everything. But there
comes a time when it becomes a part of you and you can't really
pinpoint when that was. I'm
just all about the Bad Brain's PMA - the positive mental attitude.
This music has gotten me through everything tough in
my life. It’s special to me. I think that the PMA can influence people.
Punk can change the world, but not in the way that
crass would have liked. It
won't be won with class warfare, but think of the values you
pick up in punk - respect, compassion, creativity.
I think the kids that listen to this shit and then
become teachers and lawyers will have that influence with
them in their careers. That's how this music is gonna change the world.
Eventually the angry kid figures out how to express
his emotions without anger and shaves the mohawk off and buys
some real pants and just gets it.
I can't explain what it is, but when you get it, you
just know. Not to knock Mohawks. I used to have one, but I like how I do my
hair now, and I stopped bleaching it too.
I think that's why I have grey hair at 22
For
sure, now it's silky soft, right?
Ha.
Yeah, when I don't put a bunch of wax in it.
So
what else do you want to say about the band, or anything for
that matter?
I
think we all hope that The Getaway will be able to let us
try to give back what we've gotten out of music. We all love music, and we just really want
to create good songs that people like.
If we get huge, that'd be fun, but if we just have
fun and write good punk rock, melodic or whatever, that's
great too. I know I'm in the band, but I really love the songs that these guys
write.
