| "Our families are happy as hell about it," says Jason Darr of Triple Six (the band formerly known as Flu). "It’s such a relief for everyone, I think."
What’s the big news? The local quartet has just been signed to Zomba/Jive Records – home of Britney Spears, N’Sync and Tool (the only other band on the label’s roster that makes Triple Six’s signing make sense).
A steady buzz has surrounded the members of Triple Six for a couple of years now. They’ve been flown to major cities across the continent to perform for record executives, thereby igniting local speculation about what the heck would happen with this band. No one knew exactly what was happening – including the band. While they admitted that record labels were interested in signing them, they weren’t offered the official signing until now.
In fact, Jive/Zomba was not the only label that was really close to signing them. Before Jive/Zomba, there was DreamWorks. Before DreamWorks, there was Warner. Seems like every A&R person in the industry has been intrigued by their self-described Nine-Inch-Nails-meets-the-Beatles vibe. Or maybe it’s their tightness and professionalism.
Triple Six (they had to lose the moniker Flu because Proctor & Gamble holds the rights to the name) is made up of four familiar faces. These guys have been slugging away in the local scene for years in groups like Kybosh, Stampede Queen and One-900. Needless to say, the signing is a well-deserved outcome.
"For us all, it’s just to get a chance to be a full-time musician. To actually have a crack at doing what we want to do is the best part about it. So hopefully, we won’t screw it up," says Darr, laughing.
Major label interest initially began when they played a showcase in Toronto during Canadian Music Week 2001. Every year, a slew of bands play these events in the hopes that someone with some industry clout will be interested in their sound.
"We started a frenzy somehow," says Darr. "We had U.S. labels coming out of the woodwork."
They were flown to New York courtesy of Columbia and DreamWorks, making them one step closer to a bona fide record contract, DreamWorks flew them to Vancouver to record with producer Dave Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson). Afterwards, DreamWorks passed.
Despite the disappointing setback, the band took the DreamWorks-financed demo and shopped it around to other labels. They got back on the proverbial horse and began playing showcases all over again. Their first showcase was for Jive/Zomba and, as Darr says, they’ve been tied up in negotiations with them ever since.
They weren’t on the homestretch yet – one of the label’s lawyers used to be Triple Six’s lawyer before they fired her for Chip Taylor (who also represents Sum 41 and Nelly Furtado). Fortunately, after nine long months, it all worked out.
Darr laughs about it now, but it’s evident that he knows the band’s career has been a prolonged game of hurry-up-and-wait. It has taken a lot of stubborn determination to continue playing the kind of music that isn’t currently as popular as other genres (i.e., the massive boy punk band market) and get signed with it.
"I wasn’t worried what the trends were – the fact that Blink 182 and Sum 41 and bands like that were doing well. We shut all that crap off ’cause in the end I’m the guy that’s gotta live with the music – we all do. All I wanted to do – and I still haven’t achieved it yet – (what) I’m hoping to achieve with our Zomba record is to make a really, really mean-sounding pop record."
Triple Six’s new material has bigger pop hooks (something they’ve mastered over the last couple of years), but the songs have way more attitude and edge. A lot more attitude than they presently have? Guess we’ll have to wait for their major label debut to find out. |
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