© Jennifer Keith
The more you look the more you find. It’s a good rule of thumb to live by and a great
descriptor not only for Hawkeyes but the Canadian psych scene as a whole I
think. The more I’ve dug and picked,
peeping into the cracks and dark corners of the psychedelic sludge that is
seeping from Canada’s pores the more intense and insane it’s gotten, and
Hawkeyes are a perfect example of that.
An instrumental, four guitar, sonic assault of doom tinged face melting
psychedelia. By now you might be
familiar with my obsession with our great neighbors to the north as chronicled
in several earlier articles but Hawkeyes are the icing on the cake, the cherry
on top of the sundae if you will.
Running in the same circles, but not enjoying nearly the amount of
exposure as, Krang, Shooting Guns and Powder Blue all of whom I’ve already
talked to Hawkeyes are anything but followers bringing their own take on
psychedelic, metal, sludge rock. And
damned it it’s not awesome. With one
sold out tape and another on its way I thought it was long past time to sit
down with the boys from Hawkeyes and talk some serious shop. Three of the founding members Ron
“StreetKnife”, Patrick “PF/Pink Floyd” Finch and Stacey “SS” Schmitt took time
out of their busy schedules to finish this sucker, and it’s a doozy! If you’re not already listening to Hawkeyes
make sure you click the link below so you can follow along with through the
hazy smoke filled, foul stale beer stinking air…
© Jennifer Keith
What’s Hawkeyes
current lineup? Is this your original
lineup or have there been any changes?
PF: Hawkeyes are
myself on Les Paul guitar, Stacey Schmitt on hilariously over-sized drums,
Kaiser on Les Paul guitar, Blackout on Blackout custom 4 string bass, Lord
Streetknife on Explorer guitar and RA on Roy guitar. SS, Blackout and I formed the band and were
quickly joined by all of our cool friends who played guitar and were up for
shotgunning some beers and getting fuckin’ loud. As Blackout said at our initial practice “If
it’s not loud, it’s not allowed.”
Stacey: Hawkeyes is
and will always be Blackout, RA, Lord Streetknife, PF, Kaiser and myself.
Are any of you in
any other bands at this point? The more
I talk to people the more I realize that people these days are often in several
very active bands at once. Have you
released any music with anyone else? If
so can you tell us about it?
Ron: I play guitar in
Saigon Hookers. We’ve released two CDs
and three EPs over the last eight years.
All are available on iTunes, or from the boxes in my garage.
PF: Kaiser and I
released five records and toured in a band called the Stars Here for about ten
years. Now we play in the Hawk
Dawsons. I also play in Tree Lung with
SS and Hawkeyes’ artwork designer, Roan Master Bateman. RA plays in shit-tons of bands, basically
anyone who needs a stunt guitar player.
Streetknife is in Saigon Hookers and Blackout occasionally reforms his
Portland-based band Village Idiot.
Stacey: PF touched on
that, so there is not much I can add.
Where are you
originally from?
Ron: Kitchener,
Ontario, Canada.
PF: I was born and
raised in Kitchener.
Stacey: I’m
originally from a very small village called St. George. Now I’m a Waterlooian. Waterlooster?
Yeah, I live in Waterloo now.
Was the home you
grew up in very musical growing up? Were
either of your parents or any of your relatives extremely interested or
involved in music?
Ron: Nope. Music was in the car, on the radio, from A to
B.
PF: Not much in the
way of tunes in my house, but my uncle was, and is, a rad guitar player and
singer. He was a big early influence on
me. He looked kick-ass playing his
Gibson ES-325.
Stacey: Not at all
really. My parents made my brother and I
take piano lessons as kids and I really wish I retained that talent, but it’s
long gone. My pops played the fiddle at
some point in his life, but I never saw him play.
What was your
first real exposure to music? When was
that?
Ron: KISS. Paul Lynde Halloween Special, 1976 or
‘77? That’s all it took.
PF: I started buying
AC/DC tapes real cheap at Zeller’s when I was about twelve or thirteen. You could get their shitty 80’s albums for
about five bucks, which was still a little outta my range.
Stacey: Probably like
Streetknife it was the car radio and whatever LPs and 8-tracks my parents had
scattered around the house. There was
always music playing in the house, just not any instruments being played.
When did you
decide that you wanted to start writing and performing your own music and what
brought that decision about?
Ron: KISS. Paul Lynde Halloween Special, 1976 or
‘77? That’s all it took. Did I say that already
PF: I bought a
twenty-dollar guitar with babysitting money and got lessons. I learned lots of Hendrix and AC/DC before realizing
that guys that played in cover bands were chumps, so I started writing terrible
songs. They got a little better as I got
older…
Stacey: Probably in
grade nine or ten, so whatever age that was.
I heard albums by the bands godheadSilo, The Inbreds and Spacemen 3 and
although each are radically different in sound, they all hit me hard and made
me realize that I had been listening to horrible music and that needed to
change. Since The Inbreds and
godheadSilo were both just bass and drums, I went out and bought a shit Fender
Precision Bass and tried to emulate them by never turning off my distortion
pedal. I had a terrible band all the way
through high school with my best friend at the time and we had fun, but we were
pure rubbish.
If you had to pick
the most massively important, transcendent moment of music in your life what
would that be?
Ron: Stop asking
questions with the same answer.
PF: Getting called
on-stage to play guitar with my heroes, Rheostatics, was a real good one. First time I heard Are You Experienced? was
good too. It was a real “oh shit” moment
where I realized that this was what good music actually sounded like. Not radio, pop bullshit.
Stacey: As I stated
above, it was those three bands that really kicked my music love into gear,
that and when I first heard “Tom Sawyer” by RUSH on the radio. That song honestly made me stop in my tracks
and say “holy shit”! I went on a RUSH
rampage for the majority of my late public school career and most of high
school; still love those dudes. But more
importantly was when I heard Spacemen 3 and as a result Spiritualized later
down the line. To me, no one can even
come close to what Jason Pierce creates.
After hearing Spacemen 3 for the first time, it led me to an obsessive,
some might say worrisome, love of all things J Spaceman. To this day I worship at the altar of Jason
Pierce. Luckily my girlfriend’s very
understanding though.
Where’s Hawkeyes
currently located?
Ron: Kitchener,
Ontario, Canada. The Sweatlodge Coven.
PF:
Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario.
They’re practically one big city.
Stacey:
Kitchener/Waterloo Ontario Canada.
How would you
describe the local music scene where you all are at?
Ron: Vibrant,
overcrowded scene, of minimally to marginally talented singers, songwriters and
college musicians.
PF: Pretty alright,
actually. I think people treat music
pretty well in this town, despite people always arguing otherwise.
Stacey: It’s
alive. Not really a scene though, just
sort of pockets here and there. It’s a
bit cliquey with a lot of bands/artists not sharing the stage with different
genres and what have you, which is a bit of a bummer, but oh well. The house show scene here is very alive and
well and that rules. There are a couple
of promoters in town that like to book in places that usually wouldn’t have
live music and I think that’s incredible.
They are really stepping it up and bringing in some rad bands that I
wouldn’t have heard otherwise. I applaud
you Marc and Cory.
Are you very involved in the local music scene?
Ron: As little as I
can get away with.
PF: I write for the
local daily newspaper and I interview tons of local and touring bands as a
result. In the past, I ran a modest
label and put on lots of shows. Now I’m
old and jaded and lazy, thank god.
Stacey: Not as much
as I should or could be. I seem to
always find out about rad shows after the fact or right as they are happening. I understand that I can’t support everything,
nor would I really want to, but when I see people really put their neck out on
the line by booking shows that they’ll probably be losing money or breaking
even on, but still treating the bands like gold and making sure they have money
at the end of the night, well hell, damn right I will support that! So once again, I applaud you Marc and Cory.
Has the local
music scene played a large role in the sound, history or evolution of Hawkeyes?
Ron: Nope.
PF: Only in so much
as we are an anomaly within our “scene”.
Which is cool, you wanna hang on to that.
Stacey: Not at
all. Hawkeyes play a large role in
Hawkeyes’ history and evolution. It
seems like we sort of float on the outskirts of this city. More people know and care about us nationally
and globally than compared to our “scene”.
That’s not arrogant pretension or me knocking this city, we just don’t
want to wear ourselves thin in this town like some other bands. Wow, I sound like an asshole. That said the support we do receive when we
play here is incredible. We are very
humbled when people come to our shows here time and again and actually know our
songs. That’s a great feeling and I
thank each and every one of you.
When and how did you
all originally meet?
Ron: I’ve known
Blackout since I was ten years old. The
rest I met later.
PF: Kaiser and I have
been tight since we were in grade nine, I showed him his first guitar chords
and now he Yngwies all over me. We went
to high school with RA who was the hot-shit guitar player in school even back
then. SS was, and is, a regular at the
record shop I manage and we got tight bonding over Brant Bjork. Blackout and Streetknife are life-long
friends who we met through gigs and mutual acquaintances.
Stacey: PF and
Streetknife touched on that quite clearly.
They all knew one another and this yahoo came later. I will always be the new guy. I get hazed relentlessly. Screw those dingos.
What lead to the
formation of Hawkeyes and when was that?
Stacey: PF’s dream of
playing music with a lot of hunks.
Ron: PF’s stoner rock
dream.
PF: About two years
ago. I literally just had a dream one
night about forming a stoner band with SS and Blackout and woke up thinking
that was a great idea. I e-mailed them
and we made it happen. Everyone else
just wanted to hang. And it was a great
idea. Good dream!
What does the name
Hawkeyes mean or refer to? How did you
go about coming up with and choosing the name?
Ron: We love college
football teams from Iowa and/or Alan Aldas.
Stacey: I defer that
question to PF.
PF: Coming up with a
good band name is pretty much impossible, but Hawkeyes was one I’d had in my
pocket for a while; probably because of M*A*S*H. Turns out, there’s another shitty metal band
called Hawk Eyes. I haven’t actually
heard them, but I assume they’re shitty.
While we are
talking about Hawkeyes’ history can you share who some of your major musical
influences are? What about influences on
the band as a whole rather than individually?
Ron: Early: Kiss,
AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper,
Motorhead, lather, rinse, repeat.
Contemporary: Kvelertak, Hellacopters, Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid, Red
Fang, Turbonegro, Biters, Fu Manchu, Brant Bjork and so on and so forth.
PF: We have a lot of
influences musically; Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Brant Bjork, Ty Segall,
Dinosaur Jr. But I think we’re mostly
influenced by the possibilities that Hawkeyes gives each of us. We have no borders, no message, and no goals beyond
having a good time. We get inspired by
our phasers, flangers, guitars and cymbals too.
And our pot, and our beer, and our knowledge that we’re the only fuckers
that do what we do.
Stacey: I have
musical idols, but I’m not sure if they influence my playing at all, mostly
because I’m a hack caveman basher on the kit.
Plus, I wouldn’t want to copy their sound or style as they’ve already
done that and do it miles better. Not to
mention then the feel of my playing would be lost I think. As for drummers that I look up to; first will
always be John Stanier (Helmet, Tomahawk).
His work on the first four Helmet LPs are what drumming is all about to
me. Darren Verni (Unearthly Trance,
Serpentine Path) is another fave. Verni
just crushes the drums and his tone has always given me a drum boner. Same with Vinnie Signorelli (Unsane, Swans),
his plodding beats in Unsane are pure magic to me, just so primal and driving
yet intricate. The song could have this
blazing riff and he plays so slow at times it blows my mind. Dan Haugh (godheadSilo, Smoke and Smoke) just
always gives it his all and usually ends us puking as a result; I can relate to
that. Jim Ginther (Shooting Guns) is
mega rad too. I could watch him play
“Motherfuckers Never Learn” all day. In
fact I’m going to get him to do just that to appease me and to watch him collapse
around the twenty-two hour mark. Then
there’s always Neil Peart, yeah, typical drummer response, but damn. As for influences on Hawkeyes as a band; I
agree with PF. Our gear, tone and drugs
and booze influence us more than any outside source. We can barely remember our songs, so trying
to emulate others would be a pointless venture.
We basically cover our own songs every time we play.
There are a lot of
things that I love about music. I love
listening to music, I love sharing it with people and I love talking about
it. What I do not love is describing
music. I’m awful at it and it just never
seems to come off right and I waste a bunch of time on these really awkward
attempts at conveying these grandiose emotions about music that just come off
really stilted and, well, just dumb. How
would you describe Hawkeyes’ sound to our readers who might not have heard you
before?
PF: You know when the
Death Star explodes in Star Wars? We’re
like that; a giant, devastating explosion that’s equal parts joy and release
(the rebels), and terror and sadness (the imperials).
Ron: Cosmic space
doom… From space.
Stacey: I wish I
could channel my good friend Chris Laramee to answer this. I will go out on a limb and say space grass,
laced with LSD stoned astronauts on tequila and Nyquil binges trying to create
a black hole by harnessing the solar waves to relive their youth.
Can you tell us
about Hawkeyes’ songwriting process? Is
there someone who approaches the rest of the band with a riff or somewhat
finished product to work out and compose with the rest of the band? Or is there a lot of exchange of ideas and
jamming during practices with all the members of the band contributing
simultaneously?
Ron: Cram six dudes
in a small, hot, sweaty room and, instead of filming a gay porno, have one of
them start playing a riff. Allow magic
to happen.
PF: We don’t tend to
have finished products. We just each
make riffs and show them off. If the
riff is cool, we can usually build it into something humongous and scary and
melodic pretty fast. RA is a technical
wonder. He can play anything, and he
does. Streetknife is a metal guy who
could shred if he didn’t have such good taste.
Kaiser wants to be David Gilmour and Dean Ween. I try to hang tight and weird with SS and
Blackout to anchor the ship. As a
result, we all bring different approaches.
We work well enough with each other that we never step on each other’s
toes; we’re always making room for each other.
And we listen to each other.
We’re adorable.
Stacey: It’s all
about the jams man. I just try to put a
beat behind the electrically amplified waves and hope we remember what we just
birthed.
Do you all
enjoy recording? I mean I know that the
end result of the recoding process is amazing, there’s not a whole lot in the
world that beats having an album knowing that it’s yours and you made it. Getting into the studio and recording that
material though, it can be trying to say the very least. How is it in the studio for you all?
Ron: Recording
likey. The techie end of it is lots of
fun… And so is overdubbing guitars over
our already-four-axe cacophony.
PF: The nature of our
music dictates that we have to record live; it’s 90% improvised. We practice and write at RA’s studio, so when
we have something we like, we just press record. It’s very relaxed, set up some good mics and
let it rip for a few hours.
Stacey: I love the
whole recording process. I think it
brings out the best in all of us. It can
really push you to be awesome, and I need a lot of pushing to get to that
point. Mind you I nail my beats the
first time every time. Well, in my head
I do, and since we record live off the floor as a whole collective, my mistakes
can get buried in the swirling vortex those stringed instrument guys
create. I thank them for that. I dig watching those dudes pull sounds out of
their machines and then have RA isolate everyone’s tracks in the control room
to see what they’re doing. It blows my
mind that I get to play with these guys.
Do you do a lot of
prep work before recording getting arrangements just the way you want them or
is it more of an experimental off-the-cuff process with room for variation and
change?
Stacey: Our prep work
is trying to remember how our songs go.
Ron: Totally off the
cuff. We’ve never played the same “song”
twice.
PF: Always very
experimental. We try to practice just
enough; so its second nature, but nothing’s written in stone. Don’t get too comfortable cause it’s all
subject to change.
Last year (2012)
you released the Armageddon hailing sonic assault that was the SSS 002 A:
Spring’s Skull Splits Presents Hawkeyes cassette tape. With only two tracks and a thirteen minute
run time on your side it would have been easy to overlook, but man that album
is a freaking ripper! “Dawn Of The Deaf”
is a devastating song to say the least!
Can you tell us about recording the material for that first
cassette? Was it a pleasurable, fun
experience for you all? When and where
was that material recorded? Who recorded
it and what kind of equipment was used?
Ron: Other band
members/question answerers: Yours!
Stacey: Thanks dude,
glad you dig our debut vibes. It was
fun. It was my first recording
experience in ages and that was a blast.
I defer the equipment used aspect of this to RA as he’s the wizard in
that arena. We recorded it in a weekend
I think. There might be other tracks
recorded from that session lurking forgotten somewhere.
PF: Again, recorded
at RA’s studio by Ryan Allen, using whatever was around. All improvised; run a couple of takes and use
the best one. It’s always lots of
fun. We hang out, watch Midnight Special,
smoke pot, drink beer and have a lot of laughs.
Then we tune down, turn up and kick ass.
I unfortunately
wasn’t lucky enough to have picked one of those up as they sold out in three
days! Who was the split with? I know that the SSS 002 tape was limited, how
many copies was it limited to? Are there
any plans to rerelease that tape or at least your material from it?
PF: That split was
with Eyes Like Candy, a mental solo band by our pal Paul Copoc from the
Familiar Fiends. I think it was limited
to 50 copies; that material has since been re-recorded, some of it for our most
recent cassette.
Stacey: Yeah, it sold
fast; somehow. Not sure how many were
made, but the good, good people over at Springs Skull put together an
incredible package for that cassette.
Hand sewn, hand screened canvas bags closed up with 1” buttons of each
band represented. Class act and it made
us look legit, that’s a feat in itself.
No plans to re-release it. It had
its moment and that moment has passed.
You can download it for free off of our Bandcamp page for histories
sake.
You followed up
the Spring’s Skull Split with this year’s Poison Slows You Down cassette which
is also a limited edition, this time of one hundred though at this point there
are plans to press the album to vinyl in the future as well. Who put out Poison Slows You Down? Was the recording very different than the
session(s) for your earlier split? When
was this material recorded and who recorded it?
Where was it recorded and what kind of equipment was used?
Ron: We’re getting
into Stacey territory here. I don’t have
the inside track on all this releasey mumbo jumbo.
PF: We put out the
tape ourselves. The recording wasn’t
different at all, but we were a little older and wiser as a band by then, which
probably helped. And I remembered to
bring my Theremin.
Stacey: As PF said,
we released it ourselves and it was recorded the same way as SSS 002 A. I asked RA to make my drums and cymbals sound
huge and concussive, and he nailed it.
It was initially meant to be released as a vinyl split with the incredible
band Atolah from Holland. Sadly they
broke up during the process so that changed our plans a bit. We didn’t want to sit on these recordings any
longer, so we decided to release it digitally and on cassette to get it out
there. I ended up dubbing all of the
tapes myself as the pro-dubber we borrowed from a friends bands shit the bed
and so did PF’s deck, I was the only one left with the means to dub. So I got to hear this album one hundred times
in real time. I never want to hear it
again. I stamped/screened each cassette
with our logo and such, and then my girlfriend Rebecca, PF, our art guru Roan
Bateman and I had an assembly line to put them all together. Roan cut them out, I folded them, PF numbered
each one and Rebecca put the final package together. Good times.
With the plans to
press the cassette on vinyl are you guys solely concentrating on that or are
you working on any new material right now?
Are there any other releases in the works or on the horizon at this
point? I know you are you going to be
doing a KickStarter or IndieGoGo page for pressing the vinyl version of Poison
Slows You Down can you tell our readers how to get involved with that?
Ron: I learned a new
song on stage last week. And
crowdsourcing projects are in their death throes.
PF: We are always
working on new material. We’ve recently
written “The National Anthem” and “The New Real National Anthem”, both of which
are strong indicators of our way forward.
We’re going to put out the LP and then see what happens. We’ll
be paying for it ourselves though; no KickStarter or anything. I’m conflicted about that sorta thing and
Hawkeyes have no reason to be beholden to a bunch of shareholders. I’d rather people bought something we made,
rather than something we hope to make if we can raise enough money. Gross.
© Jennifer Keith
Stacey: We would love
to release this beast on wax but for now we might just focus on the next
recording as we just want to keep releasing stuff to keep it fresh and
alive. There are releases in the works,
some of which I am not at liberty to say more about yet; but they will be
rad. We really don’t believe in
KickStarter or IndieGoGo. If you can’t
afford to release your music in this day and age with all of the tools afforded
to you to do so, well, maybe you just weren’t meant to put stuff out. We would rather give our music away for free
than to beg our fans to pay for us for it.
That just seems kind of slimy.
Where’s the best
place for our U.S. readers to purchase your music?
Stacey: On our
Bandcamp page at the moment. I take care
of the mail order aspect of Hawkeyes. I
try to personalize each package I send out and I like to add bonus gifts in
there too. I try my best to get everything
mailed out a few days after people place their orders. So if you have a complaint, I guess I’m to
blame.
With the
completely insane international postage rate increases what about our overseas
readers? Whenever possible I try to
provide them with options when there are any!
Stacey: I do my best
to be honest on the postage when I mail stuff out. We just want people to have our music. We’re not in this to gouge our fans for extra
money on shipping. The postage rates are
nuts these days and if I have to lose a bit of money to make sure people get
our music, well I’m willing to do that.
I think most bands are.
Where’s the best
place for our readers to keep up with the latest news like upcoming shows and
album releases from Hawkeyes at?
Stacey: Our Facebook page for sure. We’re usually on top of
that shit.
Are there any
special or major goals that you’re looking to accomplish in 2014?
Ron: Add a fifth
guitar player. You know, to help round
out our sound.
Stacey: Simply to
play shows with rad bands and release a ton of music.
What do you have
planned as far as touring goes from the rest of the year? With the New Year rapidly approaching what
about 2014?
Ron: Either random
one-offs or a massive international tour preceded by the handing-off of a
briefcase full of money.
© Jennifer Keith
Stacey: What
Streetknife said, plus we have a major tour planned with Shooting Guns. We were able to get the use of Led Zeppelin’s
old airplane The Starship and the tour will take all eleven of us musicians,
our wives, girlfriends and our pets all over the world for about two years
straight. It’s written in the contract
that in year two of the tour, Hawkeyes get the synth wizard skills of Steven
Reed. Shooting Guns have had him to
themselves for too long, it’s our turn now.
© Jennifer Keith
© Jennifer Keith
Who are some of
your favorite bands that you’ve had a chance to share a bill with?
PF: I’m really
looking forward to playing with Sleepy Sun next month.
Ron: ShootingGuns. Period. And possible Sleepy Suns. It hasn’t happened yet.
Stacey: Shooting Guns
and Cellos for sure! Both bands are
beyond incredible and more people need to know about them. We can’t thank Shooting Guns enough for
spreading the word about us. We try to
repay the gesture as much as we can; same goes for Cellos. You will never meet nicer dudes than the guys
in Shooting Guns and Cellos.
In your dreams,
who are you on tour with?
Ron: I don’t tour in
my dreams. I run in quicksand from
zombies.
PF: My nude wife.
Stacey: 1st Battalion
9th Marines unit in the Vietnam War in 1969.
Do you have any
funny or interesting stories from live shows or performances that you’d like to
share here with our readers?
Ron: No.
Stacey: Not sure if
it’s funny, but the day of a show with Shooting Guns, PF got food poisoning,
Streetknife had to have emergency dental surgery and couldn’t feel his face,
led alone talk, and I ended up jabbing a screwdriver through my hand. One other show we were shut down by the bar
owner two minutes into the intro of our first song “Their Lust Grows With Their
Size”. She got all up in PFs face and
left soon after in a rampage when the crowd started chanting our name and that
we be allowed to play. Needless to say
we have not, and will not, ever play that shit hole again. As Blackout says, “we would rather turn off
than turn down”.
Do you have a
preferred medium of release for your music?
With all of the various methods available to artists today I’m always
curious why they choose and prefer the various mediums that they do? What about when you’re buying or listening to
music? If so why?
Ron: Written
transcript.
PF: We all like
vinyl. We’re junkies for it. CDs are boring. Tapes are cool and cheap, but even I don’t
really have the patience for them. You
get better artwork with vinyl too, which means a lot to all of us.
Stacey: Vinyl for
sure, but really I am not against any medium.
I’m an avid vinyl junkie but any physical media is important and I support
it. Hell, we release cassettes. We just want to get our music out there. We’re not doing it because of a fad or to be
hip, we just want to get it in the hands of people. Sometimes we take the path of most
resistance, but we get it to you.
Do you have a
music collection at all? If so can you
tell us about it?
Ron: It’s kept in a
room inside my house.
PF: I have hundreds
of records and CDs. Lots of everything
good. No bullshit. SS just owns whatever Am Rep or Sub Pop have
released limited editions of. I only
have stuff that rules.
Stacey: It’s huge and
it keeps growing. I love the fact that I
can use it to introduce my girlfriend to all sorts of bands and artists she
might end up digging. It’s a great
romance tool. Or am I a great romance
tool?
I’m an addict and
I readily admit it. There’s something
about physically released music that is almost magical to me. Having an album to hold in your hands, liner
notes to read and artwork to look at. It
all serves for a more complete listening experience, at least for me. Do you have any such connection with physical
releases?
Ron: It’s cool that
you dig vinyl records, but I think the larger issue here is your addiction!
PF: I don’t download
and I don’t really burn CDs. I really
don’t think computers are suited to being stereos. I like to put my money down. I have no problem paying for stuff I like, or
even paying for stuff that I might like.
It’s a good gamble and sweeter when it pays off. When I was young and buying music, that
twenty dollars was hard to come by. So
when I bought a record, I had to justify that purchase and find reasons to like
records. My investment was real and I
think that increased my enjoyment.
Today, I’m still broke, so I still have to invest wisely.
Stacey: Like I said,
I support all physical media. I need to
have it in my hands. I dig when
bands/labels put download codes in their releases, as we do, so you can have
the portability aspect. But I need to
hold music media in my hands. I’m a nerd
about it all too and love reading the liner notes and making connections to
other bands and such. It’s great.
As much as I love
my music collection I can’t deny that I dig on digital music as well. The ease and portability still amazes me, I
never thought there would come a day when I could lug around my entire music
collection and not have to worry about dinging, denting, bending, warping or
scratching it. There’s always good and
bad with any situation though and while digital music when teamed with the
internet seems to be leveling the playing field for independent artists willing
to promote themselves and keep up an online presence, it’s also destroying
decades of infrastructure inside the music industry. As an artist during the reign of the digital
era what’s your opinion on digital music and distribution?
Ron: Adapt or
die. And then die.
PF: I’m a record
man. I’m in Hawkeyes and we release
tapes and wax. We’ll include digital
downloads so you can burn it for listening to it in your car, but that’s about
it. Digital music is an easy game, and
we’re difficult, pretty much across the board.
Stacey: I’m all for
it. I have my iPod with me when I drive,
go for walks, etcetera. And yeah, having
my entire collection with me at the touch of a button is still mind
boggling. But when I’m home, the digital
files go away and the wax gets placed on the turntable. I love the connection and dedication you have
to have when listening to LPs. But as
far as the ease of use with digital files, yeah, I’m all for that. Like Streetknife said, you have to adapt, but
you can’t forget your roots. Shit, I’m
getting preachy. Shut up SS!!!
If you can’t tell
I’m passionate about music! I love
listening to a new band, learning and experiencing something that I’ve never
seen or heard before. Who should I be
listening to from your local scene or area that I might not have heard of?
Ron: Saigon Hookers,
and I’m not just saying that because I’m in the band. Okay, I am.
Stacey: Two bands in
our city that I really dig are Sierra and Exalt. Both are recently signed to great labels and
are touring their dicks off. Sierra just
got back from a month long US tour with Kylesa and apparently slayed. I don’t think Exalt ever stops touring.
What about
nationally and internationally?
Ron: My iPod played a
song on Shuffle while I was at the gym yesterday. I stopped to look and see what it was because
it was awesome and I hadn’t heard it before, but now I forget.
PF: Fuzz, Sweet
Apple, Sleepy Sun, Heavy Blanket and The Warlocks.
Stacey: Nationally;
of course I’m going to say Shooting Guns and Cellos. Others that are really twisting my melon are
Holy Mount from Toronto, Crosss from Toronto/Halifax, Powder Blue and Wasted
Cathedral from Saskatoon, Krang from Edmonton, Comet Control, Ex-Quest For Fire
blokes, from Toronto and Familiar Fiends from Brantford. Internationally, hmmm... The usual suspects like Cult Of Dom Keller,
Carlton Melton, The Warlocks, Night Beats, A Place To Bury Strangers, Crippled
Black Phoenix, Sleepy Sun and Dead Skeletons.
Thanks so much for
taking the time to do this interview, I know it wasn’t short or easy but
hopefully it was at least a little bit fun.
Is there anything that I missed or that you just want to talk about?
Ron: Man, I wish I
could remember that song. It was a
dude’s name I think, possibly Spanish.
PF: My wife’s
breasts. They’re dynamite.
Stacey: Pat’s wife’s
breasts may be dynamite, but my girlfriends are out of this world.
DISCOGRAPHY
(2012) Hawkeyes – SSS
002 A: Spring’s Skull Splits Presents
Hawkeyes – Cassette Tape – Spring Skull Recordings (Limited to ? copies)
(2013) Hawkeyes –
Poison Slows You Down – Cassette Tape – Self-Released (Limited to 100
hand-screened copies made by the band in four colors: orange, blue, pink and
green)
Interview made by Roman Rathert/2013
© Copyright http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2013
