Our Lady Peace

Every band that has been together for a while has stories of injustices and heartbreak. When on the road it is common for bands to share their inner most secrets with each other and this perhaps serves as a bonding and trust process. Because it is so hard to survive in this industry it becomes crucial for artists to make those connections and helping each other may in fact be the best way to strengthen a career in music. Healthy competition is good but having friends in your corner never hurts when you are alone on the road.

Of course, this is also how rumors start. Every interview we have ever done always has a question about what it was like touring with so and so. In a world where information is so easily passed, we know first hand how opening up and telling our stories over and over again has bit us in ass. This is one of those stories. This is how Hail The Villain fought back and survived.

Three months into being a band, we were given what we thought was our first big break. It came from only our 5th or 6th show and was a long shot at best. The bar we were playing in was home to a fantastic act called "Balls Deep" and was formed by three old rock stars from the 80's. On drums was Darren Smith of "Harem Scarem", on bass was Stan from "Sass Jordan" and on guitar was Mike Hall of "The Killer Dwarfs". For 5 bucks we would go every Thursday night and watch these guys play in front of a packed house, and we would learn just how it should be done. They were good -really good. In fact, when they broke up the bar was never the same and ended up having to close it's doors. It was here however that Mike Hall stuck around one night to watch us and see what the fuss was about. Fortunately he liked us and thought we deserved a deeper look. He would set us up to meet a producer from Toronto, a name that we were very familiar with, and more than excited to work with.

A few weeks later we showcased for this producer at the Rivoli in Toronto. It was empty and our first time in the city but we still played pretty good. Good enough for him to agree to work with us and so it began. The empty promises, the lies and a good ol' fashioned "Welcome to the music industry" is what would turn us from "green" to a band with a mission.

It isn't fair to say that this producer fucked us. He did, but we let it happen. We just were not ready to being swimming in the big pond when we didn't even have a proper understanding of who we were as a band. How this all played out was that we were told to quit our jobs and school , move to Toronto and make a record that would be a no brainer, this ultimately leading to our domination of the World. We did what we were asked but we never made the record. Instead, the producer took Joe and Drew to form another band with another artist that he was working with. Stabbed in the heart. Never saw it coming. But that wouldn't last and the boys were more than happy to come home within a few weeks. What it did do however, was leave a scar and a reminder of what we set out to accomplish in the first place. Stick together and fuck everybody else.

So the experience in Toronto would make us stronger and more unified as a whole. Our home was Oshawa and that is where we belonged and where our sound needed to come from. Play shows around the World but home is where we create. And as I said before these stories have a way of biting you in the ass and this one has followed us around where ever we seem to go. I am sure this story has hurt and helped us along the way but that is the truth. I guess we're just kind of tired of always having to answer that question!

I like hearing these stories from bands. We are not alone when it comes to being battered in the industry. Some survive it and others can't take the disappointment of failure. We don't mind being beat up. It makes us angry. It makes us evil. It makes us Hail The Villain.