We can now reveal the title of this dripping slab of darkly atmospheric garage rock. The new release shall be called: “…they call me Destruction”.

The title refers to Howlin’ Wolf’s Memphis piano player.

Tell your friends- the tiger is about to be let loose!!

On December 6th, 2011, The Stormalongs performed at the launch party for Yoko Ono’s “My Hometown”, an animated film collaboration between Ono and award-winning producer Jerry Levitan, and Eggplant Productions. It’s a gorgeous film, based on an Ono poem, that focuses on communication and the importance of community in our increasingly divided world.

Here’s the film itself:

And here is a video, filmed at the launch party, where Jerry and his co-producer Terry Tompkins discuss the process of making this beautiful film:

For the launch of the film, artists were invited to cover Yoko Ono songs. Diverse Canadian musicians like Edwin, Ruben Huizenga, and Tom Wilson were invited to put their own spin on music by one of the most idiosyncratic songwriters of all time, and everyone rose to the challenge in their own unique way.

The Stormalongs decided on two very different songs, from completely different periods of Ono’s career. And just for a real change of pace, bassist Matt Thompson sang lead on both songs.

Here’s the first one, a very recent single from the last Plastic Ono Band album “Between My Head and The Sky”, called “Waiting for the D Train”.

The second Ono tuned covered by The Stormalongs was a golden oldie from the “classic” Ono period; it’s a bluesy stomper from 1971′s “Fly” called “Midsummer New York“.

PS: How did you learn to play?

MT: I learned music in the cradle from my mother who was gifted an autoharp by my father in compensation for my birth.  Before selling my soul for rock and roll I cut my musical teeth as a choirboy eventually finding the bottom end through the fat bell of a tuba and dabbling in sophistication with a half-hearted and very brief stint with a symphony orchestra. I translated these skills to the bass guitar as it was the only way Colin would be friends with me and the only way to brighten the bleak days of an isolated mining town existence.

PS: Who are your earliest influences?

MT: Most of my parents’ music collection didn’t resonate with me but a few standouts were The Beatles red and blue LPs and a few Motown compilations – all of which, in retrospect, introduced the fundamentals of bass playing to me.  When I was maybe 11 years old I remember reading a book by the Canadian author, Gordon Korman, called Who Is Bugs Potter? which is about this teenage rock and roll fanatic, talented drummer, and rebel. Bugs Potter was such a compelling character to me at the time that I actually ‘dressed up’ as him for Halloween much to the confusion of many people (this was actually my last time trick-or-treating).

The idea of the rebel musician stuck with me. The music I found most compelling from about that time onward was that which combined melody with attitude, good grooves with chaotic noise, etc. It was the kind of music that I would want to crank up loud and wait, sweating, to hear the reaction from my parents.

PS: How would you describe The Stormalongs?

MT: The Stormalongs are like the musical embodiment of the collective id found in awkward silences, as in the emotional landscape of a packed subway car, of a classroom facing a question from a pretentious professor, or of a nation waiting to see the results from a discouraging election. It is the turning of one’s frustrations into desires. It’s the rebellion of the soul against its surroundings. The Stormalongs are rock and roll.

PS: What was your worst/strangest performance?

MT: Man, I once had a dream that aliens abducted me – but instead of being from outer space they were from the centre of the Earth.  They had some nefarious plot to take over the planet that involved devouring me to attain worldly knowledge of human weakness. Before feasting upon me there was to be music and there was this odd instrument they had ready for such purposes that was a sort of amalgamation of a bass and a bassoon.  As a final request I asked to play it. The sound and vibrations procured sent all of the aliens into a kind of manic, orgiastic revelry, which provided me the opportunity to slip away. Unfortunately, however, the instrument was also as hot as magma and caused my lips and hands to fuse with the instrument.  Thus, I was cursed back on the Earth’s surface to create sexual frenzy everywhere I went – thereby unleashing the real scheme for world domination the alien’s had in mind.  That was definitely my strangest performance.

PS: What is your favourite record of all time?

MT: This is like asking what record would you want if you were deserted on an island – makes me think of what Frank Whaley’s character did with a record in Swing Kids. There’s so many ways to frame my answer to this…I’ll go with naming an album I feel I can listen to inexhaustibly. London Calling by The Clash – its so eclectic, has one of the best opening bass lines in music history, and some of the best lyrics ever written. Dishonourable mentions may include the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa and anything with John Paul Jones on bass.

PS: Name something you cannot live without.

MT: A body – although I think science is making some gains on this front. A brain, on the other hand, would be pretty damn difficult to live without – and pretty irritating to others, I would imagine.

PS: Name a band/artist that people love, who actually suck.

MT: Suck may be a strong word but I’ve never really liked Pavement or Guided By Voices. I’ve tried numerous times to get into them but just never found enough songs to latch onto. I appreciate where both bands are coming from: the attention to lyrical content and approach, their exploration of sounds, etc. But ultimately I just don’t find the final presentation all that enjoyable. I’d rather listen to other ‘lo-fi’ acts like Sebadoh, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, or Canadian band Eric’s Trip.

PS: What is your most crucial piece of music gear?

MT: My beating heart – and then my bass.

PS: How many………….?

MT: Once as many

PS: How did you learn to play?

NG: I started out playing the alto sax in high-school.  My dad and grandfather (also great grandfather, great uncles etc) all played guitar, banjo, basically anything with strings; so I grew up around people making music and was always interested in playing.  Once I had a job and saved up, I picked up my first drum kit and started trying to play it.  I couldn’t keep it at my house at first and stored it in a friend’s basement.  Eventually I got the basic hang of this kit and got into playing for the school bands.  I learned most of what I know about technique and playing with other people from those experiences.

PS: Who are your earliest influences?

NG: I remember as a young kid being able to sing along to all the classic rock songs that came on the radio, that love has always stuck with me.  When I was learning to play I was really into nu metal and alternative so I formed a lot of my early style from bands like Korn, incubus and the like. The first song I ever learned to play was ‘Brainstew’ by Green Day.  Basically I was drawn to anything with guitars bass and drums.

PS: How would you describe The Stormalongs?

NG: The Stormalongs as a band are like a bull-mastiff dog that thinks it’s a pug.  We play huge fuzzy blistering rock without the typical mentality/attitude of traditional heavy musicians.  I think what we try to do is make music that makes you feel something.  Happy, sad, angry, it doesn’t matter so much.  Good art (in this case music) should make you feel something.

PS: What was your worst/strangest performance?

NG: I once played a show at a county fair next to a tractor pull.  We had to compete with a giant tractor deathmatch!! We did pretty well for ourselves, until the pull ended.  Then came the demolition derby.  We couldn’t compete with that…. Too much crunching metal and I guess the chance of an explosion or bodily harm was too much to resist for our crowd.

PS: What is your favourite record of all time?

NG: My favorite record of all time has changed over the years.  If you’d have asked me that a few years ago the answer might have been “Sgt Pepper’s…” or even incubus’ “s.c.i.e.n.c.e”.  Today I’d have to settle between 3:  QOTSA ‘Lullabies to Paralyze’, VU’s “White Light/White Heat’ and The Stooges ‘Raw Power’.  Essentially I like music that leans toward the heavy and moves me.

PS: Name something you cannot live without.

NG: Oxygen?  Sleep? Food and water? Shelter?… I could probably live without shelter but it would suck…

PS: Name a band/artist that people love, who actually suck.

NG: I’ve got a real problem with Katy Perry.  She’s an awful singer and the songs are garbage, yet she’s got like 5 singles on the radio right now.  Open your ears people!  It’s not just that it’s not my style.  She is genuinely BAD

PS: What is your most crucial piece of music gear?

NG: I think probably my bass pedal.  As a drummer playing indie shows sometimes you have to share gear to save turnaround time between bands.  I can adapt to different kits and sounds and configurations, but I have to have my pedal.  Playing with someone else’s pedal is like taking a driving test in a hummer when you’re used to driving a miata.  There are nuances to it that you need to be used to.

PS: How many………….?
NG: 42. How can’t it be????

Shadows Reprise (full version)