An interview with Drew Arnott of Strange Advance
[This one was covered by Zachary Resnick.- AC]
Before their Ottawa, ON, show on October 10th, AJMT got a chance to sit down with Strange Advance’s frontman & O.G. synth-wizard Drew Arnot in the Bronson Centre Music Theatre’s green room to talk about what’s changed since the 80’s & 90’s, new wave’s place in today’s musical landscape, ai, and what a long career in the music world can teach you.
AJMT: So, let’s start out by saying this: Strange Advance had a pretty big hiatus between let’s say the ‘then’ and the ‘now.’
Drew: (laughing) I’d say that’s a gross understatement.
AJMT: So, what was it like to get back onstage in 2022 with a mostly new lineup of musicians, save for you and Ian, and get back out there to perform?
Drew: I mean, it wasn’t completely new faces, these are all friends that I’ve played with in other circumstances, so that helped. But it was interesting in the sense that I had a certain set of expectations. I anticipated how things were gonna go, and holy shit – life has changed since the last time we were on the road. It’s a whole new ballgame.
In fact, there’s been such a paradigm shift, that much of my hard-won knowledge just isn’t valid anymore. It’s been an awakening, since back in the day you had agents and managers and all that, and they’d handle everything. Back in the day, Strange Advance used to be handled by Vinnie at the agency, and he was their top guy. So, I called him up, saying we wanted to get back on the road, and Vinnie said ‘Oh, I uh, I don’t go into the office too much anymore. You might wanna talk to one of the younger guys.’
So, I call up one of the younger guys, and I say ‘Hey, it’s Drew from Strange Advance,’ and he goes ‘Who?’
So, I go ‘Well, back before you were born, there was this thing called the radio, and they used to play our songs on it…’ Anyways, it’s just nuts. And promoters – I’d call promoters, who are again like 35 years old, and they want to know, am I gonna sell tickets? The first thing they wanna know is how many seats are you gonna sell?
‘Well, we last sold about 12-14,000… 35 years ago.’ (laughing) And he goes ‘Well, what am I supposed to do with that? How many people are gonna come now?’ So, in a sense, I had to become a concert promoter.
AJMT: Did it feel like starting over?
Drew: Well, starting all over in a different job.
AJMT: Like an additional hat for you to wear?
Drew: Yeah, several hats. And they don’t fit. I’m the wrong person for these jobs, but who am I supposed to delegate to?
So, yeah. We went out, we did some shows, and as anyone who’s toured will tell you, you lose your shirt the first few times you’re out. You know how it is: ‘I wouldn’t have spent $15,000 on marketing for a show that’s only gonna bring in $10,000.’ And it went like that the first couple of shows. But finally, people started to pick up on the fact that we’re back. And now promoters are calling us.
AJMT: I think we touched on them a bit, but what are, in your opinion, some of the big differences in touring now vs touring in the 80’s and 90’s?
Drew: Well, in the 80’s and 90’s, it was pretty much all touring. Now, it’s not as much touring, for bands at our level. Obviously, Billie Eilish or Ed Sheeran are going to be doing a year or two-year long tours, and as long as those acts exist, that’s the kind of touring that’ll happen.
But now I find, for bands in that kind of middle ground, you used to be able to tie together tours on a smaller level. But now, if it’s not Live Nation, an arena tour, forget about it. (chuckles) Or, at least, I haven’t discovered the secret yet.
But yeah, I would say that there’s a lot more fly-in gigs now. Gigs where you’re meant to grab your guitar and drumsticks, jump on a plane, the venue supplies the amps, the drums, maybe even the guitars, and you go do your show, hop back on the plane, and that’s it.
AJMT: Is that a jarring experience for you?
Drew: It is a weird experience, and because we’re unlike other bands in that we have to pack up like two tons of gear. Other bands can just grab their guitars and jump on the plane – what must that be like? We literally have to load up pallets and have them shipped because we want to put on a full show. I know we don’t have to but I think, if you’re going to go to a show, you know ‘excite me!’ We always try to make it special.
AJMT: That’s cool, I always appreciate when a band goes out of their way to make use of the magic of a face-to-face performance. So, where do you see new waves place in today’s musical landscape?
Drew: Well, I guess in the same way many genres of music have changed to fit in, so has new wave. You think of country music, these days it’s basically become classic rock. It evolved. In the same way that hip hop has wormed its way in over the years to pop music, so has new wave.
You can already see the influence that the 80’s and new wave is having on today’s performances. Different current performers using synths and sequencers and all that. New wave will tuck itself into the fabric of the current musical time, as many other genres have, and enrich the tapestry.
AJMT: Is that weird for you, hearing 80’s-flavoured things from current acts?
Drew: Oh, yeah. That’s weird, but you know what’s even weirder? Listening to the radio, or reading an article about the top 10 latest and greatest artists out there, and going ‘Oh shit. I’ve heard of maybe one person on that list. I’m an old man!’ (laughs) But, you know, music moves on.
AJMT: Right, every generation has parents telling their kids ‘Music was so much better back in my day.’ It’s kind of an old-head point of view that seems to crop up every generation without fail.
Drew: Well, sure, but I’m gonna go on-record as to say: ‘THEY’RE RIGHT! It WAS better! Sorry kids!’ (laughter) No, that’s not true, there’s so much good music still being made. But with that good comes the ai, and dear god, that could just bury us.
AJMT: Yeah, I’m hoping that bubble will burst, sooner rather than later.
Drew: Well, I don’t know, I think it will develop, and that’s a scary thought. You know, I have a friend who’s a songwriter that’s written two number one songs in his career, and he sends me this ai-generated song, and he says ‘Well, I might as well just give up.’
So, I listen to the song thinking, ‘Eh, you know, it’s not really doing it for me.’ So, I sleep on it and listen again, and I’m like ‘There it is. The ai of it. It’s just so glossy, and well produced, and says nothing.’
AJMT: So, it’ll never replace, in your opinion…
Drew: I’d like to think not, no. But, that’s the scary aspect, that perhaps it could. It’s just growing by leaps and bounds. We’ve got this technology that could be used to eliminate mundane tasks, and instead it’s being used to take art away from artists. But that’s what happens all too often with humanity.
AJMT: Right, doesn’t the lyric go ‘They paved paradise, put up a parking lot?’
Drew: Right, Joni Mitchell. If she knew then… (sighs)
AJMT: Looking back again, coming from a place where Strange Advance writes a hit single, hasn’t even performed live once yet, then 4 albums, a couple of Junos, a long gap in between then and now… what’s the takeaway from all of that?
Drew: People say to me, ‘You could have been big, you could have been huge! Why didn’t you push for it?’ Because I know what happens when you get huge. A guy at the record company used to always give me shit, because in interviews, I’d always say ‘I don’t want a number one song.’ You know, it’s like, the kiss of death. There’s nowhere to go but down.
I was happiest just bubbling in the top 30, building up a repertoire, eventually people know who you are, I don’t need number one songs. You know, you look at some of these acts and they go from zero to 100. How do you do that and survive? I’m very happy making music. I’m happy when people like listening to our music. I don’t need mass idolation, I’m very happy with what we’ve done, it’s allowed me to have a life.
AJMT: You hear the stories all the time of artists who only know how to live on the road. I’m glad to hear someone like you espouse the values of balance, of slow growth being sustainable growth, of doing something for the love of the craft.
Drew: You know, if you’re in a young band, of course you need to make enough money to pay for food and gas, and have a few bucks left over. But in terms of monetary value, music has been underrated for a long time, so I can understand where the pursuit of fame and riches come from.
I know guys that will take one-night gigs, and they’re making $50-$100 bucks. When I started drumming, I was making $100 a night at gigs. That was a long time ago, and the money has not kept up with the rising cost of living. You know, if there was a way to play for your friends, and have all your ends meet, that would be great. But, it’s not that way right now. It’s a brutal game.
Sometimes, I joke when people say ‘What’s your advice when getting into the music business?’ and my advice is ‘Run.’ (laughter) The only people that should be in the music business are the people that have no other choice. They have to be in the music business. And they – not all of them, but a chunk of them – they’ve got a chance at success.
AJMT: If you’re just half-assed about it, you’re gonna get chewed up and spit out?
Drew: Or just nothing happens. And how often can you do something with just no result?
AJMT: Is there a track that’s most special to you?
Drew: You know, people often ask me what ‘We Run’ is about. And I’ll often tell them ‘The dream.’ And it was – it was a dream I had that provided a big genesis of the song. But when I was singing it the other day, the chorus – ‘At the point of the knife/You never see anyone/How the strong will survive/At the end of their gun/We run’ – you know, that’s basically the story of The States right now. And my god, they should be running right now. It’s a shit show.
But it’s interesting when you analyze these songs you’ve written. There are times where I’ll be singing a song and go ‘Oh! That’s what I meant.” Because for me, it can be an automatic thing sometimes where I’ll start playing and words will just come out. I’m not an over-analyzer in the moment. If it sounds good, it passes muster. And that track has really stood the test of time for me. I can’t even sing it with my eyes open most nights, because seeing the crowd sing it back really hits home for me.
AJMT: Are you finding new meaning in a lot of the older catalogue?
Drew: Yeah, yeah, I am. And that’s at least partially because I’m a different person than I was when I wrote the songs back then. So now when I analyze the songs, I still relate to them, but I relate to them where I’m at now. (laughs) Definitely, my lyrics make more sense to me now than they ever have.
AJMT: Anything you want to tease? Anything exciting coming up?
Drew: All I can say is that it’s a thrill for us to be back out there, and it’s fun to see the fans. And it’s nice to be a little older than most of the fans that are coming out to the shows! You know, you worry with an older fan base that there’ll be a few less at each show you play. But (jokingly) you young folk, you keep on a-comin’ to the shows, and we’ll be fine!
AJMT: Is it cool for you to see that split of older fans and younger fans in the audience?
Drew: Yeah! When we first started with our ‘comeback,’ I’d see young people in the audience and I’d just assume ‘Oh, your dad dragged you to this, eh?’ but they’d say ‘No, I love 80’s music! I love Strange Advance! I’m here for the music!’ and man, that’s awesome.
AJMT: All that is old will one day become new again, huh?
Drew: Absolutely. And so, the cycle goes.
