Interview Signal Static

Signal Static, known for their unique blend of hard rock, punk, and alternative, delves into the pervasive issue of 'cancel culture' with their new single 'Cancel Me.' In this interview, they discuss personal accountability, their creative process, and the journey of crafting music that balances social commentary with raw emotion.

1. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single 'Cancel Me' and what message you hope to convey with it?

‘Cancel Me’ is a response to the whole ‘cancel culture’ narrative which has become so pervasive in artistic and political circles.  The idea behind the song is that rather than blaming other people for the consequences of our behaviour it’s on each of us as individuals to take responsibility when we hurt each other.

2. How do you personally define 'cancel culture,' and what made you decide to tackle this topic in your music?

There’s a lot that can be said about this, but what it boils down to is this recent trend of people getting caught doing and saying harmful things and then blaming the fallout on the victims for speaking out or on other people for making the decision to direct their money, support, and attention elsewhere as a result.
Rather than taking responsibility for their mistakes and making an effort to be better people, they double down on whatever hurtful thing they’ve said and done and then vilify the people they’ve hurt.  Not cool.

3. Ryan, you've mentioned that the band points the finger at itself in 'Cancel Me.' Can you elaborate on the importance of personal accountability in your music and lives?

It’s difficult to imagine anything more important or impactful, as an individual than taking responsibility for our fuck ups.  We’re ego-driven creatures, and our egos have a really hard time accepting criticism or being told that we’re wrong, which is a really harmful impulse. 

If we could all accept the idea that being wrong is the first step to becoming right and just cop to the things we get wrong instead of dying on any number of hills trying to defend ourselves, we might actually become better people and avoid a lot of unnecessary strife and problems.

By pointing the finger at ourselves in this song, we are acknowledging that we are as liable to get things wrong as anybody, and it's okay to hold us accountable when we do.

4. Signal Static's music combines various genres like hard rock, punk, and alternative. How do you balance these influences to create your unique sound?

You know, I think it’s important that we avoid spending too much effort trying to make music in any particular style.  Signal Static has a sound, of course, but it’s a sound that migrates a bit with each song and is the result of our collective influences playing on each other rather than something that we try to calculate ahead of time.  Every song has its own balance, and as long as we are making an effort to serve what the song needs, that balance kind of sorts itself out.

5. Your music emphasizes honesty, openness, and humanity. Can you share how these values shape your songwriting process?

Ryan: I think it’s somewhat self-explanatory.  I write what occurs to me at any given moment to write, usually about things I see going on in the world or something affecting the people around me.  The most important thing is that whatever I write is an honest expression of what I’m experiencing or feeling about the topic.  For me there is no greater musical pleasure than being able to express my thoughts in musical form inside of a song that kicks like a mule.

Randy: Whether it’s devising a riff or putting together lyrics we all strive to be better members within our band and community at large. The trick is to create content that is not only conveying our values, but it also serves to align and bond us with anyone listening. We all want connection. We all want to belong. Music is a powerful vehicle to promote that belonging. That connection.

6. How do your individual musical influences (like Chevelle, Tool, Queens of the Stoneage) manifest in Signal Static's sound?

Ryan: Honestly I never know how it’s going to happen.  We never really try to sound like anyone in particular, it just kind of happens.  Every so often someone will say something bizarre like “I love how this sounds like an Ozzy song” and I’m like “you got THAT from THAT?”

Randy: Influences for me are often things that may not be other bands or even music. Things that simply turn my crank and get me motivated. A poem, painting or a great film, for example. Those bands mentioned are all playing emotive and powerful music. Stuff that is driven by weighty riffs and thunderous drums. These things, along with some clever lyrics can get you far, but without that raw emotion, it may as well be elevator music. 

7. Can you tell us about the process of recording 'Cancel Me' and the role Ari Mihalopoulos played in the final production?

‘Cancel Me’ was one of a bunch of songs that we wrote together during the Covid lockdowns.  We released our first album right on the heels of Covid and couldn’t really do anything with it, so after our former leader singer left the band the three of us decided to spend our time re-inventing our sound.

We recorded four songs, including ‘Cancel Me’ by ourselves in our underground jam bunker, which is quite literally an underground storage space for a sporting goods store.  We have so far managed to resist the temptation to pull an “OK GO” on any of the elliptical machines.

We ended up signing up with The Inner Light Agency who was helping manage us for awhile, and they have some pretty heavy hitters on their roster including Destrophy, who are an absolutely killer metal band on Victory Records.  Ari is their frontman and also a crazy good mixing engineer and producer and we were very lucky to get him working on our stuff.

We had actually mixed and mastered two other songs (‘Objects of Affection’ and ‘Under the Skin’) with a different producer, but after Ari mixed ‘Cancel Me’ and ‘Dark to Light’ (which is the next song we’ll be releasing) we knew we had to get him to re-do those as well, and we’re very glad we did.

8. What has been the band's journey from formation to the release of 'Cancel Me'? Any memorable moments or challenges you'd like to share?

The three of us have been together for I think close to nine years now, which has gone by surprisingly quickly.  Ryan had been in other bands with both Gino and Randy, and after they were introduced at Ryan’s wedding in 2015 we decided to start jamming together.

We wrote the first bunch of Signal Static songs together as a trio and then brought in Connor Smith on vocals.  We recorded our debut album together right on the heels of the first Covid lockdowns, and shortly after that Connor decided to leave the band.

We spent the next couple of years of Covid nuttiness re-inventing our sounds as a trio and Ryan took over on vocals kind as a stop-gap until we all decided to make it a permanent thing, and we recorded four singles together as a trio, of which ‘Cancel Me’ is the third to be released.

9. Given the introspective and socially aware nature of your lyrics, how do you balance personal experiences with broader social commentary in your songs?

Ryan: Personally, I tend to avoid writing too much about myself, as I’m not nearly as interesting as a lot of other people and events going on in the world.  Everything that I write is from my own unvarnished perspective, of course, even when it’s being framed in the perspective of a character of some sort.  But what really interests me is exploring human behaviour, whether that be calling out bad actors or trying to model what it means to be a good one.

Randy: Opposite to Ryan, when I write music or lyrics, I like to write about myself but in a broader, less specific manner. The best authors and artists usually draw from personal experience and then apply that to the current or historical social context they’re writing within. Try to take your experiences and thoughts and project them onto a screen anyone watching, or in our case listening, can relate to. 

10. What do you hope listeners take away from 'Cancel Me,' both musically and in terms of its message?

Musically we would hope people will enjoy the groove and the kind of dark energy of the song.  Maybe they will put it in their car and zoom around (responsibly, of course), or make a fool of themselves bopping around on the streets with great enthusiasm, who knows?

The message, like a lot of our songs, kind of boils down to ‘don’t be an asshole’, and more specifically ‘if you are going to be an asshole, don’t act surprised when people treat you like an asshole’.

11. Have there been any interesting or amusing experiences during your time as a band that you think fans would enjoy hearing about?

The very first song we ever released was called ‘Blinding Lights’, and unbeknownst to us we happened to release it on the same day as The Weeknd’s song also called ‘Blinding Lights’, so for awhile we had fun talking about how we had a #1 hit on our hands.

12. Looking ahead, what are Signal Static's plans for the future, and how do you see your music evolving in the coming years?"

Next up after ‘Cancel Me’ we will be releasing one more song that we recorded over the Covid days, called ‘ Dark to Light’.  So definitely keep an eye out for that!

We’ve been taking a bit of a break so far in 2024 while Gino did some pretty intense schooling, but now that’s over we’re gearing up to write and record our second full-length album over the next year or so.  So far it’s coming together very nicely!.

HOME | Signal Static (signal-static.com)