Billy Talent: The Returning Champs

“We’re not grown-ups. We’re old men!” Aaron Solowoniuk corrects me when I prod him about his age. The Billy Talent drummer is 35 years old, and, with the release of last summer’s Billy Talent III, four records deep into a massive rock career. As Solowoniuk recalled during our phone interview, the band’s skyrocket to Canadian punk glory stems from years of paying their dues.

Like so many of us, Solowoniuk’s interest in music was sparked at a young age, as he remembers watching MTV and doing air drums on his bed. It was in high school that he came together with three good friends (Ian D’Sa, Ben Kowalewicz and Jon Gallant) to form Billy Talent. But, despite the early start, the band endured 10 tough years before breaking into the mainstream. “Being 17 to 27 and not having any sort of success is very difficult, but we all have a passion for it and there never really was a discussion about stopping it at all,” says Solowoniuk.

Those words carry even more weight considering that during that time frame the musician, then 21, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – a lifelong neurological disease. “It took me three or four months to get back into rehearsal mode, and from there on in, I always just told the guys to treat me the same,” he recalls. “Let’s just keep doing this.”

That sense of determination finally paid off when the band wrote Try Honesty, the aggressive track that anchored Billy Talent I and cemented the group’s place in mainstream Canadian rock music.

After the whirlwind success that followed – another album and popularity overseas – it would have been easy for the group to stop challenging themselves musically. But Solowoniuk is adamant that they always continue to push their sound. Case in point: Billy Talent III, a record just as raw as the others, but with some slower tempos and more experimentation. “We didn’t want to do like Billy Talent I or II again,” Solowoniuk explains. “We kind of wanted to get out of our comfort zone, and do something new, and push ourselves,” he adds.

Although the new record is a departure, it’s obvious that a consistent passion for live music has remained at the band’s core. The group tries to go all out for every show and, as Solowoniuk says, “really just leave it all on the floor.”

That passion got Billy Talent through the tough years, and you can hear it in every track the band produces. No matter which direction they take, the guys of Billy Talent are sure to get your pulse going – and knowing the lengths taken to get here, there’s no disputing they deserve it.