By Will McGuirk
Slowcity.ca had a quick email chat with our pals in the Standstills, they are OG Shwakats, and will be playing a hometown gig when their tour with Three Days Grace stops over at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa Nov. 22 2022. The duo recently added a third player, Brendan McMillan (Darkest Days) so we started there.
Slowcity.ca: Hi Standstills, been a minute - some changes to the band - haven’t had a chance to ask you so two to three, why and how did it happen ?
Standstills: “When we started writing the new songs, we knew we had to grow. The songs just felt much bigger and we knew it was time to add more to the subsonic low end.”
SC: Hooking up with Jesse (Hughes, Eagles of Death Metal) that’s sweet, did you know Manantler did a beer with them one time, did that come up?
Standstills: “ Thanks, Jesse is a good friend. Sorry, he never mentioned it.”
SC: In the PR you mention you bonded with Jesse over sharing the same outlook on creative arts, what would that be?
Standstills: “Music, cinema, poetry.. Basically everything creative.”
SC: The single has an open road surge to it- after being indoors so long it's a greatrelease I think, what are your plans for the road and will Eagles of Death Metal be part of that plan?
Standstills: “Thank you. We plan to bring our new album to life all over the globe once we’ve released it. EODM is currently in the writing stages, it would be nice if our schedules line up when they are ready.”
SC: What can you tell me about “Shockwave’; - the single “Motherlode” is very much of Standstills’ style, is it indicative of the album, or a bridge to a past?
Standstills: ‘Shockwave’ is our Mona Lisa. It tells our story as a couple moving up the ranks in the rock and roll world. When writing the album, we’ve never gone so deep introspectively and the outpour of material was a like a Shockwave. The songs are all uniquely their own but share the same heart of our story.”
