Edmonton dance-rock band the Shout Out Out Out Out ’stop by Henotic, March 23 on the way back from South By Southwest in Austin this week. They will have spent 39 straight hours in a van together— there and back.
“Lethbridge is out only stop on the way back, so we’ll be ready to let loose and get rid of some cabin fever,” said Nik Kozub, Shout Out Out Out’s synth programmer/ vocalist and bassist.
“Everybody who doesn’t play drums plays bass in this band,” Kozub laughed adding he is looking forward to playing five shows in Austin this week.
“We go every year and to the CMJ and North by North East. We find it really worth our while. We go down there to have fun and also to work. We always do business down there. There’s music industry people there,” he said adding it is a a bit of a hassle setting up and tearing down equipment (two drum sets in addition to a variety of basses, keyboards and synthesizers) for the 45 minute sets at South by Southwest showcases.
“It’s a pain in the butt, but it’s also a big part of our sound and who we are,” Kozub continued adding playing Henotic on March 23 is going to be a challenge too.
“Trying to figure out how to fit everything on a tiny little stage. Last time (on Sept. 12 last year) they opened the big garage doors and the drummers played in the windows. But I don’t think that will happen at this time of year. It will be tight but we’ll be ready to let loose and get rid of that cabin fever,” he said.
“We had all played in different bands before and didn’t think anyone would care about this project. We just wanted to explore our interest in techno music. So we played smaller venues and they sold out, then we played slightly bigger venues and they sold out and then bigger venues and they sold out and we realized it was time to take this show on the road,” he continued.
“The whole trajectory of our career is because of the support in Edmonton. They are still one of our top three markets. We’ve all played in a lot of bands, but we’re happy this is the one that people actually care about. It’s the one we care about and it’s fun to play in,” he continued adding the band tried a lot of different methods of songwriting from jamming the music out like a traditional band, to one of the members bringing in a demo and everyone adding their parts to it.
“Most recently we find it’s easiest to write in the studio because drum machines and keyboards have to be programmed there anyway. We start with a progression, then everyone adds their parts until it becomes a mess. Then there is a procedure of filtering out the parts that don’t work until we have an arrangement that works for us,” he continued adding the band is beginning to write again. Kozub owns his own studio as his day job, so the band always has a place to write.
“We haven‘t decided if we’re going to do a full length album next or just an EP,” he said.
“When I was a 17-year-old playing in punk bands, I never thought I’d be making techno music,” he said adding, looking back, the progression from punk from techno seemed natural as his dad used to play in a synth pop band in the 80s.
“We always had synthesizers around the house and looking back I’m using the same sounds my dad used,” he reminisced.
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