Quiet Color

by cheryl santa maria

I was able to catch up with members from The Stills and Hot Hot Heat on Saturday, at Nestea’s Chill on the Hill event at Glen Eden Ski Resort in Milton, Ontario.  An event overview is below but first, my brief interviews with the guys.

Artist: The Stills Song: Changes Are No Good

Artist: Hot Hot Heat Song: Talk to Me Dance With Me

…
Overnight success is extremely rare, a fact that Montreal indie rockers The Stills know all too well.  After seven years together and three albums under their belt the band is finally starting to reap the rewards of their hard work.  Earlier this year The Stills took home two Juno Awards – one for best alternative album (Oceans Will Rise) and the other, curiously enough, for best new group.

“Things take a really long time to happen [in the music industry],” Stills bassist/background vocalist Oliver Corbeil tells me.  ”I know that if I have kids, I’m not going to encourage them to get into [music] … It’s just so difficult [to become established].”

I can sympathize.  I’m a writer and I’m starving.

“Yeah,” Oliver agrees.  ”Writing too.  You need a lot of perseverance and if you’re getting into [music] then you have to be patient.  Really patient.”

The Stills’ fourth album, which is currently in production, is going to be a mish-mash of the band’s previous work and will feature experimental sounds like those used in the song “Panic”.  ”This album isn’t going to be that different from any of our other albums,” keyboardist Liam O’Neil says.  ”We’re trying to keep this [new album] similar so that you can, you know, link the albums together.”

Often noted for their 80s rock sound (in the past they’ve been compared to Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen), The Stills have a wide range of musical influences.  In addition to their “staples”, which include Radiohead, The Clash and Canadian musician Gonzales (“His solo piano
record is one of our all-time favourites,” says Oliver), the guys are also listening to current acts like Swedish techno artist The Field, retro indie rockers The Walkmen and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The Stills will be teaming up with Metric later this fall for a short Canadian tour.  I’m hoping to catch up with them when they hit Toronto October 20 and 21.

To find out more about The Stills, visit their website.

After speaking with Liam and Oliver I had the chance to chat with lead singer Steve Bays and drummer Paul Hawley from Hot Hot Heat.  They’re pretty much what you’d expect: interesting and upbeat – kind of like their music.

Since their 2002 debut Scenes One Through Thirteen, Vancouver, B.C.’s Hot Hot Heat has been busy writing and touring.  Their success was cemented in 2004 with the release of their sophomore album, Make Up the Breakdown, which brought us dance-punk hits like “Bandages” and “No Not Now”.  Two more albums – Elevator in 2005 and Happiness Ltd. in 2007 – have followed.

Hot Hot Heat’s latest album – which is yet to be released and will be titled Philistine With an Earring – is “pretty frickin’ weird.  It’s awesome,” Steve tells me. “It doesn’t sound like a Hot Hot Heat album, It’s more like a Hot Hot Heat album plus…”

“Plus an earring?” Paul suggests.

“Yeah,” says Steve.  ”But a golden earring, with a radar of love just emanating from its presence.  It’s a beautiful thing.”

Making the album, according to Steve, has been the easy part.  Promoting it will be more of a challenge.

“We’re notoriously bad at social media,” he says.  ”We should probably be more on top of [our Myspace and Twitter] … I just go into the studio every day and I write tunes and I jam and I do what a musician is supposed to do but I am horrible at hyping [my music] … I hate Twitter, but I love the band and I love that people come out to the shows and that people know about [Hot Hot Heat].  I’d rather be writing a song than promoting one and that’s probably my biggest curse.”

Having moved from indie label Sub Pop to Time Warner in 2005, Steve and Paul say that there’s a lot of corporate “overhead” that a band has to deal with when signed to a major label.  Philistine With
an Earring was produced independently.  ”We had to pull some strings to get off of a major label … but that was our choice.  The reason [we left Warner] was because we wanted to make a record in our own studio and on our own terms.”

“[And being independent] means that we have a lot more creative freedom [and] less people to answer to,” adds Paul.

Hothotheat.com will be up and running soon.  In the meantime, check the band’s Myspace for… stuff.  Keep in mind that they don’t update frequently, though.

If you get the chance to see these guys perform, I suggest you take it. They really know how to put on a show.

► All in all,  Chill on the Hill was a good day…

… complete with live snowboarding demos, a beach/volleyball party, copious amounts of free Nestea, as well as live performances from the above-noted.  The event went off without a hitch, except for the wonky weather.  Aside from the alternating bouts of rain and blazing heat, people appeared to be in good spirits.  The melty snow made it difficult for the boarders to land some of their tricks, but I guess that’s to be expected.  It is August, after all.

Both The Stills and Hot Hot Heat sounded great live. Although The Stills didn’t perform for very long – less than an hour, I think – they did play better-known singles like “Still In Love” and “I’m With You” and
took time afterward to participate in a Q&A with fans.  Headliners Hot Hot Heat also had a Q&A and played an impressive set.  Unfortunately their performance was abruptly cut short when it started to pour, right in the middle of the song “Bandages”.  Damn you, Mother Nature.

Event organizers aren’t sure if Chill on the Hill will become an annual event or if the festival will carry over into the states but if it does you should check it out.  Free music, a beach and snowboarding … what more do you really need?

Thanks for putting on a great party, Nestea.