Grooveshark Artists

Last Halloween, we had the opportunity to meet & mingle with several artists during the Fest 9 and our first annual “Grooveshark Sessions”. Around 17 artists met up with us at Medusa Studios to record one live, acoustic track and an interview to be exclusively released via Grooveshark. Well, after months of unwinding, editing, mixing, mastering, etc. - the tracks and interviews are here!

First is Laura Stevenson and the Cans, an indie/folk/punk/pop quintet from Brooklyn, NY. I would be lying if I didn’t admit how much I fell for them when they came to our studio to participate in the Sessions. Every member was easy-going, chipper, and had both me and Dave in tears laughing through the entire session. There was a certain level of comfort and familiarity immediately established upon exchanging handshakes - something that is often rare with musicians. Catch our interview below:

We are here with Laura Stevenson and the Cans, who just finished doing their acoustic recording (which blew me away). Can you tell me a little bit about your sound when it’s not so broken down?

Laura: We’re an electric band, usually. We started out kind of like this - with not necessarily this line-up - and we just started playing louder and louder until we had to have electric guitars. We don’t have drums on this tour, though. 

Mike: I think the band tries to shoot for overall dynamics: being able to do really, really quiet stuff while also still being able to get loud and intense .

I feel like a sound like this really lends itself to a house show atmosphere or a live show experience. I’m really excited to see your show at Common Grounds, it’s going to be entirely different than this was today!

M: It will be! Like Laura said, our drummer couldn’t come, but our friend John who plays in Bomb the Music Industry! is going to play drums with us tomorrow. So we’re going to be full band, full drumset.

L: I guess we’re the kind of band where you never know what you’re going to get. We don’t know what we’re going to get! Every show is a crapshoot. Can I say crap?

M: It depends on the context I’m sure. I think crapshoot is okay because it’s a reference to a dice game… crapshoot, right?

L: Yes, yes, yes; crapshoot.

P: We’re not the gambling type of people in case you can’t tell.

How long have you guys been playing music together?

L: 3 years, this group? Peter joined recently, two tours ago.

P: It was just Laura for a while, and a lot of our songs on the first record are songs that Laura wrote by herself. We I guess became a “band band” right before Fest two years ago.

L: Oh yeah! But this is the third Fest. That was three years ago. It was two Fests ago. Not this past one, but the one before. And not today.

So you guys have been doing the Fest for three years now. What was your favorite year so far? Not counting this year, obviously – we just started.

L: Well, last year was a bittersweet year because of all the craziness that happened. But we had such a wonderful time playing our set – we played the first show of the Fest on a Friday at CMC. Everybody was just really psyched, no one was drunk yet, it was a really positive time. It was really the best time for us because we’re not really a party band (we’re kind of quiet), and everyone was really respectful and super nice. The first year we played, we played on campus at the little amphitheater thing… that didn’t go so well. No one could find it! It was such a good show too. Paul Baribeau played, Eric Ayotte, Madeline… it was a very good show.

Did you have any crazy stand out experiences at any Fest?

L: During the Riot we were in our hotel room watching Law and Order. That was pretty sweet. We were just totally oblivious to it.

M: I think we got a text message that night from somebody in Bomb the Music Industry! – I think they thought we were there, so they were checking in with us. And we’re like - no, we’re in our hotel room, watching a show about police officers. And you’re running from them!

L: Do we have any crazy experiences? Alex went and saw Atom and His Package two years ago… He had a good time at that! Really, I’m just happy to see my friends. It’s always kind of tame for us because we’re tame people… we’re just happy to see everybody.

So are you guys mostly on the road or do you play in New York a lot?

L: We’ve been on the road for a long time. Since May. We were on the road with the Wild – we left for the tour in May, came home for two days, went to Europe, came back, went on tour with Maps & Atlases for two weeks, and then we were back for 12 days which is when I got my wisdom teeth out (which was awesome). And then we went on a full US tour for six weeks. We just got back from that two weeks ago.

Could you pick a favorite city to play in?

L: Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s great.

M: That’s where they had that crazy car! It was outfitted with all sorts of bat things… It looked like the Batmobile, it had this huge flame that shot out the top of it…

L: That guy kept that flame going for our entire show!

M: It was like this huge propane tank of fire blowing out the top of it so people could take pictures of it. It was a pretty badass show, basically.

L: We really like Charlotte. We have only had wonderful times there – more bands should go.

Could you guys pick a collective favorite food?

L: Snacks? Cup noodles?

M: Subway?

L: Oh yeah, Subway!

M: Subway is the easiest to have everyone agree on.

P: And we really want sponsorship from.

L: Hey wait – this is our chance! This is our big chance!

M: We applied for the Taco Bell “Feed the Beat” program and we got rejected! And a  bunch of our friends that are in bands got it. We’re like, Taco Bell, we’re done with you. Subway, you’re next!

L: I really, really want Subway to happen because it’s the only thing that keeps me going. It’s everywhere, and it’s delicious! And I just started putting jalapenos on my sandwiches. And it’s really opened up a new door for me!

M: We had our first Double Down the other day… it was actually kind of amazing.

P: I’ve been bugging Mike since two tours ago to get a Double Down because I hadn’t had one before, and we were going to have one for the first time together. He’s been putting it off and putting if off. Finally, all of the bands that we came on tour with also had not had a Double Down before. So we finally agreed to have all three bands meet at a KFC! We had 10 people all try Double Downs for the first time and I was seriously impressed.

M: One of the guys from the band Carpenter (who are from British Columbia) – the guitar player of the band started crying! Because he loved the double down so much! His face was all red and tears were streaming down his face. Laura doesn’t eat meat so she didn’t have one.

L: I watched.

But would you be opposed to a KFC sponsorship?

L: No, I love their biscuits! I’ll take any sponsorship, really.

Well, I think that’s pretty much it! I had an awesome time, and this was a really awesome session – you guys sounded incredible. So good – your voice is beautiful!

L: Thanks. Sorry I was freaking out!

The banter between you and Mike was actually pretty entertaining.

L: It was more of a ‘lovers quarrel’ than anything else.

M: I didn’t understand what you were asking me to do!

L: We date.