Snowdogs Interview with Ville
Snowdogs is a great band that just keep growing on me. Not that I didn't like them in the first place, cuz I really did, but I've been listening to their cd nonstop for the past week or so. And while I do love this band, it was a bitch and a half to think of decent questions, and I wish I'd thought of more! Oh well, here it is!
What are you guys up to? What are your plans for
2003?
Today we've been up to photography. For the first time in about 10 years there's
snow in London and we're taking very snow friendly Snowdogs photographs. Then
we're just hanging in the studio playing, writing new songs. Hopefully by the
end of the week we'll have heard from our agent in America about some touring
possibilities that we could have. So that's pretty much all we're waiting for is
news to come over there and play.
Is there anyone you'd want to go on tour with?
The list is probably shorter if you'd asked me is there anyone we wouldn't want
to go on tour with! *laughs* We like touring, and we've never been to the
states, so we're open to tour with anyone. In an ideal world, I guess, I'm
really into Jimmy Eat World right now and I think their music is great, and I'd
just love to play with them. Or maybe, hopefully become friends with them, I
don't know that's a long question to answer.
All right...
If there's two guitars, and a bass player and drummer in a band or even one
guitar, we consider them prime touring companions.
Okay, "Million Pieces" is my favorite song off the album, was this something you
experienced firsthand?
*laughs* Haven't we all? Of course, it's a tale of a broken heart. And over
where I come from, we heal our wounds by drinking alcohol. It's not any one
particular situation that I've been in, but more of an accumulation of a couple,
maybe three.
Is there any song that was really hard for you to write?
Well, for this record, because we had a small indie deal over here before we
signed with Victory, and had an album out here earlier, which did really well.
And then, when Victory
took us on, we had a good summer, where we wrote lots of songs and I think we
wrote fifty songs to fill this album. And then when our producer Steve Brown
came in he said, 'look,
lets just pick the 12, not necessarily the 12 best songs, but 12 songs that will
make up the best album.' Like an overall view. Some songwriting is really hard
cause once you've written one, then you go well what should I write about now,
and you kind of think, well didn't we already write a song about that last year,
or whatever. Finding subject matter for us is the most crucial thing. Like
"Million Pieces" is about heartbreak, but maybe finding a quirky way of saying
it or unusual way of saying it I think that's the most difficult. Playing guitar
is the easy bit. Finding something meaningful to say is the hardest. Okay,
direct answer. The song we had the most trouble with is the last one, "Your
Sorry Ass". That's probably the most throw away track on the album. So there you
go. Sometimes the simple stuff is the hardest.
Does it bother you to be compared to someone like Dexter Holland? Obviously
there is some
sort of similarity there.
No, I was on your site today and noticed. Was it you that wrote the review?
*laughs*
Yeah...
Yeah? It's okay, I think Dexter Holland is a great singer. I'd rather be
compared to him, rather then someone awful, like that guy from Creed. Like he
sounds like he's sitting on the toilet with lots of constipation, just can't get
it out *groans*. At least I don't sound like him.
Wow, that was a good impression! *laughs* My review didn't bother you did it?
No, not at all! I like the Offspring, they're a great band, I've seen em once or
twice and they put on a great show. I'd rather be compared to someone I like,
rather than someone I intensely dislike.
What do you want people to take from your music?
A little bit of recreation, a tiny drop of hope. Inspiration to get up in the
morning and do the things you want to do. That's always what I got out of music
when I was a kid, and I still do. When something's bothering me, or just not
going right or I feel depressed, I will listen to music. When I'm having a good
time and feel like I'm on top of the world I put on some good music. That sort
of thing. My favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut, who's a fantastic writer, he wrote
that, "Applausable mission for all artists is to make people appreciate being
alive, at least a little bit." And I think that's a good way of saying if what
we do makes people appreciate being alive, job done.
What made you guys decide on the name Snowdogs?
Because we're a boy band put together by the Disney corporation! We got together
in '98, and my brother, who plays bass, is a big Rush fan and I bought a
birthday present for him, a
Rush cd, one from the seventies or something. There's a song on there called
"By-tor and the Snow Dog". And I just looked at the word Snowdog and thought
that could be a cool band
name if it were Snowdogs. To me, it sounded like a lean, mean hungry animal that
wants to go places. Then, of course whenever last year, when Disney came out
with that movie
Snowdogs, and we're like No! Do we have to change our name now? Assholes, could
have ruined everything for us! *laughs* We were like, well we've been Snowdogs
for a while, this movie is gonna come and go, we'll be fine. But I heard that
they're going to make a sequel to that film. I'll be bitterly disappointed if
we don't get to do the soundtrack!