IRC-Galleria

Billy Talent in Prague!!! Only a month away!!!!!

EXCITEMENT!!!!

jäin tänää hissiin jumiin... eiks ookki mukavaa

tosi kiva ku pääs kotii ja sit tää galleria on tällänen.... niiku mit vit oikeesti

Äikän essee lukioajoilta.... Ottakaa huomioon, että edes suurena feministinä tunnettu Päivi Pitkänen ei ymmärtänyt kirjoitteluni syvällistä miesten piikittelyä vaan antoi tästäkin muistaakseni C:n. Toisaalta kysymys saattoi olla myös siitä, että rva Sauli Aaltola ei minusta ikinä pahemmin pitänytkään, ja että sarkasmini ja nokkeluuteni ei ollut hänen aivokapasiteettinsa tulkittavissa. Taipumukseni hentoiseen provokatiivisuuteen ja näsäviisauteen ei varmastikaan auttanut asiaa. Ei tämä nyt L:n arvoinen ole, mutta kyllä se C:tä paremman olisi ansainnut. Mutta Päivi, en ole katkera. Pääsenkö töihin Päivi P. Paskiaisen Kalanmaksaöljy & Muuttoapu OY:hyn?

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Näin nuorena tulee ajateltua, että miehen pitää olla täydellinen. Kaikki piirteet, joita pitää tärkeinä täytyy löytyä pojasta tai muuten suhdetta ei edes harkita. Aivoni kuitenkin eksyivät tällaisen ajatuksen polulta eräänä iltana. Se oli ihmeellistä, sillä en ikinä ollut tullut ajatelleeksi kompromissia. Olenhan omapäinen niin kuin useimmat meistä.
Tuona mukavana kesäisenä iltana seisoin baarin DJ:n luona juttelemassa, kun viereeni tömisteli suhteellisen epämiellyttävä ilmestys. Onhan tuo rumasti sanottu, mutta en tähän hätään keksi muutakaan. Tämä mies oli minua hurjasti vanhempi, yli kymmenen vuotta varmasti. Kun en mitään muutakaan keksinyt, sanoin hänelle, että haen lisää juotavaa. Kipitin valonnopeudella tiskille ja ennen kuin ehdin tilata, päästin jo muutaman valituksen sanan lentämällä ulos suustani. Baarimikko, Turre nimeltään, totesi siihen hieman huvittuneena, että ei pitäisi olla turhan ronkeli. Loput hänen lausahduksestaan jätän mainitsematta pelkästään siveellisyyten vedoten. On omituista, kuinka vain tämä toteamus sai minut pohtimaan uudelleen omia vaatimuksiani. Miettiminen lisää tuskaa. Kiitos vain Turre.

- - Matti on niin tuiki rehellinen mies, että hänen täytyi lainata varkaan nimitys toisesta kielestä. Hän on myöskin tyyni mies. Jyrkän kosken laskeminen, karhuun tähtääminen viiden askeleen päästä, ruutikellarin palavan katon sammuttaminen ei häntä vähääkään pelota. Sodassa hän ei myöskään ole milloinkaan oppinut juoksemaan. Hän ei koskaan pelkää vaaran tullen eikä sen kestäessä, mutta jäljestäpäin hän on hyvin varova. - -

Topelius mainitsee muutaman todella hyvän piirteen. On hienoa jos mies on rohkea ja valmiina puolustamaan naista vaikka se tarkoittaisikin sitä, että hänen oma henkensä olisi vaarassa. Yksi unelma piirre miehessä. Voin luopua. Herra Topeliuksen kuvaama rohkeus menee jo liian pitkälle. Uhkarohkeus on kuitenki täysin eri asia kuin rohkeus. Rohkea mies puolustaa ja lähtee tilanteesta, mutta uhkarohkea jatkaa tappelua vielä seuraavallakin vuosisadalla. Rohkeus on tästä lähtien listani häntäpäässä. Miksi edes lähtisi sellaiseen tilanteeseen, jossa täytyy olla rohkea jos ei sitä ole? Nyt kun mietin, otan aivan mielelläni miehen, jota eivät extreme-urheilulajit kiinnosta. Kotona hyysääminen kuulostaa paljon paremmalta vaihtoehdolta benji-hyppyjen rinnalla. Topelius on liittänyt rohkeuteen myös tyyneyden. Se on piirre, josta en kyllä luovu vaikka kuinka karsittaisiin. Hermostuvaa miehen järkälettä ei katsele yksikään nainen viittä minuuttia kauempaa. Toimikoon tämä myös vikkinä miehille. Toisaalta liian tyynikään ei ole hyvä. Täytyy osata olla jämäkkä. Mielipiteet tulee ilmaista tietyllä antaumuksella. Tätä miehet eivät tunnu osaavan, vaan puhe muistuttaa enemmän vanhan Nokia 3210-puhelimen monotonista soittoääntä. Hyvä mies: olethan tyyni, mutta silti jämäkkä sekä rohkea, mutta et uhkarohkea.
Mies, joka tekee juuri niin kuin nainen haluaa on hieno mies. Mies, joka tekee juuri niin kuin nainen haluaa oli hieno mies. Muutin lauseen imperfektiin kuvatakseni taas yhden piirteen karsiuntumista. Miehellä pitää olla myös omaa tahtoa, kyky sanoa ei. Olen törmännyt useisiin miehiin, jotka haluavat vain miellyttää. Heidän sanavarastonsa on suurinpiirtein seuraavanlainen: “Kyllä kulta”, “Aivan niin mussukka” ja “Heti ihanaiseni”. Asiaa kauan ja hartaasti pohdittuani, totesin, että tällainen käytös ei käy päinsä. Jos sanavarasto jää näin suppeaksi, olisi jo aika hankkia ammattiapua.

- - Hän on kylmään metsään pellon raivannut. Ei ole köyhällä varaa paikkoja valita, täytyy tehdä toukopaikkansa siihen, mihin muilta saa. Paitsi kantoja on täytynyt penkoa kiviä. Yksin on täytynyt työ tehdä, ei ole varaa palkollista pitää. Sitten on se kiviröykkiö kuokittu ja kynnetty. Vuosia on kulunut, ennenkuin siihen voi rukiin kylvää. - -

Aivan pienen hetken ajan olin jo perua puheeni. Juhani Ahon kuvaus itsepäisyydestä sai kylmät väreet kulkemaan selkäytimeni kautta suoraan aivoihin. Manipulointi on kuitenkin hyvä taito omata. Tein nopeasti aivojeni harhauttamiseksi muutaman liikkeen ja pysyin päätöksessäni. Miehellä tulee olla aivot. Ne eivät saa olla liian suuret, mutta niitten täytyy olla olemassa jossakin pääkopan onkalossa. Naista toki pitää edelleen miellyttää mahdollisimman usealla tavalla, mutta sanan “ei” täytyy esiintyä tarpeeksi usein, kun mies käyttää verbaalisia taitojaan. Katkelman mies on yhtä itsepäinen kuin liikaa paistettu pihvi. Hän ei taivu tai veny edes hätätilassa. Tällaisia miehet tuntuvat usein olevan. Eivätkö miehet ikinä ymmärrä, että jääräpäät eivät aina pääse pitkälle? On tietysti totta, että kun tarpeeksi kauan jaksaa yrittää, on suuremmat mahdollisuudet päästä tavoitteeseensa. Mutta koska mies on mies, hän ei tarvitse apua tai neuvoja. Luonteenpiirteiden listalla tapahtui juuri yliviivaus.
Juhani Ahon “Kannikasta” saa hyvin äkkipikaisen kuvan miehestä. Hänen ukkonsa katselee ensin leipäänsä hartaasti ja iskee siihen sitten kiinni hurjalla tavalla. Halusin tyynen, mutta tarpeeksi jämäkän miehen. Ahon mies ei ole kumpaakaan näistä. Äkkipikaisuus on epämiellyttävä piirre kenessä tahansa, mutta jos mies omaa sen on asiat jo todella huonosti. Tällainen arvaamattomuus on pelottavaa useassa tapauksessa. Miten voi elää sellaisen ihmisen kanssa, josta ei ikinä voi olla täysin varma? Kyse on osittain luottamuksesta. Arvaamattomuus on siis epäluotettavuutta. Kynäni lähestyy jälleen listaa.

- - Hän on juromielinen ja ujosteleva. Mutta kun hän on istunut jonkin aikaa hyväin ystäväin seurassa, hän näyttää lauhtuvan ja ikäänkuin lähtevän liikkeelle pesästään. Hänen äkeä muotonsa lientyy, hän saattaa tulla iloiseksi, jopa laillaan sukkelaksikin. Eipä luulisi sellaisen yksitotisen miehen osaavan ilvehtiä ja laskea leikkiä niin, kuin hän kuitenkin osaa, ja silloin hänestä on sanomattoman huvittavaa tehdä omiansa ja muoden tyhmyyksiä naurunalaisiksi. - -

Loistavaa Topelius! On hienoa tietää, että on olemassa edes pieni mahdollisuus kuulla miehen oikeasti puhuvan. Nainen ei halua miestä, joka on yhtä äänekäs kuin tyhjillään oleva pakastin. Toisaalta mies, joka on Martta-kerhon vakiojäsen ei myöskään ole suvaittavaa. Koska mies on lajinsa yksinkertaisin muoto, ei ole mahdollista löytää miehestä näiden kahden asian synteesiä. Ne eivät missään vaiheessa kykene kulkemaan käsikädessä miehen hermoradoilla. On siis kysymys siitä, kumpi vaihtoehto on mieluisempi. Herra Aholtakaan ei tähän asiaan vinkkejä löydy, vaikka tekstin tuntematon mies puhuukin toiselle matkustajalle. Mies vastaa, mutta ei esitä lisäkysymyksiä. Hänellä ei ole kykyä filosofoida yksinkertaisimpiakaan asioita. Nyt on valinnan hetki: tuppisuu vai räpätäti?
Miehen arvoitusta pohdiskellessani huomasin, että en oikeastaan tullutkaan tehneeksi kompromissia. Mitkä hyvät piirteet sain yliviivattua? En yhtäkään. Onko sitten mahdollista edes löytää sitä täydellistä miestä, joka täyttää kaikki unelmat? Lupaan palata asiaan viimeistään kymmenen vuoden kuluttua, kun olen haalinut itselleni miehen, joka on tuppisuu, uhkarohkea ja äkkipikainen.

Missä jumala on, kun lauma polkee paikallaan

Where is god when a pack runs through his backyard

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1. Mikä on tunnuksesi?
- Crimson___

2. Kuinka monta biisiä olet kuunnellut?
- 7069

3. Kirjoita tähän kymmenen ensimmäistä artistia Top Artists Overall -listaltasi:
1. Billy Talent (2802)
2. My Chemical Romance (695)
3. Yö (446)
4. Lostprophets (394)
5. Pezz (323)
6. Volbeat (202)
7. Papa Roach (185)
8. Rise Against (161)
9. Eminem (144)
10. Green Day (136)

4. Paras biisi 1. bändiltä?
- Noh... täl hetkel varmaa The Dead Can'estify

5. Kuinka tutustuit 2. artistiin?
- näin jonku videon mtvllä joskus vissii

6. Kuinka vanha on 3. artisti tai kuinka vanhoja kolmantena olevan bändin jäsenet ovat?
- taitaa olla kaikki yli 40v

7. Mikä oli ensimmäinen kappale jonka kuulit 4. bändiltä?
- varmaa rooftops

8. Oletko nähnyt 5. bändin livenä ja jos olet niin missä?
- noh vähän vaikee ku kyseistä yhtyettä ei periaattees oo olemassakaa enää :D mut talentin kyl provinssi/ruissi/jäähalli

9. Haluaisitko nähdä 6. bändin livenä?
- miksei

10. Mistä asti olet kuunnellut 7. bändiä?
- öööööö.... on siitä nyt jo aikaa.. ehkä kasi luokasta

11. Mitä genreä 8. bändi edustaa?
- joku rock se on

12. Asteikolla 1-10 mitä pidät 9. bändistä?
- 7-8

13. Toistetaan kysymys numero 4. bändin numero 10. kohdalla ?
- emt... nimrodilta joku varmaa

14. Onko Top Artists Overall -listallasi bändejä ja/tai artisteja, jotka haluaisit sieltä pois?
- saattaa olla...

15. Mikä artisti tai bändi on viimeisenä Top Artists Overall -listallasi?
- Laveerre feat Eino Antiwäkki :DDDDDD lol (1 plays)

16. Mikä biisi on ensimmäisenä Top Tracks Overall -listallasi?
- Billy Talent - Rusted From The Rain (168 plays)

17. Entäpä viimeisenä Top Tracks Overall -listallasi?
- Linkin Park - In The End (3 plays) tää oli yllätys

DESCRIBE EACH OTHER WITH 3 ADJECTIVES.

Jon: I would say Ian is smart, talented and motivated.

Ian: I would say Aaron is nice, level-headed and annoying.

Aaron: Ben is funny...

Ben: Mean...

Aaron: ...mean...

Ben: *laughs*

Aaron: ...talented

Ben: Oooh. JohnnyG is hard working, dedicated and reliable

Jon: Just like a Ford Escape

*laugh*

Ian: Just like a Ford Escape.

WHO IS THE WILDEST PARTY ANIMAL?

Ben: Ian but he's retiring.

Ian: *laughs* Slowly retiring.

WHO IS HIS SUCCESSOR?

Ian: Aaron. He's turning back into a party animal.

Ben: It's true.

Aaron: No way!

Ben & Ian: It is true.

Ben: Johnny plays hard man.

Aaron: Johnny would be the successor 100%

Jon: Not a successor, I think I would just remain exactly the same.... binge partier that I am.

Aaron: There you go.

Ian: Binge partier.

BIGGEST VICES OF THE OTHERS:

Ben: Child pornography for Aaron. *laughs*

Aaron: You're fucked.

Jon: There's gonna be like a seizure of his computer.

Ben: Shhhh. His Mac gets a... No, that's totally kidding.

Aaron: I think our biggest vices is smoking.

Ben: Smoking cigarettes.

Ian: Cigarettes.

Aaron: Cigarettes. It's aweful.

Jon: We all have the same vices so...

Ian: Diet Coke.

Jon: ...exept for my heroine addiction.

Ben: And Aaron's child pornography obsession.

Aaron: While I'm smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

Ben: The sophisticated creep.

WHO DREADS DOGS THE MOST?

Jon: Not liking dogs? Oh...

Ian: Maybe me...

Jon: How could you not like a dog?

Ian: Yeah, I guess... We all like dogs. Jon likes cats so...

Jon: I just think cats are... a little bit more intependent!

Ian: *laughs* a little bit more intependent...

Jon: Not to bring down the dogs of the world.

Ian: A little bit more intependent. We all love dogs very much.

ANYONE AFRAID OF CATS?

Ian: Umm, I am actually!

Aaron: I'm afraid of my brother's cat.

Ian: They scary me because sometimes you never know when they're gonna go WRHAA and scratch you.

Ben: I don't like cats. Not a fan, not a fan. I, I mean, don't hurt them or anything. But it's just... I don't care to have one.

WHO IS THE SECRET BANDLEADER?

Ben: The secret bandl... I think it revolves. I think we're all... I think Ian does a lot of the work when it comes to musicality and artwork and things like that. But I think at different times everyone takes different roles. Jon's the nuts and bolts money guy. I'm the fucking mouth. And Aaron... We're still trying to figure out Aaron's role in the band. We don't actually know why he's even in the band. He doesn't do anything.

Aaron: Zoom in.

Ian: *laughs*

YOUR BEST AND WORST TRAITS?

Aaron: Ben can be really nice but he can also be really mean.

Ian: Aaron can be really nice and he's good at resolving problems. But he also lies a lot, makes up stories. And people believe him.

Aaron: For fun though.

Ben: I'm mean for fun.

Ian: It's fun for him but not so much fun for us.

Jon: Ian's always late, drives us nuts.

Ben: I don't mind the late part. I don't like the not saying sorry that I'm late. That's the part that I want to punch the window.

Ian: I'm sorry.

Ben: There you go.

Jon: But at the same time he's really extremely hard worker and great guy so... There's a yin and yang.

Ben: With all of us. We're humans man.

Aaron: Just humans.

Ben: Just trying to... A squirrel trying to get a nut, you know what I mean? No you don't know what I mean. But that's okay.

ANYONE AFRAID OF SQUIRRELS?

Ben: No, umm, well... I don't like when their on the trees and they like stop when you walk by them and they just kind of stare at you and they're close. I don't like that very much. But I'm really not afraid of them attacking me or anyhting they're just gross, fucking hairy rats.

Jon: I think being attacked by a squirrel would be frightning. But it would be hilarious to kinda watch somebody get attacked by a squirrel

Ben: I'd like to watch somebody get...

Ian: I think a squirrel would go for the neck first, if anything. They just go RAAR

BIGGEST SISSIE IN THE BAND?

Ben: Aaron.

Ian: *laughs*

Ben: He's like the biggest weak link.

Ian: Biggest sissie... Yeah, I agree.

Ben: Totally, 100%. There's not even a second place.

Ian: First one to run away.

Aaron: You wanna arm wrestle and get this over with, bro?

Ben: Sure, bro.

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH BAMBI?

Ben: Shitty bambi.

Aaron: Shitty bambi.

Ian: Shitty bambi. I don't get that.

Ben: He was asking what our names are if you could have like... names and Jon is the bass assassin, I'm sexmaster 4000, you're hookmachine and he's shitty bambi.

Ian: *laughs*

Aaron: I'm like a bambi but I'm shitty.

Ben: Like bambi but I'm shitty.

Jon: Could have been mighty bambi.

Ben: Okay, we'll go to mighty. We'll drop the... It doesn't rung out the same... hoots but...

Songs of praise. Adored and worshipped, Canada's cult heroes BILLY TALENT have a secret society of devoted followers that are lifting them to megastar status. Here's how it all began...

BEN KOWALEWICZ looks concerned. Placing a bag of ice on a dressing room table, he runs a finger over his forehead and examines a lump, which seems to be growing by the minute. “I have a friend who worked on a TV show called Monster Garage”, explains the motormouth singer. “They customise vehicles and he offered to make a mic stand that would never break. My head put it to test this evening. It turns out he was right...”
You join us backstage in Nürburgring, a motor racing track 45 miles of Cologne, Germany. Just 30 minutes ago, Billy Talent played their biggest show to date in front of an estimated 100,000 people at Rock Am Ring, an annual rock festival in the sleepy village of Nürburg. Billed just under the recently reunited Limp Bizkit, the response that greeted the Canadian quartet was deafening.
The band are a household name in Germany and cause hysteria wherever they go.
They scored a Number One album with their second album, 2006's II, and combined with their self-titled debut, Billy Talent have shifted an impressive 456,000 albums an this country alone. Their faces are splashed across the covers of the nation's music press and their videos sit alongside Kanye West and Black-Eyed Peas on MTV Germany's daytime playlist. Their last tour was plotted in venues which can comfortably hold 7,000 to 12,000 people.
Back in their native Canada, the band are also megastars. The band's self-titled debut album attained triple-platinum status – that's over 300,000 copies in a country with half of the UK's population – while, like in Germany, their second album debuted at Number One in the national charts. There, the band are an arena-sized draw, attracting 20,000 fans to their hometown shows.
And yet, despite their international success, the band – also featuring Ealing-born guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk – are still regarded as rock's best kept secret. Here in the UK, the band sold 160,000 copies of their first two albums, while their most recent tour concluded at 4,900-capacity, London's Brixton Academy. But with the imminent release of their third album, III, this is all about to change. Their transition from mass cult appeal to mainstream stardom is about to begin. And after 16 years of hard slog, the four childhood friends are ready.

OUR STORY begins inside a stuffy Roman Catholic educational institution in Mississauga, a suburb 35 miles south-west of Toronto. Sixteen-year-old D'Sa first ran into his future bandmates at a talent shoe held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School. Kowalewicz and Gallant played in To Each His Own and eventually recruited Solowoniuk to play drums. D'Sa, meanwhile, was in a band called Dragonflower. From that night, the two bands struck up a friendship and often shared stages in local dives.
“Ian was the best guitarist in school which, when you're 16, is the entire universe”, smiles Kowalewicz. “A little later on, we decided to quit our band and start something new with Ian. The plan was to keep things simple: guitar, drums, bass and vocals.”
Naming themselves The Other One (the first of a few names), the band would spend hours learning their favorite songs by Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Ontario heroes The Tragically Hip.
“My previous bands lacked a charismatic frontman”, explains D'Sa, whose parents relocated from Middlesex to Canada when he was just four years old. “But during our first rehearsal – the first song we played was [Neil Young's] Rockin' In The Free World – I remember seeing Ben bouncing off the walls. It felt like I'd stumbled upon something amazing and new.”
The four teenagers turned the basement of the guitarist's family home into a practice space and spent all of their free time noisily honing their skills, much to the delight of the D'Sa's parents.
“They were really supportive and loved that I was in a band with my friends”, smiles the guitarist. “The only time we had to stop rehearsing was 6pm on a Sunday evening, as she held prayer meetings at home. Sometimes we'd forget the time, so there'd be a bunch of old ladies sitting around upstairs, while we were playing Rage songs, with Ben screaming 'Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me!'...”
“Even though Mississauga had a population of about half a million people, there wasn't much of a scene”, says Solowoniuk. “We all had the drive to put on our own shows and in local bars, pool halls and basically anywhere we could drag our stuff in and play.”
“We once played a Masonic Lodge called The Kinsmen Hall and had to build our own stage using milk crates and duct tape”, adds Kowalewicz. “It gave our friends an excuse to drink and have fun. Thing is, rave hadn't really arrived, so everyone still loved rock. The grunge scene had exploded, so when we'd play those songs, people would freak out and start moshpits. It was an amazing feeling to see that.”
After beginning to attract attention around Toronto, the band pooled their waged and took their credit cards to the limit in order to finance their first album, 1998's Watoosh!. D'Sa was studying animation at college and worked on kid's series Angela Anaconda. Solowoniuk worked on the assembly line at Chrysler Canada, Kowalewicz worked behind the scenes at Toronto radio station 102.1 The Edge, while Gallant studied for his degree in finance.
“For a long time, we had to do everything ourselves”, says Gallant. “We never had a plan as such, we'd just be constantly figuring out what the next step would be. We were just having fun.”

FUN, HOWEVER, doesn't pay the bills. In 1999, things started to get rocky. D'Sa was offered a job in England with Electronic Arts, but instead decided to relocate to Montreal, just over 300 miles away in order to keep the band going. Gallant – a man who looks like he could tear a phonebook in half – left the band briefly in order to go traveling to celebrate completing his degree.
“It felt like the band was really stagnant and I really considered moving to England”, says the guitarist. “Although it seemed like the band wasn't going to work out, I'd go home every couple of weeks to see the guys and feel things out.”
Disaster also struck the band later that year. Solowoniuk was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system.
“For a couple of years, I would experience numbness in my legs and things like that”, reveals Solowoniuk. “I thought it was because of the physical demands of my job building cars. Eventually, it became difficult to walk. Once I was diagnosed, I told the guys that I needed a couple of months off to reevaluate everything. It was an absolute mindfuck at the beginning – I suffered from a deep depression – but the drug therapy worked and enabled me to carry on doing what I love. The band was a very pleasant diversion.”
The opening track on Billy Talent's self-titled debut album, This Is How It Goes, is about one of Kowalewicz's friends with Multiple Sclerosis. And on March 17, 2006, the drummer felt it was time to tell fans, by way of an open letter, the truth behind the song.
“Today, I would like to let you know that I am that friend”, he wrote. “I didn't let something like MS get in the way of me becoming who I was supposed to become. I kept it a secret for so long because I thought it could get in the way or even help me achieve my goals out of pity. That's the last thing I wanted.”
To this day, Solowoniuk has to travel with a mini-fridge of medication and needles to inject himself three times a week. But there's no sense of self-pity. Instead, he exudes an aura of rude health and a Zen-like calm. He refuses to be defined by his desease.
“I can't overdo things”, he shrugs. “I eat well and rest. I enjoy the odd beer or seven over a game of poker. I've been going strong ever since. There was no way I was going to let it stop me from what I've always wanted to do.”
“Aaron is a hero to the rest of the band”, smiles Kowalewicz later. “He's our spiritual guide.”

THE FOLLOWING year, things started to change for the better. D'Sa still in Montreal, was given a copy of At The Drive-In's career-defining album, The Relationship Of Command. Inspired by the explosive, volatile nature of the El Paso quintet's songwriting, the guitarist started writing immediately and quickly regrouped with his bandmates who adored the direction D'Sa's songwriting was taking. It was also around this time that the band we-named themselves Billy Talent, after going under the monicker of Pezz.
“It marked a rebirth for us”, explains D'Sa. “Everything seemed to click when we recorded the new songs as a four-track demo.”
The demo – featuring This Is How It Goes, Beachballs, Cut The Curtains and Try Honesty – caught the ear of an Atlantic Records employee who met Kowalewicz during his days at the Toronto radio station and things, finally, started to move up a notch.
Cut to 2003, almost ten years after their first show, ans Billy Talent had released their debut album and embarked on a Canadian tour opening for their heroes, Brit punks the Buzzcocks.
“We were living the dream”, smiles D'Sa. “We had a van and a trailer and would sleep on people's floors. Fuck, we were naive!”
“We didn't know a damn thing”, laughs Kowalewicz.”We got fucked over a lot by a lot of different people, but we learned a lot and fast.”
“The video for Try Honesty was all over Much Music [Canada's music channel]”, he adds. “That's when things started changing for us. We won a Juno – which is like a Canadian Grammy – and all the things which seemed unobtainable for so long were now in our grasp. We'd been doing this for a decade, remember – I think I spent most of that year going 'Holy fuck!'.”
“The weirdest thing for me”, smiles D'Sa. “was being mistaken for Dave [Baksh, former guitarist] from Sum 41. That happened a lot. I heard he gets the same thing now...”

TWO DAYS after their triumphant Rock Am Ring show, the band are busy preparing for a warm-up show at London's Underworld, a 600-capacity sweatbox in Camden. In three days time, they'll be playing to over 60,000 smiling faces at the Download festival in Donington.
The queue snakes around the building, with many of the people queuing since lunchtime. One fan, Craig, 19, has traveled from Manchester to see the band at such close quarters.
“There's something really special about them”, he says. “I can't put my finger on what it is. They've helped me get through some really shit times and listening to them always cheers me up. I can't understand why it's taking so long for them to become properly massive.”
“That's a good question”, laughs D'Sa downstairs, a pork-pile hat covering his iconic hairstyle. “We've just tried to build a career by hitting lots of countries and pay attention to them equally. Some bands just hit the same places year after year and fade away. I would have hated for us to be a flash in the pan.”
“This, to us, has been the perfect incline”, adds Kowalewicz. “I wouldn't change a single thing. All the bands that got really big really fast when we signed with the label aren't around any more. I would much rather follow the path we have – slower and more steady. Hopefully, we'll have longevity that way. We've dedicated our lives to this.”
Do you feel you're a cult band?
“Yes, actually”, smiles D'Sa. “When we played small club shows in countries where we're not as established, it keeps us hungry. When we play Paris, we have fans who make the road trip from Germany just to see us. We have very loyal fans and we're so appreciative of that.”
So who is the average Billy Talent Fan? Well, according to the frontman, there isn't one.
“One thing I love about this, is that we have such a broad spectrum of fans”, he smiles. “We have 50-year-old guys who loved punk first time around and then there's the five-year-old kids who know all the words. It's really cool.”

AS THIS issue of Kerrang! hits the shelves, the band well have embarked on a month-long tour across the United States with perennial punks Rancid and political rockers Rise Against. In August, they'll kiss their wives, girlfriends, and children goodbye, drive to Toronto's Pearson International Airport and fly to the UK for the Reading and Leeds festivals.
With a massive UK and European tour scheduled for the autumn, there's every possibility they'll become strangers in their home country as the cult of Billy Talent begins to spread like wildfire.
That's, they say, is the only disadvantage of living their dream.
“Being away from our loved ones is the only part that sucks”, says the singer. “Apart from that, every single thing is awesome! You need to focus on home while you're away. You need that center in your life.
“This can't be your center”, he continues, circling his finger around the cramped, graffiti-covered Underworld dressing room. “Otherwise you can get lost in an absurd tornado. We keep each other sane. I date one girl and three guys. It's like a marriage and there's a lot of respect for each other. That's the major factor in how we've stayed together for a long time.”
“You know you've been touring for a long time when you feel abnormal at home”, adds D'Sa with a chuckle. “Especially when you see your friends and it's awkward for the first 10 minutes. It's not an easy life. But it's what we've always wanted to do and – fuck – it's a dream come true.”
For a band who once admitted that selling 100 albums in Canada would have been “amazing”, are they satisfied with their achievements so far?
“Absolutely”, nods Kowalewicz. “Your goals are always to build on what you've achieved so far and what we have achieved has been a dream come true.”
“But”, he grins, eyes widening, “we're still hungry for more.”



CANADA'S GOT TALENT
Get to know the four members of Billy Talent...

BEN KOWALEWICZ (vocals)

Special skills: “Talking to a lot of people about a lot things. I can lighten a mood quickly or darken it. I get carried away doing that, but I've learned to rein the horses in.”

After a show, you'll find me: “Just sitting around by myself, taking five minutes to breathe. I'm normally first in bed. Rock n' roll, huh?”

I love BT because: “We're good together. It's all I know.”

IAN D'SA (guitar)

Special skills: “Hair maintenance. Apart from that I look after the album artwork and merchandise design.”

After a show you'll find me: “At the local bar, drinking with the crew. We all put a lot of money in the jukebox and control the music for the night.”

I love BT because: “We're all such good looking guys. Look at us!”

JON GALLANT (bass)

Special skills: “I translate financial terms into a language musicians can understand. And bass playing.”

After a show you'll find me: “Hanging with Aaron, drinking beer. We used to play a shitload of poker, but it's hard to get a game together after shows.”

I love BT because: “These guys are my brothers. I didn't have any brothers, so they're adopted.”

AARON SOLOWONIUK (drums)

Special skills: “Not much, but I try to do a lot charity work. I started three years ago. I put on a concert every year for FUMS [the driving force behind the MS Society of Canada Scholarship Fund] and we raise a lot of money for that.”

After a show you'll find me: “Hanging with Jon drinking beer.”

I love BT because: “They're my bros.”

vittu noi kaikki mcr kuvat... mitä mä niillä teen ku ne vaa hengaa tuol laatikossa???