Ottawa Skatepunk group Sidelines are this weeks featured group on Under The Radar! Their vocalist, Derek, joins Daly on the program to talk about playing their very first show with Strung Out, why bands should always play songs they find challenging, Northern Ontario weekend tours, working on their new album and a lot more! Scroll down and enjoy the interview! Don’t forget to check it out on iTunes. 

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Daly: Tell me the kind of person who would not have fun at a Sidelines show and then tell me the kind of person who would have a lot of fun at a sidelines show.

Derek: Ok people who would not have fun at a Sidelines show? People probably that either haven’t ridden a skateboard in their life, or don’t have a single friend that has ridden a skateboard in their life. I find the connection to skateboarding in aggressive, technical music kind of goes hand in hand.

People that would have a good time at our show, if you’re suffering from a mental illness, we’re probably for you. If you can’t pay attention for too long, then we’re probably also for you. If you like 16^th notes in your drumming, then we’re for you.

We’re basically dealing with the people that are constantly tapping on tables at restaurants or when their waiting in line and driving you nuts, they’re our fans.

Daly: Well I had fun at the Sidelines show last weekend.

Derek: Nice! What are you suffering from right now?

Daly: Um,…I don’t know, my job I guess. Like most people. But besides the stuff we talked about before the interview, how was the weekend warrior tour with North Bay & Timmins?

Derek: Oh it was awesome; it was really cool. North Bay is always a blast. I went to school there for a few years so I know some of the locals very very well. They never disappoint, they’re always rowdy. We had a good turnout.

But getting up to Timmins though…it was definitely stepping it up a notch. The Working Class is a lot more like the bars and venues we’ve been playing at in Montreal & Ottawa. We didn’t know what to expect. We got in there and we were stoked, the people were awesome. I think it’s the only city we’ve played in where as soon as we start cranking the amps’ people move to the front.

Like, I’m always making jokes, you have to throw pillows down because at the front there’s hot lava. [When people don’t move to the front of the stage] “Don’t step at the front there’s hot lava! Build a pillow fort!” In Timmins there’s clearly no hot lava, you guys have mined the shit out of that town and apparently all magma has depleted. You guys were right up at the front and we loved it. From the first chord to the last chord we had a great time in Timmins.

Daly: I read that you guys played your very first show with Strung Out?

Derek: [Laughs] Yeah

Daly: How the hell does that happen? Strung Out is huge.

Derek: When we first got together we were called….kind of an Ottawa Supergroup basically. We took a whole bunch of musicians from different bands [Contrabandit, Fleeba, Snatchback, The Sewer Rats]. [Some of us] had played with Bad Religion, 88 Fingers Louie, so we had already kind of hit big time circuits. So playing with Strung Out on that first show sounds like, “holy shit!” [laughs] But for us it was pretty much kind of what we were at and what we were used to.

I hate to sound like such a dick, [laughs], you know, “oh we already earned it”. But once people heard that we were together [there was] excitement. A lot of, “when can we hear you, when are you playing, what’s going on?”. So it was cool to have Strung Out at the first show.

Daly: Well it definitely paints a different picture of a first show. So what are you guys up to now, what’s the plan for the summer?

Derek: Tracking our drums. That’s the most important thing that’s happening now. We’re recording our second album and we’re really stoked. If anyone out there likes our first album, it’s good, we’re proud of it, but we’ve just taken our song writing to the next level.

Everything got more technical. Everything got more challenging. You probably heard a lot of the new songs because we’re playing a lot of them live right now. So we’re just kind of mastering that sort of stuff. Getting the drums tracked.

Two of us have babies on the way; Nick has his second kid on the way. My wife is pregnant with twins. Steve just had a baby too. So we’re following baby schedules as much as other things. But, going to try and play a lot of shows, whether it’s house parties, they’re doing really well in Ottawa, or venues, or out of town, we want to come back up to Timmins in the fall, without a doubt.

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As usual. we left A LOT for the podcast. To hear more about how the group came together, their biggest comparisons, why they think it’s important to play music that challenges you, and a lot more; listen below or subscribe to Under The Radar on iTunes!

SIDELINES

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*If you would like to have you or your band featured on Under The Radar, email Daly @ ryan.daly@timminsradio.rogers.com with the subject “Under The Radar”*

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