Well, it is done. The Limbic System CD is now out there, and I hope whoever is listening is enjoying the songs we worked so hard on this past year.
I would like to throw some thanks out there and quickly recap the process that was The Limbic System.
First off, Sonic 102.9. Thanks to everyone there and in particular Dave Sawchuk. Our selection for November band of the month really pushed this project into high gear. We wanted to show people what we were capable of, and I feel Blue Skies really captured where we were musically and what was to come with The Limbic System.
Thanks to everyone who helped us write and record the album. There were a lot of people involved in all aspects. Current and former members of the band, Tim Plamondon of The Unfortunates, and Paul Smith and Christan Maslyk of Paul Smith Music were all critical in the writing and recording process. Everyone's input and insight really helped make these songs the best that they could be.
I would like to thank all of the media outlets that helped spread the word. A huge thank you goes out to the ones that weren't even contacted! All of the radio, print, online and TV promo was a huge help and we know the release wouldn't have been as successful without it.
Everyone involved with the release, what can I say, you guys were great! Owen at Guru with some amazing projections while the bands were on stage! Rend, The Gibson Block, and Hearsay were all amazing and brought so many of their friends and fans, so we thank them so much for that. John Kennedy at The Pawn Shop knows how to throw a party! Travis from Siiines on the soundboard did a great job, and Heather and Bryann were a huge help with our merch.
The biggest thank you has to go out to all of our friends, family and fans that came and rocked out with us! It was the most fun we have ever had as a band and we can't wait to do it again!
We just posted a brand new episode of Crazy Tour Stories featuring the electro/rock band, SIIINES, shares one of their crazy stories from while on tour. You should go watch the video at http://digtb.us/SIIINES
St. Maurice, Milhaus, Matt Minigell and Siiines Playing Tonight
Tonight, Gashouse Live (normally weekdays 6-10pm ET) will be very short episode as we head out to the Open Jam at 7pm
The bad news is that we are cutting Gashouse Live very short tonight. In fact, we will only be live for 1 hour. At 7pm ET we sign off, jump in the Gashouse mobile and head over to The Legendary Dobbs to host the Tuesday Night Open Jam.
Los Angeles-based SIIINES just wants their listeners to groove and be in the moment - a sentiment that is definitely clear on the band's latest release, an EP called Fukushimarama!. Full to the brim with electro dance beats, snarky humor and an "in-your-face" punk attitude, Fukushimarama! is sure to delight both existing fans and newcomers to SIIINES' electro-rock mix. We recently sat down with member Morgan Gies to chat about the new EP, the band's unique sense of humor, and their dream tour - on Mars, of course.
Tell me a little about yourself – where you’re from, what your favorite high school hangout was, and the first album you ever owned.
I was raised in a city called St. Albert just north of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It’s cold… very cold. My favourite high school hangout was probably music class. I’d skip other classes and sit in with the jazz kids or concert band. I think the first album I ever owned was either Guns N Roses’ Appetite For Destruction or Weird Al Yankovic.
Your “info” section on Facebook (the center of all accurate knowledge) cites Motely Crue, David Guetta, Nirvana and Deadmau5 as huge influences on your work. How do you incorporate all these different sounds? What ideas do you take from each group?
Ha! It’s impossible to articulate every influence on an idea but those bands are a means of better articulating feelings or sounds from seemingly juxtaposed genres - not just those acts specifically. There are a host of acts we love from both the rock and EDM sides of the fence in addition to the ones already mentioned. The biggest thing we wanted to take from the rock side was a sense of aggression and that sort of ‘I don’t give a fuck’ punk rock attitude. From the Deadmau5, David Guetta side of the fence, we wanted to pull new and interesting sounds with grooves that make people want to move and enjoy the moment… something that’s missing from the all-too-serious rock world these days.
Tell me about your EP, Fukushimarama!, that’s set to drop on February 11, 2014.
Fukushimarama! musically is a continuation of the exploration of this marriage of genres. We’re pushing ourselves to surprise each other with form and arrangements. Additionally, we enlisted the help of our friend Ari Rhodes who after we had written, recorded and produced a track would take it and essentially remix the song, sometimes in a totally unexpected way. It was like the triple distillation process of fine vodka! Lyrically, we wanted to explore some wider cultural themes related to the way that we distract ourselves from the things that really matter and effect us whether that’s lust, drugs, money, celebrity or music.
I’ve been lucky enough to have a little sneak peak of the EP and I’ve noticed that as lyricists, you guys definitely have a sense of humor. Is this an important part of your music?
I think so, but not in a really goofy, Blink-182, “fuck your grandma” kind of way. It’s more subversive and sarcastic, I think. If you open your eyes and look at the world around you, you can’t help but laugh. TMZ, Krokodile, fast food culture, etc. It’s a fucking joke and no one acknowledges it. They just keep the party going like Jager’s never gonna run out.
Because every artist and band always has a unique approach, I’m always interested in how musicians handle songwriting. What’s your songwriting process like?
I think the worst thing you can do when creating is have yourself stuck in a process. I feel as though when you walk to the same places, you see the same things. You become predictable, and predictable is boring. In that vein we’re trying to create in as many different ways as possible, it might be a chord on a guitar or the sound a plug-in or guitar pedal makes, a lyric, a feeling or just chopping up a vocal and playing with it for a couple hours. There really is no one way for us. The best example would be Travis. Historically Travis hasn’t been involved musically as much as lyrically and melodically but for this EP, there are a couple tracks (whelps, inhuman nature) that began with ideas that he created on his own, learning about electronic production and just musical ideas in general. That sort of unrestricted creation makes exciting things; that no one else might have come up with.
What do you hope your listeners get out of your music?
We want them to shake and convulse, and after they’ve worn themselves out, hopefully we’ve given them a reason to question their world and what it means to be alive.
If you could create your own dream tour –headlining, of course, SIIINES – what other artists would you add to the bill? Where would you play?
Blonde, Fleetwood Mac and Kraftwork. We’d play on Mars. At a taco shop. …you did say this was a dream, right?
Lastly, where do you see yourselves in five years?
Hopefully we’re still making art that excites us and questions standards and ideals… and eating tacos. Fresh, authentic Martian tacos.
