The Facts

Full Name: Benjamin Ivan Jelen

Birth Date: July 8, 1979

Birth Place: Edinburgh, Scotland

His Big Break: Debut album Give It All Away [2004]

Did You Know: Ben was discovered by his manager at a Jane's Addiction concert

Ben's Advice: "You can't talk about doing it. You gotta go and do it."

Sharlene Hartley: What made you decide to study biology in college?
Ben Jelen: It was kind of between music and biology, but I really wanted to broaden myself. I was always fascinated with biology even from when I was a kid. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was a kid like, go scuba diving. From there, I've always been fascinated with life and biology, so I really wanted to further into that.

Do you think you will consider a career in biology if you decide that you don't want to make music anymore?
For sure. I was kind of interested at the end of it, maybe going to med school and being a doctor. But now, I think if I was to do something in biology, I'd join the research, probably like environmental research or genetic research, or maybe like alternate kind of research. You know, I'm pretty passionate about the environment and not totally messing it up.

Do you have any pointers for those who are in college?
It's all about balance. You've got to get your work done and you've got to do well. You're there to learn, so you should try and learn and do well. At the same time, you've got to have fun and college is about more than just the classes. It's about learning about people and having friends and broadening yourself. You should take some classes that you wouldn't normally take, but you're rather more interested in, 'cause you never know where it might take you.

When did you realize that you wanted to pursue a career in music?
During college, I started working in recording studios and my first job was an internship. It was one of those moments in your life. I walked in there and I kind of knew. I was like, wow, you know? This is where I belong and I really want to spend some time in the studio. I love the environment, I love the work. I love everything about it. Right from then on, I was on a course of learning everything about sound engineering and production and I kind of continued all the way on from there. Even when I was in college in New Jersey, I was taking a trip to New York all the time to intern in the sound studios. I think that's when I really realized that I would love to do music. It just became a reality and I'm still so appreciative of that.

Do you come from a muscially-inclined family or are you the only one who is really into music?
Well, my parents not so much. They just encouraged it. They always encouraged me playing music. I've been playing the violin since I was 9-years old. Actually, my dad and my sister are quite musical, too. My littlest brother...he's so good at piano and harmonica, so he's pretty musically-inclined, too.

What was your reaction when you got signed to Maverick?
I was blown away. I was really happy, but at the same time, a little surprised. It all happened very quickly. We sent these demos off and it was literally maybe a week and a half later, but we were flown out to Los Angeles and New York. We waited half an hour and like 15 minutes later, he said "Well Ben, you know, we'd be really interested in having you join us," blah, blah, blah.

[Both laugh]

They were like "Amazing, we're definitely interested." I was elated. It was a great moment.

How has your life changed since you've been signed?
It didn't change the minute I was signed. I was still catched working in the studio. I didn't trust it enough to just throw away my whole life and just do something completely different. I kept on working and you know, things started slowly, but I found myself, rather than working on sound engineering and production in the studio, I found myself being the artist, you know? Recording songs I'd written and kind of proving to the other side of the studio, so to speak. From there, just gradually playing more gigs, but you know, moving out of studio. Nothing's ever been too sudden.

I would hope they get the same thing I get out of music. Where do you get the inspiration to write?
Usually from something that happened to me, or someone that I feel close to, I'll write about them. I've been watching the news and I'll get angry at something I see and I wanna make anyone that listens aware of that and that will inspire me to write lyrics. I'm a very observing person. I probably like listening more than I like talking. I listen to a lot of what around me and I also have my ears and my eyes open, so a lot of things could inspire me to write. It's whatever makes me angry, or whatever makes me sad, or whatever makes me really happy. Whatever makes me feel emotion, is what will inspire me to actually write.

Who are your musical influences?
When I was really young, I listened to a lot of classical music, but the first CD I had that I loved, was "War" by U2. I love that album. They've been a huge influence ever since I started listening to them from when I was like, 12 or something. I love that band, I like Coldplay right now, I like Sarah McLachlan, I like...who else do I like? Dido's new record is really good.

A lot I see.
Yeah, a lot of influences. Anything that crosses my ears is gonna subconsciously influence me in some way, you know? Whether it's like the music or the viewing or something they said. It all affects me, you know?

How would you describe your music?
It's pretty much singer/songwriter, but more produced. I started with more piano and vocals, but it's all kind of emotional songwriting that went into the album.

What do you hope people will get out of your music?
I would hope they get the same thing I get out of music. I hope that it inspires them or lets them know that they're not the only ones going through something and that other people have. You know, if it makes people happy or sad, or whatever the song is, you know? I hope people put it on, because they want to get in touch with a certain feeling or emotion. It's the same thing I love music for. I listen to it, because of the way it makes me feel. I hope that people listen to mine for the same reason.

Come On is the first single off the album. What made that song stand out from the rest?
I chose that as the first single, 'cause it's the best representation of the album as a whole and me as whole. I went through a lot of different directions on the album and I did a lot of different types of music. It's very piano-based. It's a very pure song and it was written before I was signed or anything like that. It's one of the memorable, catchy ones, too so, that's kind of what made it stand out.

Any idea what your next single will be?
I have the feeling it will be Rocks but it might also be She'll Hear You. I don't know yet.

I've seen the music video for Come On and I have to say that it's very unique. It's different from what I've seen.
Oh, thank you.

I saw a lot of fireworks coming out of that one piano.
The video was crazy. You saw the fireworks at the end of the video?

Yeah. They had fire marshals on the set, didn't they?
Yeah, they did. The fire marshals were going crazy. They didn't know what to do. They just stood over to the side. There were a lot of fireworks inside. [Laughs] They were standing there looking very worried, because there were the fire marshals and fifty other people ready to shoot the video.

[Both laugh]

I can see it now. The mind is a wonderful thing.
[Laughs] It was really funny. And I was scared too. I was like "You just want me to sit here with fireworks going off like in front our stage?" And they were like "It's fine. It's all rigged." They had the fireworks on little strings, so they knew that the fireworks wouldn't go off into the room, because they had strings and they had wet blankets, but it was still scary.

You play the piano and the violin. Which instrument do you like playing the most?
I'm probably better at the violin than the piano, but the piano I really playing, because I can sing at the same time. I can just play the violin and it's one note at a time. I like playing the piano, because I can sing at the same time, same with guitar. When I play guitar, I can sing and it frees you up. It depends on what you're trying to do, you know? If you're trying to play a melody, I really like playing the violin, because it's just such a beautiful sound to me.

Are there any other instruments you can play, or is it just those three?
I play a little bit of other stuff, but those are the three main ones. Those are the ones I played on the album. I played like, two tamberines, shakers and stuff for it, but those are my main instruments. I want to learn more though. I really want to learn the drums and I want to get into playing more electric guitar and I want to play the banjo. [Laughs] That's something I'd love to be able to play. There's so many instruments I want to learn.

For your future records, do you plan on having them be piano-driven or do you want to expand your guitar playing?
I'm hoping to expand my guitar playing. Good question. This album is mostly written on piano, but I'd imagine the next record, judging by what I've playing so far, is that it may be a more guitar--driven record. But I'd never like, leave piano off of it I think.

What's your favorite part about performing in front of an audience?
My favorite part is when...I hate when I can't see people. I like to look into their eyes. Then I know that people are listening and really feeling it. And the whole room is like, sharing a common experience, including myself, you know? That's the feeling I love the most. And I love playing with the band. I love when up you're with other musicians. I love that feeling of playing live. Are there any rituals you do before you perform, like praying, or something like that?
I try to relax. I try to just stop thinking about whatever's going on and leave everything behind when I go out onstage. I really try and let the songs speak for themselves. I just really involve myself with the band and get on the same wavelength as them, so that when up onstage, it's just one piece of music coming out of us.

Would you do a collaboration with labelmate, Michelle Branch?
Sure. I know her a little bit, but we never talked about collaborations or anything. I think it's still pretty early, but I totally see that happening.

The whole idea should be to make people understand that what's more important is the music. Speaking of collaborations, if you could do a collaboration with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?
Dead or alive? Let me think...there's so many people. Someone like Alanis Morrisette or like Sarah McLachlan or Dave Matthews would be fine. Two of The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac. I can name zillions. The Goo Goo Dolls.

What are the ups and downs of being on the road?
Well, we get to travel a lot, which to me, is really exciting. I love seeing new places. You get a certain amount of time to just play music and be by myself, but that's one of the downsides. You spend so much time alone, that you're just like, wow, it would be nice to like go home to and see my friends, you know? But you know, when you're on the road, you're ready for it and when you're not, you're at home, doing what you want to be doing anyway. So, I usually like going on the road, because I need the time alone and I like travelling and I like playing. I like having time.

Which artists would you like to go on tour with?
I'd love to go on tour with Coldplay, or maybe Travis. Coldplay or Travis would be amazing to go on tour with.

Some of your fans want to know if you plan on doing an international tour.
I hope so. I mean, there will definitely be an international release of the album and I'm assuming that that would be followed up by an international if everything goes right. It probably depends on how everything goes and how album sales do, but, you know, it definitely seems like, you know, whichever market really like the music and really show that they take it. And whoever they accept to go on a tour, I'd love to go on it. I'm definitely for it. I'll be pushing for it myself.

Have you had the chance to meet anyone you idolize or admire?
Yeeeah! I met Alanis Morrisette, which was really cool. I met way before this record deal was ever done and that was pretty cool, 'cause I remember really liking some of his records. No one else really. I mean, there's so many people I admire that I haven't met. I met Chris Martin of Coldplay, but we didn't say much.

What would you say has been your most memorable experience so far?
From recording, or...

Anything. It doesn't matter.
From recording, I remember this one time when we were recording Come On and it was one of the first songs that we did a whole string section. I was in the studio just watching all these amazing string players just play the music, and it just sounded so full and beautiful and I was just like, wow. This is really amazing and this such an amazing opportunity and I'm definitely gonna remember this very moment for a long time. I still do. It was really a great moment when that was going on. The video is really memorable. [Laughs] Making the video was a crazy day. Yeah, I'd say those are a couple of the more memorable times.

Have you thought about the costs of fame? If so, are you worried that you will be lost in the pop culture and be focused on only because of your looks
I'm not too worried about it, because I definitely think that we've focused on the music and the album more, if any of that. And you know, it's not a fabricated thing. It's something from an album I wrote or songs that I either co-wrote, or chose to cover. You know, it's a very personal album. I even produced some of it as well, so, I'm not too afraid of people saying "Oh, it's just pretty face." But as far as the cost of fame goes...to be honest, I haven't thought about it. I do know I'm a very personal, quiet, shy person some of the time, so I hope I don't ever get that taken away.

Some say that after you appear on a show like TRL, there will be many teenyboppers who will only like you because of your looks and not because of your music.
Right, but I mean, the whole idea should be to make people understand that what's more important, is the music and you know, convince everyone to like the music. If I was a fan of a band and someone liked them because of the way the of they looked, I'd be like "Whoa." I'd probably laugh if they purchased an album a few times, you know?

[Both laugh]

Some say it goes both ways, because if a lot of those fans that only care about your looks buy your album anyway, you'd still be making a lot of money.
Yeah, but you know, more importantly, they'll hopefully be listening and get into the music.

Agreed.
And like music because of it. Become a music listener and someone who appreciates it and goes and follows it.

Yeah. What is the most insightful thing a fan has said to you so far?
Most insightful thing...one of the bests was, I can't remember who said it, but someone said that I influenced them with the music. And that really made me feel good, because that's such a compliment to me to have someone say that, you know? It was a really nice thing to say.

You've been pretty busy lately. Does it ever become too much or wear you down
Yeah, I think sometimes, you know, you do so much promotion and everything, that the balance becomes really heavy towards like, television and radio.

What was the first concert you attended?
It was Paul McCartney. I was about 13 maybe? And it was brilliant. I loved the whole thing. It was amazing to be there.

Is that the best concert you've attended?
It was one of the bests, definitely. I saw Coldplay play a long time ago. That was also really amazing. I saw Counting Crows and they put on great shows too.

Are there any artists you feel don't get the recognition they deserve?
I've seen people that are good artists in many ways, like amazing songwriters or amazing piano players, or incredible drummers or whatever else. And sometimes some situations don't work out and you know, they don't gain that recognition.

What's in your CD player right now?
The Rushmore Soundtrack.

Did you like the film?
Yeah, I love the film.

Where would you like to travel?
I’d love to see some of Asia. I’ve never been to Asia. I’m gonna definitely go to, if not on tour, I’ll go by myself at some point. South America, too.

Your fans want to know what Marmite tastes like. I’ve had it before and I think it’s pretty bad.
[Laughs] I think I’m about to become the Marmite sponsor.

[both laugh]
It’s really salty. Actually, more than anything else, it’s salty. You put it on bread and you melt butter on the bread, on the toast. And you put a tiny, tiny little bit of Marmite on it. It’s not like you ever eat it by the spoonful. It’s just nastier that way. It has salty taste.

Yuck.
[Laughs] It’s a distinctive taste. I mean, you’d know it was Marmite and not salt, but it’s kind of just got this salty taste to it.

I had one taste when I was a kid and it was like “Okay, never again.” It just sat in the cupboard collecting dust for seven years.

[Both laugh]

If you woke up on it, you will. You know, I love it, because since I was kid, that was all I ate, you know?

Perhaps, but I remember that dreadful taste pretty well. Moving on, what advice do you have for those that want to become artists?
I’d say that you need to be willing to start at the bottom and really work and learn. You need to enjoy the period where you’re learning to do what you want to do, and be appreciative of the opportunities that you get. You know, like, if you’re a technical person, learn a soundboard. If you’re musical person, learn an instrument. If you’re lyricist, write all the songs.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given about music and performing?
Pretty much the same advice. If you really want to happen, it can. Use what you’re hearing to guide you. That always helps. When you’re performing, leave everything behind when you go out onstage and just sing your heart out, you know, because that’s what you’re there to do.

Here’s a deep one: what’s your philosophy of life?
That’s really deep.

[Both laugh]

I live my life by loving. I think that if any of us wonder why we’re all here, I think it’s to keep love alive. I think that involves not just romantic love, but you know, loving the people around you and being generous and giving. I think everyone — whatever religion they are — they have their own set of morals and I think everyone knows what being a good person is about. And I think that you need to stick to that and I think that’s what’s important.

In all, where do you hope your music career will take you and what is the one thing you’re looking forward to?
Well, who knows. I mean, I dive into things and I’m not sure about what I’m looking for, but I hope to improve on music and learn more about it. I want to change. I want to have different styles, you know? I want to progress and grow from the whole thing. I hope the career takes me somewhere different than where I am now. Not that where I am now is bad, but I want to grow and change and see different things from it.

The Facts

Birth Place: Melbourne, Australia

Their Big Break: Debut album Journey

Did You Know: Their Christmas album Rivertribe Christmas sold 3000 CDs on a 10-day tour; the band are an international festival favorite

Joel Stebbing: Mike, when was the band formed?
Mike Lane: The band started about five years ago, playing on the street on my own playing didgeridoo/drums, started running a few tracks/loops, a few friends came along and Rivertribe was formed. It was very much a band that grew up from an on the street thing.

Melbourne based?
Mike: Yep, this is where we started [Elizabeth Street Markets], right on this spot. It's a good opportunity in terms of street performance. This is one of the best spots in the world, people from all over the world come to this spot, so it has built an international career for us because a lot of festival organisers and various scouts from other countries hear us play then book us for gigs. We meet all kinds of people.

Simon, how did you get involved with the band?
Simon Lewis: I was doing my own thing-chillout ambient music selling it around the place, bumped into Mike around the scene and we started talking and kind of hit it off. They asked me two months before Rivertribe was due to go to Canada and the U.S. for six months to join. I was ready to travel, it was all meant to be and the rest is history. We just throw ideas together.
-- Simon Lewis

For the U.S. readers, Simon, what do you play?
Simon: I play keyboards, melodica all keyboard instruments and handle the technological side of things.

Biggest influences for the both of you?
Mike: Whenever we answer this, we get in trouble.
Simon: [Laughs] I listen to a lot of world music, probably in the electronic scene. I like Kash Kalay, Nitin Sawney. I listen to a lot of jazz as well.
Mike: Peter Gabriel, for sure. I guess Peter Gabriel is inspiration in terms of what we do, to bring ethnic sounds and instruments. He has kind of pioneered that so he is an inspiration in terms of doing what we do. The sort of instruments that we play, all that.

What places have Rivertribe played recently?
Mike: We've done three tours with Rebecca St. James around America, we've done a lot of big festivals in Canada, Singapore. It's mainly been North America. We've just finished a tour of India, which was great. We did four shows in three cities.

Do you find that you pick up instruments along the way?
Simon: Definitely. What we could carry as we are fairly restricted, we would have bought heaps more but we already had our gear for the tour. We met a guy in India called Baloo, a well-known percussionist in the south of India. He took us to music stores, got us good deals and generally showed us around.

How did you get a record deal?
Simon: We have a deal with Elevate Records in Nashville.
Mike: We were playing at a pre-olympics concert. Rebecca St. James was out here [in Australia] and her dad saw us play and contacted us not long after that and said would we be interested in a deal. We talked on and off for about 12-18 months. I visited them in Nashville and we finalized it from there.

Are your albums recorded in Nashville?
Mike: No, we record here. We’ve got a studio. It’s a mudbrick house. The guy who has done all our production work until the most recent project we did, Simons come into the team and has been working a lot more on the production side of things.
Simon: We’ve done a little in Nashville. We recorded all the violins for our last album [Christmas] in a hotel in Nashville.

It is slightly restricting by the title [Christmas], but it’s a good listen any time of year.
— Mike Lane

Were you inspired by being in Nashville?
Simon: Everyone was busy and the studio we would normally record in was busy so we thought we’d do it here, it’s nice and relaxed. Rented out two hotel rooms and went for it. We find weird and wonderful places because it’s difficult to record, because the other half of the band live in North America. It’s a killer commute.

How do you approach writing songs?
Simon: Lately, it’s been heavily groove based. A groove that we like, we build it round there. Sometimes we might have a concept like one of the more celtic type tunes we were playing in Canada and Montreal, we knew they liked to dance so we added a real dance groove to the celtic influence. We combined all those elements and it worked. We just throw ideas together. There are not a lot of rules, which is good. It’s not your normal instrumentation, its fairly restricting with the didgeridoo, as you’ve only got one note unless you want to change didges through the song.

Mike, how did you learn didgeridoo?
Mike: My brother sent me a couple as a gift. He’d been playing for a while and thought I might be interested. I’ve been playing in bands for a lot of years as a bass player and was looking for something new.

Did you study music?
Mike: No. I’m one of those guys who studied in high school, playing in bands since I was 10. I haven’t had any classical training.

Simon, where did you study?
Simon: Melbourne University for four years. I did a lot of world music. The head of the department was a musicologist, so we got to do Japanese, African drums, Indian classical; you could do anything.

Where is your favorite place to play?
Simon: I’d have to say America and Montreal. The festival there last year was huge. The audience were into it, really enthusiastic. We plan to go to Europe this year.

Finally, how did the Christmas album come about?
Simon: It was a conspiracy with Stuart Favilla and the record company. [Laughs]
Mike: Stuart’s our producer; he just loves to work. He was looking for a job and the record company mentioned doing a christmas album. Honestly, we weren’t keen but once we got going, working with the arrangements, it was a lot of fun and I think the result is excellent. We pulled off some really nice arrangements I think. It is slightly restricting by the title [Christmas], but it’s a good listen any time of year. We worked hard at achieving that. I think we put the ball in the net.

The Facts

Birth Date: 1965

Birth Place: Oregun, Nigeria

His Big Break: Is one-half of the band Jamiroquai

Did You Know: Some of Sola's influences are Stevie Wonder, Arethra Franklin, Chaka Khan, Erykah Badu and Miles Davis

Joel Stebbing: With these workshops in Australia, is this the first time you've offered these?
Sola Akingbola: Yeah, this is the first time.

Judging from the responses of the people who attended, it was greatly appreciated.
It's really good, I'm really pleased with it. It gives me something to work on.

Even if they weren't a percussionist, they were still able to take something away from these workshops?
Yeah, that's what we gear the workshops towards, for everybody, all musicians to hear how to break the music down, rebuild it and try different ideas. And also, to do a bit more research into their own areas of specialization. Drummers research a bit more rhythms from different parts of the globe. It's all music man, a universal language.

I could definitely take something away as a sax player.
Yes, good. That's excellent.

That loose jam.
That's how it's supposed to be.

The music is making me sit there and think, what are the licks that I could put over the top, playing along.
Yeah, brilliant.

It was really enjoyable. So where on from Australia?
We're off to Bangkok. We've got one gig in Bangkok and then where finished. We've been everywhere, man. Covered the whole of Europe, apart from America. We didn't do America this time around, the album, A Funk Odyssey was released on that fateful day, September 11th, so that put pain to that album in America.

So, is there anyone on tour that you would like to collaborate with, anybody caught your eye?
Not yet, so I'm hoping next time we come, there'll be that. Although, I met some people in Sydney, a guy who runs the club Hemisphere and an establishment, called Tank. Basically, the last time when we were here, I composed some music after spending a night in this club called Tank and really enjoyed myself and I composed this piece of music and I played it to him on Thursday and he really liked it, so he was very interested, in maybe, doing some recording collaboration.

So, what's planned for the future. Is Jamiroquai a full-time gig for you?
It has been a full-time gig. At the end of the year, Jay's going to take a really well deserved break, which will be good for us, we're also going to have a break. I'll be working on some of my own material, doing some more workshops in the UK, some work in Europe with some different artists, so I'm going to keep myself busy. Not as busy as I've been with Jamiroquai, but busy enough to keep the playing together. Associate with different artists and get some fresh ideas.

Is there any truth in the rumor that the band is splitting up? I've seen in the press, that the numbers are dwindling.
No, it's change, that's what it is. It's evolution. New musicians come, new people they're always hungry people out there who are ready to play and Jay, at the end of the day, is interested in playing. He loves playing live, he feeds off of a live performance, he composes during a live performance, so he needs highly responsive musicians and that takes time. You know, as a saxophonist, that you've got to improvise on the spot, change things around, reinterpret things and react to the moment. That's what Jay likes, so he needs a change of musicians.

Everybody just wants to know how many cars the man has and who he's with now, whereas, we all just want to talk about the music.

It takes the next album into a new direction.
Yeah, exactly.

Musicial evolution.
And unless people in the band are also growing and evolving in the same way, then you kind of filter off and you know, Toby is doing his own thing, Stuart is doing his own thing. That’s how it works, man.

So, for the next album, in the break that Jay’s taking in the next 12 months, you can’t stop yourself, as a musician, from writing and having ideas. Would you consider [to the delight of fans starting earlier?]
Possibly, yeah, possibly. If he gets the inspiration, if he gets the ideas, I think he could do that, at least start writing and developing compositions earlier. So that is a strong possibility.

Like you said before and Derrick said earlier, the next album will take on that classic, organic sound. Does that mean that there will be a new format to the album? The lengths of tracks increase, 5 tracks instead of 10/12 that run 10 minutes each?
No, I think Jay will still go for the 10 — 12 tracks. Like Derrick said, I think it will be less sequenced, less computers and more live, more of the band. Which is a good thing as that’s what the band, that’s what Jamiroquai did to burst on the scene, because it’s live energy.

And that in turn will let the live performances, when you’re touring, take on that different flavor?
Exactly.

Because you’re working out those longe, more organic sounds in the studio. Then you take it on the road.
You stretch it.

You stretch it a lot more and also add to it, and take away from it.
That’s exactly what we do.

Which is great for the band and great for the audience.
It has that element of surprise.

Yeah.
Oh my god, they’ve rearranged that. Like, main vein today, we played it slightly different. [Laughs]

So people, in that respect, could sit in on a couple of nights of the same tour and see something different, it has a little different mix to it.
Yeah, yeah.

After reading other media vehicles, like newspapers, radio, TV, etcetera, interviewers seem to only be interested in Jay’s offstage interests.
Yeah.

You know, who’s dating who, what’s going on in the press.
I know, I know.

Very few just talk about the music, which is what everyone is essentially here to do. So being able to get past all that and dig beneath the surface, has been really good.
Yeah, good Joel. And it’s great for us. Everybody just wants to know how many cars the man has and who he’s with now, whereas, we all just want to talk about the music, let’s talk about the music. How we can make it better, how we can make it simpler, how we can make it more powerful. That’s what it is: a powerful, powerful vehicle.

The Facts

Name: David Phillipe Desrosiers

Birth Date: August 29, 1980

Birth Place: Sept-Isles, Ontario, Canada

His Big Break: Is one-fifth of pop/rock band Simple Plan

Did You Know: David plays the bass and sings back vocals in Simple Plan

Before He Was Famous: David was in an unsigned band called Reset with Pierre and Chuck

When you're not on the road or in the studio, do you all still hang out together?
David Desrosiers: Well, we've been touring non-stop since February, pretty much. We're usually only home for about two days and so in those two days, I usually just pay bills and don't even answer my house phone. My friends just check the website, see when I'm home, and my good friends call my cell phone. I don't want to be a prick, but sometimes I'm just busy or tired and don't even answer. But sometimes, if we're home for a week, then we'll call each other up and just check in with each other. It's just that when we're home like, I try to spend as much time as I can with my girlfriend, because obviously I'm very busy and she's also busy, because she goes to school and all. I'm always telling her about how she works too hard for school, but then she's always telling me the same thing, and it's true.

How soon was your first show after you joined the band?
Oh, you have no idea! It was like the following week after! It was crazy, because before Reset, I didn't play the bass. I mean, even in the band, I would have to borrow a bass from someone. But I was in Reset with Chuck and Pierre, but then Pierre had left the band, and Chuck was gone long before that but a few months after Pierre left, both of them came to check out one of our shows and saw me play. Then I saw them at a [Sugar Ray] concert and they told me about this new band and asked me if I would want to be a part of it, so I left Reset and had to learn all of their songs playing bass and singing in about a week.

We're happy with where we are, but we've got so much farther to go.
You seemed to have gotten a lot of recognition when you opened up for Sugar Ray.
I personally think it was a really good match, despite whatever everybody else might say, because Sugar Ray, they used to be a little bit more aggressive, like with their old record, but they got a lot more pop, which is good. We have the punk rock energy on stage, but we still have the pop side of the vocal harmonies, with the old influence of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. So I think those people were not going to hate us, because if they liked Sugar Ray, they were going to like us and vice-versa. So it was good and what was really cool, was that they were pretty much all ages, like even some of the shows I saw some 12-year olds, which is cool and some show there was 30-year olds, which is a good range, because the more people you can reach, the better because then there's nobody too old or too young to listen to you.

So, would you say your success is a result of the shows you did with Sugar Ray, or from your single, I'm Just A Kid?
It's hard to say, because with Sugar Ray, we only went to the east coast and it was kind of like a college tour and there are still a lot of places we have to play. I'm not saying it wasn't a good thing, because it was really good exposure, but as far as success, it's hard to say, because for us, we're just playing music. We don't really see it as a big success, partly because we don't have time to slow down and realize what's going on. Now that we just came back from Japan and Thailand and we go to Australia in two weeks, that's a little bit -- you go "Wow, we're going places." I still can't believe we played in Japan. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life.

What were the fans like there?
They are the coolest crowd. They’re amazing. They’re so — can you believe that most of them can barely speak English, but they still manage to learn all your lyrics and they sing them, and then you go and see them after the show and you’re like “Hey! Did you have a good time?” And they’re like “Ehh. No English”, but they still sang the whole song. It’s wicked. And between songs, they don’t make any noise. They’re so interested in what you’re going to say, and they’re so respectful, but they still go crazy, which is really cool. The whole tour in Japan was sold out, which is unbelievable, because everyone was like “Oh, so who did you tour with?” And we’re like “We toured on our own.” Thailand was really crazy too, but they were a bit too intense sometimes. It’s great to have fans at the airport, but on the other side, when you just travelled twenty hours, you don’t look like there, you have to look ready to take a f—–g picture, which is alright if you’re *NSYNC, I guess, but I’m not gonna shave in the morning to get on the plane. I’m just going to put on a hat. But then you get to the airport and they even have video cameras in your face. I think that is a little intruding, but that’s just me. I think it’s great, pictures are fine, but when they’re two feet from your face and following you to the plane, it’s like “I’m going to get my suitcase! There’s nothing cool about that.” People don’t want to see David getting his suitcase, but it’s cool, whatever floats their boat. And then the airport was pretty far away from the city, so we had to jump in a van and we didn’t have security. We’re in the van going to the hotel on the highway and I’m looking outside and thinking “Oh my god, I’m in Thailand”, and I turn around and I go “Holy s–t!” There’s a cab full of kids going crazy, taking pictures and following us. Then I look to the side and there’s another cab of more kids taking pictures and that was really weird. I think it’s great and we appreciate it, that they like us so much they show up to the airport.

What’s your favorite song on the album?
I think I’d Do Anything, simply because it represents who we are and everything and that song is about two or three years old for us. We sent a demo once to Mark from Blink-182 and he told us that it was his favorite song of the month, and about how he listened to it before going on stage to get him pumped up, which was really cool for us.

Despite the fact that most of your songs are sad, would you say you’re all happy with where you are?
Yeah, of course we’re happy with where we are, but we’ve got so much farther to go. And we’re tired! Like I said, we’ve been touring since February.

So what’s the future looking like?
September 24th, we play at the Hard Rock here in Los Angeles, which I think is going to be really cool. Then the 25th, we’re going out, having fun, and meeting up with some old friends, like Sugar Ray. We’re really good friends with them. We’ve got this tour going on right now, that’s mostly going to be in the West and Midwest. Then October 3rd, we head to Australia for a tour there and when we come back, we’re going to be doing a tour with Good Charlotte in the Midwest area — I know Philadelphia is one of the places. I don’t know where I am half of the time! The tour dates are on our website.

Awesome! Good Charlotte is one of my favorite bands.
I can’t believe you just said that! They’re my favorite, too! I’m going to be telling all my friends to buy the album October 1st. The guys already gave us a copy a while back and it’s wicked awesome, but I’m still going to buy another one. And there’s this thing coming up that we’re doing in Montreal, that’s a private concert/interview thing, but you just sit there for an hour and a half or so and the fans ask questions and listen to you play, but while I’m there, I’m going to tell all of them to go buy the Good Charlotte album!

The Facts

Names: Ryan Thomas Dennis, Daniel Akira Stadnicki, Ryan James Stever, Jonathan James Davidson

Birth Dates: January 8th, 1984 [Ryan]; August 19th, 1984 [Dan]; December 6th, 1983 [Stever]; July 28, 1984 [Jon]

Birth Place: Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

Their Big Break: Debut album Serial Joe [2000]

Did You Know: The band got their name from a neighbor of Ryan's [Dennis] who couldn't pronounce another neighbor's name

[Editor's note: the band split in 2001]

Who is your biggest musical influence?
Ryan Dennis: Mostly everything we heard on the radio when we were growing up.

Where and when were you first discovered?
Ryan: We won this contest and we got ten hours of free recording time and like, three free music videos.

Wow. That must’ve been emotionally hard.
Ryan: We were shocked!

What is the weirdest thing a fan has ever done for you?
Dan Stadnicki: Pretended to be an interviewer from a magazine we’ve never heard of and when she gets backstage, she tells us she just wanted to meet us.

What is the nicest thing a fan has ever done for you?
Dan: [Laughs] Washed my boat.
Ryan: I don’t really know. It’s hard to pinpoint specific things.

It must be crazy with all your fans. How do your families deal with fans and your fame?
Ryan: They’re okay with it.

If you could change one thing about fame, what would it be and why?
Ryan: People who thing we’re rich. It’s not like we’re rolling around in hundred dollar bills. We’re just ordinary people.

I think that would be hard, especially when people think that and then you do something and they always assume the wrong reasons. For instance, a friend of mine told me you don’t hug people, because of sexual harassment lawsuits.
Ryan: It’s not so much the lawsuit thing. It’s nothing personal, but we’ve got a tour to do and if a fan is sick, then we’ll get sick.
Dan: Plus, if we have one thousand fans waiting for autographs, it will take up a lot of time to hug everyone of them.

That’s understandable. So tell me what your favorite song is that you have produced?
Ryan: I think we like all the songs we produce, but just because of the results of Mistake, I am going to say that one.
Dan: Me too!

Our bus broke down, so we had to push it into the parking lot! — Ryan Dennis

Where did you get the name “Serial Joe” from?
Ryan Stever: A guy who lives on Ryan’s street named Sergio, and a little girl also lives on Ryan’s street and she can’t pronounce his name, so she calls him “Serial Joe”.

How did you feel when you first saw yourselves on MuchMusic and heard yourself on the radio?
Ryan: When you hear yourself on the radio, it’s like listening to the CD, so that doesn’t bother me much, but when I saw myself on Much, it was freaky.
Dan: Yuck!

Do you have any celebrity crushes?
Ryan: [Laughs jokingly] Oh, of course. All of The Backstreet Boys.
Dan: Oh, how about *NSYNC?

She likes O-Town. [Points to the TYCP Videographer]
Dan: Didn’t they sing a song about wet dreams?
Ryan: Yeah, Liquid Dreams.
Dan: [Sings] You got my liquid dreams…

That was nice, Dan. Do you enjoy traveling to your shows?
Ryan: Yeah.

Out of all the celebrities you’ve met, who is your favorite?
Ryan: Silverchair. They are just awesome guys.

What would you be if you weren’t in the music industry?
Ryan: Well, we’re all still young, so we’d probably be in school.
Stever: Yeah, I think I would be.
Jon Davidson: Yeah.
Dan: Me too!

What qualities do you look for in a girl?
Dan: Good conversationalist. If she doesn’t know how to carry on a conversation, then there is no point talking. And she HAS TO, HAS TO, HAS TO have a sense of humor.
Ryan: Yeah, a sense of humor is a big thing. I would say she has to be smart.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you as a band?
Ryan: Going to our Woodstock show. Our bus broke down, so we had to push it into the parking lot!
Dan: [Laughs] That was kind of embarrassing!

The Facts

Names: Colette Trudeau, Brittin Karroll, Leah Emmott, Foxx Herst

Birth Dates:

Birth Places: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada [Colette and Brittin]; Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada [Leah and Foxx]

Their Big Break: Debut album Seeing Red [2001]

[Editor's note: the band split in 2003]

You guys have had a pretty exciting year so far. You’ve been signed to Her Majesty’s record label with Bif Naked, released two hit songs, joined a tour…can you describe how this year’s been for you?
Leah Emmott: Fun! Amazing! We haven’t done a lot of touring, but we’ve gone to a lot of places none of us have been before. It’s been a really great year!
Brittin Karroll: We’re really lucky that we’ve gotten to do and see the things we have.

What’s the greatest part been about it so far?
Leah: Playing shows!
Brittin: Especially with the bands we’ve gotten to play with, like Black Angels that we played with at Edgefest. That was really cool! These two [pointing to Foxx and Collette] got up on stage and sang with them!
Foxx Herst: We opened for Goldfinger and it was such a shock for us, ’cause it was like “Wow! This is Goldfinger!”
Colette Trudeau: And doing music videos, that’s a lot of fun. Our last one was done in Vancouver and all of our relatives were in it. It was just a big fun party pretty much!
Foxx: Actually, the whole job’s a big fun party pretty much!

How much different was your first video from your second one?
Brittin: Well we filmed this one in our home town instead of in Toronto. Our whole family was in it, actually, in the crowds.
Leah: The executives were our parents!
Foxx: It was totally more fun when we had our friends and family there. And Bif was in it too. The first one was kind of a little iffy.

Rock can be a noun or a verb, just everything. We’re not hardcore and we’re not really punk. — Foxx Herst

So has Bif been your mentor for the past year? Showing you the ropes of the business, that sort of thing?
Brittin: Oh yeah! She’s like the cool, I don’t wanna say mother, I’d say more like sister.
Foxx: She’s a cool big sister! Yeah.
Leah: She teaches us a lot of things. She teaches us a lot about being on the road and…
Brittin: She’s been touring forever, well, for a while, and we just learn what we need to know through her.

Who influenced you to pick up the instruments that you did?
Leah: Well for me, I listened to…[Laughs] I picked up my vocal chords when I was three, just because I was a little girl. And I wanted to sing just like Tiffany. I was one of those little girls who would walk up and be like “Hi! I’m Tiffany!” But as I got older, I decided I wanted to do rock. I don’t want to sing pop no more. I was influenced by Veruca Salt, Holly MacNarland, Hole — strong feminine rock people. I was mesmerized by how hard they could be looking at the music of the time.
Colette: We’ve also had our families to back us up. They’ve been really supportive of our music careers and they’re pretty much the ones who’ve gotten us to reach our goals. They’ve helped us out in every single way.

How’d you guys end up coming together? We hear it’s kind of an interesting story?
Brittin: Yeah, it’s a crazy story. Me and Leah knew each other from baseball, so she submitted a tape to my dad. Well actually, it was to me at school…
Leah: I gave her a little cassette tape of some country songs! [Laughs]
Brittin: We decided to start a band, so we put an ad in the Georgia Strait in Vancouver and Foxx answered it. After that, we found Colette and we were all set. It’s hard to find girl drummers!
Leah: We found her!

What’s the next thing you have planned to release? You’ve just released your last song Get With It, but do you have any ideas of what you want to release in the future?
Foxx: [Singing] Kay sera sera, whatever will be will be. We would be happy if anything off that album came out. We’d be happy if radio stations played anything off that album.

I was listening to the record earlier and I was actually really impressed that you guys, being so young when you wrote it, could write really good songs.
Leah: Thank you!
Brittin: We were 12 and 13 when we wrote that record!

If you could put any song off your record into any soundtrack what song or soundtrack would it be?
Brittin: What about Rush Hour 2?
Foxx: Yeah! Rush Hour 2! That’s like my favorite movie now.

If you had 30 seconds to sell your album to someone off the street how would you convince them to buy it?
Foxx: Buy it or Britt’ll kick your ass! She’s a third degree back belt!
Brittin: Please buy our record? It’s okay!
Foxx: I guess if we had 30 seconds to sell our album to someone, we’d probably play for those 30 seconds. It’s the best way to sell it. And not just play the CD, but play for them live.

How would you describe your sound? It’s not your average mainstream pop or rock music. It’s not too unusual to see a girl band such as yourself in the industry.
Colette: That’s true, but I don’t think we’re the first. I think there are other girl rock groups out there, but they’re not getting as popular as they should be.
Leah: Our music’s totally different from anything. You can’t compare us to girls and girl groups, because we’re not just a girl group.
Foxx: We’re totally different.
Leah: We really have our own sound. No one can really compare us to any one. They try and compare us to Bif’s music, but we don’t sound all that much like her. They try to compare us to other girl groups, but they’re either much harder or much softer.
Colette: It’s weird to hear that we’re kind of pioneers, because we’re just doing what we do.
Foxx: It’s kind of hard to answer that. We always have a problem trying to explain to people what kind of music we play. We usually just say rock because it’s all encompassing. Rock can be a noun or a verb, just everything. We’re not hardcore, we’re not really punk.
Brittin: We have different songs on our record too. It’s so diverse. It goes from like Britney to Faith Hill to Johnny, so it’s hard.
Foxx: Our album is hard to classify, but our live shows are easy because it’s just a rock show.

We always have to prove ourselves with every single show we do. — Leah Emmott

What’s it like touring with a band that used to be pop like The Moffatts?
Colette: We’re playing with The Moffatts? Hmmm…
Foxx: We talked about all the special stuff we could do if we were playing with The Moffatts…
Brittin: If you just say Moffatts, than everyone starts to scream!
Leah: We already played a show with them and I was like “Next up are The Moffatts!” and [the crowd] was just like “AHHH!” [Screams]
Foxx: The funny thing is you don’t even have to say Moffatts and they scream. You could say broccoli and they’d scream. They just scream at anything! They’re such a wild crowd. They get hyped up about anything.

Isn’t it kind of weird for you guys though since you play a solid rock show to be touring with a band that used to be really heavily into pop music?
Leah: They’re trying to cross over to be more into rock now though. I think it’s great that they’re doing that!
Foxx: They’ve been so busy this tour, we haven’t even seen them yet. We only played one show with them so far. Tonight is going to be our first time actually getting to watch their show, so we’re excited.
Colette: And they’re only a year older than us, so it’s cool that we have an almost entire teenage bill.
Foxx: Bif fits in too. She’s like a big teenager anyway!

The Moffatts changed their sound drastically. Do you maybe see yourselves changing your sound in the future?
Brittin: I think we’re going to stay with rock music for now.
Foxx: I don’t think we’ll do what they did. They made a drastic swing from I think it was country, to pop and now rock music. I think for us, we’ll always be somewhere within that rock genre.
Colette: But our music is going to totally evolve and mature from our experience.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned from the industry so far?
Leah: I guess a lot of it’s learning to deal with people. A lot of people look at us and say “Okay, you’re a girl group. What can we expect?” We have to deal with something like that every single day. We always have to prove ourselves with every single show we do. We always have people coming up to us saying how suprised they are. Saying things like “When we came here, we thought ‘Oh it’s just another girl group, they’re going to suck.’” But then after, they’re like “Oh, you guys were REALLY good!” So that’s something we have to overcome. We have to put 110% into all of our shows to prove to everyone.
Foxx: We always have to deal with those preconceptions and misconceptions. A lot of the times, we get people telling us we were great, so it’s really great in the end. But the best thing, too, is having to prove yourself. Deep down we just prefer to play to a crowd like we have tonight. Sometimes we prefer to play to the old, experienced industry crowds too though.
Leah: Yeah, and they just stand there with their arms crossed. They think because we’re teenage girls, we’re not going to be anything special.
Brittin: They won’t scream just when we come out on stage. They’re just like “Yeah, well prove you’re good before I start clapping.”
Foxx: That’s what makes it exciting, because you have to prove it to them!
Brittin: It’s really cool to see the crowd turn afterward and really start clapping and cheering. It means a lot more!
Foxx: It’s so much more real to us!

Why did you name your album Seeing Red?
Leah: Well, when we first started out, we were putting “seeing red” as lyrics into a bunch of our songs.
Foxx: Well, there is “seeing red” in a bunch of our songs, but I like the imagery it conveys about anger and it’s kind of a relection of how we felt at the time. Angry young women. We felt it kind of represented our struggle to be noticed in a male dominated business.
Brittin: It’s also the last lyrics of the last song “now you’ve got me seeing red.”

Was that planned, or just a coincidence?
Brittin: No.
Foxx: That came first.
Leah: When we were naming our CD, we knew right away it was going to be Seeing Red.

Did you discuss any other titles, or was it unanimous from the start?
Leah: Well, we’d talked about it before.
Brittin: We had some funny ones too, like LiveonRelease Black or something stupid like that.
Foxx: Yeah, stupid things! A lot of it was inside jokes too. We talked about using a song title for the CD title too, but we thought it’d be better to use Seeing Red instead.

Where do you guys