Social Code

Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 12:41.

Considering how unguarded the border between the U.S. and Canada is, it kinda brings some pain to my tuneful heart that I’m just learning about Social Code, the straight-up kick-ass rock outfit out of Edmonton that’s been tearing it up for the better part of this past decade. Travis Nesbitt, Logan Jacobs, Morgan Gies, Ben Shillabeer first arrived with “A Year at the Movies” in 2004, followed by the sophomore self-titled record that contained the Western Canadian Music Award nominated song “He Said, She Said”.

The band just re-fueled the tank with the aptly named collection, “Rock ‘N’ Roll” – a needed kick in the bass after the band found themselves at a creative standstill back in 2008: “We were chasing trends instead of just stopping,” Logan says, “getting off the train and saying, ‘OK what are we going to do? What are we going to do that’s distinctly us?’ We were always looking at groups that were doing what it is we were doing at the same time, and we decided that just wasn’t for us. So we went back to the roots.”

And “Rock ‘N’ Roll” has some of the finest influences an album could ask for – Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Cheap Trick and The Black Crowes. Lead singer Nesbitt says it’s “A high energy, amazing, honest, worth-your-money rock record!” complete with a sound that “is simple.... Rock 'N' Roll. And as far as us standing out to be different, we didn't put much thought to it, we just wanted to make a record that we loved and we'll let the fans decide it's different or not.”

Social Code will be touring hard in support of the album, so check them out. Sharing the stage with the likes of Shinedown, Theory of a Deadman, Buckcherry, Finger Eleven, Rev Theory and Three Days Grace, these guys know how to bring it. There’s a lot more to learn below, so keep reading for the answers to the XXQ’s.

XXQs: Social Code

PEV: How would you describe your sound and what do you feel makes you stand out over the others in your genre?

Travis Nesbitt (TN): Our sound is simple.... Rock 'N' Roll. And as far as us standing out to be different, we didn't put much thought to it, we just wanted to make a record that we loved and we'll let the fans decide it's different or not.

PEV: What kind of music where the members of the band into growing up? Do you remember your first concert?

TN: We all grew up listening to rock 'n' roll. Morgan (Gies, guitars) is a big Guns N’ Roses and Smashing Pumpkins fan, Logan (Jacobs, bass) loved Alice In Chains back in school, Led Zeppelin II was one of the first albums I'd ever bought, and Ben (Shillabeer, drums) is literally a walking encyclopedia of all things rock 'n' roll from the Beatles to Pearl Jam. It still baffles me how much he knows about music!

PEV: Calling Edmonton, Canada your home tell us your take on the music scene there and what was it like trying to break into it?

TN: Edmonton is a pretty working class town and the people here love their rock! There's a good number of shows that happen considering how North we are. We've had some amazing headlining shows here and we've shared the stage with some bands like Shinedown and Theory of a Deadman, which have gone off great! We have a lot of great support from people here and we'll always call it home (even though I may move to warmer weather for the winters... haha).

PEV: With that, what can fans expect from a live Social Code show?

TN: HIGH ENERGY ROCK 'N' ROLL!

PEV: What is the first thing that comes to mind when you step on stage?

TN: "Fuck, I love this!!!"

PEV: Having all been in other bands before how is playing with Social Code different then those other works?

TN: It took us a while to find people that were all on the same page with the same goals. Being in a band takes lots of hard work. It's not for the faint of heart.

PEV: What was the underlining inspiration for your music? Where do get your best ideas for songs?

TN: Writing this record was a lot more personal for me than anything else. There's a lot more of my opinions on life then what we may have written in the past. Take a song like “Rock 'N' Roll,” that came from one of our initial meetings about what kind of record we wanted to make. We said, "We're a rock band, let’s just keep it simple and write rock.” I was driving home trying to think about what that meant to me. I was rolling through the dial on the radio and I literally couldn't find anything I wanted to listen to, let alone anything I found inspiring. That night I picked up my guitar and started scratching out the initial ideas for what became the title track on the new album.

PEV: Thinking back to when you first started out, do you ever look back at your career and think about your earlier days and how you’ve arrived where you are today?

TN: We have a saying that seems to come up a lot, and that's "Hind sight's always 20/20". That usually comes up when reflecting on mistakes made... haha. We've made a few of those over the last 6 or 7 years, but those mistakes have helped us get here so I'm pretty happy we made them. We just made and amazing record that we're all super proud of and we couldn't have done it with out them.

PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about the members of Social Code?

TN: We built the studio were we record all our albums ourselves by Googling how to do it. Type in "How to drywall a recording studio" and you'll see what I mean.

PEV: Was there a certain point in your life when you knew that music was going to be a career for you?

TN: Very early on when Logan and I started playing together, we knew that we wanted to make a career of it. It's a lot of fun, you should try it!

PEV: Tell us about your debut U.S. release, “Rock N’ Roll”? What can fans expect from this?

TN: A high energy, amazing, honest, worth-your-money rock record!

PEV: How is life on the road for you in the music world? Best and worst parts?

TN: Our fans are the best part of touring for sure!! We're super lucky to have their support. The worst part of touring is trying to do it in the winter... I hate being cold.

PEV: Is there one area you wish you could travel around and play that you have not yet?

TN: U.S.A... We hear very good things about touring there, we can't wait!

PEV: How have all your friends and family reacted to your career? What’s it like when you get to play at your hometown?

TN: We’ve got overwhelming support from our friends and family. Hometown shows are the best. They always go off pretty huge.

PEV: What can we find each of you doing in your spare time, aside from playing/writing music?

TN: Because we've also got our own independent label, we all have our roles on the side. Morgan does all of our video editing and VBlogs, Logan handles all things website-related and he's our detail guy for day-to-day stuff. I do all the graphic design and anything art-related for us (with exception of the front cover of the new album, which was designed by Josh Marc Levy who also worked with AC/DC, The Black Crowes) and Ben spends all of his spare time doing music.

PEV: Name one present and past artist or group that would be your dream collaboration? Why?

TN: I would love to work with Jack White someday. He seems to look at music different than basically everyone else in the world. As for a past artist (because they just broke up AGAIN) I would love to do something with Oasis

PEV: Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking out for now?

TN: Yeah, we're called Social Code. We have a new album coming out March 23 called Rock 'N' Roll... check it out, you'll love it!

PEV: If you weren’t playing music now what do you think each of you would be your career?