Angela (from Drive Faster)
"Rock" that you can dance and hum along to. In a world where a genre is reliant on screaming and instrumental disasters, Drive Faster is rather a breath of fresh air. Originating in Alberta as "Supernal", without the cowboy hats, they provide a sound that's energetic and inspiring. The lyrics actually make sense. And you don't need earplugs to enjoy its rebellious feel. PHIL: How was "Drive Faster" formed? Was it fate that brought you together? ANGELA: Drive Faster was born out of the band "Supernal" that we were formerly known as for several years; a rock band with two crunchy guitars and a heavier sound. With the name change we decided to try and find a keyboard player and go for a more dance/rock vibe. The idea was to go up-tempo all the way. When we couldn't find the keyboardist we envisioned, we decided that maybe I should lose the guitar and try playing keys instead. And... here we are. PHIL: When you perform in concerts, how do you keep up with the high energy of your music? ANGELA: A steady stream of inspiration from the audience mixed with Coke - Coca-Cola I mean! I find that the more you give, the more you receive. I know that sounds cliche, but a concert is really a two way exchange of energy. If we played to a brick wall, I think we would still dance, just because it is so easy with the faster tempo of our style. But when you feel the audience is with you every step of the way... there are just no words to describe it. Check out the full interview here Phillip Hong is a presenter on AMPM, combining some great indie music with quotes and interviews. TSM/SLW Promotions - CD Review November 2010 Although Frame Of Mind is Drive Faster's debut outing, things for this now Toronto (Ontario) based Canadian band started quite some time ago, with three members playing together since high school in Calgary, Alberta. The defining moment for the formation of the band was when frontwoman Angela Saini and a high school friend witnessed a free show at the Calgary Stampede, and decided it would be fun to start collaborating to try and play on that same stage. Several line-up and band name changes later, Supernal did exactly that! Through the strength of 4 EPs, the band then played stages throughout Eastern Canada (eventually also opening for Angels And Airwaves and Sum 41), relocated to Toronto, and were getting more and more positive reviews and airplay on over 300 college and commercial radio stations along the line. In 2008 the band was even nominated for a Toronto Independent Music Award in the category “Best Alternative Rock”. But in early 2009 Angela traded in her guitar for a Korg synthesizer (it's my guess that the 2008 return of original drummer Michael Holbrook – whom played with How Do You Do in between – and the recruitment of new bassist Jon Marck changed the internal balance to the point of awakening a latent desire in the two remaining members for a change in musical direction), and as with the addition of that instrument came a looked-for change to the band's sound, they decided to re-name themselves to Drive Faster. After having presented demos (recorded at their new rehearsal space) of some of their reworked old songs through their Myspace page, Drive Faster debuted its new sound on stage at the Canadian Music Week in March 2009. Soon after, the band was set to appear in an episode of Master Tracks on Aux TV, where producers Moe Berg (Pursuit Of Happiness, The Cliks) and Lawrence Currie (Sloan, Wintersleep) recorded a version of he band's “Analog”, a process which Berg described wit the words: “The vocalist is just so outstanding, you almost get a rush when you are recording someone like that!”. The session went só well, the producers decided to hold back its airing until the Fall of 2009, when Aux TV would be their own channel. At the same moment “Analog” would be made available for free download on the Aux TV site. Meanwhile Drive Faster decided to scratch the idea of adapting their old songs to their new style, and start all over from scratch, writing a batch of completely new material. After two months of writing and demo recordings, the band had a batch of 14 songs, which they then put through a process of elimination to allow the best songs to be left over for a decent recording session, coming up with 5 songs with a common thread and vibe. Then they went into picking the right hard and software to record with, and went about looking for the warmest (sound) accommodation of their rehearsal space, in the meantime still going over their newly selected songs, adding bits and pieces where necessary, listening back to things in order to make sure that they liked what they were doin' (remember that the band was geared towards guitars before, and now wanted to include those synth sounds). Eventually, the process brought life to 8 recorded songs, which are now here presented. Well...let's put the record straight right from the beginning: closing track “Raindrop” (a last-minute addition) is a great acoustic ballad version of album opener “Before I Dry”,with a lone acoustic guitar accompanying Angela's truly great singing in a song that's vocally arranged quite differently from the original one. Also bassist Jon Marck was only with the band for a transitory period, contributing his skills on only 4 of the 7 songs (remember the last one is only a vocal-acoustic guitar thing). The three other songs were performed by one Sean Dillman, and in the current line-up we find a Jeff Scale thumpin' the bass! The non-acoustic songs (all of the album bar the closing track) displays a variety of simple, wacky, but effective synth sounds with the guitars (courtesy of guitarist Tony Gare) floundering in between with catchy melodies, the two occasionally doin' “battle” with each other. Angela has a nice steady voice with great flexibility (something amply proven by her performance during aforementioned ballad). Put it all together and you've got a recipe for success, as predicted by the aforementioned Moe Berg. The common thread? Well, a couple of the songs (what's “Suitcase” about?, “Ripping Out The Pages” is definitely about re-writing a recent past as the victor, “Thinking Of You” is about trying to put the past behind you, definitely seem to have to do with a bad separation Angela went through, the others (both the opening and closing tracks, plus “Frame Of Mind” and “All In Good Time”) with having turned the page. But those are things the listener doesn't uncover until (s)he sets his/her teeth in the lyrics, because somehow the band succeeded in giving their songs an uplifting mood! Obviously, this gives the listener a good feeling, and with the dance content of the songs, maybe even the need to move his/her feet into a rhythmic way (say dance) while listening to the 29 ½ minute album. Real NICE stuff! Skeptic? Check out the songs and videos posted at (www.) myspace.com/drivefasterband, then also the videos posted under “Media” on the band's own website (www.) drivefasterband.com (enjoy the webisode shorties recorded during recording). 90/100 |
