| Billy Talent is a true Canadian success story. After years of paying their dues in any dive that would take them, the band exploded out of the gate in 2003 with their self-titled major label debut. Combining hardcore punk aggression with a large dose of melody, the group managed to gain both mainstream airplay and an impressive degree of indie credibility, a delicate balancing act to be sure. On a rainy Friday afternoon at Broken City, I talked with drummer Aaron Solowoniuk and front man Ben Kowalewicz about their new album, the simply titled II. This is what they had to say.
FFWD: The title of your new album – Led Zeppelin homage or no?
Aaron: Kind of. Originally the album was going to be called Devil in a Midnight Mass after the first single, but then we decided that we didn’t want to just give attention to one song. We really worked hard on this album and feel confident that it holds up as a whole work, so we decided to keep it simple and call it just II.
Ben: Yeah, we didn’t want the name to be too elaborate or pretentious, like a whole paragraph or something, so we decided to call it II so people could just get past the title and on to the music.
Aaron: And you know, good things have II in the title. Led Zeppelin II, Van Halen II…
Ben: Jaws II!
FFWD: So what would the third album be then? Billy Talent: 3-D?
Ben: Was that the one set at Sea World?
FFWD: I believe so, yeah.
Ben: Ah yes, the one with Lou Gossett Jr.
FFWD: This is your second album for a major label. Was there any pressure when you guys were making it? Did the label have any expectations?
Ben: I think most of the pressure came from us to make a great record. No matter if you’re on a major or indie label or whatever, all you can do is make the best album you can, one that’s honest and reflects where you’re coming from, and hopefully it’ll do well. I mean, you can’t think about things like "will it have a hit, will the label like it, will it sell" and things like that until after you’re finished working on it.
FFWD: What’s different about this record in relation to the first one?
Ben: Well, for one thing we’re not the same people we were three or four years ago when we made the first record. This album reflects a natural progression of the four of us, both as musicians and as individuals. We write from experience, and we’ve had so many amazing experiences since the last album came out. I mean, you always need to move forward with each album, you gotta take it to the next level.
Aaron: Oooo….
FFWD: Do any of the songs deal with the sudden recognition you guys got after the first album?
Aaron: Not directly. I mean, there aren’t any "fame is so lonely" songs or anything like that, but like Ben said, we write from experience and what we’re feeling at the time and our success has definitely had an impact on us. A lot of people’s expectations have changed with regards to us, and we’ve been able to do things that we wouldn’t have been able to do before, travelling to places, meeting new people, things like that.
Ben: It’s had an impact for sure, but none of the songs are about it exclusively.
FFWD: Last year, you re-released Watoosh!, the album you guys made when you were still called Pezz. Was this for the fans?
Aaron: Yeah, we made it available on our website so our fans could hear it. It was released on a tiny label when it first came out, I think only 1,000 copies were made and many of our fans were unaware of it or couldn’t find it. We also kind of did it for ourselves, to show people where we came from.
FFWD: How do you think it holds up after all these years?
Aaron: I think it holds up pretty well. It’s not as good as the stuff we’re doing now, of course, but then at that point we hadn’t fully developed. It’s very much a snapshot of where we were at the time. We all have very diverse tastes, like (guitarist) Ian (D’sa) is really into prog-rock and classic rock, Ben is really into hip-hop, and at that point we hadn’t taken all these elements and turned them into a "sound" you know? It’s like there’s a song on there that’s us doing a reggae song, a song that sounds like the Clash and so on. So in that way it’s kind of schizophrenic, but I guess that’s also part of its charm.
FFWD: Last question: If Billy Talent II is Jaws II, what would that make Watoosh?
Ben: Guppy! Finding Nemo! |
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