Voyd
Virus: Tell me about the criticism your first album "the First Gay Album" brought you?Kevin: When we were booking our tour out west last summer, there were a few places in Alberta that wouldn't book us in because they did like dealing with the word gay, they were homophobes, and so they wouldn't let us play just cause of the word "gay" in the title, which lead to the title of our next album "it doesn't pay to be gay ...or anything else the bewildered herd deems deviant", because so many people in society are still segregating people based on sexual orientation....... and then a few people though we were being homophobic with the title, but after a brief explanation we cleared that up with them.
Virus: How did you as a band handle this?
Kevin: Well anyone who cared to have a conversation with us learned our Viewpoints, I think conversation is the key, if a person can give a Different viewpoint to someone else, a viewpoint that is more socially Sustainable, more just, then it makes our community a little more Cohesive, as for the places that wouldn't have us, we told a lot of People not to play their unless they want to support those kinds of Attitudes.
Virus: Your second album adds to the fire a bit, don't you think?
Kevin: The title of the first album was a little ambiguous and so we wanted to Make a clearer statement while still keeping a cynical sense of humor, Adding to "the fire" is what bands should be doing, not sitting back And creating complacent-radio-friendly-regurgitated-love-song-bullshit, Of all people, artists, musicians, writers...these are the people that Should be trying to ask questions with what they produce.
Virus: "A Somewhat Humble Beginning" is much calmer than your other two albums, why is that?
Kevin: Cause we were sitting back and creating complacent-radio-friendly-regurgitated-love-song-bullshit.
Virus: How was it recording this album?
Kevin: Recording this album was super sweet. We did it at 6-pack studios in Saskatoon with a guy named Steve Portman who used to be in a killer Ska-punk bands named the Portmans. He let me cook all my Italian Specialties in his kitchen, gave us martinis and home-made wine, plus it Sounds super good and only cost $300, and he has a great sense of humor So it was just a big gas the whole time, nothin' but enjoyment.
Virus: So you're #28 on CIUT and #29 on CFBX, how is all this effecting you?
Kevin: It's pretty cool that someone actually listened to it in another city, and that they are playing it on the radio; we have a friend in Halifax and they said they heard us on the radio the other day, if things like that would keep happening and maybe we could build up a national fan base and maybe get a small label behind us or a little support in some way, like distribution, that's all we could ever ask for.
Virus: Do you feel it's hard to get a name for yourself nationally in this country because of how sparsely laid out ppl are? What I mean by this is driving from Kamloops to Halifax you only hit about 20 major centers to play in, does this make it harder for you?
Kevin: Yah that is a little bit of a bummer, but I wouldn't ever really want our country to become too much more populated, if you look at USA, they hardly have any public space anymore, no scenery, nothin but cement, nothing but one big Babylon. The sparse layout of Canada is hard on gas, but it is good for the pen and the pad, there is a lot of stuff to see and write about up here, the little circumstances on the side roads and farmyards.
Darren by Kevin
Darren is the moral center of the band, always reminding us as to the ills of our ways. He is a devout vegetarian, favorite dish being chick-pea Ragu on a bed of rugala. In fact, him and I love cooking very much. He works at an evil trans-national corporate gas station, but he is trying to get a job that better reflects his sustainable means of existence. Darren can be found riding his bike up and down and around the streets of Saskatoon, always wear your helmet.... always. And at this very moment Darren stands naked beside me after just having had a shower. Loves reading Vonnegut, Orwell, Brecht...all that subversive stuff, but he has never read any Chomsky, shame on you Darren - shame!
Ryan and Paul by Dr. Darren Miller
Well, lets see, Peggs is the drummer-boy and Paul is the Bass-master. Peggs mostly just works on cars during the day, and then watches television at night. Pretty boring guy. But sexy, he is very thin and his veins stick out all over him like post-modern art, but he'll never play drums with his shirt off. He is quite conservative. Paul is French, and truly does love his wine. Has beautiful curly locks of crisp, brown hair...and is a wild man, wild like Charles Baudelaire. He went to school all year in Regina, but now he's back and here we go, on tour. Ou' et la Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test 2002.
With the tour already well under way (they hit my city a few days ago), and a solid CD to hit the road with, Voyd are a band to pay attention to. These'll have to tie you over till you pick up the CD.