Real Sickies Interview
In these strange times we’ve all been forced to adapt to new ways of doing things. Some people are channeling their experience through this new way of living and the creative outcome is outstanding.
One of the first albums I heard released during this pandemic was by Edmonton locals Real Sickies. Consisting of Ben Disaster, Alex McKie, Evan Hughes, Eric Budd, and Rob Lawless, Real Sickies play high energy pop-punk that will get you shaking. On April 3rd, 2020, they released an album entitled Quarantine. It was written and recorded in seven days while all members self-isolated separately. What a cool process it was! A few weeks after its release, I got a chance to chat with frontman Ben Disaster about the making of Quarantine. Read on to hear about it.....
Cups N Cakes: How did Covid-19 affect the Real Sickies and how did you adapt?
Ben Disaster: We where just setting off for a western canadian tour when the Reality that Covid was gonna leave a global foot print. We where aware of the situation but fairly distant from the outside world only seeing venues and our van. It wasn’t until we had time at home in the middle of the tour that we knew what we where actually facing. That’s when we collectively knew we could not continue playing shows, risking the health of our friends, fans, and family.
CnC: Who’s idea was it record and album in Quarantine and how did you pull it off in 7 days?
BD: Our plan was to be in the studio shortly after our tour and record what would be our third lp. We found our selves stuck at home instead. After a few days of watching the numbers rise, watching lay offs and seeing our close friends directly impacted by the pandemic we started talking about recording an lp about the situation. In a way for us to better understand and accept what’s going on.
The idea formed while we where starting our isolation period, we wanted to complete the project and help occupy some of that time of. The timeline just seamed to make sense. Give your self two weeks to fight the virus kinda thing I guess. Time was ticking.
CnC: How did the songwriting process go for this album? Did one person write the lyrics and music or was it it done together?
BD: We all put our hands in with writing. Rob helped put with a few lyrics. In the past he would write a bunch and I would re work it to fit my character. For this lp the content produced itself really. It was surprisingly easy to come up with on topic yet clever hidden gems in the lyrics.
We had a few recycled and re vamped riffs and knowing our formula to songs they came together quick. We would make a skeleton drum track and then skeleton riff and move them around as we needed. So the demoing versions of the songs where actually pretty close to the final recorded version.
CnC: How was the recording done separately? Was it a program or an app that was used?
BD: All the basic tracks were recorded from our own homes using different recording software. I’m not sure what everyone used individually but I used garage band for vocals. Basically any software would do as long as it was to a click track to line up all the parts properly. Having small jam spaces at our homes we were able to take advantage of different microphones we had or using an interface.
Each track was saved individually and sent off as a whole to terry Paholek at physics lab. He went through them and made adjustments as need be.
CnC: What was the biggest challenge with this project?
BD: I think not writing in the same room was an interesting challenge for sure. For me any time I recorded a vocal track I was faced with some slight lags, also I was picking up signals from cbc radio. Which was interesting to hear a radio report on something you were singing about.
Having the timeline kinda forced all of us to work with what we had. Going back I don’t think I’d change much.
CnC: Who’s idea was it for the music video? Do you think it will encourage hand washing and better practices during the virus?
BD: We wanted to document what we where doing. There’s a lot of behind the scenes footage that might surface later.
We made two music videos that evan Hughes put together. I think the virus encouraged people wash their hands but the video maybe made it more fun for some. It’s surprisingly not to boring of a video of people just washing their hands lol.
The other video for Doing my time with you just shown the inside scoop of how we dealt with isolation. Cameos of moppy and clever was necessary.
CnC: What are the bands plans for after the dust of the pandemic settles?
BD: We have plans to be touring this fall. We will see how things will change down the road. Hopefully venues can get funding from the government to keep going. Otherwise we will be back on the house circuit.
We will be heading into the studio shortly now that some restrictions have been lifted. We do look forward to performing for our friends and fans as soon as possible.
CnC: Any advice for new bands just starting out?
BD: Practice, demo, practice, demo, practice, record. Have a vision and work towards your goals. Never settle once you’ve achieved it. Set new goals and work towards them always.
Make sure to take a listen to Quarantine by The Real Sickies. It’s fast, fun, upbeat, and adds a little happiness to your time self isolating. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Listen to their other albums too. I guarantee you’ll be hooked!
Sincerely,
Noreen Hurst
Cups N Cakes Network