Below, you can read our interview with Sonic Scene Kids and listen to their album Live, Laugh, Toaster bath. Check out our full music review of Live, Laugh, Toaster bath here.
Q: All the members of Sonic Scene Kids hail from Toronto and the surrounding areas. How has developing your artistic careers in one of Canada’s best music cities influenced your styles?
A: We grew up in the late 90’s/early 2000’s in a smaller community in the Greater Toronto Area. Aust
The talent was incredible. Several of the artists we spent time watching developed huge followings, and some were lucky enough to find bigger success outside of the Scene. In small venues with 150-200 capacity, we saw bands such as Billy Talent, Alexisonfire, Moneen, Bedouin Soundclash, Silverstein, the Junction, and the Most Serene Republic. The ones that didn’t “make it” were equally influential to us and most of us still own and listen to burned CDs purchased at those shows.
In a lot of ways this album was a tribute to that musical Scene, and if you listen carefully to the songs, it’s not hard to pick out our influences. We even put little nods to some of our other musical projects that we were a part of in the past.
Q: While you’re all tenured players individually, the band only got together officially five months ago, and you’ve already released your debut album. What kinds of challenges have you faced working together and being so prolific in such a short period?
A: Well Peter and I (Kyle) have been playing music together for close to 20 years. But we’ve never been able to get traction making music up until now. Life always got in the way. But in November of 2022 we decided to just start and began writing and recording some songs just because we love to do it. At the time, Peter was introduced to Austin from another band they played in together. Austin is a super talented drummer, and he has played in many great bands, so the fit was seamless. He brought a new element of his experiences and background. We sat him down for a couple 6-hour recording sessions and the rest is history.
Our main challenges were typically centered aroundtrying to work full-time jobs, being dads, and just life in general. But we came up with a system to keep the ball constantly rolling. When we couldn’t be together in the same room we would write, record,and email parts to each other. We are in constant contact with each other.
I think initially we weren’t sure how it would all come together, but as we worked through the writing and recording process we fell more and more in love with the music and what it represented for us. I think it was early in the process that we decided this feeling of community and connection, and our sound is w
Our challenges have evolved as our focus has shifted to sharing our music live with as many people as possible. Around the time of this transition, we connected with Chris (bass). Chris was a pilar in the Scene for a long time. He played in so many great bands and we spent a lot of time together at shows and hanging out in general. Actually, in our early years we really looked up to him, so it was a huge honour to have him join the band and add a totally different element. Now we are just looking forward to establishing ourselves as a force live.
Q: You’ve mentioned your music is for people who are nostalgic for 2000s-era music but still want to hear fresh takes on those familiar sounds. How do you balance the act of creating something original while still drawing on those particular influences?
A: I think it really feels like we made an album full of the songs that we would have written 20 years ago. We could never get the traction to do this back then, and I think Peter and I in particular really just wanted to make the album we would have done 15 or 20 years ago with a bit of a twist from our newer influences. We were able to add a lot of modern elements. There are outside
Q: How long did “Live, Laugh, Toaster bath” take to record? What was the process like?
A: It probably took about 4 months to write and record and then we spent another month mixing and mastering. The process was slow at first as we figured out ways to write and record while still maintaining our other life commitments. But once we hit our stride it was organic and happened fairly quickly. About half of it was recorded in Peter’s basement and the other half was recorded in my (Kyle) basement; in my laundry room to be precise.
Q: One of your goals is to connect people and community through music. How do you hope to achieve this with your debut album? Are there any specific themes or messages you hope listeners will take away from it?
A: Honestly, when we started, I think we just wanted to make music that we could share with our close friends and network. Primarily we wanted to use this album to connect to the people we grew up with in the Scene and local artist community. Almost as a memory or reflection like a “hey, remember this time in our lives? Wasn’t it fun? How crazy was that?” It’s a testament to a time that was so important to us, and I think everyone involved in the Scene at that point.
Q: What was your first instrument? Do you still have/play it?
A: Everyone in the band started on bass guitar first, other than Austin who started on drums. And no, I don’t think anyone has their first instrument. Peter and I (Kyle) still have our first 6 string guitars. I gave mine to my wife as a gift when we first stated dating.
Q: Perhaps in some unspecified amount of time, your musical career explodes in the best of ways. What does that look like for you?
A: All we really want to do is play music for people. We don’t care if it’s 20 people or 2000 people we just want to be able to share what we love with the world. And even if only a couple of people hear it, we just hope we made something enjoyable to listen to.
Q: You get to collaborate with anyone of your choosing. Who is it?
A: If he was still with us, probably Tom Petty. But also, Blink-182 for sure. They are a huge influence of ours.
Q: Your favorite album of all time? (Yup, you gotta choose one.)
Kyle: Enema of the state by blink-182
Peter: Right now… Trashboat – nothing I write can change what you’ve been through
Austin: Deja Entendu – Brand New
Chris: Couldn’t make a decision
Q: Your favorite song of all time? (Again, only one!)
Kyle: That’s a super hard question but I’m going to say “What’s My Age Again” by Blink-182.
Q: What would you like fans to know about you that they’re most likely unaware of?
A: Ok here are some random band facts. Peter once went to a party and spooned dog food into a candle. When someone noticed and said “someone put dog food in this candle” Peter just shouted “Really”?! And then went about his business. Kyle witnessed the whole thing, and no one could figure out why he was laughing so hard.
Chris played in a band called radiation-k and they were a big reason why Kyle and Peter started making music. Austin drinks the same amount of water as a full-grownelephant in a day. His motto is “don’t spread hate. Just hydrate.” Kyle is convinced that himself and Jeff Goldblum are Long lost relatives. So yeah. These guys are now in a band, so it should be good.
Q: Any shout-outs you wanna make?
A: There are way too many to name but thank you to our wives and girlfriends for sure. They have totake on a lot when we are working on this stuff, and they deserve a lot of credit for that. And just thank you to everyone who ever supported us. Even if it was in a small way or we lost touch over the years. Thank you for being a part of this with us.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: Just that this is a very personal album for us, and we really hope that we can have people relate to what we are saying and what we are doing. We are all getting older, and we just want to have some fun with this while we still can.
(Want to be interviewed by The Ark of Music? Click HERE.)