Sweet Jets take off

Queen’s garage pop trio releases first EP ‘Noise Candy’

Drummer Paul Dyck (right) says the band wanted to make their EP ‘Noise Candy’ available online to make it more accessible for people to listen to it.
Image supplied by: Supplied by Russel Lowry
Drummer Paul Dyck (right) says the band wanted to make their EP ‘Noise Candy’ available online to make it more accessible for people to listen to it.

When Kingston’s Sweet Jets started out playing house parties, they had no idea they would be recording an EP just a year later.

Guitarist and vocalist Colin Robinson, bassist James Gagne and drummer Paul Dyck released ‘Noise Candy’ on April 1.

Although they’ve only been together for a short time, Dyck, ArtSci ’13, recalls their misfortune while playing in a restaurant in Toronto, which had just been on the show Restaurant Makeover.

“A pipe exploded on the floor above us midway through our set and the ceiling just started dripping serious amounts of water all over the bar — it was pretty epic.”

The band recorded the EP this spring in their friend’s basement.

They decided to make their album available online for free download.

“Right now we’re just trying to get exposure — we’d rather have people download it now than have people not listen to it because they didn’t have the money to pay.”

The band originally started playing with only Paul on drums and Colin on guitar in January 2011, later adding bassist James in October.

“James can lay down the groove with the bass and drive the song instead of just relying on fast guitar hooks,” Dyck said.

The EP contains all original songs written by the band.

“One of our most popular songs is ‘Wish I’. It was the dark horse of the album. We didn’t think people would like it as much as they do.”

Sweet Jets have played several shows at the Mansion and Clark Hall Pub in the past and have come a long way since their early days.

“We played in my basement for a bit, and then we moved into James’ basement. Now we’ve moved up to the main floor in Colin’s house. This is actually a big step up,” Dyck said.

While the group is in the midst of balancing band activities with personal pursuits, they show no signs of slowing down.

“We’re looking to record an A side/B side, duo release, just two songs, hopefully this month, and then work on new stuff for the rest of the summer,” Dyck said.

— With files from Savoula Stylianou

Sweet Jets’ debut EP is available for free download at sweetjets.bandcamp.com.

Tags

Interview, Sweet Jets

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