Trow Punx

Location:Red Deer, Alberta

Web: Trow Punx myspace profile

Band members:
Mike Lewis: Bass, Lead Vocals
Drew Weatherhead: Guitar, Background Vocals
Justin Lewis: Drums, Background Vocals

Info:
Trow Punx was a Red Deer punx band that ended back in 2004. The end resault of 7 years of change and progression, Trow Punx started off as Trow Quadrat. including Mike Lewis on guitar and lead vocals, Justin Lewsin on drums and background vocals, and Doug Veinstra on bass and background vocals. The band quickly changed thier name simply to Trow and released thier first album: "Punk Rock to Help the Soul". This 2000 release sported 21 tracks of fast paced speed punk/gutter punk stylings. In the intervining years between this release and the next, the band underwent many changes. The first of which was the addition of a second guitarist in Kevin Friesen. Soon after, Doug left the band to persue post secondary schooling and Drew Weatherhead was brought in on bass and background vocals. Kevin ended up being let go for personal reasons which brought Drew upto guitar and later introduced Joel Benette on bass. It is this foursome that brought the release of the now Trow Punx's second album: "Die Sin Die". This 18 track CD (2003) long in the making brought a more technical side to all areas. Faster, percition druming, powerful guitar rifts including ripping solos, a walking bass line and crisp vocal harmonies. Joel decided to leave right after that CD was recorded which brought the band full circle back to a three part. Drew now took lead guitar and Mike moved to bass. Through a couple contacts the Lewis brothers had from a Christian camp the band was soon being scouted by the Tourque recording lable. Based on a deep calling to do other things, the band slowed to a stop. Although the band was on hold, they still managed to produce a third title comprised of all the unrecorded matirial after Die Sin Die and before the split. This Self-titled album was realease in December of 2005 through A2G records.

Ryan Ro from Connexions Music had with them interwiew:

RO: This is Ryan Ro of Connexions Music. So, who are you and what do you do?

DREW: Who wants to answer that? Uh...well, we're Trow Punx. I'm sure you know how to spell that. We play punk rock music, we're a christian punk rock band, and we do it to uh...spread the message of Jesus Christ. And have a good time playing punk rock! That's why we do it. And uh...anybody have anything they want to add to that?

JUSTIN: Yeah, I think we all share the same convictions here and we all like punk so it's just a no brainer really.

RO: Cool. So what the heck is a Trow?

JUSTIN: Trow is an old english weird that means to believe or have faith.

RO: Oh cool!

DREW: That's a good question, do you know what Trow is? We might have to go back to the dictionary for that, it's probably some European toad.

RO: What I want to do here is jump into some questions from some of your fans up in Grande Prairie. Apparently, you guys have inspired a lot of kids up there that.

DREW: Yeah, we love playing Grande Prairie
RO: These are from a cool girl Amy and some of her friends. First question she has is uh, what inspires you? What bands or anything inspire you to write music and play music?

DREW: Personally, I've been listening to christian punk since I was about 12, so mostly bands like MxPx and Craig's Brother, there's a whole list of 'em from Tooth & Nail Records and Bettie Rocket Records and GRR records and Five Minute Walk...Pretty much any punk band has inspired us, any band we've played with. Big inspirations would like ...definitely probably MxPx, the earlier stuff. Back in the day. And uh, maybe like the old Ghoti Hook. That kinda stuff you know?

RO: Yeah, totally. Sumo Surprise! I should probably ask, before we go any further...who is each guy and what do you do? Cos you know, I'm not going to have any idea who's saying what otherwise!

JUSTIN: Oh, haha, my name is Justin Lewis, and I'm the drummer for the band.

DREW: And the voice you're hearing right now is Drew Weatherhead and I am the guitar.

MIKE: And this is Michael Lewis and I play bass guitar and do vocals.

RO: Another thing the kids in GP wanted to ask you...if I can read my handwriting here...

JUSTIN: That's a good question.

RO: What did I write down here?

DREW: Hard to read over the phone, write a little louder

RO: Haha. Ok, this is kinda a more personal question. How do you hold onto your faith when you're down and things go wrong? How do you keep that, how do you stick with it?

DREW: Well, I think um...conviction is really a strong part and it really helps to have strong friends that'll help you when you're down and will know when you're down and won't be afraid to come to you. And a good pastor, I think too.

JUSTIN: For me, uh, pretty much anything I can come up with. Sometimes you do get discouraged and you get down. And maybe like you don't make any money at a show or you lose money or whatever... Or you know, our dad's sick right now and that kinda gets me and Mike down a little bit, or me anyways. I spend time kinda forcing myself to read the bible, look for inspiration there. And like Drew said, hanging out with friends that'll build you up and stuff and not put ya down.

RO: Ya got anything to add there, other guy?

MIKE: I would say that other times, writing lyrics, writing tunes about it helps out a lot. Uh, but yeah, a lot of songs that talk about that kind of stuff and how ya can get spiritual help just by reaching. And as long as you're looking for the direction God wants you to go, uh, it's usually just ourselves that can screw us up in the end.

RO: Grande Prairie question number three: what's the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you?

JUSTIN: A FAN has ever done for us?

DREW: For us or to us?

RO: Either or

DREW: I'll have to leave it to Mike or Justin cos they've been around longer than I have!

JUSTIN: One time somebody wrapped a 2 litre bottle of water, it was full of water, in a shirt and threw it at my head. it just missed me, I heard it plow the back of the stage...that was kinda pretty scary, almost took my head off. Someone punched me in the head at a show once too, there was that. As for POSITIVE stuff...

(laughter)

JUSTIN: Mike, do you have any...

MIKE: I have another negative one! One time I was just relaxing on a couch and some girl poured slurpee in my ear. If that means they like me, well.

JUSTIN: What's a good one...some of the girls up there in Grande Prairie wrote a song for us.

MIKE: Oh yeah. They wrote us a song.

RO: That was cool for you guys?

JUSTIN: It was, yeah. That someone else kinda took the effort and stuff...we appreciated that, definitely.

MIKE: Yeah.

RO: Well, I guess I could kinda segue that into another question. You guys play punk rock and a big part of that is that, you guys are christians. And uh, I think those girls and other fans, you guys go play shows and you've just been able to be used to reach these kids. You've said something that means something to these kids and uh, whether they're just exploring or what...

RO: I guess the best way to put this is, what's the balance between playing music and reaching kids and all that sorta thing?

DREW: Well I guess it all kinda ties together, because whether you reach somebody after the show talking to them or whether they come up to you or they buy a cd and hear the lyrics and email you, however it works, I think it's all going to the one greater purpose.

JUSTIN: Y'know like, a lot of kids, will see a band on stage whoever it is and stuff and think that, you know, if you play even moderately good stuff on stage people are gonna like that [and some are going to] dislike that or whatever. And for the people who dislike what we do I hope they at least respect that we stay true to our beliefs and stuff and that we aren't afraid to say what we believe. We're not trying to really get into anybody's faces, but at the same time, anybody who's curious or wants to get our side of what we believe, you know, we're definitely there to talk. And uh, every show we do, you know, we try to view it as a potential opportunity to kinda you know, getting a foot in the door, maybe changing a life, getting some kids to ask some questions. Whatever we can do.

RO: There's a lot of controversy today about what is "christian music." Do you feel a responsibility to get people "saved?"

MIKE: It's not our responsibilty TO get people saved, but it's our responsibility to tell people about it. We don't want there to ever be people to be at a show of ours who've never had anybody really tell them about it or even offer to tell them about it, but that's up to Jesus and God and their own hearts whether they want to get saved or whatever. We're not out there to specifically convert anybody or save anybody we just want to tell our side of things. And if people don't believe it, that's fine, but we want people to at least respect what we believe.

DREW: I think a big misconception out there is that christian bands are out there to beat people over the head with the bible, and that's not really how we go about things. I will admit that there are bands out there, that's their goal --- to save somebody if it takes a gun to their head sorta thing --- but all we're going out there to do is to say we're christians, we like what we do, here's what we do, and uh, if you want to ask any questions, great. Good or bad.

RO: So you think it's ok for like, a "band," to be a bunch of christians but not necessarily preach as write everyday stuff. Like a Slick Shoes that writes positive lyrics without writing "spiritual" music.

MIKE: I think it's fine myself. Well, I think, if you're a christian you should be trying to express the word, but I don't see anything wrong with going out and having a good time with your buddies and stuff. S'long as you're not singing about evil stuff y'know like "Oh man the devil is a good guy!" and crap like that. Cos that's bad. (laughs)

RO: Oh, I'm sure there's somebody out there trying to do that. "We're a christian band...hail Satan, yeah."

DREW: Well yeah "christians in a band" and "christian bands" seem to be the two different kinds of christian bands out there...there's the people who are christians who play music, and the people who play music about christianity. I don't have a problem with either one of them, I think it's great. They're doing what they think they should be doing. Not everybody's called to preach or tell the word through music, they could just as well meet a person at the bar the next night. Whatever happens, you know. It's not really our place to judge what's "right" in that instance.

RO: I hope if you don't mind a few more heavy questions here.

DREW: Bring 'em on.

RO: You're punk rock. A lot of people say punk is dead. How do you respond to that?

DREW: I think uh...I think it's the definition you gotta work on first because, punk the way most people think about it, the way people on the street think of it, it's like old seventies punk like The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. That's where it originated and that's what most people think it is, and nowadays there's a new school punk that's coming around. You look at Sum41 or Blink182 [and] it's not Ramones punk. It's a totally new style. And I think it's coming around big time right now if you look at the media and MuchMusic there are all these bands that are punk, but aren't the traditional punk definition. I think there's a new punk scene coming up and it's terrific, I like it.

RO: But do you think punk is still a movement or is it more of a sound or fashion nowadays?

DREW: I think it's less of a movement than it used to be, and it's sort of...I think the movement's defined by the style you're playing these days. No, I don't think it's much of a movement, it's more of a style or a preference.

MIKE: I would respond to that question as to the whole punk's not dead thing...oh, I had something good too, give me a second. (laughs) Well I guess it's like, the people that say that are the people that don't like the music. But you're gonna take like ---I'm more into, I wouldn't say Blink 182 or anything, I'm more into old school punk and new school punk, I'm somewhere right in between --- but if you look at like even the punk that even I don't care for too much, you go to whatever show, to like the Fireside Lounge and the college and stuff.

MIKE: You still get big crowds and it's still a big group there, even if it's a smaller crowd then what's following other music styles. It's a form of, it's like a form of rock, it falls in there and I don't know really the point I'm trying to get at here, but I don't think punk is dead.

JUSTIN: We've actually seen over the last five years here in Red Deer...the christian punk scene has grown. We started out with crowds of about 50 people and now we get about 200 people so it's just continually growing, here in Red Deer anyways.

RO: Another question I wanted to ask...what does being a punk mean to you, and to go along with that --- what exactly is a christian punk? Or does that mean anything anymore?

DREW: Well, lots of people that you talk to will tell you that punk is going against authority or punk is rebelling against the system, but I think punk, the way it's defined nowadays is about standing up for what you believe in. And that fits in perfectly with being christian.

JUSTIN: I would define being a punk as not really caring so much what everybody thinks about you except yourself, you know? And um, it's about having fun too. Shows that we get at the Solid Rock Cafe for example, shows where it's a lot of our friends and other bands...they're a lot more just kinda a fun atmosphere, an atmosphere of just hanging out with people that ya know and having a good time. And the music is just like a part of it, it's not like we're playing to people it's like we're playing there and just having a good time with everybody who's there. And we can do that. That's what punk rock is to me, just having a good time. And being a christian punk it's a lot like what Drew said --- just worrying about what you think about yourself and I guess being "christian punk" is partly being worried about what God thinks about you too

JUSTIN: I don't ever want to sound like we're all perfect christians or anything like that, but we try [to live christian lives] and everything. We're definitely not perfect, we've got our faults, but I just totally believe it's right and that's why we're into that. Yeah, I think just being a christian punk is being a christian and having a good time, playing punk rock...yeah.

RO: Cool.

JUSTIN: Must love my complicated answers.

RO: Yeah man, they're good. Enough stupid heavy questions, let's talk about music here. You guys got a big studio thing going on there, you're working with other bands now. How are you doing with that?

JUSTIN: Let me put it over to Mike, cos it's his studio.

MIKE: Basically what happend is that I got a recording board just to record for us and that, and I just kept getting better at it, and getting better sounding stuff and all the mics I needed and stuff. And now there's such a big christian punk movement starting to happen here around Edmonton and Calgary and Red Deer that a whole bunch of bands are just phoning me up. We seem to be getting a lot of business out of it, they're all happy with the product and I give them retarded cheap prices. It's just another fun thing to do and to make some side money.

JUSTIN: I built the room that's actually the studio, it's all insulation and styrofoam and it just eats the sound up so it's really a tight room, and what we've ended up with is a studio where we charge super cheap compared to any other studio for quality that's---at least as good as any other studio in sound. They got all the credentials and stuff behind 'em, but they don't really understand the sound. I guess that's the advantage we have for punk bands.

MIKE: Yeah that's true, we're the punk recording place. If a country band came to us they'd probably puke all over us (laugh) Yeah, so, as a punk band we know kinda roughly what sound they want and plus, we'll sit with whoever and mix it how they want. We've already had a few bands here, and we've got one here that just showed up now that want us to record, and there are more that are booking time right now.

RO: So you guys have one cd right?

DREW: Two! The first one sucks!

RO: Which aren't currently available on the website?

JUSTIN: Neither of them are, cos we need to set up paypal and whatever.

RO: Can fans expect a new record?

DREW: Absolutely.

JUSTIN: We gotta make the time with school and the money from other things.

DREW: The short answer is yes, we're going to record a new album. We're just going to see what happens.

MIKE: The really short answer is yes! Or a y, representing yes.

RO: Well, we are on the internet! So I guess that's the near future for you guys. Any big plans in the next six months?

DREW: We got new merch, actually. We got our own silk screening thing going on. We got hoodies, we got hats here...anything I'm missing?

JUSTIN: No, it's all ready to go. It's putting it on the site today.

RO: You guys really got the indie band thing going on. How about some tips from your experience for all the kids looking to get a band going?

MIKE: My advice would be to ask questions of bands that have done it, cos man, we have made some stupid, retarded decisions...wasted time there, bad business deal here...looking back on it now, if we knew then what do now, we'd be way farther ahead than we are.

DREW: We see bands that have been around for two years that are farther than we are and we're going "oh man..."

MIKE: The biggest thing is look for shows all the time, even if it's just opening all the time. At least you're names out and all that. Just play shows, don't get discouraged.

JUSTIN: And be smart with your money. Don't take the twenty dollars from your show and go get a pizza, that's a mistake we made all the time. And be prepared to put a lot of effort into it for oh...the first five and a half years. (laughs)

RO: It can only get easier from here, eh?

JUSTIN: It can ONLY get easier from here! (laughs)

RO: Is there a certain amount of satisfaction from having done this all yourself?

JUSTIN: Absolutely.

MIKE: Just to say that we own and operate our own recording studio, and we've self-produced two cds, 200 people average per show...I guess to say that we're at that level. Sure, that's a wicked accomplishment. And we really feel it's going to get better from here.

RO: In Trow Punx Survivor, who's going to win?

JUSTIN: Depends what kind of competitons we're talking.

DREW: Yeah, let's go for golf! (laughs)

MIKE: Inevitably it would come down to a battle to the death, and it would all depend on who got the Conch Shell first.

JUSTIN: You know, we're all friends here but when it comes down to it, there's no apologies or nothing.

MIKE: Yeah, we've all got elbows and we know how to use them!

RO: (laughs) Awesome. Thanks a lot for chatting with me, this was really cool.

Discography:
-Punk Rock to Help the Soul (2000)
-Die Sin Die (2003)
-Self-titled (2005)