Meet Billy Talent - the friendly punk rockers
By: Joel Francis - Kansas City Star
October 17th 2003 3:01am
Ben Kowalewicz, lead singer for the punk band Billy Talent, is beside himself.
"You won't believe this," he exclaims. "We're on the road right now, I don't know, somewhere between Memphis and St. Louis, and there's this guy flying, like, a crop-duster plane, you know, and it's like 4 feet off the ground. So if I start screaming or something, you'll know what it is."
Kowalewicz runs his words together with frenzied excitement, as if describing the woman of his dreams to a new friend at the bar.
He has good reason for his excitement: Billy Talent is in the middle of their first tour of the Midwest in support of their self-titled major label debut. The band's first single, "Try Honesty," is No. 23 on the alternative charts.
"Its been an interesting year and a half," Kowalewicz said. "This is our first time in this part of the country, and we're just introducing ourselves. We like to hang out and meet people. We always stick around and make friends after our shows."
Billy Talent, named after a character in the film "Hard Core Logo," will perform Saturday at the Beaumont as part of the "Buzz Showcase" alongside Kill Hannah and a to-be-named special guest.
KRBZ (96.5 FM) afternoon music director Lazlo said "Try Honesty" was among the station's top 10 most requested songs.
"We thought this is one of those up-and-coming bands that need to be exposed," Lazlo said. "I love the sound of it and that's what I go with -- that first time I hear it and something excites me."
Melodies that aren't derived from the standard pop-punk template and lyrics about drug addiction, child abuse and other dark topics help set the band apart from the rest of the modern punk movement.
"It's kind of rock 'n' roll with a modern twist," Kowalewicz said. "Wait -- that sounds so lame. I don't know how to describe it. You'll have to check it out for yourself.
"Our live shows are very intense, high-energy, but not testosterone-driven. We don't want meatheads killing each other. We want people to be able to dance and have fun."
Billy Talent's music is fun, but it also has a serious side. The song "Standing in the Rain" details the life of a heroin-addicted prostitute through lyrics like "My looks and smile have become my curse.../Milk carton mug shot baby missing since 1983/Standing in the rain/20 years of dirty needles raindrops/Running through my veins..."
"We were recording in Vancouver in an area called East Hastings, which was the most desolate, polluted place I had ever seen," Kowalewicz recalls of the writing of "Rain."
"The area was just littered with drug addicts. I saw this girl about my age (27) who was a prostitute. She looked like the world had just given up on her."
Billy Talent guitarist Ian D'Sa often works up a melodic skeleton of a song, which he presents to bassist Jonathan Gallant, drummer Aaron Solowoniuk and Kowalewicz to complete collaboratively.
"The way I look at it, this is my chance to tell a story in three or four minutes," Kowalewicz said. "I listen to people's stories from their point of view and try wearing their shoes. Each lyric is like a test: You really want to get a point across. A lot of times songs come naturally. When I listen to the music, I just get a vibe for it."
The band got their first big break last summer opening for the Buzzcocks and filling in for Busta Rhymes on the "Area: 2" main stage on a bill with Moby and David Bowie.
"Touring with the Buzzcocks was like punk-rock high school," Kowalewicz said. "You learn how it is and listen to their stories. They are legends of the genre, but we became good friends. Their crowds were very demanding, so we got hardened very fast."
But Billy Talent were used to rough crowds. When the band played clubs in its native Toronto, audience members would throw garbage and swear at the band.
"We never really fit in in Toronto," said Kowalewicz, who first started playing with the rest of the band 10 years ago when they were Streetsville, Ontario, high school students.
"There's a lot of adversity being a Canadian band. We'd play and play and play, but for a long time if it didn't sound like Nickelback, it was hard to get noticed, especially if you were outside of the box," he said. "Eventually we met other bands doing the same thing and formed a sort of community."
After releasing an independent album in 1998 and an EP in 2001, the band was picked up by Atlantic.
"We've been on the road for seven months and will be out for another year," Kowalewicz said.
"We're way past that now, but I assume he got down safely. I hope so, anyway."
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