Social Code - Coming to America
By Dave Schwartz

Social Code is one of those great Canadian bands that Americans have never heard of. Over the last decade they've released a pair of records to critical and commercial success in their homeland but to little or no fanfare in the States. To remedy this the band has turned its gaze southward. Social Code has just released the video for "Satisfied," the first single from their forthcoming U.S. debut album, "Rock 'n' Roll," which is due out March 23, 2010 on Fifth Season Music. About a week back SC vocalist Travis Nesbitt called in from his home near Edmonton, Alberta to talk about the new record, their new direction and just how damn cold it was!

DB: Well, first of all thank you for giving me a call. I appreciate the opportunity to talk. Are you calling in from Canada?

SC: Yeah, right now we're at home just sitting around and enjoying life and enjoying the snow.

DB: I was gonna say...

SC: Where are you located?

DB: I'm in Phoenix.

SC: I'm guessing you don't see a lot of snow.

DB: I could drive an hour north and see some, but why? It's February and today it was in the middle '70s.

SC: Oh geez! It might have been a good solid 30 today.

DB: Now see, that's better than I remember Canada.

SC: It was cold as shit today. I don't know what the temp is. I'm looking at my thermometer and trying to convert it to Fahrenheit. It got down to -40 Fahrenheit recently. That's pretty common.

DB: I lived up in the Northwestern corner of Montana for a while and we got the same shitty weather that you do. I don't think I miss it. Well let's get this interview started, first of all congratulations on the new record.

SC: That you very much.

DB: Your record, "Rock 'n' Roll,"  has been out for a little while in Canada, but it's just now starting to creep into the American market. What can you tell me about the record?

SC: It's the best thing we've ever done.

DB: That's it! Interview over. We can all go home now!

SC: Dude, it was like a rebirth for our band. I mean I know that America has never heard of us and that it's kind of strange to come out with our first record in the states and call it a rebirth, but it is. It really is. It unified the four members and everything just kind of clicked the way it should've. So it's pretty exciting, we're really pumped for it.

DB: I read that on this record you "recorded quickly in the studio." Define quickly.

SC: The whole thing, with pre-production and done tracking, was just over six weeks.

DB: That is quick.

SC: It's pretty fast for what we've done. Actually we were in the studio just about four weeks, which is amazing compared to what we've done in the past. This is our third studio record and the other times were much longer.

DB: There's a certain rawness to the record. It is, and I say this in a good way, not over-produced and there is an honesty to it that is sometimes sterilized out of the music when a band spends six months working on a record. To me, when a band records quickly, they produce a record that sometimes has some blemishes to, but at the same time you can really feel the band. There is a truth to what they're playing and in the end I think they are better for it.

SC: Yeah, well that's the thing. We've always prided ourselves on our live shows. That's what we shoot for. I don't know if a lot of bands are able to really get in there and play. For instance, our drummer can really just go in there and knock it out. He's just solid, you know what I mean? I mean drummers are like anybody, they have varying levels of ability, and you need someone that you don't have to spend a great deal of time correcting on the computer.

DB: Yes, you occasionally see a drummer with bug eyes trying to play along with a click track and just having a miserable time of it.

SC: Exactly! It's great to have a band behind you that can just lay it out like that. That talent really shrinks the number of days that you're in the studio. We're lucky.

DB: You've already mentioned this is your first release to America. As a result this is the first whole album that I've heard, so in my research I went back and watched your singles to get a better understanding of your earlier music. I have to say that it was obvious just how significant of a change has taken place. To recap, you released two albums and then found yourselves dropped from your label. I can imagine a moment where you all looked each other in the eyes and asked yourselves, "What are we doing here?" You've hinted that you took a new approach to recording this album, but I think that is an understatement. Even your vocal style has changed.

SC: Wow.

DB: This transition seems to be complete. It's through your entire band.

SC: You mentioned earlier the big "H" word, HONESTY. I am absolutely in love with our first two records. That was who we were and those were the records we wanted to make. I think it's all about working with the same guys. We've only changed one member from the first record to now. This sound is really coming together, it took a few records to find our way. It wasn't about what anybody else wanted or what we thought would be on the radio, we just focused on being a mainstream band. We always knew that we wanted that, but it can play tricks on you too. You start putting out stuff and worrying how it will be accepted by the public. This time around it was like fuck it, just fuck it. Let's write some songs that we want to write. And that's what it was. And that's what this record is. And now we're looking back and saying wow, this is great!

DB: I hope you can forgive me for being so blunt, but what the hell took you so long?

SC: It's a pretty big thing. We did have an American deal for our first record. Every band has their label story of woe. It just didn't work out for us, so we ended up taking it all back to Canada, back to our homeland. Canada has been good to us. We've had a lot of success up here with amazing tours. We sold a lot of records and have been on the radio. It was just the focus that we had. But you know the next step is to take this international, with or without a label, we don't really care about that, it's about getting our music out to the people who want to hear it.

DB: It seems so unusual, I mean you're from Canada, it's just a line on a map. Come down and visit, it's OK.

SC: You know it's funny, we talk to American bands coming into Canada all the time. We've played in America a number of times, but never really had a full release and a big tour.

DB: It just seems more common to hear this story from an Asian or European band where there is a significant physical and cultural distance involved. I think everyone has heard a story of a band that's huge in their homeland but they struggle with success in America. I guess I didn't anticipate that there was a significant difference between the U.S. and Canada.

SC: Well, you know that when you sign a deal that everything is regional, right? I mean beyond the deal, you really don't have any ties to an area. You pretty much need to start from the ground up and that's what we're doing, we're starting from the ground up, independently, and we're going to make it work just like we did in Canada.

DB: Changing gears for a moment here, I watched your new single, "Satisfied.,  where did the concept of the video originate?

SC: The song, plain and simple, is about a one night stand. There's really nothing more rock and roll than that! So we said, let's make a video just like we did this recording, keep it raw and simple. What's the song about? A lot of bands have these epic story lines in their videos and I guess if it fits with the song that's coo,l but it wasn't right for "Satisfied." I mean we're a rock band, let's just hire a stripper and see what she can do!

DB: That song really is exactly how you explained it. It's straightforward, it says its piece and you live or die by it. Perfect.

SC: Yeah, exactly. And that was the biggest thing for our band on this whole record, we knew that people might really hate "Rock 'n' Roll" because it was a change for us, but at the same time we knew that people were really going to love it too. In the end, if we love it, then that's what we're going to do.

DB: As you know, you've got to follow your heart. It's pretty hard to stand on stage and sell something that you don't believe in.

SC: Absolutely. You couldn't be more right with that.

DB: Speaking of stage, I've done my research and I haven't found tour dates. What's going on with your U.S. tour?

SC: The tour is in the works. We're starting at radio. We have secured an agent in the U.S.

DB: TKO, right?

SC: Yes, TKO. They're doing great and we've had some offers of tours, but none that we thought were a perfect fit. So we're waiting and the song is creeping up the charts. It's in the low 60s right now. And soon the record will be released and we'll go from there.

DB: And since you mentioned the record, I noticed that Social Code recorded a cover song for this album, but it was never included. Tell me about that.

SC: The song is "Lights" by Journey. We were sitting in the studio one night and I don't know how it came about, maybe we were all delirious or something. We did a cover on our first record that was received very well, it was "Whisper to a Scream." We were in the studio and someone said, "Why don't we do a Journey cover?"  so we called Ben (Shillabeer) our drummer and musical encyclopedia. He suggested that we do "Lights." We downloaded it and listened; we liked it so we started tracking it only to find out that Ben had never heard the song. He thought it was a totally different song. Here we are a day into recording when he finally admitted that he didn't even know! So, yeah, we recorded it and it came out amazing.

DB: I have one question. Who sang it?

SC: Oh, I did.

DB: No, no, no, no, who sang the song?

SC: It's all me baby!

DB: I completely agree with everything you just said all the way up to the point where all those lies started coming out of your mouth! I'm old enough to remember "Lights" and there is no way you sang it!

SC: You're right, we flew Steve Perry in from the States bro!

DB: I'm just giving you shit. I haven't even heard your version of the song, I was just wondering about those high pitch vocals.

SC: Oh god! Yeah, we did it and then when it came time to release the song we had a tough time working out the legal details with the Journey people, so we just did a soft release online in Canada. It's an iTunes exclusive.

I would like to thank Travis for taking time away from shoveling his snow and calling into DaBelly. I've seen the video for "Satisfied" and I own the new record, "Rock 'n' Roll. " You should too. I know you're going to like it and want to see this band out on tour. Until then, check out their Web site...

www.myspace.com/socialcode

www.socialcodemusic.com/

www.itunes.apple.com/us/artist/social-code/id5679997

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