June 29 2017 – Very few things are as exciting as finding something new you love. Much like archaeologists that dig to find hidden treasures, we here at T-Mak World really enjoy trying to find new bands that we love. Once we find such bands, we approach our favorites to request interviews for our Emerging Artist Spotlight series where we have featured over 100 artists so far. Today we set our focus on a band from Toronto named Slow Death Lights. All bands we talked to are asked similar questions to each other so we can get to know them better. The description on Slow Death Light’s website reads:
After the successful release of Slow Death Lights’ 2015 EP “Broken Spirit Desert Nightmare” the band has returned in 2017 with their self-titled full-length album to be released worldwide on March 3, 2017. The Toronto based stoner rock band have been grinding it out on the local scene playing any and all shows they could book and people have been taking notice. After a year of playing live, the SDL have been approached by music festivals and record labels, all of which the band is taking in stride. Without a doubt the guys are going against the grain with an ambitious goal or reviving stoner/desert rock in Canada, and although it’s a hard road, they are ready to blaze the trail.
The upcoming album was produced and engineered by drummer/singer Andre Skinner and co-produced by Brant Bjork. Although SDL aligned themselves with some big names, getting to a final product was no easy task. The band travelled as far south as Joshua Tree CA. to record two songs straight to tape at Bjork’s desert studio then returned to Toronto to complete the remaining 7 at Skinner’s studio. With an ever-growing local fan base, the band will be very active locally in Toronto and will be booking tour dates for 2017. The band’s upcoming singles are “City of Lights” and “Peach” which are due for worldwide release in mid January 2017.
Here is what they had to say to us:
- Hey Slow Death Lights, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us. Let’s start off with the obligatory introductions. Who’s in the band and what instrument does everyone rock?
Andre Skinner – Drums, Lead Vocals
Eric Allward – Rhythm Guitar
Devin Legge – Lead Guitar
Luke Stackhouse – Bass Guitar, Harmony Vocals
- How about the history of the band, when did you get started and how did it happen?
Phil, Eric and Andre (founding members and highschool friends from over 20 years past) rented a rehearsal room in Toronto to see what would happen with some pretty basic stoner rock riffs, drums and vocals. There was instant chemistry with songwriting, which sparked weekly jams and songwriting sessions that would eventually get the band rolling. With a MacBook Pro in hand at all sessions it didn’t take long to start cutting demos and sending them around to for potential bass players auditions. About a year and a half into the project we found our fourth member and after many discussion on band names, Slow Death Lights was finally decided on.
- Who are some of your musical influences?
Kyuss, Fu-Manchu, Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Queens of the Stone Age, Truck Fighters, Mastodon, OLDE, Mothership, Biblical, Danava and the list goes on and on…
- So based on the above how would you describe your music to someone that has never heard it?
Queens of the Stone Age meets Black Sabbath
- Why do you believe that a music fan should come and see your show instead of all the other choices available to them on any given night?
If a live music fan is into stoner rock, fuzz rock, desert rock, there are very few choices in Toronto and Canada and it’s pretty much a guarantee that they will really dig our stuff. We’re high energy, tight and can really get a crown going. There’s not much stage banter to our performances, we keep it all about the music.
- What is your favorite single line of lyrics the band has written?
Blinded by night, you’re words are all rhetoric the young will eat the old.
- What does 2017 hold for you ideally as musicians?
Radio play, more shows, album sales and new recordings starting in the summer of 2017.
- Imagine that you were asked to be the opener for any band’s world tour (both current and historical). Which band and tour would be your dream opening gig.
Mastodon or Black Sabbath. Kyuss if they were still around.
- What is the future of the music industry? With the concept of the album and physical CD’s facing extinction, how will we be consuming music in 10 years? Are the economics feasible for emerging artists?
Vinyl is HOT and that’s very exciting. We pressed vinyl for our debut full length and people are RAVING about the album art and sound. Weather the current economics are against indie artists or not, it’s still an exciting time to be making music and I think it will always be.
- Where can people purchase or listen to your music?
Purchase Here: http://slowdeathlights.ca/store.html
Full Album Stream Here: https://soundcloud.com/slow-death-lights/sets/slow-death-lights-album
- At the end of 2016 we published our picks for top 10 albums of 2016. Lists like those are always a reflection of personal tastes but what albums would you have on your top 10 of 2016?
I (Andre Skinner) was so busy putting our album together that I didn’t dig into that many new releases for 2016. I produced the album (along with Brant Bjork of Kyuss) and was busy producing other bands at my studio.
- Any closing remarks for our readers?
SDL is in it for the love of the music and will keep banging out killer riffs and drawn out stoner jams.
Thanks so much to Slow Death Lights. We hope that you can see them live. They are playing
– July 6th at The Rivoli in Toronto for the official Record Release Party
– July 22 – Spot 1 – Brampton, Ontario
– July 29 – Libertarian Public House – Toronto, Ontario
– Aug 26 – Jam Spot – Newmarket, Ontario
– Sept 22 – The Bovine Sex Club – Toronto, Ontario
The band’s website is http://slowdeathlights.ca and as you would expect they are on @slowdeathlights and https://www.facebook.com/slowdeathlights/In the meantime check out their video below from YouTube.
