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Spotlight on local music: The Release

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.
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The Release

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.