Nov. 16, 2005 - Issue #526: Sex, Lust & Love

You’re fired

They may not be great at making friends, but Vancouver's the Spitfires sure can rock

“For the most part,” declares Spitfire’s frontman Jason Solyom, “anything you read about us that comes out of Toronto is a bullshit lie.”

A bold statement, considering that most independent bands clambering for recognition would walk over their own mothers for press—not to mention national press coming out of Toronto—but it seems Vancouver-based punk-rockers the Spitfires have had enough to satisfy the craving. After playing a Toronto show two years ago, the band raised the ire of club owners when they decided to set off a chemical-filled fire extinguisher onstage, a seemingly playful act that left patrons with burning tongues and the owners with a hefty cleaning bill. When they played a venue owned by the same management eight months later, they were heading for a situation that would end with their breakup.

“We were in the middle of our set and the club had some guy shut the microphones off and had bouncers come up on stage while we were playing,” recalls Solyom. “They pulled me off the stage and threw me out the front door. They gave the other guys enough time to put their guitars in their cases and one by one tossed them out the front door, too. We got bounced from our agency group and then [the Toronto press] started a lot of weird stuff about how we broke up because of Toronto, which was bullshit. That was our last show, though.”

While this might seem like a half-hearted denial given the circumstances, the fact that Solyom was able to resurrect the band after its demise lends credit to his claim that their experience in Toronto did not cause their split. As for what actually did lead to the break-up—well, even Solyom isn’t actually sure.

“I really don’t know what happened,” he shrugs. “I think I quit about two or three years ago—it was just too much. We never practiced anymore, we didn’t write any songs... no one was really into it, so we just stopped. When our bass player CC returned from Germany we got drunk and decided to reunite.”

Announcing the group’s rebirth on their website this past June, the main question that the band faced was where they could play. Already carrying no small amount of disdain for the Toronto scene, the Spitfires have also grown to harbour their own amount of derision for their hometown of Vancouver. While the band is focused on coming up with new material, the places they have to test out their works in progress are limited not by availability, but rather by the Spitfires own feelings for their hometown scene.

“It’s easy to get gigs and stuff, but it’s a matter of people coming out,” says Solyom. “We play in our hometown and we get spit on and shit thrown at us—it’s not really exciting anymore. This is the way they show affection, but it’s become sort of like, ‘Hey, the Spitfires are playing, let’s throw shit at them!’ We just kind of want to get out of town.”

Thankfully, the Spitfires seem to have no problem bringing their act to Alberta, and anyway, with a lot of lost time to make up for, the group’s focus is less on live performances and more on cutting a quality record.

“We’re trying not to play in Vancouver at all,” admits Solyom. “We played constantly for two years with the same set list. There’s a big change in the band, definitely—it’s more about the songs. This time, we want to make a good record that isn’t rushed.” V

The Spitfires
With Cripple Creek Fairies and The Fat Dave Crime Wave • Sidetrack Café • Sat, Nov 19 (8 pm)

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