Beloved local rock band Billie Vegas have released their debut CD of all original material “One Hit Wonder.”
They hope the lead single and video “Ride” will help make them more than that.
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We’d like to play outside of Lethbridge with this CD,” said lead singer Shawna Romolliwa. Billie Vegas includes Ryan “ The Doc ” Dyck on drums, Ray Banman on bass and Sheldon Arvay on guitar. They recorded the CD in guitarist Sheldon Arvay’s Hothouse Studios and officially released the CD with a show at Backstreet South at Streetwheelers, July 12.
“Sheldon is putting out the feelers for radio airplay for ‘Ride.’ He’s really great with that sort of thing. So hopefully we’ll get some bites on that,” Romolliwa said.
The CD is a lot heavier than one would think, considering they are best known as a Top 40 cover band who cover an array of songs, though their original music is reminiscent of No Doubt crossed with Canadian classic rock along the lines of Toronto and the Headpins. A lot of the lyrics have to do with heartbreak.
“I’ve been writing songs since I was 14. But for this CD, we wrote the lyrics in the studio. I didn’t have to go home and think about them. Angry heartbreak lyrics just came out,” Romolliwa said.
“We tried writing a ballad, but it was dreadful,” she said.
“ We’re not really a love ballad band,” added bassist Ray Banman, who joined Billie Vegas two years ago around the same time Romolliwa did.
Billie Vegas have been playing around Lethbridge for the past nine years with different lineups.
“When Sheldon was talking about doing original music, I was really interested in that,” Romolliwa said. She also sings with local R and B orchestra Hippodrome and Bandemonium, though both of those bands aren’t as busy lately.
Ray Banman, who plays in several different bands ranging from pop to country rock bands, enjoys Billie Vegas’ heavier sound. He played in funk and metal bands when he was younger.
“I contributed a lot of the licks and the arrangements and of course the basslines for the songs,” he said.
He comes from a background full of soul and R and B and country music, and finds Billie Vegas a release.
“ I like the energy. There is a lot of aggressive energy that I can just let out with Billie Vegas,” he said.
He recently opened for Paul Brandt at the Calgary Saddledome, playing with Calgary based pop/ country singer Lindsey Ell.
“ It was cool to be backstage and watch Paul Brandt's band walk by and to shake their hands and talk to their bass player,” he said.
He wasn’t too nervous about the huge crowd watching him play on the biggest stage he has played on.
“ That's just more people to party with. I thought I’d be more nervous, but I got on stage and played and after it was like ‘I just played the Saddledome,’” he said adding he loves playing with Lindsay Ell whenever he can.
“ Lindsay Ell is from Calgary originally but has moved to Nashville. It says a lot about her character that when she needed a bass player for this gig, that she called me,” he said.
Romolliwa and Banman hope being a well known cover band won’t stop Billie Vegas from getting more original gigs. “ You have to play covers to get gigs. We play three or four sets of covers,” Romolliwa said.
“ But now the CD is out and when the video is released, hopefully it will lead to more original gigs,” she continued.
“ It’s pretty exciting to do our own originals,” Romolliwa said. Banman agreed, adding they can play a full set of original material with the new CD, which is what most original gigs require.
She said the CD is different than band's live show.
“We don’t have keyboards in the band like there is on the CD, so it is more stripped down,” she said.
“ There are a lot of guitar layers on the CD, but Sheldon does a good job of covering most of them live And I use a lot of bass pedals to play the synth lines,” Banman added.
Full time musician Banman noted playing in at least a dozen bands requires not only time management skills but a really good ear for a lot of different music.
“ There is some crossover, which is challenging because the same song is in different keys and there are different arrangements for different bands,” he said.
“But I rehearse a lot with each band and I’m always listening to songs in the car,” he continued. “ But sometimes while playing I’m thinking about other songs that I have to play with other bands and that’s when I make mistakes,” he said.
“People are surprised I play country music, But I grew up on an acreage and lived on a sheep farm for a few years while touring with a pop band and I learned to appreciate country music,” he said.
He plays bass in southern Alberta country band Hurtin’ who played Casino Lethbridge, July 18 and 19 as well as plays with Calgary country band Jason Hastie and the Alibi and about a dozen other bands including local pop band Stars From Streetlights.
“ I remember one time coming home from a gig at 3 or 4 in the morning and having the farmer knock on my door at 7 in the morning saying ‘I need help herding the sheep,’” he recalled.
He noted bassists are always in demand.
“People usually want to be the lead guitarist or lead singer, which is fine with me because that means more gigs with me,” Banman chuckled.
Romolliwa is pleased with how the Billie Vegas CD came out.
“We’re pretty proud of what we’ve done. It starts out pretty pop rock and then you're listening to something heavy,” she enthused. She is excited about the video shoot Billie Vegas did for “Ride” over Streetwheelers weekend.
“It was really great. The guys who shot the video know Ray,” she enthused. They shot footage during Streetwheelers weekend to include some of the classic street machines as well as live footage from their show at Backstreet plus footage with the bartenders and staff.
“It was a lot of fun and Shawna got to rock a convertible,” Banman said.
“ I had to drive a standard,” she enthused. Banman, who has been involved with video shoots with Jason Hastie and the Alibi and Stars From Streetlights, was pleased with this one.
“ It should be done in a month and we’ll be releasing behind the scenes pictures on Facebook,” he said.
