As this year’s Fall Orientation came to a close, Carleton students were treated to a performance by Vancouver-based pop-punk group, Marianas Trench.
Ahead of their performance, The Charlatan caught up with bassist Mike Ayley, lead singer Josh Ramsay and drummer Ian Casselman to talk about performing on university campuses, life on the road and their fans.
The Charlatan (TC): You guys are in the midst of doing a few university campus shows right now. How would you compare the university campus shows versus your regular touring shows?
Mike Ayley (MA): Well, it’s funny because we sort of do it a little bit more of a lean production because you’re just flying in, so it’s not like the full touring production. But the fans are all really fired up and you get a really strong response, so it’s tons of fun.
Ian Casselman (IC): A little more informal, so it’s a little more fun, it’s just a little looser . . . It’s more like a rock show.
TC: You guys have actually been together for quite a number of years. What is it that has kept you guys together for so long?
IC: Stupidity.
Josh Ramsay (JR): Contractual obligations.
MA: And a good sense of humour. Yeah, we usually spend our days hoping that some of the more stupid things that happen, to just laugh it off when you’re bored or some things aren’t going well, you kind of have to laugh about it instead of letting it get you down, and I think we’re pretty good at laughing about that kind of stuff now.
JR: We’re especially good at laughing at one of the other guys’ discomforts or misfortunes.
TC: How would you describe the way that you have evolved musically since your very first releases?
JR: I think each album sounds a little bit like a different band. Like, it still sounds like us, but I think we want to try and have every album be its own identity.
IC: I think that’s contributed to the longevity too because it’s fun to sort of change a bit every album.
MA: I think within the set you can tell that it isn’t one album throughout the whole thing. Each song is from a different era, so even as somebody attending the show, you get, sort of, different flavours of Marianas Trench throughout the concert.
TC: What sort of lessons did you learn from [touring with Simple Plan], and what sort of lessons do you apply to the bands and artists that tour with you guys now?
JR: Just sort of how to be a classy headliner. Whenever there’s a band on tour opening for us, the first show, we always leave a bottle of champagne in their dressing room and say “welcome to the tour,” and that’s something we learned from them.
TC: It’s been almost two years since you guys released Astoria. What can we expect from you guys next?
JR: After these college shows, we’re straight onto working on a new album. I’ve got one song done so far, but it’s a good one! My goal is that we’re done a record this year, for early release next year.
Photo by Aaron Hemens
