Members: Tom Heuckendorff, on vocals, Hammond organ, sax, and
flute, Brendan Ladner on vocals and guitar, Derek Stembridge on bass, and Benny
Schuetze on drums and vocals.
Pique: Where did the name come from?
Brendan Ladner: The Release is the state of mind that we’re
trying to achieve within the music, when your mind can be free enough to be
lost in the moment; then there is nothing left but the release of the music.
Pique: What are your musical backgrounds?
B.L.: While Tom was listening to punk music, Derek was
listening to Fear Factory and Rush, Brendan was listening to The Beatles and
the Black Crowes and Benny was listening to Pink Floyd and Radiohead.
Pique: Where are you all from, and what brought you to
Whistler?
B.L.: Tom – Aurora, Ontario. Snowboarding
Derek – Toronto. The mountain life.
Brendan – Vancouver. The pow
Benny – Vancouver. The Release
Pique: When did you form your band, and what inspired you to
make music together?
B.L.: It really began on the road with Kostaman and the
Vibrations — Tom was playing sax and Brendan was playing bass in
Kostaman’s band. We would play guitar and flute on ferry decks and beaches,
getting to know each other’s material. We shared the jam band connection. We
found ourselves some acoustic shows around Whistler and it was after an evening
on Merlin’s patio that Derek was asked, “What’s in the case?”
Pique: How do you describe your music?
B.L.: Original funky jam rock/psychedelic groove rock. It’s a
full spectrum of music — mellow to intense, inspired by all genres. It’s
an unintentionally unique sound — it’s not jazz but hints to it —
that is simply the music that we write. It’s not always clear where the songs
or melodies appear from. We allow enough freedom to allow musical exploration
and uncover deep grooves. We have played some sets that were more that 50 per
cent improvised.
Pique: Do you play covers, or original material?
B.L.: All originals. Until we run out of our own new ideas when
are we supposed to find time to practice other people’s music?
Pique: I know you’re a jam band, but you must rehearse in some
way. Describe a typical rehearsal…
B.L.: That’s funny… like any normal practice, we guess. Three
of us getting together in Brendan’s living room, fine-tuning older songs and
then working on new song ideas. What makes us a jam band is the spirit of
exploration that we bring to the music, dynamics and improvisation. We are
excited to spend time playing stuff we’ve never played before and will likely
never play again — even in rehearsal.
Pique: When you aren’t on stage, where can people find you just
hanging out?
B.L.: Creekside lineups. Chillin’ with Brother Twang, Altered
Beast or The Coolers. Kostaman’s open mic nights. By the way, is Umphrey’s
McGee playing soon?
Pique: Hit shuffle on your iPod — what are the first
songs you come across?
T.H.: Wilco - I Am Tryin’ To Break Your Heart, Grand Theft Bus
- Street Sweeper. Dr. John – What A Night
D.S.: Medeski Martin and Wood - Uninvisible, Sound Tribe Sector
Nine (sts9) - Hubble, Particle – Elevator
B.L.: The Slip – Children of December, The Black Crowes
– Wounded Bird, The Gladiators – On The Other Side of the Mountain.
B.S.: Vicky – Maria.
Pique: What/who are your musical influences?
B.L.: Everything, no joke. Everything we hear comes out in out
music whether we like it or not. Shanoon Hoon put it something along these
lines: “You gotta use everything man, the love, the pain, the good, the bad,
the confusions, everything.”
Pique: What’s your favourite venue in town, and why?
B.L.: GLC. There could still be some reverberations from when
Medeski Martin and Wood, The Easy Star Allstars, Garaj Mahal… Wait, this list
could get pretty long, pretty fast. Does Pemberton Festival count as a venue?
Pique: Do you have any performances or big projects on the
horizon?
B.L.: We’ve just done a second printing of our first CD. We
will be recording a full-length album by June. We’ve got lots of shows coming
up at the end of January including, hopefully, Tommy Africa’s on Jan. 28th,
definitely Merlin’s Jan. 29th, and the GLC on Jan. 31st. We play acoustically
at Crystal Lounge Feb. 5th and later on through the winter. We’ve also got a
tour planned to ski resorts around B.C. and Alberta for the first week in
March. You can always find out the latest info at myspace.com/thereleasejamband
Pique: What about your upcoming performance with Hey Ocean!?
They’re a great live act, as well — how do you think your sounds will
work together?
B.L.: For starters, our drummer Benny, toured with Hey Ocean!
for a couple of years, and we’ve all been friends longer than that. Both bands
write original music with catchy vocal harmonies and a devotion to funky
grooves. And there’s a very good chance that there will be some collaboration
on stage that night.
Pique: Anything else you’d like to add?
B.L.: Please support live music. You have no idea how
challenging it is to play original live music, let alone get people to come to
our shows. The first question out of one bar manager’s mouth: “What covers do
you play?” And then we go out in Whistler and we see hundreds of people dancing
to DJ laptop butchering a Journey/Bob Marley mash-up!
As Whistler musicians we discuss what we should be doing to turn these crowds on to live music. Do we try to make it more obviously danceable? It’s even more challenging when it’s original music to boot. For now we are playing the most honest and personal music we can convey, having faith that at least a few people will get to share these feelings with us. The music, there is nothing that means more to us. In this era of technological devotion, iPod homogenization, recession, and pills, there are people out there who need to feel The Release.