|
Ryan Rothwell, vox/guitar of Toronto's The Visit did an email interview with me in June/06 about their new disc, label support, and challenges (and a few other things of course). Check them out at their CD release party at The Bovine on July 21!
|
|
Tell me about your experiences recording the new disc. Where / with who was it done?
Ryan: The record was done at Little King Studios, by Ryan Mills. We did it in his garage in his backyard, before he opened the studio he's got going now. Ryan was super swell to work with, he let us do whatever we wanted to do in order to feel comfortable. We went in on a Friday and laid down the beds in about an hour and just partied the rest of the night away. Saturday was vocals and very few overdubs and Sunday was finishing touches. In 9 hours, over a weekend we had done our first record. There are 3 tracks on the record that have extra guitar overdubs, so we kept the record raw. We actually did more lounging and hanging about than playing instruments but that's what we do anyways I guess. Who really plays for more than an hour straight? We did the record in July 2005, so it took a while to get it in it's final, packaged form. We actually have a second record written (which we are real excited about) and demos recorded for the majority of it but we got to get this one out first. You can hear some new demos on our myspace site...
Promo plans for this release?
Ryan: We will have to get a copy of the record to the local weeklies, make a flyer and poster the city, message boards and myspace, all that junk. It's basically a word of mouth thing though, we don't have PR people harassing all media outlets to put our pic in their mag or whatever. We do it ourselves by playing shows wherever we can, spreading the word that way. We have buttons and we're getting some shirts made, but even that is a way of expression just as much as promotion for us really.
|
Tell me about the CD release at the Bovine!
Ryan: We wanted to have the release at a venue we wouldn't normally play, in a place that has character. There is a certain crowd that goes there, and a certain type of music they would normally see or expect but they won't be getting that on our party. We want to be able to transplant our vibe anywhere, and there is a great rock and roll vibe to the venue itself to feed from. We will have a great lineup of bands as well, just waiting for some confirmations... but yeah it will be interesting to see what we can do to that place. I think it's going to be an unforgettable show.
Are you looking for label support? What are you looking for in a label?
Ryan: When The Visit started putting out our discs, we decided to start our own label. We called it Whistling Records, and we xeroxed our artwork at a kinko's, bought blank CDR's and jewel cases and hand assembled three ep's over a year. We decided to press our record, so we kept Whistling Records going for that as well. There are even other acts on Whistling now, Unreasonable Animals, Psychoderelict, the Red Fins and more. I do play in the latter two groups, but it's fun to have a label to keep it all organized under. As far as The Visit goes, we have never solicited a label for anything, if a label wants to work with us they can find us and go from there.
|
|
|
We obviously would want control over all aspects of our records and art direction, but it would be nice to be able to put out records and not lose so much money by paying for everything ourselves. I could never really see us on a major, there really isn't a point anyways. We aren't going to sell 15 million records so they wouldn't want us. Plus some Visit members are too ugly to be on magazines. I guess you never know though...
|
|
|
|
How important is it to you to be hands on about all the non musical aspects of The Visit? (fliers, cd artwork, web design)
Ryan: It's been that way since day one, we've designed everything from fliers to the ep's and records and our website. It's important to have an idea of what you want to portray your group as, and I would want to have some input on anything being done with The Visit. I wouldn't mind getting posters and designs made somewhere else though, and some people make some great designs too (Seripop, Doublenaut). I am a songwriter much more than a graphic designer, and if you leave someone to their own devices doing something they love and they know what you are about then it should be fantastic work anyways.
|
|
Ryan on Whistling Records
|
'When The Visit started putting out our discs, we decided to start our own label. We called it Whistling Records, and we xeroxed our artwork at a kinko's, bought blank CDR's and jewel cases and hand assembled three ep's over a year. We decided to press our record, so we kept Whistling Records going for that as well. There are even other acts on Whistling now, Unreasonable Animals, Psychoderelict, the Red Fins and more.'
|
|
Do you feel that you have any specific challenges or advantages being from/based in Toronto?
Ryan: I love Toronto, though I hate the smog. It's great having so many venues to play at all over the place, but there is always shows to compete with going on at the same time. It's fine though, if someone wants to see us they will come. There is a lot of groups that suck up to the industry side of things as well, because it's so prominent here. That I can't stand at all. Seeing things like that makes me feel even more validated in what we do and in what we write about. There is opportunity though, which is a good thing. If you are looking to play music and avoid getting a job, you probably are better off here than in any other place in the country. Well, here or Montreal I guess.
Who are some of your favorite local bands to play shows with?
Ryan: We've done a few shows lately with Action Makes, an awesome group with some killer songs. They also know how to party, and they keep up with us on that which is nice. There are some good bands here, The Mark Inside is another. They have some great new songs too, can't wait for their next release. Anagram, an amazing live band with a great album out too. I would be lying though if I didn't say that the majority of bands I've seen around are not anything that interesting.
If you've been in bands before this one, how has the experience been different this time around?
Ryan: This is the first full time group I've ever played in. I've played in many groups when I was younger, played some shows and all that but it wasn't anything that serious to me. This group really means something to me. I feel a strong musical connection in the group which has just begun to take a shape that is truly it's own. This is why I can't wait for the second record, the first record is great and I love it but the second one is really going to be something...
|
Anything you'd like to add that I didn't ask?
Ryan: I have a question... where are the all the groups with a voice today? We really need some new groups to kick everyone in their complacent asses all over again. Things are getting really ugly on a global scale and no one seems to address this these days. Neil Young puts out an anti-war record... that's great but he's an old bastard now. I love his music, don't get me wrong but we need a new breed to take this entire generation of young people and shake them up. The attention spans of everyone are dwindling away, no one cares to really take the time to realise what they will be waking up to. We have such a wealth of information at our disposals today, we just have to really use it. Forget the news stations on the TV, fuck CNN and the whole lot of them. They tell you something that keeps you serving the beast in the way they want you to be. CBC is ok, in comparison but screw that too. Don't you want better than ok? Who can we trust now? Who really has the people and their info as their number one agenda, instead of making money? We all need to wake the fuck up NOW. On a lighter note... Virus Zine rules!
|
|
|
|
5 Songs
|
Ryan's Playlist
1. Husker Du - Chartered Trips
2. The Nils - Scratches and Needles
3. Mission of Burma - That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate
4. The Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict
5. The Clash - Straight To Hell (live version)
|
|
5 Albums
|
Ryan's Playlist [5 albums]
1. Husker Du - Zen Arcade
2. Mission of Burma - V.S.
3. King Tubby - Crucial Dub
4. Hank Williams - 10 Greatest Hits
5. The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
|
|
|
|
