Alright... so Open, Parachute! bit the big one. When a band breaks up, it can be frustrating... then sort of calming. You're free. You can do whatever you want. For me, that freedom only lasts so long and then you get that itch. An itch that needs to be scratched. These dudes totally poached me and scratched the hell out of that itch, if only for a brief period in time. We had crossed paths with Italian Edition during the O,P! days and we loved sharing the stage. Such a different style of music, but so exciting live and they were really killing it in the bigger Victoria music scene. Their clean guitarist Pete Braga was going to be moving on, and when they caught wind that O,P! had called it quits, it wasn't long before they invited me out for a beer and a chat. They were very different dudes from the guys I played with in just about every way, but I liked them all. It was fresh and different so I went for it. I ended up doing the move to Vic, and really gave them my full attention. They were well into recording this album (their second and final album) and I was asked to step in and track a bunch of guitars. What I didn't realize was that Pete's guitar parts were the most insane parts I've ever had to learn (still to this day). The guy was nuts. He rocked a totally clean guitar tone with no effects, and was doing the wackiest chords. I had to purchase an entirely different rig and learn a different way of playing just to do it justice. It was nothing like I had played before. I was up to the challenge, so I played his parts on this album true to his stye. I may have added a TINY bit of gain, but... ya know. Pretty damn close. I wasn't there to re-write his parts. Their bassist Matt Morrison was also going to be moving on to do other things, so I ended up tracking all of the bass parts, as well as some keys. I kind of came out of nowhere and tracked a bunch of shit for these guys. It was super fun. Since we were recording with Adam (who had done the last O,P! album), we knew him well and it was a comfortable environment. We did the album, the promo shoots, the video and hit the road to Montreal and back. It was the furthest out I've ever been on the road and an experience to say the least. We got our good friend Joshua Van Leeuwen to come aboard to play bass live & on tour and I rocked the guitar parts I originally joined the band to play. Due to a family emergency on tour, Josh had to head home when we were at our furthest distance from home and we had to play our remaining shows as a 4-piece. That meant switching to bass and re-learning all of the parts I had recorded. It was like 2 different versions of the same band on the same tour. Double duty. We lost a lot of money on that tour, and like a lot of bands, played to some amazing rooms... and some empty ones. VERY long drives. Still, I had a great time and made some friends for life. The band had pretty much decided to call it quits on the tail end of the tour before we made it home as some of the members wanted to take a break and do some different things. A lot went into that record and tour, but it was short lived and the album was released pretty much for that tour and then it was over. The guys had their debut album before I was a part of it, and it was awesome as well. That's the story with this band/album from my perspective and I'm proud to have my name attached to it. It was a different approach musically with some different dudes than I was used to. It's nice to put yourself out of your comfort zone and try something different with different people. You never know what could come of it and you usually learn a thing or two. I still think Pete's guitar parts are rediculously cool and my hands hurt when I listen to certain songs on this album. Oh yeah.. I didn't mention that Jack was an insanely charismatic front-man and captivated crowds no matter how many people were watching us. He controlled every crowd. He had something very special to share with everyone. Solid dudes. Solid times. Solid album. Solid memories.