Escape Surprise
On an unseasonably warm spring evening, I met the members of Escape Surprise and we headed to the Cornerstone in Guelph. Band members Brandon Martin, Mark Guzylak-Shergold, Jessica Adel and Corey Voisin have begun to make a name for themselves the past couple of years playing gigs in and around the Royal City. Now on the cusp of playing a regular monthly set at the Degrassi House in Toronto and cutting their first EP, we gathered to talk about where they've been and hopefully where they're going.
But first, the origin story. Martin, guitarist and songwriter, and Guzylak-Shergold, bassist, were childhood friends that started playing music in their early teens, forming a band with a third man and performing jazz/rock/fusion in local venues. "We started jamming and playing music we never heard before," says Guzylak-Shergold, "then we heard Miles Davis' album Witches' Brew and we were like, 'that's what we're doing.'"
But like the fictional band in Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" everybody went there separate ways at the end of high school. So Martin came to the University of Guelph where he got involved in the theatre school. He met Adel who shared his passion for music and they began writing songs and jamming together. After university they reunited with Guzylak-Shergold and set up a home base in Guelph for their new outfit called Escape Surprise.
The final piece of the puzzle, drummer Voisin, joined up with the band last November. With a similar background to his fellow musicians, Voisin was an instant fit with the band, and Escape Surprise is not an easy band to fit in with for they expertly combine a dizzying array of influences into their signature style. Every song is an island unto itself, completely original yet with an accent that says "written and performed by Escape Surprise".
I got around next to asking about the band's individual musical influences, it's almost a required question when talking to a musician, but I was surprised by some of the answers.
"I really liked the phrasing of Jamiroquai's original bass player, but more recently classical music," says Guzylak-Shergold. "Most rock bass players are garbage, so there's not a lot to listen to, so it usual starts with something other that what I'm playing and that works better."
Adel also draws inspiration from the classical past. "I started out as a classical singer and up until I was 14 years old I wanted to be an opera singer," she explained. "I grew up in a conservatory like program then some guys in my high school started a band and asked me if I'd join and my voice teacher gave me an ultimatum saying, 'You can't sing classical and sing in a rock band.' But I was having so much fun singing other types of music that I gave up the classical."
Voisin though has his own take: "I never liked the influence question." he says. "I'm more influenced by life itself. Life gives you more of a drive and lets you work out some of the turmoil from day to day and that's what really comes through when I play."
Given everything else about the band, their approach to songwriting is equally unique; they are inspired as much by the philosophical as they are by the everyday. "We think in terms of storytelling and dramaturgical action, plot points and seeing the way all these things relate to each other like language," says Guzylak-Shergold.
"I take a real metalogical approach to writing," continues Martin, "I really like to analyze the structure of what's going on, I just enjoy playing those structures and trying to find what's appealing. I'm just very conscious of things like that."
"I do a lot of syncopation within my own part, play around with the rhythm and add another layer to what's going on" adds Voisin , "I also like to keep things simple."
"It's interesting because we all bring different things to the table when we're writing, but they all work very well together," says Adel, "We also all respect the way the others enjoy creating music, so it takes a while to nail things down. There's no formula to it, when you play it, you just know it."
But the band members can't dwell on their music all day, like many other working musicians they have day jobs and responsibilities that divide their attention. But this was something I was interested in knowing: how does a band make a name for itself in 2006? Is it easy because of the technology, or does that mean there's more competition with the exact same access?
"It's juggling act, knowing which balls we have to have up in the air and when," remarks Adel. "We tend to work in spirts where we're really productive on the business end and then we have to go back to the music and play for a while."
"A lot of it has to do with self-esteem," adds Guzylak-Shergold, finding things within yourself and being resigned to certain facts that things can be a little more painful then you may like. It really is like a second full-time job."
"Home recording has helped us enormously, we wouldn't even have anything if it wasn't for the home recording technology," says Martin.
As for career aspirations, Martin summed up everybody's feelings with a simple, yet heartfelt, "All the way, baby." But in all seriousness this band is just looking to be working musicians. "People appreciate what musicians do," says Voisin, "we help them out with their lives and their daily problems and we like that."
Escape Surprise looks to be keeping busy, with their eyes on their chosen path. They plan to have a full-length album out in the next year to year and a half, they're in the process of building a better website that can be found at www.escapesurprise.com, and they continue to look for new venues and new avenues to promote their music. For the Surprise Guys it's about being a live band; it's what makes them happy and that should make they're growing collection of fans happy too.
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