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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

A humorous and upbeat follow up to their last album “Word Is Bond”, which takes a whole new direction while keeping up to their old antics at the same time. Definatley worth the couple bucks.

The Good – Great price, could be the cure for depression, amazing vocals, clear and crisp sound, awesome cover of “Lump”, hilarious lyrics, great variety of instruments used, awesome follow up, bonus track

The Bad – Really short, tracks may sound repetitive, album makes band come off as arrogant and womanizing

Lets talk about SEX. No, not about the action shared between a man and woman or however else you may do it. I’m talking about The Johnstones latest album, which was a must buy for me after seeing them for the first time at Cutting Edge Fest this year. Trust me, this is an album you will definatley want in your collection if you’re a huge ska fan.

The Johnstones have outdone themselves with this album. A whole lot cleaner and even more estatic than the last, they have proven that they can go over and beyond to make an even bigger name for themselves. The two songs that stand out the most on this album for me would be “Bank”,”Tonight”, and “Bring It Back Around”. But there in lies one of the first problems I found with the album because I basically just named off every track on the album right there. It’s actually that short of an album.

What it lacks in length, it sure does make up in value. The album is priced at only 5$ and is an incredible deal for an album that bursts fourth with so much attitude and zazz. First time listening to the album I remembered I was smiling the whole way through it. Their music is just so happy and upbeat that you can’t help but crack a smile. Even looking at the lyrics, you’ll get a huge kick and a laugh from what some of the songs are actually about. This especially includes the secret bonus track at the end of the album entitled “The Governator” where the two lead singers, Ryan Long and Jarek Hardy, verbally attack each other throughout the song, which I can’t help but laugh any time I hear it played.

Looking at the lyrics also shines another side on the band. If you read over the lyrics for some of the songs, the band comes off as way too womanizing and arrogant. Then again it’s all part of the fun of being in a band thats continually getting more attention every year.

Now if you listen to the album long enough you’ll find that tracks do start sounding repetitive but what I find is that you just have to find something in each song to differentiate it from the last or at least within the vocals or guitar and you’ll remember that each song is unique in its own perspective ways.

I don’t know what it is about The Johnstones but I just love the harmonizing vocals between Jarek and Ryan. There’s just something about them that makes their two vocals work and there’s a perfect chemistry between them where if any other one of them left the band and was replaced by someone new, I just think the entire band would fall apart. There vocals intertwine and mix in such a fashion where they create a sound that’s nothing like anyone else and their voices just have this effect of putting a smile on your face no matter what.

The number of instruments used within the album is incredible, but then again when you’re a ska band, it’s bound to happen. It’s just amazing to hear all these instruments being played so well and working great on each track coming in as crisp and as clear as on the last. Each member of the band knows his instruments like the back of their hand and it shows throughout. Their last album which was also their first sounded a lot less professional in my opinion, but hearing SEX I’m comfortable enough to say that they have proven that they can improve and have practised and worked hard at bringing out this excellent piece of work. Hopefully they continue on with this and if they do I can see more great hit albums for them down the line.

Overall SEX is truly a great album which I wholly recommend to most everyone even if you’ve been under a rock the last couple years and haven’t heard an ounce of their music. For 5$ this album is truly a steal and hopefully they’ll have more great releases for us in the future.

8.5/10

Bring It Back Around by The Johnstones

Tonight by The Johnstones

Bank by The Johnstones

Now time for the conclusion to my in depth look at Cutting Edge Music Fest 2008.

I left off talking about the single most entertaining event hosted by any music group in the history of my experiences at music festivals. The Johnstones were going to talk to us about anything and everything to do with sex; not to be confused with their newest album by the same name which I shall be reviewing in the weeks to come.

I volunteered myself to help them out with one of their activities of putting a condom in our mouth and rolling it over top of a banana. Who should beat everyone else at this activity but me; I’m ashamed of my talent but at least the Julian and Brent of The Johnstones thought it was freaking amazing. It was the best time I ever had hanging out with a band, and they didn’t turn down a single question no matter how sexual or perverse it was.

Now onto the part of the review where I actually talk about the music itself.

The bands that I went to see that day were just a slice of the pie that was awaiting that weekend. The first band I went to see up close and personal were of course The Johnstones who I had actually never listened to before this as with many other bands I saw that weekend. The Johnstones played a pretty solid set although I didn’t stay for the whole thing because I ended up meeting a couple different women that weekend if you know what I mean. The Johnstones appealed to me because I love ska, they just play so upbeat that you can’t help but shed a smile while listening to them. They like to joke around a lot as well, they’re like if you took 5 class clowns from an entire school, gave them some instruments and told them to play in a band together. That’s The Johnstones in a nutshell right there, and because I liked them so much I actually went and bought their CD later that day.

Next up was Guns’N’FN’Rosez, a cover band for the original Guns N Roses, who left me thoroughly pleased and totally surprised. These guys played like they were the real deal and had the crowd wanting more. Most cover bands don’t usually meet my expectations and especially when you’re covering a band as big as Guns N Roses at that. These guys even had their own Slash! They played their set list flawlessly and best of all they played my favorite Guns N Roses song “Knocking on Heavens Door” which is a cover itself.

Now for a little two in one action review of both USS and Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys. The two are more similar than you would guess, and both I got to watch from backstage and actually stand beside while they played in front of a giant audience. USS I had heard about a week earlier on the radio a couple times but had no idea that it was them at the time. They had a unique performance, better than most of the other bands that played that day probably because they’re better known. Suffice to say they had dancers, props and a whole bunch of stuff going on all at once on stage which made their performance a lot more entertaining to watch. I’ve now become addicted to the songs “2 and 15 16ths” and “Hollow Point Sniper Hyperbole”, those two songs have been in my top playlist for the last couple weeks now and they’re just so catchy that I haven’t been able to get them out of my head since. As for Mix Master Mike, he was the headliner of the day. Didn’t have much time for any of the fans seeing as his plane was late, he basically gave 2 minutes of his time to each of the VIP guests such as myself before he went on stage. Soon as he started mixing he got everyone dancing, and I mean everyone. I was a little too interested in the girl I was with at the moment to care too much about the music but the one song I really got into and stopped everything for was his remix of BYOB by System of a Down, one of my all time favourite bands.

Day two was the big day for the bands as a lot bigger and well known bands there that day including such favourites as Ten Second Epic, illScarlett, Shotgun Rules, and my all time favourite band; Alexisonfire.

The bands I just listed there were my most highly anticipated bands for the day and will be the ones I talk about here even though there were many more that I could go on about and who were just as good.

Shotgun Rules made a lasting impression on me because not only did they help sign something for a friend back home so I could cheer him up with something signed from one of his favourite bands of all time but they actually talked and chilled with me more than most other bands that weekend. I bought their CD even before having actually listened to them that day and getting a chance to actually hear some of their material. Fugitives and Refugees will be another CD I’ll get to in a matter of time. Despite all that I promised I would come out to see them after chilling with them early on within the day. I got to see them from backstage and although I did find some of their material to set me off, I generally enjoyed myself and found that their music was something I had to let grow on me, which it has over the last little while. Suffice to say they were ecstatic in their performance and that’s usually what I look for the most when I’m watching a band live.

Ten Second Epic was a band I had heard of basically anytime I would talk to one of my friends back home but never actually heard of their material before. Basically she knew a couple members of the band so I decided hey if she likes them so much, maybe I’ll give them a chance. They actually surprised me in more ways than one. Although I don’t remember any of the titles to any of their songs, and can’t remember a single word from any of their songs, I still found myself bobbing my head to each and every note like they were a band I had seen a million times before. None of their songs really opened my eyes and made me go wow I must get this CD, or hey this is such an awesome song I must download it as soon as I get home. I just found that their music was really awesome to just chill out to and enjoy it for what it was.

Now onto the two biggest names of Cutting Edge Music Fest 2008; illScarlett and Alexisonfire.

IllScarlett was a band I had never really listened to up until Cutting Edge Fest, but found myself getting a lot more into the more I listened to the m that day. I’ve had friends go on about how awesome they were, how awesome they played live, and how I should buy all their CD’s because they were just that great. I just never decided to do any of that or listen to any of them up until I actually watched them play live there in Grand Bend, Ontario. They were simply amazing, hands down amazing, like it wasn’t like they were rock gods or anything but they played like they were playing for the fans and not just themselves which became a lot more evident later on that night. My two favourite songs by them are now “Heaters” and “Life of a Soldier”. I can’t say that I loved all the songs they played that day and was waiting on the more popular songs that I had heard them play on the radio or that friends had played for me a couple times but then again that’s basically how it is with all bands. Overall they played a fantastic set list that more than pleased the illScarlett fans that had packed the entire field which hadn’t been seen at all since Mix Master Mike the previous night. IllScarllett also played a private acoustic session for all the VIP’s later that night which gave me a chance to meet up with the band in person. They are very loyal to their fans and even asked if the whole private session could become a full public session which it somewhat became in the end with the exception that the non VIP’s had to stand behind a gate to watch. It was a great experience and got closer to illScarlett than I think I shall ever be again. I even got to toke one up with Alex and chilled with him for a bit which has now become one of my favourite celebrity encounters to date yet.

Finally we get to the grand finale and grand puba of all performances of Cutting Edge Music Fest 2008; Alexisonfire. I knew I would have to get their early to get a good view of my favourite bands of all times, and I was correct. I got there an hour early and found that getting front row was going to have its cost. By getting front row I was rewarded not only a chance to have a better view of this most epic band but also the reward of getting every bone in my body squished and bruised. It had its cost but was totally worth it, I was not moving for anybody or anything. What can I say, Alexisonfire is truly amazing, there’s nothing bad or wrong I can say about their performance whatsoever. The only thing I can say though is that all they played was their mainstream stuff which seems to be the way they roll these days. Close to nothing off their first two albums played that night, mostly everything and anything off of Crisis. I don’t have a beef or grudge with that at all, it’s just that I would have liked to hear some of their earlier stuff played too, you know like before Dallas Green became the main part of the band and all. All in all it was an amazing performance just would have preferred some of their more early work in the mix there as well is all I’m saying. I stayed an hour after the concert just to see Dallas Green after all the other concert goers had left. It took me multiple times to get Dallas’ attention while he was helping to clean up the stage and it was finally after I flashed my Alexisonfire heart skull tattoo that I got to meet and chill with him for a couple minutes. He was an okay guy just seems a little stuck up now that he’s like the biggest thing to come out of Canada since Rush or The Tragically Hip.

To close things off here, I’ll make the comment that this was definitely the best weekend of my entire life and was just what I need to relieve some of the stress I had been under for a while. I’m definitely heading back next year because although I didn’t put in everything that had happened to me that weekend, it was a blast every single day I was there. Made tons of new friends, four of which I still keep in contact with and plan on seeing real soon, many random adventures that even got me on the radio, great bands, great food, and just memories to last a lifetime. If ever you get the chance to attend Cutting Edge Music Fest in years to come I would totally recommend going, you won’t regret it one bit. Four days of pure partying and two days of amazing bands, you just can’t go wrong. I loved it there and I’m more than sure you would too. Hope to see some of you out there next year. As for me, this is me signing off for now but be sure to check in next week when I review Scars on Broadway’s debut album. Keep on rocking.

Sunny Days by The Johnstones
Brooks Was Here by Shotgun Rules
Count Yourself In by Ten Second Epic
Knocking on Heavens Door by Guns N’ Roses