See Spot Run was an independent recording act before the term ‘indie’ became embedded in our modern linguistic lexicon. For more than a quarter of a century the Toronto-based band has toured the nation with their highly-energetic stage show and wonderfully upbeat, infectious blend of pop, alternative and straight ahead rock music, to adoring fans from coast to coast.
The quartet was founded in the late 1980s in Montreal by vocalist Chris Brodbeck and bassist Randy Bowen, and also features drummer David Fudge and guitarist Aaron Little. And they are currently celebrating the recent release of their fifth studio album, Pretty Holiday, which came out on their own Rocket9 Music label, with international digital distribution.
The album was once again produced, engineered and mixed by long-time friend and collaborator Ed Krautner, an accomplished wizard in the studio whose roster of credits includes the likes of David Bowie, Cristina Aguilera, SUM 41, The Tea Party and more.
“We met Ed by chance. About 10 years ago were recording in Toronto. We had our eye on a producer but he wasn’t available so he recommended Ed Krautner. We met with Ed and he was such an easy person to talk with. He is a musician himself and is very musical and he is a real team player style of producer, which is what we needed at that time. Then we just became great friends. He understood what we were looking for and he understood as we were going along and recording what we were trying to achieve and he filled that role perfectly for us. Ed has a lot of experience and is a very talented guy, which is why we continue to work with him,” said Brodbeck.
Brodbeck said even in an age where pundits continuously pontificate on the death of the long-playing music format (regardless of the fact that even the poppiest of pop acts still release full albums of new material) there was no question that See Spot Run would be releasing a proper LP with Pretty Holiday.
“People still want a collection of songs at one time. I think people who enjoy music and enjoying buying music, they like the journey of not just listening to one song but enjoying the full journey of 10 or 12 songs on an album. And if they are a fan of a band they are not satisfied with one song. A few years ago, in our quest to put this album together, we had a single called Let It Go that we decided to try. We said ‘let’s try to put out a single without an album and see what happens.’ And it did pretty good and we had some radio airplay and did a video for it,” he said, adding that Let It Go was added to the Pretty Holiday lineup.
“We had a lot of good feedback about the song and people enjoyed it but they were always saying, ‘dude, when is the album coming out? When is the album coming out?’ They automatically thought that releasing a single means there’s an album coming out. For us that experiment told us that people wanted to hear a collection of songs.
“I also think lots of people still want a physical CD or LP because it’s something they can have in their hands, Even though most of our sales are digital and our distribution deal is digital and worldwide, any time we do a show people still want to walk away with something in their hand and it still tops the t-shirt as a souvenir.”
Interestingly, Brodbeck said he and his bandmates were never really interested in going the crowd-funding route as so many other
acts, both new and veteran, have done to fund production of the album.
“I don’t know, it feels funny for us to ask people for their money in advance. It’s a concept we are still not comfortable with. I am more behind using surveys but not collecting people’s money before you have a product, because you’re asking them to trust you. I think it is cool to sell advance tickets or pledges for show tickets. It’s hard for us to be able to tour just to break even so we have to know that a certain number of people will come out and a certain number of people will pay the ticket prices. So doing a Pledge thing like that for touring might be an idea.”
See Spot Run has always revelled in the fact that they are beholden to no one other than themselves and their fans when it comes to making music and every other aspect of their careers during every phase of that career.
“We have always been an independent band. Our original label, Loggerhead Records was an independent label and we put two albums out with them [Ten Stories High in 1997 and Weightless in 1999. The band issued a totally independent debut EP Traces in 1993]. Today the word indie has become more of a sound and genre than an operational model. We are not considered to be indie in that way but we are independent or DIY which I guess is sort of the new term. It’s funny because our model is now the ‘new’ model, even though we’ve been doing in for 25 years,” Brodbeck said with a chuckle, adding that he and his bandmates try to keep in simple when classifying their sound to the uninitiated.
“We just say we’re a rock band. For as long as we have been around we have been called all sorts of things: modern rock, Emo, alt rock, pop rock. We just keep it simple – we’re a rock band and I think that’s how most people perceive us. We’re not light but we’re not heavy; we’re somewhere in between. We’re a rock band in the way the Beatles were a rock band and the Stones were a rock band. You could break them down into all sorts of genres but it’s easier just to call them rock.”
See Spot Run has always been a fun band and even though they are no longer kids, their enthusiasm and effervescent, sometimes cheeky personalities continue to define their original music, including the title track from Pretty Holiday.
“It’s our lust song. We always have at least one or two songs about lust to go with songs about life and love. This song is about a girl named Pretty Holiday and she’s a heartbreaker and a man eater. It’s as simple as that. It’s a straightforward rock and roll song that you can dance to and think lustful thoughts. And the album artwork [by noted artist/illustrator Bernice Lum] was designed to sort of surround that idea. She has got the big red lips and she is teasing the men and living the high life in her campy car. And we’re there too trying to be as cool as she is in the artwork. We wanted to have sort of a fun image, which we have always been. We have always smiled and had a good time and we just wanted to show that, while we take the music seriously, we don’t always take ourselves seriously,” Brodbeck explained.
The song Finally is a slick, rock tour-de force that has See Spot Run looking at their careers with both wistfulness but also pride at all they have accomplished and all the things they still want to do.
“We’re starting to write music that is a little more about now and perseverance and why we are still playing music, why we are still doing this. Finally is a good example of just figuring out that maybe when you were 21 life was all about being famous and when the dream of being famous is cut into pieces you realized that the really important thing about success is being happy and being happy with what you do and waking up every day happy because you have the chance to play music and make a living. Today, that is really what the definition of success is for us,” Brodbeck explained.
“A lot of people, notably some of our contemporaries from back in the day, they say they’re not going to be in the music business anymore because it’s crazy, it’s corrupt or whatever. And that’s fine. If it’s too hard, that’s fine. We realized that success is doing what we do, how we want to do it and loving what we do. Getting to that place in our hearts and mind is what that song is about, and kind of what the whole vibe of this band is about.”
For the debut single and video from Pretty Holiday See Spot Run chose to do a cover of the Talking Heads hit Burning Down the House.
“Part of the reason why we decided to record that song as the first single is that we have never recorded a cover before and we thought it would be interesting to see how that would work for us in several avenues. It’s a song we have always done live and we enjoyed it and people always loved us doing. So I said let’s trying recording it in our style. And it means that a number of radio stations will play it, even though we have recorded it and it’s us and it’s CanCon, but it’s still also a recognizable hit,” Brodbeck explained.
See Spot Run is excited about this new phase of their career, with a new album, new set list and new energy, they are looking forward to hitting the road in support of Pretty Holiday, doing what they love the best way they know how.
“We still go out there because we love music and we still enjoy playing. We enjoy playing like we did when we were in high school. We still have a very high standard of how we want to play and how we like to present ourselves. We want people walking away from our shows saying ‘they were great’ and anticipating the next time we come to town,” said Brodbeck.
For more information, visit http://seespotrun.ca.
* Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com
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