Patrick Marchent and Peter van Helvoort - Photo by Amanda Macchia
After having just played their most recent set at The Horseshoe Tavern this past Wednesday night and releasing their first 7” back in August, Teenage Kicks remain realist in their view that the path to their successes has been, and probably will remain to be, a tough one, but it’s a challenge the Toronto foursome are willing to tackle.
Currently unsigned, the band has been operating with the help of local artist-developers Audio Blood for some time since their effortful move to the city from various Ontario towns.
“We moved to the outskirts of Toronto. We had no running water. Our backyard had six inches of sand and garbage piled in it,” said lead vocalist and guitarist Peter van Helvoort. “So we cleaned it and made the basement into jam space.”
And with the contributions of his brother Jeff van Helvoort (bass, vox), Patrick Marchent (guitar), and Cameron Brunt (drums), Teenage kicks eventually sifted through what was a back catalogue of about 40 songs to conclude that “Shook Our Bones” and “I Get What You Give” would be the two sides for the band’s first 7” record.
“Those were the only songs we wanted to put out at the time,” Marchent said.
Although it’s Teenage Kicks’ only release to date, the band isn’t in any hurry to put out a full-length record.
“We have enough songs but we kind of avoid it,” said Peter van Helvoort. “I don’t want to take out an extensive amount of debt when we’re a young band. We spend the money we make on recording.”
But with the task of selecting only two tracks that would temporarily be the entire catalogue of Teeange Kicks came the pressure of knowing that those seven minutes of material would define the sound of the band for some time.
“We silently had to agree that that is what we were going to sound like,” said van Helvoort.
And that sound is one that van Helvoort is not hesitant to define.
“I think we sound like a rock band – modern classic rock. I love classic rock. I love timeless songs that get stuck in your head,” he said.
But drawing on certain influences from the past is not always agreeable with the masses.
“People are turned off by bands that aren’t from the ‘70s when they sound like they’re from the ‘70s,” he said.
But the collective goal of the band, in addition to eventually touring the U.S., is to continue recording, building a solid catalogue along the way.
“Our goal is to release songs that don’t sound like “Shook Our Bones,” but people will still know its our band,” van Helvoort said.
In the meantime, each member of Teenage Kicks holds a job on the side, meaning in addition to all the pressure that inevitably comes with the development of their band, comes the challenge of finding a happy medium between paying bills and playing music.
“The hardest thing is being an adult,” said van Helvoort. “You take it for granted when you’re practicing in your parents’ basement. Now I’m an adult and I work harder, but I’m not a kid anymore. It sounds depressing, but I approach everything with our band as if its out last gasp.”
Furthermore, brothers Peter and Jeff van Helvoort deal with the respsonbility of managing a warehouse as their current professions aside from their band.
“It’s weird having these jobs,” Peter van Helvoort said. “It pays the bills but it’s hard to work with. Most of our peers in bands sort of just have regular jobs; they just get by. That’s how I’ve always been. But now I have responsibility and employees.”
But there is a bright side.
“At least now I know I don’t want to work in a warehouse,” he said.
