Interview: The Sick Things update the power-pop formula on their debut LP

In their relatively short existence as a band, The Sick Things have already made quite an impact. The Montreal power-pop outfit has gigged constantly in the past few years, from sweaty bar shows to a surprise set at last year’s Osheaga, gaining a reputation as one of the best live bands in the city right now.

Made up of members of heavier local bands including Barn Burner, Prevenge, Mountain Dust and Trigger Effect, The Sick Things channel those musical chops to mine the glory days of FM rock radio, producing anthemic singalongs that still manage to sound fresh and exciting.

We caught up with Sick Things guitarist / vocalist Cam Turin to discuss the band’s first full length record, why every band needs a theme song, and receiving career advise from Liam Gallagher.

The Sick Things launch their self-titled debut LP at L’Esco (4461 St.Denis) on Friday, July 6th with Pale Lips, First Base, and DJ’s The Punk Police at 9:30 pm. Tickets are $8 / $10 available here. The album is available for pre-order on vinyl via Gods Candy Records. 

Bad Feeling Mag: Congrats, you made a full-length record! How did the band approach writing / recording this album? Was there anything specific you wanted to do differently this time?

Cam Turin: Thank you! From the band’s inception I had been more or less the principal songwriter, merely due to having stockpiled a bunch of songs with no plans. So when we started the project we had quite a bit of material to work with. As we started to develop and find ourselves and our roles, we could start to envision the album more clearly, more thematically, I suppose. As the band was hammering out the music together, working on the arrangements, I would try and explore different themes and ideas lyrically, until I felt like the album conveyed a certain set of feelings or emotions. Since the recording of the record, I’ve been using this approach for all the new material as well. The songs we released as a cassette demo were re-written lyrically to a small degree, and the arrangements adjusted slightly. A lot of trimming the fat, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus,” kind of stuff.

What was working with Ian Blurton (Change of Heart) like? What’s his style as a producer?

Ian had been a long time hero of mine, so working with him was a dream. He was professional and laid back, honest and really easy going. He had us set up every morning in his studio in Toronto, turn on the board and say “Pick a song, start playing and I’ll come stop you when we have the take”. There were moments when we’d think we nailed it and look at the door, and it would stay closed. We’d all sigh collectively and try it again. From the get go, he had expressed interest in working with us and said he thought he could do a really great job and asked if we would try him out. In the end, he totally understood us and it was a great experience.

You have a song named after the band on this album (which is very important) — shouldn’t every band have a theme song?

I think so! Ian called me after we had done a few days of pre-production and he was reviewing demos and he said “The album is great but you’re missing your anthem. You still don’t have the 2-minute song where you name check your band in every chorus.” About 15 minutes later I had the bones of “Sick Thing” written and showed it to the band. We taped it and sent it to him immediately like Back to the Future, “You know that sound you were looking for? Well listen to this!”.

Are you familiar with Camaro Rock (a sub-genre I may have made up)? If so, would The Sick Things fall under this category?

I just looked that up on Urban Dictionary and all I can say is god I hope not. We’re not tough guys, we’re not trying to portray our band as a bunch of hard-living bad boys, drinking Jack Daniels from the bottle. We really just wanted to make a bunch of good pop songs, for everyone to enjoy. There’s no machismo in our lyrics, I even tried hard to make it non-gender-biased. I want everyone to be able to sing along to it and feel like its written for them. And then dance until you can’t feel your legs anymore.

The band definitely owes a debt to power-pop acts that were bubbling under in the 70’s — what inspires you about that sound? Shouldn’t you be listening to more era-appropriate music like Trap and EDM?

The honesty of it all. It’s all heart-on-sleeve and full of good vibes. It comes across as very genuine in its efforts, to me anyway. I’m not a big fan of style-over-substance, you know? Power-pop is where the hardened rocker pens their first love song, and still gets people to dance and have a good time. If you’re lucky there’s a ripping guitar solo in it too.

As for Trap and EDM, I’ve listened and even seen people do it “live” and it’s not my thing. But if people find they can connect to a 17-year-old with face tattoos and a Xanax prescription, and the music resonates with them and makes them feel something, then I’m all for it. I think we sound the way we do because we make music that we want to hear, and the sound is just what comes naturally to us. I read an interview with André 3000 once and he was asked what he hated most in music scenes, and he said “people that try to elevate themselves by putting other people down.” That really stuck with me, and so our approach has always been to make the music we want to hear more of, instead of bitching about what someone else is doing.

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The band straddles a number of genres on this record — is it important for the band to not be readily identified with one style / scene?

I think it depends on how you see it, as a benefit or detriment. Sick Things doesn’t need to prove that we’re all capable of playing other types of music, that’s why we all have other projects going on. I think it’s important for bands, us in particular, to have an identity and a sound, though, so people will hear it and not mistake it for anyone else. As long as its cohesive, then I think that’s the important thing for us. Oh, and good. As long as it’s really good, that’s the other important thing.

If you were curating a mood board for this album, what would be on it?

Lots of photographs. When we were writing the record, I had become obsessed with Joseph Szabo’s book Teenage. I would stay up staring at his photographs and write down everything that would come to mind. A lot of summer time parties, but also a touch of unrequited love, and then a couple of Thin Lizzy records. I had always envisioned the album as a love letter, never sent. I wanted it to have that feeling of nostalgia, like the older you rewatching the younger you, replaying all your moments of personal troubles and triumphs. So I guess the mood board would have a lot of journal entries and love letters, mementos from the past that still stir up a lot of strong emotions. Then a few more Thin Lizzy records haha.

You are well-known for being a fine curator of puns; did you have any potential puny album or song titles for the album that got shot down?

Haha, I usually start by naming the song something stupid before I get into to writing the lyrics. Despite my penchant for puns and word play, I try not to make the titles too silly. “Boogaloser” is probably the closest to a pun-adjacent name. Sometimes I’ll sneak one into a line in the song, but I’m careful for it to be subtle, so the song can be sung seriously. Or else I’d spend half the set laughing at my own jokes in front of a sea of rolling eyes.

I know Liam Gallagher gave you some life / career advise at last year’s Osheaga; did those pearls of wisdom affect this album / your life path in any way?

Liam asked me if I “got my point across” and that it didn’t matter if we were on the main stage or not. It was a nice re-affirmation of the way I’ve been approaching music and life in general, since I was a kid listening to those early Oasis records. Just go out there, play like you’re playing to a thousand people every second, and have fun. With his accent though, he might have been telling me to eff off, so who knows.

What are the band’s plans coming up after the record release? Anything you can let us in on?

We will be supporting the record as much as possible in the coming months, we will play this years Beau’s Oktoberfest, demo material for the next record which is nearly finished being written, and start booking a tour in Europe for next spring. That’s everything I am currently at liberty to talk about. As for the rest, everyone will have to be patient!

The Sick Things launch their self-titled debut LP at L’Esco (4461 St.Denis) on Friday, July 6th with Pale Lips, First Base, and DJ’s The Punk Police at 9:30 pm. Tickets are $8 / $10 available here. The album is available for pre-order on vinyl via Gods Candy Records.