On a balmy Toronto summer night, music enthusiasts from all walks of life gathered at the Budweiser Stage for a nostalgic journey back to the ’80s. The stage was set, and the atmosphere was electric, as three iconic bands – Berlin, Howard Jones, and Culture Club – took the stage to deliver a night of unforgettable performances.
Q&Autogramm
Autogramm n (genitive Autogramms, plural Autogramme)
1. (signature of a celebrity given to a fan) autograph
Jiffy Marx, C.C. Voltage and The Silo n 1. (rejected names for members of the band Poison)
No…wait…Poison had a C.C. Nix that and pencil on in “accepted names for members of Vancouver’s Autogramm”. Now, I don’t know how Poison drummed up the idea for their band but I’m willing to bet my vinyl copy of “Open Up and Say… Ahh!” that it wasn’t swigging brews by a canal in Berlin. Voila…it’s Autogramm. They had a simple goal in mind. Money? Nay! Fame? Not really? Simply just craftting some good tunage? Well, yeah…but what they really wanted to do was travel and preferably to places where there’s ample sunlight.
Jiffy Marx: I think he means due to fentanyl there’s a lot less cocaine! Also a lot more women in bands and all-female bands which is great since, like all places, the scene has always been dominated by males. I don’t think that part has anything to do with the quality of street drugs though.
Vancouver was a good start…you know, once you look around the rain. From that initially chitty-chat on the canal came the power-pop trio that hit the city scene last year and have just dropped their first album “What R U Waiting 4?” What we waited for was a glorious throwback to proto punk power pop squeezed and rung out to drip with all those sweet, sweet new wave 80s synths. It’s like ya’ got Belinda Carlisle behind the wheel, Ric Ocasek riding shotgun and a whole bunch of backseat pumping beats to rumble your rear-view.
Pushing down the road with a tankful of pulse makes for a good image for a group that thinks of themselves as the hardest vacationing band in The Great White North.
“Or the band that works hardest at taking vacations that aren’t in the Great White North,” rattles off C.C. with a quip that whips towards sunny Southward. “See you again soon LA!”
But before Cali calls, the three have a gig in Ottawa Saturday night at Mavericks! Snap up some tix but, first, a lil’ Q&A.
Andre Gagne: I lived in Vancouver about 10 years ago and spent some time weaving in and out of the music scene. How would you describe it these days?
C.C.: I left in 2010 and moved back not long ago from Berlin, so to me it’s like this amazing new music scene. It’s not how it was when I left and that’s a good thing.
Jiffy Marx: I think he means due to fentanyl there’s a lot less cocaine! Also a lot more women in bands and all-female bands which is great since, like all places, the scene has always been dominated by males. I don’t think that part has anything to do with the quality of street drugs though.
Do you feel, say a city like Chicago or Seattle, that Vancouver has a “sound” or is it just a mish-mash of styles?
Jiffy: It’s so diverse, I’d have a hard time saying it has a particular “sound”. I’m glad to say there seems to be some influence by Vancouver’s punk history- Subhumans, Pointed Sticks, DOA etc.
Speaking of mishy-mashy sounds, you’ve said you looked all over Youtube for some of your favourite power-pop/new-wave vides 80’s style and used then for your own video “Jessica Don’t Like Rock n Roll”. Can you band-drop a few of the artists you were checking out?
Jiffy: There are specific references to Kim Wilde’s “Kids In America” and Gary Numan’s “In Cars” videos.
C.C.: And of course The Knack’s “My Sharona” video.
While you’ve been called indie-rockers I really get the vibe that your dive headlong into the 80’s new wave pool. What is it about that music you’ve found influential and how have you gone about putting your own slant on things?
Jiffy: We definitely are influenced by New Wave which was originally what record labels rebranded punk to distance themselves from bad press in the mainstream media. Later MTV built itself on the less-arty more-pop side of post-punk (video killed the radio star!). We’re from the MTV generation except since we’re Canadian we watched shows like Video Hits and Good Rockin’ Tonight instead.
C.C.: I’d hope we’re not putting a slant on things at all. 80s music has always been my favourite, and we’re trying to make it as authentic as possible. It’s what we grew up on.
Silo: The collision of simple power-pop (a la The Nerves) and monophonic synthesizer sounds is something that really sparked my imagination. I love that bare-bones aesthetic. It’s filtered through our lives in the present day, so I don’t think it comes off as a complete throwback, but honestly we just tried to make something that made us wanna jump up and down!
More mish mash! You’re all from a few different bands (The Spitfires, Blood Meridian, Black Halos, Hard Drugs, London’s Loyalties) to name a few. Was it difficult to detach from the other groups to start up this project and how do you feel Autogramm differs in comparison to some of your past work with other bands?
C.C.: It’s a welcome departure for me. I’ve always wanted to do music like this, but it was hard to find the right people. I’m grateful it fell together like it did.
Silo: I’m always up for something new, especially if it’s this fun. This band is a bit different in that our main objective is do right by our personalities: keep it light, have fun while we’re out there, don’t get too serious.
How do you juggle it all…keeping all those bands up in the air while exploring new territory?
C.C.: I’m only doing this band now. Thank god!
Silo: Music is my life and I want to live it as much as I possibly can. My modus operandi is to stay busy, be diverse, learn new things all the time, never do the same thing.
The band name is German, right? Can you explain why you chose it and the circumstances behind the name Autogramm seeing the light of day?
Jiffy: Yes it means ‘autograph’, which was already taken. Coincidentally Autograph’s 1984 album Sign In Please has a similar font to our logo. And synths of course.
What do you think makes you three really click when it comes to the music you want to unleash?
Jiffy Marx: I’d say we’re all pretty laid back, just trying to have fun.
C.C.: A love for tacos, Margaritas and sunshine. The music is secondary.
Silo: What they said!
How did you find signing with Nevado Music helped get the first album recorded?
C.C.: The first album was already recorded, and Nevado came to our first LA show, so the process was quite seamless.
Any wild and wacky stories you wanna’ share about recording What R U Waiting 4?
Jiffy: Not super wacky but I think it was the last album recorded at the original location of Dan Bejar and Josh Wells’ studio The Balloon Factory.
C.C.: The place reeked of weed from the pot grow op that was located somewhere nearby. The sun was not visible due to the forest fires. We ate a lot of tacos.
Silo: The Balloon Factory’s new location smells a lot better.
Are you all happy with how the debut turned out?
Jiffy: Stoked. Hope people get a chance to check it out!
C.C.: Josh Wells recorded, mixed and produced it. He nailed it. Sounds like it came out in 1980!
Silo: Hell yeah!
