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The Johnstones being in my opinion one of the best ska punk bands out there to date were one of the bigger names of Canadian Music Week and this was one band I had been meaning to interview for a while now. They’re unpredictable, crazy, energetic, and they always offer an adrenaline rush of fun and excitement. I had been talking with Ryan Long of the Johnstones over email for a couple days about doing an interview with the band and he offered that since he wouldn’t be available that night he would ask one of the other band members to help me out.

A cold Friday night in March at the El Mocambo during Canadian Music Week I met up with Brent Marks of the band who I had previously met at Cutting Edge Fest the previous summer. Brent is hands down one of the most insightful, down to earth, fun, and relaxed performers I’ve ever interviewed. He showed me a whole new side of the band, told me about some of their new stuff in the works, and told me the long journey they’ve gone on from starting the band off in high school up until now.

Adrian – How did you guys end up meeting and how did the Johnstones end up forming?

Brent Marks – Well we met up in high school but in different bands, we played some small punk shows, this was around grade nine, and then near the end of high school we started up the Johnstones and from there we started playing bigger shows.

Adrian – Now this has been on my mind for a while now but what’s the story behind the band’s name exactly?

Brent Marks – So in grade eleven there were three members in the band with a different name at the time. Kevin Johnstone was the bassist for the band but he didn’t end up meshing well with the band so he was kicked out and I ended up replacing him. From that, his last name ended up sticking with the band and has been with us ever since. I really hope he finds humor in all of this, I mean he could still be pissed over the whole thing but I just find it funny.

Adrian – Now I’ve heard a lot about this new album you have in the works, can you tell me a bit about it?

Brent Marks – Well we just finished tracking today but this was the first time that we made a real album. It’s a culmination of a longer period of time, it’s very diverse, and in my opinion is hands down our best album to date. I really think our fans are going to love it.

Adrian – At the end of “The Governator” there’s a line that you have that sounds completely mumbled, what is it that you actually say there?

Brent Marks – (laughs a bit) Oh yeah I remember that, it was actually Rene who ended up putting it in there as a joke. I was in Las Vegas while they were finishing that part and this always seems to happen to me when I go away, but the line is “I can’t I have a dick in my mouth”.

Adrian – Has it been rough at all on this big journey to become one of the bigger bands out there today?

Brent Marks – Not really, I mean starting out at first was a little rough, there were a lot of low points, but it’s a lot easier now. I mean we’re staying in hotels now instead of living in vans, it’s basically a relative life of luxury compared to when we were first starting out. We’re all very happy, we can tour for a lot longer, we’re comfortable with each other, we basically have this whole thing down to a science.

Adrian – What is it that sets you apart from other bands in the genre?

Brent Marks – We try to get our own sound, and basically we do our best to have a very original soun. We put a stamp on everything we do, we have our internet videos, our hip hop stuff, and a lot of other side stuff as well. We do what we want to do; we go crazy on stage and just have a good time with it. It’s all about just having fun doing what you like.

Adrian – What’s the craziest thing you or the band have done on or off stage?

Brent Marks – That’s really tough because we’ve done a lot of crazy things together as a band. Playing at warp tour the past year we ended up playing in diapers. While we were in England we pushed each other in shopping carts drunk down some huge hills. We got kicked out of Disney Land and we’re not allowed to go back there ever again. It just seems like a lot of trouble starts up when you get drunk.

Adrian Kowalski – What is it that you most enjoy about being in a band?

Brent Marks – It beats having a real job. I mean I love all the travelling, being with the same people for 5 years, having lots of fun, all the collaborating and just all of us being motivated to do this and stick with it. Seriously, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world.

Adrian – Now this past summer, you guys played a show at Cutting Edge Music Fest, and as part of that you held a little sex ed session, what was that like?

Brent Marks – It was a fun little thing that we did.

Adrian- Yeah as I remember I ended up volunteering for the whole putting a condom over a banana with your mouth part even though I had no clue what I was volunteering for at first.

Brent Marks- Yeah we had a real hard time getting volunteers for that but it’s awesome that you actually volunteered, seemed like you had fun with it.

Adrian- I most certainly did. Then there was the whole sex talk on various positions and that one guy made the reference to something called the reverse oil rig.

(We both end up laughing over this)

Brent Marks- I remember that, can’t remember the guy who demonstrated for us, but I still don’t believe that it can be really done. The whole thing is that you just have to be funny, nothing gets by anybody. It’s easy to do this kind of stuff, it’s just fun and I love goofing off for a good twenty minutes. I mean being serious all the time just really sucks, so you just got to have fun and not take life so seriously.

Adrian – Now was there any big transition going from your first EP to the second?

Brent Marks – The first one we wrote at seventeen, back when we didn’t have the song writing expertise that we do now. The second we actually did in studio and turned out a lot better and cleaner sounding than the first. We try to make and put out our best stuff now. We can actually take time now to make our stuff better, the first EP we made was done in our basement, but we’ve expanded since then to a point that more suits our lifestyle.

Adrian – Lastly if you could have any super power in the universe, any at all, what would it be?

Brent Marks – I would definitely have to be X-ray vision. I’d be looking at girls all the time and totally check them out naked, like why not. I guess I could also check out scratch and win tickets too, which would be pretty amazing too.

Adrian – Seems like a lot of bands that I’ve talked to now have also chosen that same power. (I laugh for a bit at this)

Brent Marks – Well guys in bands just like girls, especially seeing them without clothes.

(We both laugh)

Adrian- That’s so true, it would come in handy at all times, no matter where you are. I got to thank you so much for this interview Brent, it was unreal.

Brent Marks – No problem at all man, total respect, you’re staying for the show aren’t you.

Adrian – I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

After watching yet another amazing show performed by one of my favorite bands to date. They came out on stage without shirts and played their brains out and with them there’s never a dull moment to be found. I stayed after the show and got a couple pictures with the Johnstones, hung out with them for a couple minutes, said my goodbyes, and was back off into the nights, with memories of probably one of the best interviews I will ever have with any band.

Bring It Back Around by The Johnstones
The Governator by The Johnstones
Gone For A Longtime by The Johnstones

Tags: Interview