Zachary Stevens is receiving rave reviews for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in Buddy at Stage West. After being wowed by the show, I suggest that you meet Stevens and Jeff Bryant in the lobby and pick up a copy of their self-titled CD.

Filled with songs that will make you smile, it is easy to pick up the Beatles influence on the disc. It is interesting in that much of the story of Buddy Holly parallels their own musical career. There is a definite similarity between the two in being unconventional.

"The whole story is about how he had a sense of what he wanted to do, and it was relevant to what maybe he 'should have been doing' or what was going on. For us, the choices that we make creatively and our business model, we are aware of what is done and we look at what choices other people make. But we are not following any model, we are creating our own path for ourselves," Bryant told GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine before a recent show. "It is refreshing if someone knows who they are and what they are doing, it is real and organic which is not present in a lot of successful bands right now. We see people respond to what we do because it comes from a sincere place."

The album captures you with its upbeat lyrics and storytelling from the opening song So Hard to the final chords of Street Meat (still not entirely sure what that last one is about, but the lyrics make me giggle.) While the music itself is better than a lot of what you hear in "mainstream" music, the pair admits being an independent band has its hardships.

"We've been asked if we would do the Canadian Idol thing and the answer is no. Aaron Walpole in the cast is an example of somebody who has done that show and benefited from it in certain ways, and he has debunked the myth that people who do that show are not cool people - he is an awesome guy. He has also faced some challenges from doing that as well. It is a double-edged sword. Our instinct is to go slow and steady and qualitative and get to the point where, if people respond to it and it grows that is great. It is growing and that is exciting. We are getting support from across the country and have a good feeling about what is next for us," said Bryant.

"Any new artistic endeavor or business it is an uphill climb because nobody knows who you are or what your intentions are. Buddy experienced the same thing, a lot of rejection in the beginning and the first record contract he got was a disaster. We haven't faced a lot of rejection like he did but there is a lot of skepticism," added Stevenson.

The struggle is in proving yourself, something they have achieved.

"When you are just starting out and you are really insecure about your band name, song, presence, ability, it is a shitty combo of people being skeptical and you being skeptical about yourself. Those first hurdles are the roughest ones which is why a lot of people fall by the wayside," Bryant said. Zach expounded on that with his own thoughts.

"We have gotten over that hump. You hear about that big break people are waiting for, we just decided to give ourselves that break and take ourselves to the next level. We have taken some steps to really make some things happen and seen almost immediate progress over the past few months. If we just keep this persistence and keep carrying on with the same core value and structure we will do very well."

Doing a theatrical production like a show at Stage West certainly helps in their goal to spread jubilation across the nation, and reach a diverse audience.

"We have somehow in certain markets been able to bridge the gap between young and old. Some of our music has a retro feel. We’ve had theatre shows with grey haired people and screaming high school girls together. When we have those experiences it's like, it seems impossible but we are going to make that happen." Stevenson said. "We have been selling CDs after the show to a varied audience. Having interviews like this helps us to be able to talk about our band. Stage West has been really kind about cross-promoting The Human Statues in their promotional efforts as well."

One of the strengths of any band is its stage show, something the pair promises to be an experience in itself. You can check out The Human Statues in concert yourself at Stage West on June 22nd.

The Human Statues

www.thehumanstatues.com