| Vancouver shoegazers Hinterland had already gone through a big transition to make their latest full-length The Picture Plane. But before they could head out on tour, they also had to cope with losing a member. Bassist Cameron McLellan stepped down to be replaced by longtime fan and friend Robb Johannes, but according to guitarist John Lucas, finding a new bass player wasn’t without its challenges.
"The difficult thing is weeding through all the flakes," he says. "Once you place an ad saying you are looking for a new member that’s when the people who really don’t know what they are doing come out of the woodwork. We list who our influences are. People can go to our website, find links to our music and listen to it. So, all this is in the ad and yet you get guys who are like, ‘I’ve been in hard-rock cover bands for 20 years and, yeah, I see you are looking for a bass player. I was in a Led Zeppelin tribute band, but our lead singer knocked up his old lady so we had to call it quits. So, uh, when do I get my free beer?’ And guys who want to be on a salary as well. No, we’re an indie band. We play gigs and the money goes into the band. You’re not getting a salary. We’ll get a salary when we start making money – maybe. I have been in this band for six years and I don’t get one red cent for it so you definitely aren’t getting paid." |
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