A few years back, a friend of mine brought me out to the MOD Club for his birthday and there was one band performing that night before the DJ got started, i.e. SWEET THING.
I remember filming their performance for EPKhosting.com and feeling that it was so strong and powerful that no editing was required. This video was going to go up uncut… to demonstrate their raw energy. The show was amazing and a year or two later, I caught them on the stage at Edgefest with a major label backing them; EMI.
3 weeks ago I was in the Rogers store buying a new iPhone and heard their song “Change of Seasons” in the background on satellite radio. When I got home I decided to check in on the band and found that they were booked to play Canadian Music Week which starts today. Now this isn’t just your average showcase… these guys get to play Massey Hall and open for DOWN WITH WEBSTER! What a treat.
I immediately started to track down Owen Carrier (the lead singer of Sweet Thing) to get a glimpse of everything that’s happened in these recent years and see what they had in store for Saturday, March 12th at Massey Hall as part of Canadian Music Fest. It seems I got lucky and managed to make contact with Owen to get this interview;
1) How long was it from the time Sweet Thing wrote their first song to the moment they were signed?
If you get down to it, Sweet Thing had songs long before we formed the band. Alex and I were writing original works for open mics that ended up being band songs later on. Safe to say it was years apart from our signing with EMI
2) How many songs did you write in that time?
At the moment we were signed we had recorded a 3 song demo and 5 song EP with a handfull of songs that we played to fill a set. Let’s say a dozen
3) Who decided which songs made the cut for that first record after being signed?
By the time we’d decided on our producer, Rob Schnapf, we had 20 songs in the vault. He came into our rehearsal space and we’d play them, talk and he’d weigh in. It was ultimately the collective consensus that would make a decision on which songs were ready and fit in with the idea for this album.
4) Rumour has it the band was put “on the shelf” shortly after being signed. Is this true? If so, was it for the best?
That’s the first I’ve heard of that rumour but there was considerable time between the initial signing and the album where we spent it writing and demoing with producers.
5) It sounds like some of the songs on the record were re-written… can you tell us more?
They were. We always felt that the EP songs had an incomplete feeling and we wanted to give them their full treatment. I’m surprised at how much of a different life they’ve taken on after doing so.
6) What were the more remarkable changes in your life as an artist from working with a label?
I can’t say my life was exclusively altered from getting with the label. They don’t interfere with the creative and they facilitate touring and opening doors.
7) What inspired the music video “Dance Mother”?
The song for one. Christopher Mills, Herr Director, wrote us a treatment for the video and we wanted a driving scene. We discussed, shot and thats what came out the other end.
How old is the oldest song on the new record? Is it the same it was when first written?
Change of Seasons and no.
9) How many live shows per year are you expected to play?
We are ramping everything up. We released the Album mid 2010 so even the beginning of the year looks different from the end. 2011 is already looking bigger than any other year. I want to play as much and as many places as possible
10) What would have been your favourite gig?
There are lots of gigs that are good for different reasons. Opening for Metric in Victoria was our first Arena show and the crowd were right on board with us. Felt great! Same tour took us to Sudbury for the first time and that was a dozen people but talking to them afterwards was great too because it felt like playing to a handful of friends who finally got to see your band.
-Owen
If you’re into Sweet Thing and free Saturday night, go check them out at Massey Hall when they open for Down with Webster.
Tickets are only $30 at ticket master. Trust me, it’s well worth it.
