Present yourself to the readers
Hello readers! I’m Jesse. I pluck strings, yell into microphones and write poetry. Thanks for taking the time to check this out and if you haven’t heard our new album ‘Contact High’ yet you should probably listen to it on a streaming platform of your choice before, during and after this interview cause that’s what I’ll be talking about.
What’s the story for CONTACT HIGH ?
It ties into our band name a bit and also the feeling we get when we play or see live shows. (Which we sorely miss). It’s that feeling of belonging, connection, community and euphoria. That High. The ‘story’ itself is that I was abducted by Aliens and they implanted these songs into my brain. At least lyrically and the ones I wrote musically. Levi wrote and performed ‘Get Back’. Jon wrote the rest.
Who composes ?...How does it work in the band ?(for this album)
Jon, who plays the other guitar and I write the base of the songs. But if it wasn’t for Skyler’s drumming and Levi’s sultry vocal harmonies and bass that they write then the songs wouldn’t sound the way they do. We pitch ideas back and forth through guitar pro, demos we make and/or jamming them out in Jon’s garage. I have to give a shout out to Levi for rejoining the band a couple years ago and really helping us put this music together by asking questions and giving ideas. A couple tips for being in a band: Communicate, take criticism, change is good, keep learning, and ask for an outside perspective of a friend or a producer. For us, Malcom Owen-Floods who produced this album would tell us we need to shorten some parts, and we wouldn’t have written that chorus for ‘Shapeshift’ if he hadn’t told us that the one we had wasn’t quite right. We ended up using it as post-chorus and outro instead, which flowed better.
Who writes the texts ?..What are they talking about ?..How does inspiration come ?(for this album)
That would be me. Except for the song ‘Get Back’ which I mentioned that Levi wrote. Each song for me is a journey and takes me to a certain time and place. From wanting to run away and go off the grid with my partner, to being in a toxic relationship, to my personal struggles with alcohol and not knowing which direction I was going, to telling myself if I keep working hard towards my dreams they’ll come true, to pure hatred for the selfish 1% elite who could help so many people but don’t, to encouraging people to not let their past traumas run and ruin their lives but to embrace and face them head-on cause even though it’s gonna be hard it’ll be worth it.
Why the name SECONDHAND HABIT ?
Funny story about the name. It was named before I even joined the band and it came from a band name generator on the internet. For me though it’s how we as a band pick up on each others musical habits and influences and learning how to make it all work together, good or bad.
What are your personal musical tastes and your influences ?
It depends on which side of the bed I wake up on to be honest. I usually wake up with a song stuck in my head and I’ll go about my day depending which song it is. Could be blues, classical, indie rock, hard rock or metal. I’m always writing new music. Even if it isn’t for Secondhand I like to dip my toes in everything and challenge myself to see if I can write something I never thought I could. Also playing guitar in the metal band Scimitar really expanded my horizons and pushed me forward as a musician.
In studio, what was the atmosphere for your new album ?...etc.
We started recording in Silverside Studios which is a beautiful farm in a valley and got through most of it. But then Covid happened and we had to continue doing it ourselves at home which we learnt a lot from doing. Our producer Malcom was so much fun to work with. Check out his podcast called ‘Your Band Sucks At Business’ about his time in Band of Rascals. It’s very informative.
How does it work for the design of the CD ? and why this title ?
We actually bought that design for the tour posters we did many years ago. I wanted to reuse and expand onto it cause it was too good to leave in the past. The back of the album is a design my partner and I did of the perspective of inside that Spaceship, I was also inspired by Malcom’s studio setup, and included a few hidden references if you can spot them. You can purchase a physical copy with lots more artwork inside through our Bandcamp.
How was the shooting of the clip NEXT TO NONE ? and why this choice ?
We shot that music video in Jon’s garage. Cause at the time, nothing was open and that’s our sanctuary where most of our ideas come from. We used certain clips of protests and imagery to emphasize the impact that we have on the planet and the fact that the 99% are doing what we can even though it may feel like we want to do more, and I’m sure a lot of us would if we had the money to make changes faster. We’re just trying to survive. At what point of having enough money to use for helping communities, do these rich people feel so superior over us and not care enough anymore to help? We know what the problems are and they know how to fix them but they’ll never have enough money to satisfy themselves even at the expense of animal and human lives, the well-being of people and the planet. Remember how I said change is good? Well I’ll say it again. Change is good and needs to happen.
With Management and booking, how do you work ? And with whom ?
Jon manages the band and was the one always booking everything with promoters so kudos to him. We don’t work with anyone anymore cause nothing’s happening. We gotta do everything ourselves until things start up again. Fingers crossed!
What are your projects ?(for the band)
Since Covid we’ve had the time to learn a lot about how to record ourselves and just write music in general. We have some songs in demo form at this time and I’d say they’re leaning on the Tech Prog Hard Rock side of things which I like to call ‘Sedimentary Rock’ and I’m really excited about them.
What do you expect from the future ?
Well considering one our local pubs called Logan’s shut down recently which housed most of our rock and metal scene here in Victoria, British Columbia, I kinda expect more pubs to follow suite which is really unfortunate. We just have to keep writing, recording, putting out content and keeping our heads in the game and above water. The future is a blur, but if I squint I can make out the people and fans that want to go see live shows so badly that when we get a vaccine, the scene will absolutely explode.
What's your motto ?
We are the Variables, we are subject to change its whole.
Website to remember
Secondhandhabit.bandcamp.com
What would you like to say to the readers ?
Thank you so much for being you and taking the time to read this. I hope you’re doing well and I wish you the best. Much love.
Thanks for the upkeep
Hugues B.
