The Headstones were one of the most successful bands in Canada between the mid- and late-Nineties. After two incredibly well-received albums, in 1997 the Kingston-based quartet released Smile and Wave (their third LP) and just exploded; on the strength of singles like “Smile and Wave,” “And,” “Cubically Contained” and album cuts including “Picture Frame of Rage” and “Pretty Little Death Song,” the Headstones took the mainstream by storm. It was an exciting time for both the band and their fans, but the gears were already beginning to slip a bit in the function of the group; singer Hugh Dillon's addictions were beginning to overtake him and the music was beginning to suffer. The Headstones' fourth album, 2000's Nickels For Your Nightmares, was a solid effort which saw the group reaching in new musical directions and was the best-charting album the band ever released – but it was also the first in the band's career to not at least go Gold; 1995's Teeth And Tissue and 1997's Smile And Wave had been certified Gold by the CRIA, and their debut, Picture Of Health, had been certified Platinum. By 2002, when the Headstones released The Oracle Of Hi-Fi, the wheels had truly fallen off; the band's vices were showing and the music was really starting to suffer, so they decided to stop. It was a bad time and, looking back, guitarist Trent Carr is able to see that now. “When we knocked off in 2002, we really felt like we needed to do it,” remembers Carr of the time and circumstances which led to the Headstones' hiatus. “Things were getting a little out of control and I don't think anyone will argue that we needed to stand back from the band.”
As frustrating as the prospect of putting the Headstones down might have been, that's exactly what the band members did. In their time away, Carr and bassist Tim White got more into the production end of music and formed Brand X studios, while drummer Dale Harrison took a few acting jobs as well as drumming for Edwin, Teenage Head and Alannah Myles. Singer Hugh Dillon got sober and concentrated on the acting career he'd started in 1995 and appeared in films including Assault On Precinct 13, Down To The Bone and Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, and on television shows like Durham County and Flashpoint as well as forming the Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir as a musical outlet. The Headstones bug still remained in the though and, when the band's friend Randy Kwan (who helped write Headstones songs including “Cemetery” and “Losing Control”) became ill in 2010, the band reformed and organized a short tour around Ontario to help raise money for Kwan's family.
It was then that the Headstones realized the chemistry they'd possessed as a band hadn't diminished with time. Those first dates back were fun and they wanted more; but they didn't want the music industry nonsense which they'd endured the first time through so they've elected to do things themselves, their own way. “I'm not going to lie, we were a little nervous at the idea of coming back,” confides Carr when asked how easy it was for the Headstones to return to any kind of active duty. “But we know our fans and they've never been quiet; if it wasn't working as well as we thought it was, they'd let us know in no uncertain terms. The fans have been really, really receptive at seeing us starting up again though – in fact, it's been a little overwhelming and it really does feel great.
“We were really surprised when we first played those shows last February because we sounded better than we ever did; like tighter and stronger and all that shit,” continues the guitarist. “Compared with where we left it in 2002, it's been really cool to see the change. We have been rehearsing two or three times a week for the last month or so, and getting back into that frame of mind has been a whole lot of fun. And Hugh! Hugh has been like a whole different person; he's all driven and motivated and focused now. That whole alcoholic tendency has become really focused into music and film and everything and he has become a workaholic where he was a party-aholic. I guess the 'aholic' part never really goes away [laughing], it's just the prefix that changes. Hugh's voice sounds better than ever – the whole band sounds better than ever, actually.”
Such an endorsement, along with the news that the Headstones are back working again, will easily get fans excited, but Carr is also quick to say that a few things about the way the band will work now won't be the same as they were before; this is the twenty-first century and, because the possibilities have made themselves apparent, the band is intent upon working and making music their own way. As of this writing, the Headstones do not have a record label and isn't inclined to change that arrangement; in August, 2011, the Headstones released “Binthiswayforyears” – their first new recorded music in almost ten years – as a free download from their website to staggeringly positive response, which has inspired the band to continue working in the same way. “It just feels so much better to not have to deal with any record label or having to go service radio stations and kiss ass and do all those interviews, and kiss some more ass to worry about making videos,” muses Carr, clearly relishing in the freedom that the possibility of working outside of any machine has offered the band. “We recorded the song, but we also made a video for 'Binthiswayforyears' and it cost us nothing; we called a buddy of ours and we gave him a bunch of pictures that we had, and asked him if he'd be able to work something out and then he came down to where we were rehearsing and filmed us, edited it all together, and it was done. And it really felt good that way! It was fun and so much more relaxed, and it turned out to feel really rewarding too, actually. We got another song really up and running the other day and it's possible that we might play that at a show somewhere, but we haven't set anything in stone; we've never never had a schedule for songwriting or anything like that, it just sort of happens – we won't write for a year and then we'll write ten songs in a month. The added nice part about not having to deal with a record label is that we're not being asked to produce on a timeline; we're in a position where we can write and get a song where we want it and are happy with it and maybe play it at some shows to make sure it works, and then just put it out for free through our website like we did with ‘Binthiswayforyears’ if we want.”
According to Carr, the Headstones' desire to do things their own way has extended into how they plan on touring as well. The guitarist is the first to say that the band has been having fun playing before audiences again, but is also very careful to articulate that the band would like to keep it that way – which means the days of embarking on exhaustive tours where the band would play “a hundred shows a year” are over. “We don't really have any interest in touring at all – to be honest,” chuckles the guitarist at the memory of how things were versus how things will be. “The grind of touring was almost too much by the end of our career the first time; we were playing over a hundred shows a year for ten years. I don't think anyone in the band wants to do that again, so we're just doing a few handfuls here and there; our next string of dates is only about eight shows, but we're going a little more this time; we're doing some Ontario dates and a few out west. That's the kind of performance schedule we're going to stick with and that's the one plan that we've made [laughing] that we actually have talked about: no big long tours – no going out for a month and do twenty-five shows.”
While the amount of time the Headstones have decided to stay on the road may have been abbreviated, Carr is happy to report that those fans who catch a show now will get a much stronger presentation of the band. With a sober Dillon up in front of the band, they've been rehearsing at an ironman's pace – roughly three times a week by Carr's count – and making sure they're locked down tight and prepared for anything; no matter where the show is and no matter how long a set they play, they'll be able to give fans something special for coming to a show. “We noticed for the first time last week that we used to stick to around twenty songs on our set list that we would play regularly when we were touring before, but I think we've rehearsed around forty songs this time,” enthuses Carr. “Fuck – we can play nearly every single song we ever recorded and they're actually ready to go so, if we decide that we want to play it, we'll play it. That's something we've never had before; we've never had the whole catalogue ready to go at the drop of a hat before, but we do now. Part of that used to be our tendency to drink too much and party too much before but, now, we've actually put the work in and, you're likely to see us break out five or six songs that we weren't given to playing very often before – if at all. It's fun for us to be able to do that, and I think that makes it fun for the audiences too. As long as everybody's having fun, as I say, we'd like to keep it going a bit longer.”
Artist:
www.headstonesband.com/
www.facebook.com/HeadstonesBand
www.flickr.com/photos/65155824@N05/
www.twitter.com/theheadstones
Download:
Headstones – “Binthiswayforyears”
Further Reading:
Ground Control – Just One Song (featuring The Headstones' "Binthiswayforyears") – [Column]
