I love chili dogs, so much better than people right now.
-simonx.
THIS GENTLEMAN HERE IS CHRIS CRESSWELL, SINGER AND ONE OF THE TWO GUITAR PLAYERS IN THE FLATLINERS. I WAS INTRODUCED TO HIM BY SEAN WHO USED TO WORK WITH HIM IN THE SAME MALL IN RICHMOND HILL(I THINK?).
I WROTE ‘BUISNESS NEVER PERSONAL’ ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO FROM ABOUT THIS TIME AND I NEVER THOUGHT THE SONG WAS COMPLETE EVEN WHEN WE PLAYED IT. SOMETIMES I SANG THE BREAKDOWN, MOST OF THE TIME I DIDN’T. IT NEVER FELT RIGHT FOR ME TO SING THAT PART OR TO HAVE ANOTHER SET OF GANG VOCALS FILL IT IN. NEITHER DID I FEEL SEAN OR DUNCAN SHOULD HAVE SUNG THAT PART ON THE RECORD, NOT THAT THEY COULDN’T HAVE BUT IT WOULD HAVE SEEMED TOO EASY TO DO THAT.
BEFORE SEAN INTRODUCED ME TO CHRIS AND THE OTHER HOMIES FROM THE FLATS, I HAD NEVER HEARD ANY OF THEIR STUFF. I ALWAYS ASSUMED THEY WERE SKA-PUNK OR WHATNOT AND I AM NOT A FAN OF NEW-AGED SKA. SOMETHING ABOUT IT JUST TURNS ME RIGHT OFF OF LISTENING TO MUSIC; I CAN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY AT ALL. BUT I GAVE THEIR ALBUM ‘THE GREAT AWAKE’ A LISTEN AND I WAS COMPLETELY HOOKED. NOT ONLY DID I GET THEIR STYLE OF MUSIC WRONG, THEY HAD SUCH AN INTENSITY TO THEM, YOU’D NEVER CONSIDER THAT THESE GUYS WERE AS YOUNG AS THEY WERE LISTENING TO THIS RECORD. CHRIS HAS A SCREAM SO HEAVY AND LOUD METALHEADS HANG THEIR HEAD IN SHAME. THE POWER OF HIS VOICE IS SO STRONG YOU’D NEVER THINK IT WAS HIM SINGING. HE’S GOT THE PERFECT BALANCE OF SCREAMING AND SINGING. I AM JEALOUS OF HIM.
I KNEW AS SOON AS I HEARD ‘THE GREAT AWAKE’ I NEEDED TO HAVE HIM SING ON THE BREAKDOWN SECTION OF ‘BUSINESS NEVER PERSONAL’. HE WAS NICE ENOUGH TO OBLIGE. NOT ONLY DID HE HAMMER OUT THE SECTION, HE ADDED HARMONIES TO HIS OWN PARTS. IF YOU HEAR HARMONIES IN HIS SINGING ON ‘BUISNESS’, THAT’S ALL HIM. WHENEVER I LISTEN TO THE SONG NOW, I FORGET THAT HE’S SINGING THAT PART CAUSE IT BLENDS IN SO WELL WITH THE ENTIRE SONG. THAT’S HOW I KNOW I MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE.
THIS MAN IS ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE I’VE MET AND ONE OF THE MOST SUPPORTIVE OF OUR BAND. THE FUCKIN’ GUY TEXTED ME AT 1:3O IN THE MORNING JUST TO SAY HE’S BEEN LISTENING TO OUR RECORD SINCE HE GOT IT. IT’S A SIGH OF RELIEF TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE STILL GOOD HEARTED PEOPLE MAKING GOOD HEARTED MUSIC IN THIS INDUSTRY. SAME GOES FOR JOHN, SCOTT AND PAUL.
-SIMONX.