Basement Superheroes

Jenia sits down with Montreal’s Basement Superheroes–

Back in June I was fortunate enough to sit down with the up and coming Montreal band “Basement Superheroes”. Their unique synth-pop sound helped them become the very first group to ever win “Can Your School Rock?” a battle of the bands competition that took place throughout the country. Since then they have been signed to Tab Records and are currently in the studio working on their debut album. The interview took place backstage at Club soda with Max Izzo(vocals/guitar/keyboard), Alex Izzo(drums/vocals) and Shawn Chemtov(bass/backup vocals).

CONFRONT: Let’s start off with a brief history of the band. How did you guys get together?

MAX: My brother and I have been playing forever. We started super young. At junior prom we got Shawn over here and that’s how we started.

SHAWN: I heard some news around school and after my old band disbanded I was looking for some new guys to start a project with. I started talking to them at junior prom and it all went from there.

CONFRONT: Do you find it easier working with a sibling?

MAX: Yeah absolutely. We’re the main songwriters and we have a real bond.

CONFRONT: Did you guys always know you wanted to do this?

MAX: Well it’s not like we decided to do this, it’s just something that’s always been extremely natural for us. Shawn basically confirmed the fact that we wanted to do this for the long run.

CONFRONT: Why did you choose the name The Basement Superheroes.

SHAWN: Funny story. We were looking for a band name so we thought of five or six band names on MSN and we did a poll. We sent it out to all our contacts and that one got voted the most.

CONFRONT: That’s an original way of doing it. So there wasn’t a big story behind it? You guys just randomly came up with it?

MAX: Well we practice in a basement so that’s where we got the initial idea.

CONFRONT: You guys were a part of Can Your School Rock, what was that experience like?

ALEX: It was very good for us because we got to compete against a bunch of different bands. The judges also gave us advice on how to become better and what our good elements were. We used all of that and became a better band.

CONFRONT: Did you meet any other bands while you were doing it?

MAX: Yeah for sure. It’s like a community now.

SHAWN: A big family.

CONFRONT: You have an album coming out!

MAX: Yup! We’re putting the final touches on our album. It should be out some time in October. We’re pretty excited about that.

CONFRONT: What was the recording process like?

MAX: It was crazy. It’s every bands dream, especially recording one so early in our career. It’s everything we could’ve hoped for.

CONFRONT: Do you have any musical influences?

MAX: Shawn & I and pretty much Alex too grew up having Blink 182 as our main influence. A lot of bands are influenced by them. It’s mainly because of their attitude and eagerness. They made it look so much fun to be in a band. It was as if you were going around with your best friends.

CONFRONT: What would your dream lineup be?

SHAWN: I don’t even know. That question is hard.

ALEX: The king of pop!

MAX: Resurrect Michael Jackson.

CONFRONT: That might be a little difficult. What’s something fans may not know about you?

MAX: We try to keep ourselves as approachable as possible. We try to make ourselves seem like normal people that you can hang out with. Obviously we’re not the biggest. Something our fans may not know is that we’re exactly like them.

CONFRONT: Are you guys big on Twitter & Myspace to keep in touch with all of them?

SHAWN: I don’t update my often quite as often as I should!

MAX: 80% of our time is spent on Facebook. We practice for 20 minutes and then we spend 40 minutes sitting on Facebook. We also make a lot of videos. We just hang out in the basement and film ourselves and put it on YouTube.

CONFRONT: Is it just random blogs or do you play music?

MAX: It’s different every time. It depends on the day.

CONFRONT: You guys are pretty young. With so much competition out there what drives you to continue making music?

MAX: We believe in our band.

SHAWN: We just love doing it. It’s the only thing I look forward to doing everyday.

MAX: Otherwise we’d pretty much just be in the streets right now *laughs*

CONFRONT: What would you guys be doing right now if you weren’t making music?

MAX: Oh we’d be very boring people.

ALEX: I’ve always wanted to be a barber.

*Everyone laughs*

MAX: Besides music we’re athletically inept. We can’t catch a ball if our lives depended on it. Music is all we have going for us really. We could always turn into male models I guess.

CONFRONT: Is there a particular message you want to send out with your music?

MAX: Just have fun and be young. Don’t take yourself or anything else too seriously. We’re not trying to change the world or anything; we just hope people have fun with us.

CONFRONT: Do you guys have a favorite song off that album that’s being released?

ALEX: Nope! I think I should treat every song with equal respect. We all worked very hard on them.

CONFRONT: If someone was attending your show for the very first time, what would they expect?

MAX: Just to have fun, feel relaxed. We try to keep it pretty easy going and low key on stage.

ALEX: I always like it when people enjoy our music. That’s what I look for in a fan.

CONFRONT: So you just want to see everyone having a good time?

MAX: Pretty much!

SHAWN: Just a giant party.

CONFRONT: The magazine asks all the bands 5 questions. The first is “I would never..”

SHAWN: I’m so bad at these questions.

MAX: I would never go into the pool if it isn’t 10 minutes after you ate because your stomach might explode.

ALEX: I would never take drugs or do alcohol at a young age. I’m young and I need to stay that way.

CONFRONT: I have never…

SHAWN: I have never watched the movie Mean Girls

MAX: I have never spent a day without watching the movie Mean Girls

ALEX: I have never…

MAX: Taken drugs or alcohol?

ALEX: Yeah!

CONFRONT: At a young age?

ALEX: Exactly!

CONFRONT: What’s the first and last album you bought?

SHAWN: The first one I bought was a gift it was Dude Ranch from Blink 182. The latest one was Enter Shakari.

MAX: The first one I bought was the Backstreet Boys, I wasn’t the most masculine kid. The last one I bought was Jason Derulo. I don’t know why though.

CONFRONT: It’s catchy music.

ALEX: I don’t really know. I’m not one to buy a lot of albums, I just listen to tons of different music.

CONFRONT: First and last concert you attended?

SHAWN: Last concert was A Day to Remember. The first one I ever attended was Warped Tour 2006.

MAX: Last concert I went to was Dragonette. The first one was Sum 41.

ALEX: The first was Sum 41 for me too and the last was Blink 182.

CONFRONT: Where do you hope to see yourself in 20 years?

SHAWN: Living on a 60 foot yacht in California with tons of money in my bank account.

MAX: I’ll be Shawns waitress on the boat. I’ll be at his mercy all my life.

ALEX: I want my own barber shop with money.

CONFRONT: Do you guys have any upcoming plans?

MAX: We’re going to be filming a video for our first single Crybaby. We’ll also be finishing our album which will be out very soon!

CONFRONT: Thanks so much guys!

To learn more about Basement Superheroes click on the links below:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Basement-Superheroes/59551512858?v=wall&ref=ts

http://www.myspace.com/basementsuperheroes

http://www.youtube.com/user/BasementSuperSKANKS

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