STREET PHARMACY INTERVIEW
Canadian reggae rock four-piece Street Pharmacy is not just hard at work on one new album, but two. With one of them being recorded on a whole other country nonetheless. As vocalist/guitarist Ryan Guay talks to The Pier, it is obvious you can never have enough music.
The Pier: So tell us how did Street Pharmacy come into being?
Ryan: Well, this all started when I was 19 years old. In May of 2005 after my first year of University I contracted the chicken-pox and my brain swelled. I was hallucinating and was very delusional so I went to see a few doctors. Eventually I saw a psychiatrist who misdiagnosed me with a plethora of serious mental illnesses. I was prescribed anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers, none of which I needed because my problem was not mental, it was physical. The medication that I was taking was actually doing more damage and my psychosis was getting worse.
After about five months of being a pharmaceutical guinea pig/cocktail of medications and a trip to a psych ward or two, my father decided that it was time to get me an MRI. We had to drive to Buffalo New York to get one because in Canada, due to universal healthcare, it would’ve taken me a few months to even get on the waiting list for one. I really owe my dad for that one because if I didn’t get that MRI, I wouldn’t be here doing this interview with you Phil. But anyway, it was there that the problem (Encephalitis) was properly diagnosed.
My brain was pretty much on the down side of the swelling but it was the drugs that I was prescribed that were causing me most of my problems at that point. Those things take a lot out of you. Upon the advice of an American Neurosurgeon from Bethesda Maryland, I was told to wean myself off of the anti-psychotics and anti-depressants while taking an anti-viral medication for the adult chicken pox virus so that I wouldn’t do any more damage to my brain.
In October 2005, I regained comprehension of the world around me. During this time, I came up with the concept of Street Pharmacy. The name comes from the experience that I had taking prescribed medication for an illness that I did not even have. I lost faith in the mental health care system in Canada to be honest. At the time I felt that the doctors were no different than drug dealers on the street. These guys were giving me pills that were doing me more harm than good. Their pills seemed worse than some of the shit on the street. So the name in a sick twisted way, is me taking a stab at the doctors for the way they treated me during that period. What’s a nicer way to say drug dealer? Street Pharmacy. I wrote a large majority of Self-Prescribed Feel Good, which is our first record, during that five month period. The name Self-Prescribed Feel Good comes from the notion that it was music that set me free from the vices of Encephalitis, the Canadian Healthcare System and myself.
The Pier: So how did you hook up with the other guys in the band and get to where you are today?
Ryan: Soon after this experience, long time friend Nate Triano (rhythm guitar) and I decided that after years of playing together, it was time to put down the songs on CD that we've written together in high school, plus the songs that came out of my experience. Nate and I met in 2000 in a really weird way. We were actually supposed to fight each other and we really didn’t even know each other all that well. It was just one of those Grade 8, “who has the tougher grade school” moments I think. Or it could’ve been over a girl or something, which really wouldn’t surprise me. Fuck, the story is so old and there is so many different versions and perspectives of “the fight that never happened” between Nate and myself it’s hard to remember what actually happened. Either way, we decided to shoulder tap at the Beer Store for some booze and smokes and it was there we began talking about starting a sweet punk/reggae band. Nate and I began jamming a lot after that and became great friends. We are both left handed guitarists which is also kind of freaky.
In May of 2006 with no set band and hired studio musicians, we began recording Self-Prescribed Feelgood in a basement in our hometown of Welland, Ontario with our dear friend and producer Darren Coverdale. It was during this period that another old friend and fellow musician Brandon Ventresca (bass) showed interest in joining the band. Brandon was actually in one of the first bands I had ever played in when I was like 14 or something. We actually had a few musically intelligent conversations about Chicago Transit Authority and how they were just unreal when we took sociology class together. I rememeber thinking something like, “fuck dude, this guy likes old school Chicago. That’s sweet.” So I decided to pull him in with Nate to try and create some sort of early manifestation of what would become Street Pharmacy quite a few years later.
Soon after we finished recording the first record, Dan Fretz (drummer and reggae enthusiast) also showed interest in joining Street Pharmacy. The first time we jammed with Dan it just felt like a glove. On August 6th of 2006 we played our first show and had our first CD release party in Port Dalhousie, Ontario. We sold a whopping eight CD's. HIGH FIVE!
Around the same time, my best friend and renegade filmmaker Peter Guzda was making his first independent film and he approached me to write a song that encompasses the values of youth culture in Welland. In This Town was already on our first record and he felt that it would fit perfectly with the overtones of his movie - MSC: The Movie). A lot of kids felt that they could relate to this song and the movie which helped us tremendously in gaining a homegrown fan base. The song has become very popular around the Niagara Region. We even make t-shirts with the HERO FILMS logo on the front and the lyrics to In This Town written down the back. I guess it was just one of those songs that brought the frustrated youth community of Niagara together; especially Welland. Peter’s movie and our song also allowed for us to open some politicians eyes concerning the decline of youth culture in the area and Peter was hired to make a documentary about it by the municipality of Welland. It's somewhere on our MySpace so make sure to check it out.
Something like two weeks after our first CD release party, I decided to take a trip to London, England to learn everything about the music industry. While I was there I played a few acoustic sets at The Hope and Anchor in Islington. I met some people that introduced me to Heavenly Records as well as some people from EMI. They taught me a great deal of how to become successful as an independent artist. I sold 51 CD's, HIGH FIVE! Just to be able to stand on the same stage in the same club as The Specials, Madness, The Selector, The Clash, The Blockheads and The Pistols had done many decades before me was a chilling experience. And the kids liked it! That was even cooler!
When I returned home the reality of all four of members of Street Pharmacy attending different universities in different areas of Ontario sunk in. During the school months, I spent a lot of time writing songs for what would become Free Delivery. Dan and I spent a lot of weekends working out the songs, Nate and Brandon would come home a couple days before we had to play shows to work on this new material.
On December 20th, 2006 we played our first sold out show at The Bridge Pub and Eatery to 250 people in our hometown of Welland. Just before this show I had written songs like Welcome to tha Street Pharmacy, Sober State of Fame, Two Brothers and Figure it Out. Nate and Brandon came home with the main riff to It's Better That Way and before long we had an entirely new set. The new songs went over so well that we decided to put out a new record by August 2007.
It was also at this show I met another very important piece to the puzzle of Street Pharmacy, her name is Amy Gonyou. She later won the Much Music Video Awards All Access Pass, for a video that featured our song It's Better That Way which we'll talk about later. I didn't have a lot of confidence in my abilities as a stage performer. If it wasn't for Amy, I probably still wouldn't. Songs like Broken Compass, This Life and Winter Coat probably wouldn't haven't happened if it wasn't for her. Broken Compass wouldn’t have even made the record actually. She saved that song from getting cut and in almost every review we have gotten, from both fans and media alike, they say Broken Compass is one of the best songs we got. There are a few people that you meet in your life that you know will help you grow as a person as well as an artist. As well as Peter, I definitely consider Amy to be one of those rare people in my life that have helped me do that and I am truly grateful for her contribution and steadfast support of this band.
So we began playing a tremendous amount of shows in Toronto, London, Hamilton and St. Catharines and we were invited to play a few showcase shows for label scouts. We couldn’t do any crazy tours at the time because we were all finishing our degrees at the time so we just became Friday, Saturday, Sunday weekend reggae warriors of Ontario. It was while I was playing an acoustic set at a feminist rally that I was introduced to our next piece of the puzzle; our current producer Adam Tune. I played this very vulgar song about a girl who cheated on me when I was younger called Pull Out the Bat which was pretty risky to do at a feminist rally. My risky behaviour caught Tune’s attention. After a brief conversation at the bar and getting told off by a few of the attendants of the event we both realized that a feminist rally was probably the last place we ever expected to ever be on a Friday night. We just chalked it up to fate. Adam and the rest of the band hit it off right away in the studio and he brought an element that we embraced whole heartedly.
He made us better players musically and was very patient, which is hard to find in a producer. In August 2007, we decided to release Free Delivery at Arizona's (outdoor bar) in Thorold, Ontario. 600 people came and we sold an ocean of CDs. Since then we've been playing, recording and having fun playing shows in bars, clubs, parties where ever around Ontario. I think we just reached the 3000 mark for CD sales without the support of distribution, a manager or an agent. But for the last six – eight months we’ve been working with Tone from I in Eye Records and he’s made a great impact on our status in that period. It's been a great fucking run so far and we are so happy that people are digging the tunage.
The Pier: Tell us about the music video you filmed recently. What song was it for and what can you share about the shoot?
Ryan: We shot the video for Welcome to tha Street Pharmacy, which is the first track from Free Delivery. We wanted to do something big for it. So we decided to shut down a very big lift bridge in the middle of our home town and throw a concert on it. The turn out was fantastic! We're thinking it was around a thousand people, it was just huge. It was a very community driven experience and that's what we're all about. We're not the kind of guys that pretend we're something that we're not. We're from Welland; a small blue-collar town and we wanted to stay true to our roots. The area of Niagara means a lot to us. It's a great place and often gets neglected. There are a lot of talented artists here and if our video promotes the area we feel we've done the right thing.
Ironically, Amy was on Much Music for four days and she invited me down to Toronto to meet some of the people that worked there while we were shooting the video. They were very excited about the band and invited us to play a private party for their staff. They even featured one of our songs in a segment with Our Lady Peace and Finger 11. Amy also helped out with the organization of the video shoot itself. Peter Guzda (director of the video) and I decided that we were going to do a video anyway, without the help of grants or loans. We are both very pleased with what has come out of it. It's very hard for an independent band with no major overhead to do something as large scale as we did. That is an accomplishment in itself. I'm really stoked on how the video turned out, it successfully portrays who we are and what we're about in our natural habitat of Welland. When its ready for the internet you will be the first to get it Pilipo, I promise.
The Pier: Very Cool. The Pier will also be posting an interview with Staylefish very shortly. What has been the driving factor for all these cool reggae rock bands coming out from up there?
Ryan: It must be something in the water. I think we all drink from the Great Lakes..haha. I honestly can't explain it. Sublime was a very big influence to me and I'm sure that they were the same influence to the reggae rock scene in Canada. Also bands like Bedouin Soundclash have shown that reggae IS a radio friendly genre. I hear these stupid A&R’s say bullshit like, “reggae fusion isn’t a marketable genre and that it will never fly in the Canadian Music Industry" and that we are wasting our time playing it all the time and it really fucking pisses me off! Like what the fuck do they know?
I think a bunch of us young and reggae loving Ontarians are no longer afraid to play reggae infused music because we think some of these so called music industry expert assholes are just full of shit. It could be like a rebellion thing. All I know for sure is that I love to write these kinds of songs and I will continue to do that despite what some prick from some label or some agency says. Staylefish live about two hours away from us and I am absolutely sure they feel the same way about playing the shit they want to play. It's just great music, it sets off a vibe like no other and on top of it all, it makes girls dance. Anything that makes girls dance is a good thing.
The Pier: So how has the response been to your latest album Free Delivery?
Ryan: Awesome. It's just amazing, there' is so many ears on it and we love everyone who bought a copy and supports it. I mean we can't thank everyone enough who rocks our CD at a party, or to their friends, or has one of our tracks on their myspace profile, every little bit counts and we're extremely grateful. There is nothing like getting an e-mail from a fan who lives in California or South Dakota or Vancouver or from Welland or wherever, that says they can relate to our songs and that they will continue to support us for life. I have gotten some totally amazing e-mails from all over North America about the songs on Free Delivery. Not just the songs in general. I mean specific songs that our fans can really relate to.
A girl from Saskatoon found me on Facebook and sent me a message about how much she loved particular lines in a bunch of songs on Free Delivery and that just blew my mind; that someone would pay attention to my lyrics like that. She is attending university and really liked the lyrics to Figure It Out because it addresses those feelings of the status-quo life. I was trying to convey that in the song and I am just glad someone else felt the same way about it.
But that’s just one example. The album has been doing a lot for us and we believe that this album was an incredible way to really introduce our music and ourselves to the world. Now all we need to do is take it to the States. We want to shop it around there, especially in California. A lot of people buy our disc off of CDBaby from there.
The Pier: So you have started work on your third album already. What can you tell us about it at this stage?
Ryan: We are working on two records at once technically. A Perfect Convenience, which is our third full-length which probably won’t be released until some time next year and has been demoed already. But our immediate project is our six song reggae-concept record The Legacy of Rudy.
The Pier: I hear you are going to Cuba to do some recording? Is that for real?
Ryan: The band and myself wanted to do something crazy for the Legacy of Rudy. I had this concept record idea to tell the story of the original rude boy (aka Rudy) through song probably since the very beginning of the band’s conception in 2006. I thought it would be interesting to create a story about the original rude boy. I wanted to write a few songs that would fill in the blanks about what made this Rudy character such a bad seed. Just for fun, its not like it has to be factual or anything like that. Maybe like a socio-psychological analysis of an imaginary life of a young criminal interpreted through the eyes of a bystander. I admit to having a strange fascination for the subject of psychology and psychological disturbances due to the mishap I had with the chicken pox. I guess I will never escape that, haha.
So our producer Adam Tune approached me about making Cuba a reality for The Legacy of Rudy after the entire band decided on putting our 3rd full-length release A Perfect Convenience on hold. We decided that it was too soon to do another full-length and since going to Cuba was actually feasibly possible for us, it didn’t seem like such a crazy idea any more.
The recording of this album takes on a much more historical significance than what we initially intended. In January of 2009, it will be the 50th year that Cuba became a communist country. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro’s leftist rebels were able to over thrown the Batista Regime and proclaim victory for communism in Cuba. If that isn’t bad ass, then I don’t know what is. Castro was able to basically flip the bird to the rest of the world and do things his way for his country. Whether or not it was a good or bad thing for Cuba is another story that I can’t really comment on because I have never been there. But you gotta remember that Castro’s rebellion happened right in the middle of the Cold War. Having a communist country on the doorstep of the United States was definitely a big deal.
Growing up, I always wanted to be the radical rebel. I would act out against the norm of the school system much like every other rebellious kid does. I hated authority growing up but I could never rally the rest of my peers to overthrow the teacher’s absolute power. I think it’s a dream of most mischievous young men. But, then I got to University and learned about Fidel Castro… talk about going against the grain. What is even more astonishing is that Communist Cuba is approaching its 50th anniversary. In my opinion, Castro and Cuba is the most famous rebel story. Fuck, Castro may be the most successful rebel of all time.
Making a record in Cuba about a rebel just makes sense. It’s not like the actual content of the record is going to have any political overtones or anything like that. It’s just cool to be recording a record about a rebel in a country that told the rest of the world to fuck off. Like some days, I wish I could pull a Castro on the music industry. I think we all do nowadays. But ya, we leave on August 19th of this year and plan to return with The Legacy of Rudy by the 26th. We're also recording with seven to 12 Cuban/Jamaican born musicians which we feel will further compliment the entire tone of the record as both a piece of music and a contextually motivated concept album. The planned date for its release is still undecided.
The Pier: Have you had a chance to play shows in the US yet?
Ryan: Unfortunately, no. Although we always get messages/emails from fans in California and all over the U.S.A to come play. We just don't have an American management team or booking agency at this time. Silverback… for the love of Jesus Christ! We're lookin' your way! Hook us up!
The Pier: Ok tell us about your wildest Street Pharmacy related story
Ryan: Man, there's so many.. haha. But here's one that involves Tone from I in Eye Records and how we first met. Actually, all the really good ones involve Tone in some way shape or form.
It all starts with a girl. We just finished recording Free Delivery and I just got back in to Welland, it's like 3:30 in the morning. I hit up a convenient store for a packs of smokes and I'm sitting on the store front having a smoke when I seen this girl walk by wearing the sickest pair of Converse Chuck Taylor's, they had this comic book theme going. I had to let her know that they rocked and wanted to take a picture of them and use it for the album cover. I wanted to change the Converse logo to say Street Pharmacy - Free Delivery, make it work for the album cover. I saw it in my head.
This girl, she was into it but assured me she could do me one better. So I went back into the store and bought a disposable camera and we headed to her pad. She told me wait in the other room, and moments later she's calling me to come down the hall and into the last room. I open the door and here's this girl, completely naked wearing nothing but the shoes. What would you do? haha. I started taking pics. She signed a release form and everything for us to use her photos, we actually used one on the inside of Free Delivery, it's just a part of her leg and the shoes. We're good guys you know?
What I didn't know, is she had a boyfriend. And he found out.. and obviously did not approve. But I had no idea. This is where Tone comes in. He's not the boyfriend or anything.. haha. We just started talking over the phone, he was flying Natural Incense to Canada for a small tour and he was interested in us for tour support and joining the roster. So after a few weeks of phone calls I invited him to Welland's Food Festival. I told him we're playing on this stage in the middle of the street and he should come check us out.
Tone: I was stoked to finally meet Street Pharmacy and see them live. So I grab my one buddy who was dating my girl's one friend at the time and we head to her house just outside of Welland. She's in school and has all these roommates and neighbors I thought would love to hear Street Pharmacy and check em out at the Festival. So we're sitting around on the patio and I throw on Street Pharm's CD and everyone's just loving it. I had a few extra seats in my car and offered a ride to the Festival.
On the way to the Festival, I asked my buddy to pass me my I in Eye Records badge and the others in the car asked if they could help rep I in Eye, I thought nothing of it.. it's like wearing a T-shirt right? WRONG! haha.. bad, bad move.
Now talk about a small world. This one guy, the Converse girl's boyfriend is in my car, I had no idea who he was… all I knew is he was overly stoked about Street Pharmacy. Why the hell not bring a guy like that to the show? So I meet Ryan and the rest of the boys and I'm chilling out side stage with the group I brought and we're all loving the show! Well at least I thought. “Boyfriend” is creating a plan to attack. Now, at the end of the last set.. the "boyfriend" gets up on stage and confronts Ryan and takes a swing at him, while wearing an I in Eye badge. All hell broke loose.
There’s like a thousand people, all eyes on stage. This dude gets thrown through the PA system which is on a table below the stage. Ryan's older brother is trying so hard not to kill me... I'm standing in the middle of chaos like a deer in headlights. Once reality clicked in and the tunnel vision expired I was on a mission to let all know that this guy has no affiliation with I in Eye Records at all. He just wanted to rep us, I had no idea of the history involving Ryan and him. So here's me apologizing to Ryan's mom, brother, and everyone! I felt horrible that I brought this dude. Ryan was signing some merch for the fans.. I waited for him and he was drinking a rye and coke, he doesn't even drink.. haha. He hands it to me and says "have a drink and let's go talk."
We walk over to this bus station where there was no one around. And I explained how this dude was wearing an I in Eye badge and I didn't know him. Then he told me the story of the pictures and the Converse shoes and we couldn't believe out of all the people - I ran into that guy. Ryan knew I was feeling horrible and he constantly assured me it was cool and I got nothing to worry about. He was just confused to where this guy stood with me. But yeah, that's how we first met, not a good first impression, but a fuckin great story. It’s almost like we were each carrying a part of the medallion... haha. We've been rolling heavy ever since.
Ryan: Man, Tone is def one of those people that you know are going to help you grow as a person. Tone has helped Street Pharmacy so much over the past year and we are extremely grateful for his support. Like the dude is a machine and we are both trying to get shit off the ground anyway we can. I have a lot of respect for Tone. Despite the madness that ensued upon our meeting for the first time, sometimes you just get a hunch about people and I definitely got a good feeling about Tone and I in Eye Records involvement with Street Pharmacy.
The Pier: Now that is a story. Probably one of the best we have had at The Pier. What else have you got coming up in the near future?
Ryan: Recording two records at the same time, doing our second music video for It's Better That Way and that’s about it right now. We are really looking for American label support. That’s what we are going to try and concentrate our energies on after we are done recording Rudy.
Big thanks to Ryan and Tone for dropping by The Pier and sharing some great stories. Make sure you check out: