| Scott
D. Brown: First, I would like to go over some of the
history of the band. Now, from what I understand, you guys were
together since high school; except Aaron right? So why did you
get together then, how did you guys get into music? |
| Steve:
We first started playing in grade 8. We were just doing it for
a talent show. We were messing around with a Green Day song,
Chris, Connor, and I. Afterward, we started practicing in Chris’s
basement because we didn’t have anything else to do. |
| SB:
You guys were playing instruments before then? |
| Steve:
Chris was already playing drums and Conor bass; then after I
started playing guitar. |
| Chris:
Oh ok, Then we hit high school, still just the three of us under
the name Juniper. |
| SB:
You guys were all in the same high school? |
| Chris:
Yep. |
| SB: What school
was that? |
| Chris:
Earl of March. |
| SB:
In Kanata? |
| Chris:
Yeah, in Kanata. Then we picked up Jon in Grade 12. We continued
for 2-3 years as Juniper later playing the clubs. |
| SB:
And Dave left at that time? |
| Chris:
Yeah, Dave left just after the first year university, which
was probably 2001. Jon joined in ‘98, ’99. We started
playing clubs and started recording then finishing Procedures
for Underground. We played a lot of shows supporting the
album. We then began work on the new album when we decided we
could use a little ‘oomph’ live so Aaron joined
in the summer of 2003. [Aaron Libbey, guitar] |
| SB:
What about the self-titled album, which was an independent release?
Did you have to pay for it all yourself? |
| Chris:
It was actually done through Tara, The Audio Recording Academy.
[http://www.ravenstreet.com/tara/] |
| Jon:
Once I joined the band we participated in Elbow Room’s
Battle of the Bands and we placed second which won us the opportunity
to record with Tara. |
| SB:
They did it free for you? |
| Jon:
Yes, it was a whole bunch of students and we were basically
like the lab rat. We sat there and we got a free disc out of
it and they gained the knowledge out of it. |
| SB:
What was the name of it, it was self-titled? |
| Jon:
It was self-titled, as Juniper. And then we did Procedures…on
Dark Skippy Records. |
| SB:
Are you going to still be with Skippy for your new album? |
| Jon:
Yes we will. I played with Aaron back before Juniper. We decided
we needed a little more so we got Aaron to play with us. |
| SB:
[Turning to Aaron] so how long have you been with the band? |
| Aaron: Since the summer of 2003. |
| SB:
You play the guitar also? |
| Aaron: Yep. |
| SB:
So then you use two lead guitars? |
| Jon:
[Jon interrupts] Yeah sometimes or I will use the acoustic. |
| SB:
Aaron plays electric guitar and so does Steve. Who plays lead? |
| Steve:
We don’t really have a lead. |
| Jon:
Steve and Aaron kind of trade back and forth depending on who
is singing at the time; all three of us sing as well. |
| Steve:
We are hardly ever playing at the same time. I play keyboards
also on a Juno 106 [he states loudly with pride] |
| SB:
I guess that’s good? |
| Steve:
Oh it’s so sweet it’s better than the JX3P! |
| Conor:
We are turning in a Devo cover band. [Conor says jokingly] |
| SB:
Devo…Devo… “Whip it.” |
| Steve:
Yeah… [Everyone laughs] |
| SB:
Why switch your name from Juniper to Keep Yourself Good Company?
|
| Steve:
Well, for practical reasons for one, there is a band in the
States called Juniper and also one in Ireland. It sounds generic
and we didn’t like how common it sounded. Nobody will
call themselves Keep Yourself Good Company except for us. |
| SB:
What does it mean? I read that it means that since you will
always be with yourself you should be comfortable with yourself. |
| Steve:
That’s exactly what it means. |
| SB:
When I first seen the name I thought it meant masturbation or
something? [Scott smiles] |
| [A roomful of laughter ensues!] |
| Steve:
We get a lot of jokes like that. I never even thought of that
when we first came up with it. |
| Chris:
So how did you come up with it Steve? [Chris asks knowingly] |
| Steve:
It’s from Conor and me. In the final year of high school
Conor and I wrote a play for drama class. That’s the name
of the play. |
| SB:
So you didn’t like Juniper as much as Keep Yourself Good
Company? |
| Chris:
Yeah, KYGC it’s a pretty sweet acronym as well. |
| Steve:
It’s got some other sexual things going on there… |
| Conor:
We’re all into sexual innuendo. [Conor laughs] |
| Steve:
The thing is, if people aren’t going to spend 10 seconds
saying our name over again, then fuck‘em. |
| SB:
When you finished second in the Elbow Room battle, who was first
and do you think you played better than them? |
| Steve:
Oh we totally played better than them! They just had more friends
there I think. What was it Hetero? |
| Jon:
Heterodox. Also at the time we were all under age and they had
their singer was sick. So they pulled the whole thing like “He’s
sick and he’s singing just for you guys!” One other
thing is a bar wouldn’t want four or five under age kids
winning their Battle of the Bands. It would kind of look bad
on them. I think that’s another reason. |
| SB:
So you guys were all still in high school? |
| Jon:
Yes, Aaron was actually doing our sound for that show. |
| Aaron:
As a bystander definitely I think you guys sounded better than
Heterodox. |
| SB:
Out of all the places you played, here and in Kingston, which
one is like your home? Which one is the best bar? |
| Jon:
I think to call our home? Personally, I would say Zaphod’s
because that is where we got our big kick. When we first started
playing we were playing there once a month for two years. Right
now though with our stage set up Barrymore’s is very nice
to us and is one of the only clubs that can accommodate us very
easily. With 5 people, Steve has two keyboards, with guitars;
we all have big rigs really… |
| SB:
So Zaphod’s has become too small in other words? |
| Jon:
Exactly, and Chris’s drum set gets bigger and bigger by
the week. [Everyone laughs] But I would say out of all the places
Zaphod’s is the most comfortable within a non-physical
sort of way; in Kingston it would be Clark Hall. |
| SB:
The band began playing in Kingston because some of you guys
attend Queens? |
| Jon:
Chris and Jon are the only ones who actually live in Ottawa. |
| SB:
So Jessica Padykula, writer for Excaliber of York University
reviewed you guys and called you a clone of Radiohead. What
do you say to that? |
| Steve:
I don’t think we sound at all like Radiohead now really.
Also, Radiohead has gone through a lot of different periods. |
| SB:
How long ago was that article written? |
| Steve:
After Procedures… came out, wasn’t it in
2002? I can name a lot of things that influence us but I don’t
see why people would say that we sound like Radiohead. |
| SB:
Every article I read on your website mentions Radiohead. |
| Steve:
Oh yeah it’s always saying Radiohead. |
| Jon:
But honestly if you think about it, every new band that comes
out anywhere right now has comparisons to Radiohead, so that’s
cool. |
| Aaron:
I think anyone who sounds different at all they automatically
get termed Radiohead. If you’re not Nickelback, or whatever,
then you’re Radiohead because you’re just something
else that’s alternative. |
| Conor:
Also, Radiohead is one of our biggest influences. We all like
Radiohead. I don’t mind being compared to them really;
no big deal. |
| SB:
So you mention on your website that you have a few songs together
for the next album which is coming out in May. Is that still
correct? |
| Steve:
We have a solid date now. It’s July 17th. |
| SB:
Do you have the name of the album yet? |
| Steve:
No, we have ideas for artwork but we still don’t even
have all the songs recorded yet. |
| SB:
You have a gig at Barrymore’s tomorrow night are you going
to play some of the songs that are going to be on the new album. |
| Jon:
The majority of the set is new stuff. |
| Conor:
Some of the songs on the new CD have already been heard by most
people. We’ve been playing some of them already for years
they just didn’t make it on Procedures... |
| SB:
You also mentioned that you’re getting together for a
video, how did that go? |
| Chris:
Hasn’t happened yet. Right now treatments are being written
by Anthony Seck who does this for a living, and… |
| SB:
Treatments? |
| Chris:
Yes, it’s just the whole storyboard for the video etc.
That is being done as we speak and I think the plan is to shoot
in April. But, I don’t know totally when. April was the
month we talked about but we’ll have to see how busy we
are. We’re in preparation for the disc [video] coming
out and having it done couple of months before the disc [CD]
is released and the goal is to have the disc done by May and
release it July 17th . We will then tour it. The video is going
to come along with that whole package and it’s still in
the works right now. |
| SB:
So all of you guys are in University? |
| Jon:
Jon’s not. |
| SB:
Jon was? |
| Jon:
Jon didn’t like college. But we don’t need to write
about that. [Jon smiles] |
| SB:
What are you taking in University, Conor? |
| Conor:
I’m in my last year of Electrical Engineering. |
| Steve:
I’m in my last year of Electrical Engineering. |
| Aaron:
I’m in my second year of Political Science. |
| Chris:
I’m in my last year of Civil Engineering. |
| SB:
So all you guys want to be engineers? |
| Steve:
It’s not that I really want to be an engineer. I just
like electronics so much. For example, the past couple of nights,
I’ve been staying up trying to rewire my amp to make it
work for the show. I finally got it done last night. I really
don’t want to go to school for music because I know a
lot of music students who don’t really care much for music.
|
| SB:
Do you still keep in touch with Dave? |
| Steve:
Oh yeah definitely. Actually, I just talked to him. Dave is
one of my best friends; I just talked to him on the phone a
couple of days ago. |
| SB:
He was on keyboards right? He left the band because of university? |
| Steve:
Dave was at Carleton with us and he wasn’t too happy about
it, he wanted to become a boat builder so he went away to England
to study. |
| Chris:
I don’t think he was digging it at the time when he was
in the band. At that point there weren’t the keyboard
parts there all the time and that’s all he did. It was
kind of a drag for him. It wasn’t all that exciting. He
did not like it that much. We don’t hold it against him.
He still comes out to the studio and gets drunk with us and
spins Steve around on the top of a car; he is a good friend
of all of ours still. |
| SB:
So how many gigs have you guys done all together? |
| Jon:
Since I joined the band? |
| Steve:
Yeah, let’s do it since you joined the band. |
| Jon:
At one point I was counting, but I have no idea now. |
| Steve:
Well we got past… well I thought it was 60 wasn’t
it? |
| Chris:
Yeah, I think it’s about 60. |
| SB:
In those 60, you screwed up somewhere? Give me some of your
major screw-ups. |
| Conor:
One time we played at Babylon and Jon, Steve, and I had a little
too much to drink; but Chris didn’t. I remember there
was one point where Steve started talking about Worf from Star
Trek and people started booing. Then, Jon spit on the ground
and on his back and I think it just descended into chaos from
there. Then, Chris got mad and yelled at us on stage. |
| Steve:
We had about an hour long argument after the show on stage. |
| Jon:‘Til
everyone in the club is going “Get out!” |
| Conor:
Yeah, everyone was saying “Are you going to leave soon?” |
| Aaron:
Was that the show that you guys played Kylie Minogue? |
| SB:
What do you mean; played music of hers? |
| Conor:
Yeah, we covered “Can't Get You out of My Head”
or whatever. |
| Steve:
Before the Flaming Lips did! |
| Chris:
All the bad shows involved a little too much drinking on someone’s
part usually. |
| Jon:
We always make a point to not have too much now. We always allow
each other to have one or two before we go on and that’s
it; instead of taking like 14…. [Everyone laughs] |
| SB:
Musicians usually, I heard the Flaming Lips mentioned, and they’re
one of my favorite bands, usually musicians like other musician’s
music right? So if you were to name just one album that is your
favorite album of all time, what would it be? Personally, for
me it’s The Wall. |
| Aaron:
Of all time [he says with trepidation]? |
| SB:
I bought The Wall four times already. First, I bought
it on vinyl, then on tape, and then on CD, it was stolen so
I got it again on CD. I mean no matter where I go I will always
have that album around. |
| Conor:
Fantastic Planet by Failure |
| Jon:
Probably Figure 8 by Elliot Smith |
| Aaron:
I can’t do what’s my favourite of all time but at
right now I think my favourite is Breath from Another
by Esthero. |
| Chris:
It might get all screwed up. I go through these phases; like
it used to be Dave Matthews. That’s one I could always
go back to because I just love the tunes. But then I go through
these big phases where I love Tool… |
| Jon:
One album! |
| Chris:
No? |
| Jon:
No, that’s what he wants; one album. |
| Chris:
Oh! One album, okay we’ll go with by Dave Matthews’
Crash |
| Steve:
Never, Never, Land by UNKLE |
| SB:
Is there anything else you guys want to say to your fans or
anyone. It’s going to be on our website so say anything
you want. |
| Chris:
Buy our new record. |
| Jon:
Pay attention to local music because tomorrow it could be worldwide
music; and be nice to people. |
| Steve:
Stop watching so much fucking TV. |
| Conor:
Don’t eat KFC anymore. |
| Aaron:
Keep yourself good company. [Everyone laughs] |
| SB:
A great way to end I think. |
| |
