Bonavista tour stops in Guelph
On Friday, Nov. 2, The Elwins performed at the Guelph Concert Theatre as the opening act of the Bonavista tour with alt-rock band USS. Before the show, I sat down with drummer Travis Stokl, and bassist Frankie Figliomeni to talk about touring, musical influences, and mysterious birthmarks. The band was exceptionally friendly and easy to talk to, and it was abundantly clear, both on stage and off, that to them making music is all about creating joy and exploring new ideas.
Hannah Stewart: I know that the band began as a duo in high school. On that note, when and how did you know that making music was something that you wanted to do for a living?
Travis Stokl: I started the band with Matt [Sweeney], the singer and guitar player of the band, and I guess over time we just started getting more shows. I think [Matt] wasn’t sure he wanted to do it for the rest of our lives, but as we had a little bit more success from releasing our first EP and our first album, it was more solidified that we were actually a band and that was our job.
HS: What would you say are the biggest influences for your music?
TS: Dr. Dog, The Cardigans, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The Bicycles.
Frankie Figliomeni: We’re all always listening to different things. I’ve been listening to the Dear Nora record a lot lately…[but] there are so many different things inspiring us separately.
TS: Besides music I’m sure there are a lot of things [that influences us] — great food, or a fire once in a while.
HS: What do you enjoy most about touring? What is the worst part about touring?
FF: The past couple of tours we’ve done we’ve gotten to bring some of our friends on the road to help us. A good friend of ours, Brendan, is our tour manager and does sound for us, and our buddy Roger is taking videos and photos, so it’s kind of cool to just be able to sit in the van and joke around with our buddies. They’re both very funny. We’re also playing a bunch of new songs which is fun to do.
TS: Playing new songs and hopefully having positive reactions to new songs is always great.
FF: As for things that aren’t fun, sometimes you feel a little greasy.
TS: I think sometimes when [the tour is] really long, it can feel like you’re in this weird time warp, but then even when you return to wherever you call home, it’s a little hard to adjust. You’re so used to a schedule that’s so strange — you drive, load in and sound check, then you might eat. Then you play, you load out, stay up late and repeat.
HS: Can you tell me a little bit about your ongoing Spotify playlist, Never Repeated?
TS: That’s mostly me, although Matt helps with the artwork. I thought it might be a good way to introduce our fans to anything that we like. I figure I’m a pretty big audiophile myself so I could introduce a lot of things that people might not know about. All I do is listen to music, so I thought this would be a fun thing to do.
HS: You have some pretty unique music videos — the video for “Show Me How to Move” is particularly cool. What sort of process is involved in creating them?
FF: A lot of the videos we’ve made lately have just been with friends of ours. For that one [“Show Me How to Move”], our good friend Zach Rose directed it, with some help from some of our other buds, so the process was basically hanging out in a living room and talking about some ideas we thought would be funny.
HS: Do you have any new projects on the horizon?
FF: We just recorded six songs in a studio in Toronto, so that will probably turn into an album.
TS: We’ve been playing three of [those songs] on this tour.
FF: We might have another video coming out soon, and we might release a Christmas song — or just a general holiday song.
HS: Since this is a university newspaper, do you want to share anything about your educational background and how it has influenced your musical careers?
TS: Only one member, Feurd, got his degree in jazz at Humber.
FF: Since I didn’t go to university or college, if I don’t know something, I use that as an excuse — like, “hey, I only went to high school.” It’s kind of nice to have that excuse ready to go.
TS: I remember high school fondly because you learned [how] to meet people, and I haven’t been in that kind of environment for a while. I mean we are in a job where we meet people all the time, but I think when you see them day after day, it’s different. For the first two years [following high school] I really craved that, but then you just learn to live with it.
FF: We can always go back to college when we’re in our sixties and seventies.
HS: Do you have any fun or unique facts about yourselves that you would like to share?
TS: I don’t mind the smell of skunk. A friend of mine once told me to think of mini wheats, but on fire. That’s what I think of when I smell skunk.
FF: Feurd has a blue birthmark on his left butt cheek. If you can make that the headline I would really appreciate it.
HS: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
FF: Stay in school if you want to; drop out if you want to. Follow your heart, follow your mind, call a loved one.
Story & photos by Hannah Stewart