talked about the fickle public and
how a band becomes popular. “When
you really explode one day it’s
because teenagers buy your music.”
And perhaps it’s true, how else can
bands like the Spice Girls and N-SYNC
be explained?

However, another theme that
echoed was the friendship and work-
ing relationship between The Odds,
Pure and 54-40. Pure was on stage
throughout the entire interview and
Northey, who played his guitar the
whole time, stopped both playing
and speaking on several occasions to
sing praises of Pure. “We're really
excited that our last thing for awhile
was to work with Pure and 54-40.
We've been friends for a long time.”

The Planet Smashers

“It's always been hit and miss
when we play here in Vancouver, and
today was definitely hit.” True. While
Ska’s mix between swing, jazz and
rock ‘n’ roll is very big on the East
Coast, it’s still relatively unknown on
the West Coast.
i The Planet Smashers are on the
| indie label Stomp, and can pack the
| crowds in when they're closer to
home. The Montreal band has been
around since ‘93. They already have
two CDs: their first a self titled
album, which was followed by Attack
of the Planet Smashers, with Life of
the Party, the third, slated to be
released on April 27.

 

Econoline Crush

| ith ‘Surefire’ hitting the top
1 We on the American music
i charts, Econoline Crush is

riding a high from their hit album,
The Devil You Know. Far from
strangers in the US, Econoline Crush
toured with Kiss on their last
American tour. “Very fun, very

exciting,” recalls Hurst. “They were

consummate professionals, very easy
| to work with...[but] they kept the

 

party going. It was one of the few
times that I have ever finished a tour
and not felt...a sense of remorse
because I didn’t want it to end.”
There will be a few dates in
Vancouver before Trevor Hurst and
his band will be heading off to criss-
cross the United States on a tour
that will hit everything from small
clubs to outdoor concerts.

After that, Hurst says the band
will go back to the studio to record a
new album. He says it’s very hard for
him to write on the road, but that
song writing is a huge part of who he
is and he can’t wait to get back to it.
“T find it to be an incredibly cathar-
tic experience. I use it to get all the
emotional baggage I have inside me
out.” If you listen to the lyrics on
The Devil You Know, you can really
hear Hurst letting go of that bag-
gage; the album was written after his
break-up with a girlfriend of several
years.

54:40

54-40 is in the final stages of
putting together their newest album.
They're busy figuring out what to call
it, when to release it and what
exactly will be on it. When asked if
there was a title in the final running

May 1999 the Other Press

   

yet, drummer Matt Johnson refused
to comment, saying he didn’t want to
‘jinx’ any potential titles the band
was working on. There is also a live
album in the wings that will
hopefully be out before the end of
the year. The music on it was
recorded at all the concerts 54-40
played this past autumn.

There are no current plans for any
big tours, though there are scattered
dates when the band will be playing
in cities across Canada. After Arts
County, 54-40 will be taking a couple
of weeks off, though they were more
than happy to be invited to play at
Arts County and to see some friends.
Says Johnson, “The great thing about
these festival shows is you get to
hang out with everyone who you
don't [usually] get to see .”

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