STARRING JANET LEIGH

PHOTO COURTESY OF METALBLADE.COM
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/starringjanetleigh
COUNTRY: Canada STYLE: Metal / Hardcore / Progressive

THE ONE COMPLAINT ONE GETS ABOUT “TECHNICAL METAL” IS THAT IT IS A TYPE OF MUSIC THAT IS SOMETIMES HARD TO FOLLOW AND HEADBANG TO EVEN THOUGH IT SOUNDS REALLY GOOD, AND THAT PEOPLE EVENTUALLY CAN’T STAND TO LISTEN TO AN ENTIRE ALBUM OF PURE TECHNICAL MAYHEM, DO YOU AGREE SOMETIMES?

From my experience, technical metal stylistically seems to lean in one or two direction: chaotic angular structure, or groovy syncopated structure. Our debut album tends to lean more towards the chaotic side. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but we know that going into it. As of late, our newer writing has been leaning towards the side of the groovier syncopated feel, but in general there will always be an aspect of angular structure.

I think it adds something to the music where you can step out of the norm of bobbing your head along to have something throw you off balance. That way when you come back to a tune again you can hear something new each time. It is an album that takes time to take it all in, but that’s what we prefer as listeners so naturally that’s how we would write.

THE BAND ALSO INCORPORATES SOME REALLY COOL JAZZ ELEMENTS INTO ITS MUSIC. DID YOU GUYS STUDY THE GENRE OR WAS IT A “SOUND” THAT YOU HAVE JUST ALWAYS LIKED AND BEEN INSPIRED BY?

All of us come from very different musical backgrounds. I had some classical and jazz training in my younger years, and I know that no matter what kind of music I’m writing, that style of harmony will always find its way into my writing. Most of us like the colour and textures that jazz adds to music. I find what we do similar to what the fusion guys did in the 70’s, just instead of blending jazz and rock, we blend jazz and death metal.

HAS THE LINE UP OF THE BAND ALWAYS STAYED THE SAME FROM THE START AND LOOKING BACK, ARE YOU GRATEFUL THAT EACH MUSICIAN IN THE BAND IS VERY SKILLED AT THEIR INDIVIDUAL INSTRUMENTS BECAUSE GOOD MUSICIANS AREN’T ALWAYS EASY TO FIND?

SJL has had an ever evolving line up since our inception in 2003. Aside from myself (only original member), we are on 2nd and 3rd of everything else. Sometimes the guys you start out with are not the ones you end up with. The line up changes we’ve had over the years have very much shaped the sound of the band as it is today, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

While it is always a struggle to find guys who are both committed to the cause and able to pull off music of a technical nature, you basically gotta do the best you can with what you have and keep pressing forward. With any kind of music there will always be obstacles in your way of achieving what you want. Member changes are never easy but the guys we have all share a passion for what we do and see the value in it. I’ve had the privilege of this line up since 2005, and we’re doing better now than ever before.

THE BAND HAS BEEN GOING FOR HALF A DECADE ALREADY YET YOU ONLY RELEASED YOUR DEBUT ALBUM IN MAY THIS YEAR. WAS IT A CASE OF FINDING THE RIGHT RECORD LABEL LIKE IRONCLAD RECORDINGS (TREVOR PHIPPS OF UNEARTH’S LABEL) WHICH THE BAND HAS SINGED TO?

In our early days we went through some pretty drastic member changes which inhibited our ability to release an album. We’d get another guy and someone would drop out, etc. Through that process we were shopping our demos to different labels and weren’t satisfied with what we found, so we decided to record the album ourselves in 2007. After releasing some of the album tracks online, we started getting a lot more label attention.

We were not in a rush to release the album because wanted to make it as big a release as possible. We talked to Ironclad for a long time prior to signing, but I feel we signed something we are both satisfied with. I gave myself a deadline that if we didn’t have a deal by, we would self release it. We signed with Ironclad almost to the day of that deadline.

ALMOST THE SAME QUESTION BUT IF THE INFO ON YOUR WEBSITE IS CORRECT “SPECTRUM” WAS ALREADY RECORDED IN JUNE AND SEPTEMBER 2007 WITH PRODUCER/ENGINEER GREG DAWSON. YOU GUYS MUST HAVE REALLY PUT IN SOME HARD WORK TO MAKE THIS RELEASE AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE IF YOU CONSIDER THAT IT WAS ONLY RELEASED THIS YEAR?

Yes it is correct, we recorded in June, July and September 2007, having a fully mastered final product in November 2007. It was shortly after that we were in negotiations with 3 labels prior to signing with Ironclad in late 2008. It was a matter of best possible quality album we could on the budget we had, along with making it as big a release as we could. I’m quite proud of the album and that it was released through Ironclad, it made it feel like all the work and struggle along the way was worth it.

PLAYING THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU DO; HOW DO YOU GUYS EVEN START TO WORK OUT HOW A SONG WILL GO AND HOW DO YOU USUALLY ARRANGE IT TILL IT ENDS UP INTO THE FINAL “PRODUCT” THAT PEOPLE FINALLY HEAR?

The song writing process varies with us. A lot of the time one member comes with a series of ideas what we work with and make into the final structure of the song. Over time the feel because more developed and the changes reflect that. Originally with all the member changes a lot of the songs were what I had structured while replacing different members, but they certainly evolved structurally and musically in general as the line up changed.

These days we make the writing as much a collaborative effort as possible. Obviously we want everyone in the band to be happy with the songs, and for the most part we’re all pretty easy going about it. It’s not about egos; it’s about making the best music we can, so we work with the parts until everyone is happy with it.

BEFORE YOU HEADED INTO THE STUDIO YOU MUST HAVE HAD A “PRECONCEIVED” IDEA OF WHAT YOU WANTED THE ALBUM TO SOUND LIKE; HOW CLOSE WOULD YOU SAY THE FINISHED ALBUM CAME TO THAT OR DID YOU ALWAYS KNOW IT WOULD SOUND COOL BASED ON THE PREPRODUCTION THE BAND DID?

More than anything we wanted to be sure we worked with a producer would be able to help us get the songs across so that everything that was going on could be heard, and that the album had more than just a whole lot going on, that it had a feel to it. We worked with Greg Dawson of BWC Studios in Brampton, Ontario. He had worked with some great metal bands from Ontario (Mare – Hydrahead, The End – Relapse) so I was quite confident he would be able to help us make something that stood out.

We had done some pre-production for the album so we had a general idea of what we wanted but I will give a lot of credit to Greg for his input in the direction some of the tunes went. He had a lot of great ideas that helped to shape the album, and I couldn’t be happier with it. There were times that were gravy, and times that were gruelling, but overall it was probably the best experience we have ever had as a band.

I MUST ASK WHAT GEAR AND GUITAR TUNINGS YOU USE BECAUSE YOU GUYS SEEMS TO SWITCH A LOT BETWEEN YOUR CLEAN AND DISTORTION CHANNELS AS WELL WHEN IT COMES TO THE “JAZZ” PARTS OF YOUR SONGS?

We are tuned to Drop D Standard, everything string down a whole tone: D, G, C, F, A, D. We use this tuning for all the songs. As far as gear, for guitar I am currently running:

AMP: Engl Powerball

GUITAR: Ibanez RG (I currently use a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge slot, on the album I used an RG with an EMG 81 & 85.).

PEDALS: Boss (Chromatic tuner, compressor, reverb, noise suppressor), Voodoo Soundlab Proctavia pedal (used a handful of times on the album to create some very doomy tones), Line 6 delay pedal

Chris Sokoloski (2nd SJL guitarist):

AMP: Peavey XXX

GUITAR: LTD w/ EMG 81 & 85

PEDALS: Boss (Flanger, chromatic tuner, compressor, delay), Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Pedal

We also used a fair amount of gear that Greg had in the studio, which really helped to give the album some interesting colours. We had to upgrade some of our gear in order to recreate the sounds live, but well worth it based on the outcome.

WITH THE VIDEOS FOR THE SONGS “EX YOU” AND “SPECTRUM” BOTH BEING “LIVE VIDEOS” IT IS PROBABLY SAFE TO SAY THE BAND IS MORE AT HOME ON STAGE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE?

You hit the nail on the head. There’s a feeling I get on stage, when all things seem to fall into place between the band, the audience, there is nothing like it. I would rather do this than anything else.

HAS MUSIC AND THIS BAND BECOME A FULL TIME “JOB” FOR YOU OVER THE YEARS, AND HOW DO YOU KEEP THINGS FUN WHILE STILL SERIOUSLY TRYING TO TAKE THIS BAND TO NEW HEIGHTS?

There are always things about being in a band and running a band that can become tiresome or mundane. Yeah we’ve played a lot of shows in the same places again and again, there is the business side of things that a lot of people (especially) musicians hate about the industry, but it is all part and parcel to being in a band that is more than a hobby. I’m fortunate enough enjoy many aspects of the business end of things, but it’s the passion for the music and truly the love for what we do that keeps us going through the less fun parts of the process.

This band has always moved in stages for us, nothing was overnight. We’re still fighting to take it to the next level, to make this something we can hopefully make a living at. My philosophy with this is that if you throw enough mud at the wall, eventually it’s gonna stick. You have to care about it enough that press on despite having a shitty show, or things not going the way you planned. It’s the bands that are both talented and the most persistent that are the ones that survive the pitfalls to enjoy the fruits of their art.

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE FAN BASE THAT THE BAND HAS BUILT UP IN CANADA SO FAR AND READING THE LAST LINE OF YOUR BAND BIO “EXPECT TO SEE STARRING JANET LEIGH ACROSS CANADA, THE USA AND EUROPE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.” DO YOU HAVE ANY TOURS IN THE “WORKS”?

Our fan base in Canada has been loyal to us over the years and is growing thankfully. We are working on a fair amount of Canadian dates for this year, and will be heading back to the US next year. Financially speaking, the future you press outward the harder it is, and we’re not kids living in our parents’ basements.

We’re basically doing the best we can with what we have, but you will most certainly see us across Canada again, and through the US within the next 6 months. We have been talks about a European tour for 2010, but North America gets conquered first!

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE VENUE THAT YOU ALWAYS LIKE TO PERFORM AT OR REMEMBER FOR SOME REASON?

There are a handful of venues in Toronto that have always been a great time for us. My faves are: Sneaky Dees (which also has some of the best Mexican food), The El Mocombo, and the Opera House. There are a few others we’ve played at close to home that are worth mentioning: The Chubby Pickle in Windsor is a great time, Call the Office in London, and Marcello’s in Mississauga (small bar, but oh man what a great time/intimate atmosphere). A lot of the time it’s as much the crowd that makes a show great, but these have been my favourites thus far.

ANY COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We are putting in as much road time as we can over the next year, so expect to see us across the US, Canada, and hopefully Europe within a year’s time. We will also be launching a music video for “Ex You” in the very near future. A special thanks goes out to our families, friends, and anyone who has helped us out over the years, be it giving us a place to stay, some food to eat, putting on a show, and picking up some merch. We are eternally grateful.