in negotiations with Johnny O’Reilly a few years back, before Seth Brothers rejoined their lineup. They wanted Johnny to slot into that rhythm guitar spot and leave all the lead to Jesse, and Johnny wouldn’t go for that. I wouldn’t have, either.”
“I really can’t see you playing second fiddle, or second guitar, to Jesse Mayes,” Courteney agreed. “But you and Ash… you seem to work well together.”
“Ash is more collaborative that way. He never wanted to be the lead guitarist in the strictest sense. He tends to lead more with his vocals. With the Players, he wanted the freedom to play the guitar or not, depending on the song. To play some lead, some rhythm, whatever felt right in the song. He’s versatile, and over the years I’ve become that way, too. So, we play the songs as we think they should sound. Sometimes it’s him doing a certain guitar part on a certain guitar, and if that’s lead and I need to cover the rhythm because that’s what’s best for the song, that’s what we do.”
“And you and Gabe were okay with missing out on Dirty?”
“Yeah. We knew we’d find our band. There were a lot of us back then, just coming out of our teens, trying to make it. And the cream naturally rises to the top, right? I knew a lot of musicians who never made it out of the local scene, or else they quit playing bands altogether by the time they were twenty-one and got a ‘real’ job. Those of us who were gonna go the distance, we all found our place, eventually.”
“You know, all the musicians I’ve interviewed for this book have talked about that period of time with such fondness. Even though, for most of them, that was before they made it big. Why is that?”
“It was just a special time. It was the late 2000’s, and the local scene was pretty exciting. I didn’t even know how special it was at the time, because I’d never experienced anything different. But I learned. There was this real return to rock going on. Like the core of rock ’n’ roll, with this modern edge. I think the Players encapsulate that perfectly right now. They have this hard rock/electronic fusion that’s totally on point, and they’ve found their own sound within it.”
“And what about the bands that came before the Players?” Courteney asked me. She was a great interviewer, actually. Had a lot of questions at the ready, kept things flowing to get at the information she wanted. I had a feeling, though, she’d eventually go there—to the hard questions.
“Well, before the Players, the Vancouver scene was already broiling over with talent. There was Ashley’s other band, the Penny Pushers, who were more alternative rock. The Pushers had this Vancouver/Los Angeles fusion that brought a unique sound. Johnny O’s band, Breakneck, have a more indie rock vibe, and they’re kind of bicoastal, with a mix of guys from Vancouver and Toronto, so that also gives them a unique sound. Xander and Dean’s band, Steel Trap, were straight-up hard rock. Our band, Alive, was hard rock but more sophisticated, I’d say, and more radio friendly. And of course Dirty basically became the best of what Vancouver produced at the time. They’re definitely radio friendly, but they’ve developed their own sound that’s basically hard rock mixed with so many different influences from classic rock to electronic.”
“You think Dirty is the best band to come out of Vancouver this millennium? Like, better than Alive?”
“Definitely. We might’ve given them a run for their money, if we’d lasted long enough.”
“What about before Dirty and Alive, and the other bands you just mentioned? I’ve read interviews where you talk about all the bands who came before, like it was important to you to get that into the conversation.”
“I just think you can’t pat newer bands like Dirty or Alive or the Players on the back like they’re a totally unique phenomenon, and pretend no one else put in a lot of hard work before us. Including other bands who never get as much attention, and ones who did. Before we came along, in the late nineties and early 2000’s, there were other bands doing alternative hard rock that was actually radio friendly, too. Theory of a Deadman, Matthew Good Band. It was actually Matthew Good Band that really inspired Gabe to pick up a guitar. We were like ten when Underdogs came out and it was all over the radio, and