From left to right: Kendall, Adam, Shannon, and Jason
It was November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving after some confusion regarding timezones, it was time for the call! We set up the interview over video. I was a bit nervous, it was Jason Corbett of ACTORS afterall! ACTORS of Vancouver, the post-punk band that wrote Face Meets Glass and Post Traumatic Love and that has released three fantastic albums in a row! Even worse for me though, this was the band whose music I must physically restrain myself from working into my every mix! ACTORS recently has had a fair bit of buzz around them lately too Jason has been producing for fellow bandmate: Shannon and her amazing project LEATHERS and Bootblacks. (Both fantastic bands by the way!) On top of this all he is a musician in ACTORS, one could say Jason is fully immersed in the music world, even intimidatingly so!
The minutes ticked by as I was taking notes and suddenly it was 5pm, time to call. I composed myself and started the video chat, I was met with a warm, friendly, smile and my nervousness melted away. We exchanged our greetings, spoke a bit about our pets, and shared a laugh since my cat decided to get a case of the “zoomies” right before the interview.
Then we started:
Scarecrow Joe: “Why the name ACTORS?”
Jason laughs, then places his hand over his mouth reflectively.
Jason: ”Well quite Vancouver is often called North Hollywood, a lot of the band were involved in film. I guess we just decided it was an appropriate name given the setting.”
SC Joe: “It certainly seems fitting!” I laugh
SC Joe: “What do you think got you into music?”
Jason leans back arms folded, thinking. Then smiles before looking back at me.
J: “I used to air guitar a lot as a young boy! I was exposed to a lot of different music like David Bowie and one day my Mom just asked, “”Do you want to play the guitar?”” I just decided, that yeah I really do. It just stuck.”
SC Joe: ”I know you mentioned Bowie, but what other bands did you grow up on?”
J: ”Roxy Music's Avalon album was big for me. My Mom played it a lot, as I got older I got into Thrash and death metal. Later things like trip-hop like Massive Attack.”
SC Joe: ”That is so crazy that you mention Roxy Music! That band is cited as an influence for so many postpunk bands, did you know Siouxsie and The Banshees pretty much formed at a Roxy Music concert?”
J: ”You’re kidding! I did not!”
SC Joe: ”Yeah they pop up over and over again as inspirations for different bands!”
SC Joe: “So when did you start making music?”
Jason quickly responds with a smile that gives hint of some deep, fond memory.
J: “About 15. I've been in about 10 bands now, only 5 actually made albums though. ”
SC Joe: “A lot of musicians have interesting college years, whether it's finding themselves, their crowd, their music, friends or partying. Anything interesting happen in relation to your music career during that time?”
J: “I studied for about a year before I left. I learned some important things like to use a metronome, rhythm vs melody, etc. Though, I think learning to not allow myself to be boxed in was the most important of all. School was killing my creative energy it was all mathematic, scientific, no inspiration. I learned it's important not to give up. I'm in my 40s now and it took almost 25 years for me to get where I am. I had some good luck but it's IS possible and these have been the best years of my life. Do not give up on your dreams!”
Rumor has it Shannon took that balloon from some kid for asking her who Judas Priest was.
SC Joe: ”So I understand you and Shannon met while Djing in Vancouver, how did that lead into ACTORS?”
Jason takes a deep breath, as he prepares to tell a story.
J: ”So this actually happened while I was running a restaurant that had DJ nights. One night I was playing Bauhaus' Kick in The Eye, and Shannon just leaned out and gave me a really surprised look! She was like, “I love this song!” I was like “I know I really love this track!” we just talked about Djing and she offered to starting spinning there. Next thing you know she was Djing regularly with her records until I heard her playing guitar and singing in video. She has such a great voice, so we invited her to play with us and she just brought something out in the band that we were missing. She was so proactive and brought out this feminine energy that was already there that we just couldn't capture on our own. It was like the missing piece, so we asked her to stay. Now we have Kendall too, ACTORS always had this energy but they just really helped us capture it. I'm really grateful to them both for that, they are so talented!”
SC Joe: “I feel like that feminine energy/sound is often present in dark synthy bands, it's very hard to describe... but I love it though, and it's absolutely marvelous how she amplified it!”
SC Joe: I noticed you stay pretty busy producing, do you have a background in that or did you pick it up randomly?
Jason grinned and smoothed his hair a bit before responding.
J: “I dabbled in it, I started in 2008 at first coproducing sometime I'd send things out and not like how it sounded when it came back. So I started doing it myself for friends, then as favors and then in 2015 I became a full-time producer. Producing for LEATHERS, Bootblacks, and ACTORS”
SC Joe: “That's got to be advantageous knowing exactly what energy you want to capture or sound you want to go for with no third party to decide for you.”
J: “Yes , but you have to be careful to work with what you have vs your vision. Songs kind of have to be what they want to be. You just want to capture the full energy of the song.”
SC Joe: “With the mastering process?”
J: ”Yes, so like. Let's say anyone can play an acoustic guitar. But, can anyone play it compellingly and hold people's attention? That's when mastering comes in! It's kind of the dark arts of the music world.” Jason chuckles a bit. (Jason works out of his own recording studio Jacknife Sound.)
SC Joe: “So in your latest single Boys Keep Swinging it has an almost 60s-70s garage rock sound. Was that intentional?”
An immediate knowing smile crosses Jason's face.
J: “When we all met up in the studio we just started playing, it was all natural. We just went with the vibe and we stayed true to the energy of the original. If people don't like it, tough. We loved it.”
SC Joe: “So that was a collab between Bootblacks, LEATHERS, and ACTORS?”
J: ”Well LEATHERS is basically ACTORS minus me, but yeah we decided to just see what would happen and collaborated! It was great!”
I highly recommend checking out LEATHERS if you like ACTORS, or any dreamy, synthy bands for that matter.
SC Joe: How was touring?
Jason rubbed his face a bit before answering.
J: It's rough right now, expensive. If one thing goes wrong a tour can be wrecked. I got sick and our tour was cut early and it wasn't good. You've got a lot of pressure to keep funds up make deadlines and then to keep your energy up. You have to perform the same days as travel some days. If something goes wrong you can let a lot of people down.”
SC Joe: “That sounds really hard.”
J: “It's still great regardless, I love the places, meeting people, and traveling. You can make some wonderful memories but it's tough to make budget sometimes.”
SC Joe: “So what's your favorite thing about touring?”
Jason beams before responding
J: “Meeting the people, visiting places is great too but what really makes touring is connecting with people.
It really stays with you when people tell you about how your music saved them. To see the gratitude in their eyes for you just making music. You just never forget it, and when you go a long time without playing a concert you start to miss that and the feeling of being on stage.”
SC Joe: “Any favorite locations?”
He thinks for a long moment before responding.
J: “I like every place I visit but probably NYC, that's kind of our home away from home. Plus we can see Bootblacks.”
SC Joe: “Favorite funny memory from the road?”
Jason looks puzzled and amused, I clearly caught him off-guard. His eyes search for something to trigger a memory.
J: ”Oh man, we laugh so often and at so much...”
Jason then begins laughing, struggling to talk.
J: “Theres this inside joke about uppercuts with Shannon...”
SC J: ”Do tell!”
J: “Shannon is a somewhat reserved person, right? Anyways there was this time she got really riled up and was talking about uppercutting someone and she just got all animated with it! He begins pantomiming a punching motion. It was just too damn funny and It's a regular inside joke now!”
We share a laugh.
J: “You just- you had to be there!”
SC J: “Sounds like you all would be a fun group to tour with!”
J: “We're very picky about what kind of energy we bring on board.”
A wise way to be Jason, thank you for talking with us over at Obscura Undead! We look forward to many more years of music! ☠️
Shannon Hemmett is on vox, keyboards, and has been with ACTORS for 6 years and is responsible for all graphic design in ACTORS and LEATHERS. She is also on vox and keys for LEATHERS.
Adam Fink is a veteran drummer and has been in the band since 2012 after being in several lineups before. He has been with Jason since the beginning after the met while both performing.
Jason Corbett is on vox, guitar, and producer with ACTORS Jason has 35 years of experience in music and a background in metal, psychobilly, altrock and postpunk before ACTORS. Now also a skilled full-time producer with Jacknife Sound.
Kendall Wooding is on bass and vox. She's been in the band for about three years now. ACTORS discovered her playing ability on Instagram realizing that she was local, the band reached out and she's been in the band ever since!