State of Shock Offers Up Rock n’ Roll Romance

Vancouver's State of Shock is back with Rock n' Roll Romance.

It’s been four years since Vancouver’s State of Shock unleashed their hit offering, Life, Love & Lies, onto the Canadian music scene. But now they’re back with the September 20th release of their latest album, Rock n’ Roll Romance. With the success of the band’s hugely popular single Money, Honey not too far in the past, their new single, Have A Nice Day, is poised to follow in its footsteps. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the charming and quite comedic Jesse Wainwright (guitar, vocals) to chat about all things Rock n’ Roll Romance and what success means to State of Shock.

YT: How did it feel to be playing to your hometown crowd for the release of your new album? What’s the one thing about playing in Vancouver that beats anywhere else?
JW: You usually get a lot of free drinks because your friends are out here and they just keep buying you drinks, and I know I shouldn’t be saying that because this is a high-school magazine (laughs). No, you know what, it’s really nice to have the support of your friends and family come out and that’s really the biggest thing for us.

YT: When you first started working on Rock n’ Roll Romance, did you make a conscious effort to forget about the success of Life, Love & Lies to avoid adding pressure to yourselves?
JW: I wouldn’t say [there was] pressure; we just tried to make a record we were happy with. The last one, Life, Love & Lies, was a record we were happy with, and it worked. Everyone grabbed a hold of it and it did really well, so instead of trying to rewrite the same record, we tried to make songs that we really liked. We’re music fans – I love all sorts of different music – so that was our first priority: make something that we like and then hopefully it transposes.

YT: What’s the idea behind the title Rock n’ Roll Romance and what expectations do you have for this album?
JW: We were writing a song called Rock n’ Roll Romance and the lyrics in that song kind of fit where we were. We wrote over the last four years and we’ve been travelling and we’ve been living this sort of rock-and-roll romance. We’ve been on the road for three years and forced to make another record, we all went through relationships and so forth, so Rock n’ Roll Romance was a fitting title. And where do I see it? Everywhere – on the top! Actually, I probably see it really in my mind on burnt CDs in people’s cars, I mean, let’s be honest, and kids with their iPods in school ... but you know what, as long as it’s out there, that’s all good.

YT: How does the sound of this album as well as the lyrical content differ from anything you guys have ever done?
JW: It’s just a little more evolved. We’ve grown over the last for years musically and mentally – hopefully – and emotionally, hopefully (laughs), maybe not. Well, in some aspects we have, yeah. So it’s a step forward, I would say.

YT: I understand that the past few years have been rough for many of you on both a personal and professional level, and some of that had to do with being on the road all the time. Was there ever a point where the band thought about taking a break from the music?
JW: Oh yeah, but the one good thing about this band is that we may have fights, we may have disagreements and arguments, but usually within 10 minutes we’ve sorted it out and are moving forward, because this is what we really love to do. And if you see us play, you can tell that we have an awesome time doing what we do. We really appreciate all the support and all the people taking the time to allow us to do what we do.

YT: How does having a girl, Alison Toews, in the band change the dynamics of State of Shock?
JW: It’s a pain in the a**. We love women, but geez, having to travel with her all the time? No, you know, it’s good. It brings a different dynamic. We joke around, but we have to be light-hearted in what we do and we have a fun time. She’s like our sister, so it’s that kind of relationship. People have said that it makes us a lot more approachable because it’s not five guys, we have a female there, so we can’t be that bad, ‘cause she hangs out with us. But then they meet her and they’re like, “OK, I get it.” (laughs)

YT: How does it feel to have opened for the likes of Aerosmith and Bon Jovi, and if you could pick one dream band to tour with – alive or dead, disbanded or still together – who would it be and why?
JW: It’s amazing. Those were guys that when I was a kid and in high school I had posters of on my walls – these guys that I idolized –  and then to be able to go up and play with them is pretty cool. The one person that I haven’t that I would love to [tour with] is Slash. If there was one thing I’d do before leaving this Earth, that’s what I’d do.

YT: How has the band’s definition of success evolved over the years?
JW: Well, I guess we just wanted to get paid at first… now we just want to get paid more! You know what, success is when we go out and we see people reacting to what we’ve done. People coming up and saying, “Hey, this song got me through this time in my life.” And, “This song inspired me to do this.” That’s cool, that’s success, creating something that has affected people. And the money is good too.