STAYEFISH INTERVIEW

Staylefish just returned back from an exciting stint on this year's Warped Tour and lead vocalist Rich is sharing some personal highlights of the tour; including watching The Aggrolites from backstage and seeing the return of The Planet Smashers at the Montreal stop. Next up for the Canadian band is starting work on a new album. Here is the inside word.

The Pier: For those that don't know you, how would you describe Staylefish's sound?

Rich: We generally keep things simple and describe ourselves as reggae-rock - but add to that some hip-hop, dancehall, ragga soca and other various influences and there you got a Staylefish.

The Pier: So whats the reggae rock scene like in London, Ontario Canada?

Rich: It's definitely picking up - a ska revival has been happening in Southern ON for a while, and more recently a number of reggae, reggae rock, and reggae/ska influenced bands have been seeing increased interest. In London, we're really happy to see reggae rock bands like Mean Tangerine and Boss Rebel popping up. When a show goes down, you can bet the place is busy...it's also great that you've got more mature cats, serious rockers, and hip-hop heads dancing right along with the reggae-rock die-hards.

The Pier: You are playing some dates on the Warped tour this year. How did you hook that up?

Rich: That's a prime example of a lesson in why not to be a pussy. Last year, we were offered to be introduced to Kevin Lyman (Warped Tour creator). We were supposed to leave Toronto too early, but two of us decided to stay behind and meet him face-to-face and give him our CD. To our surprise he got back to us and offered us two dates on the Warped Tour. This year, he had us on for a week and that shit was AMAZING. Lyman is the man...spread the word.

The Pier: Are you happy with how your latest album Audible Addiction turned out

Rich: Very happy. We recorded with our friend Luke Marshall from the amazing band The Next Best Thing (prepare to have your nuts blown off when you hear them). It was a really relaxed session with guys on the same wavelength, and it's done great things for us.

The Pier: You won some awards recently from the London Music Awards. Tell us about that? What did it involve?

Rich: Well London's been really good to us, we've won both London Music and Jack Richardson awards three years running now. The process is you're nominated in your category and then the public votes, and I believe a committee has say as well. The cool thing about this year is that we received the most votes overall and therefore also won the most popular overall band. That makes a fella feel pretty pimpin, I'm not going to lie. Thanks London!

The Pier: You posted a new demo Heart of a Lion on MySpace. Can we expect a new album soon?

Rich: Hells yeah! We're shooting for Spring 2009, and already have a number of demos recorded, plus we're working on a bunch of other tracks right now. It's shaping up to be pretty tasty.

The Pier: What else can you tell us about the new songs you have been working on?

Rich: Well, there's no mistaking the songs for anything but Staylefish. What's wicked is things are feeling more cohesive with this set of songs - of course with time and a wackload of shows we've gotten even more in tune with each other and we think that really comes out in these new songs.

The Pier: How does the songwriting process usually work for you guys?

Rich: Generally, Chad (guitar) or Jay (guitar) will come up with the basics for a song. The song might be mostly written or just a melody. From there, everybody puts their spin on it and it goes from a solo track to something bumping and Staylefishy. One of the coolest things is how different of a direction songs sometimes take after being taken on by the whole band.

(Pic by Matt White)

Rich: This last Warped Tour stint is definitely a contender for the top. Opening for Slightly Stoopid was also an incredible experience. Our cross country tours have been increasingly enjoyable - seeing the turnouts during the last one definitely made us feel like we were connecting with people. The awards and press and all that really give us the motivation to push harder - this last 'most popular band' for example was something that made us realize there's no reason we can't show the same thing to the rest of the world.

The Pier: What else does the band have planned for the rest of this year?

Rich: The end of this year is going to be mostly concentrated on writing and recording the next album, we really want to put out nothing short of our best. We'll definitely be playing shows to keep sharp, but no crazy cross country winter tours for us this year. Definitely hoping to hit up the States, if not late this year then next year for sure.

The Pier: What is a cool summer hang-out destination in Canada?

Rich: Ever seen Clone High? The sunny beaches of Canada City, man! Nah, during the summer there're definitely some hype spots. Our West Coast, British Columbia, gets crazy during the summer - short of the palm trees you might have a hard time telling it from Cali sometimes. For those of us not lucky enough to live on the coast, the Great Lake beaches aren't half bad. We might be missing the salt, but luckily bikinis look just as good in fresh water. For those of you feeling bad for us, remember we ain't got no DEA. We get REAL relaxed on the beach. Thanks, check out the tunes, peace!

Big thanks to Rich for dropping by The Pier. Make sure you check out:

Staylefish MySpace