"Out Back with Means"

Means

On June 27th, 2008 Canada’s Means headlined the WGTS Magazine 2 year Anniversary Concert in Toronto. I had a chance to speak with two dudes about the band’s journey thus far.

www.myspace.com/means_music

Means is:
Aaron Friesen –Drums
Dylan Johnstone – Vocals
Matt Goud – Guitar & Vocals
Todd Wells – Bass

WGTS: This is Mark from WGTS Magazine and I’m hanging out with some of the dudes form Means. Would you mind introducing yourself and let everyone know what you do in the band?

Aaron: I am Aaron and I play drums.

Dylan: I’m Dylan and I sing.

WGTS: Now, a lot of people may not know the origin of the band. How did you guys start Means?

Aaron: Um, me and Matt kind of started it in high school just playing punk stuff. We met these two guys through other bands, and our old bass player got married, so it basically just progressed from there.

WGTS: Now you said you started off playing punk stuff, and a listener can clearly here a punk influence in your music, so are their any bands in particular who have influenced you to write that are from that genre?

Aaron: Umm, well even still, Face to Face and MXPX are bands I’m into. When we first started we played faster paced punk stuff, but as of now, we listen to a lot of difference stuff, whether it be heavier or more pop-driven. We are all over the place, I guess, in terms of influence.

WGTS: Where did your name, “Means”, come from? Is there any meaning behind it, or is it just a rad named you guys all liked?

Aaron: Well, we used to be called Means To An End, and there were a bunch of bands that already had that name. People we already calling us Means for short, so it just kind of stuck. There isn’t any specific meaning behind it; it happened more conveniently I guess.

WGTS: For your newest release “To Keep Me From Sinking”, what was the writing process behind that? Did you guys work with a producer?

Aaron: For writing, we spent two months back home. Matt and I would get together and think of stuff, and the other guys would come in, see what we had, and we would all just fill out the sound and structure. And sorry, what was the other question? (Laughs).

WGTS: Did you guys work with a producer or was it self-produced?

Aaron: We had a producer named Mike Watts, and we recorded it in New York. We found him through our management, and he seemed to have worked with some cool bands, so yeah.

WGTS: In the studio were there any songs that gave you a lot of trouble?

Aaron: Um, there was a lot of trouble in the studio. Maybe not with a song in particular, but the atmosphere seemed pretty rushed, so that added more stress to the process. The recording of this album basically was not as smooth as we would have liked.

WGTS: Dylan, you seem to give it your all with your vocal styling on the record. Was it hard to maintain your voice throughout recording?

Dylan: I usually loose my voice when we record, because you usually don’t have the same sort of energy as you do on stage when you are in the studio. Two days before we went in the studio I caught a cold, so I was battling with that, and I started to loose my voice during the end, but that is generally common with me in the studio.

WGTS: How did you guys get signed with Underground Operations?

Aaron: We met them a while back, and it basically just progressed into what it is now.

WGTS: You guys have had experience playing in the US. Being a smaller band, do crowds react differently south of the border?

Dylan: There are a lot more bands in the States, so it was common for a bigger band to play that same city that night, so it was hard to get great crowds all the time. We have had some good shows though.

WGTS: Do you guys have any last comments before we wrap this up?

Aaron: Check out the new record and we will see you soon.