Owen Carrier and Nick Rose, lead vocalist and vocalist/guitarist respectively of Toronto band Sweet Thing, have that kind of instantly likeable personality. When we sat down for this interview, their label rep commented on my audio recorder, saying “Oh you have one of those small, fancy things.” Rose immediately quipped, “That’s what she said.” I knew that I would like these guys.
“I guess we got the dick joke out of the way,” Rose said, as Carrier just shook his head.
The five-piece, which also includes guitarist Alex Winter, bassist Morgan Waters, and drummer Tyler Kyte were in Calgary recently on tour, testing the waters for their self-titled album which hits stores August 17th. They return to Alberta, opening for Justin Nozuka September 16th at Edmonton’s Starlight Room and September 18th at The Den at the University of Calgary.
“We have never driven across the country so we figured we would get one out of the way before the record came out,” said Rose.
“It hasn’t been that bad, we had this awful premonition of how it was going to turn out. We have been lucky, some fans and friends have really showed up, we have been fortunate that way. We will see if we still like each other in a week, maybe we will scrap the album,” added Carrier. “EMI has been really supportive. They sent us down to LA to record the album and are endorsing this quasi-suicide tour to get us to cut our teeth in the touring. I have only good things to say about the experience so far.”
The band was on tour at the encouragement of their label, EMI, which has really gotten behind them. Label support can be tough to get for a new group, and it was evident both guys were very appreciative.
“We were signed awhile ago but they were very understanding that we didn’t feel we were ready to go into the studio and record an album, we wanted to make sure we had the songs ready,” Rose explained. “So we spent a lot of time after we were signed, making the record, to make sure we had a good album.”
The band made their way to LA to work with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith). In their limited downtime they found a mutual love of a classic 80’s sitcom.
“In LA we spent all our time in the studio and when we got back we would veg on the couch and watch TV for an hour. For some reason we were always drawn to Roseanne. It was always on and we were all into it. It is a good show, none of us had watched it in ten years but we all watched it when we were younger and related to it. So when we were walking in Hollywood and saw the star, we had to stop and get a picture. She was the only star we cared about.”
A critical move in any artist’s career, especially one breaking through like Sweet Thing, is the choice of the first single. Based on the fact that it has been stuck in my head since hearing it, Dance Mother was the right choice. It poses an interesting challenge as the album version of the song includes the lyric “I don’t want to dance motherfucker, but you’re giving me no choice.” There is a “clean” version but it is an interesting decision to use a song with “language.”
“It is our most rock sort of song on the album, for modern rock radio it was our best foot forward. It is too early to tell at this point (if motherfucker is an issue). So far, some radio stations have started picking up the clean version. It hasn’t been limiting us,” said Carrier.
“It will work both for us and against us. Some people will think it is brave and cool and others will think it is ridiculous and shouldn’t exist,” added Rose. “We just did it because we liked it. The song sounded great, word aside we really liked the song and thought it could cook.”
The video is creative as well, featuring the band in a high speed car chase to reclaim Rose’s missing heart, only to be kidnapped. Their foe’s vehicle changes from car to hovercraft to plane...I want it.
“All you need is a bunch of computers and you can have the car,” replied Rose, although that isn’t the same as actually having the car. “Christopher Mills was the director and has made a lot of great videos. He has a very cool distinctive style aesthetically, marrying live action with animation. We really liked his style and he gave us a great treatment for the video. We showed up in front of the green screen and sat there like a bunch of idiots and he did the rest. Holding my own beating heart, that was creepy, but it was a pig’s heart so I take some solace in knowing that. It was an actual pig’s heart straight from the butcher. I don’t know what that says about me.”
The band’s YouTube channel features goofy home-made videos, and their MySpace page has fan comments from all over the world. For a band like Sweet Thing, the internet is an excellent tool to share their music.
“There is some good and bad to it. The best part is that we get to connect with anyone in the world. When you get an Argentinian fan you get excited about that idea. The bad stuff is that you have to be constantly in touch and doing that. There are dead zones in Canada that you can’t even update things. For the most part it has been pretty beneficial because we get to do videos which we like to do,” explained Rose.
They have also made the most of their opportunities to learn from other bands that they have toured with.
“There isn’t a lot of working with them necessarily, but a band like the Arkells, who are doing extremely well, they are good friends of ours. Our bands started at the same time and played the same small clubs in Hamilton and Toronto at the same time. We have known them awhile so it is fun touring with them,” said Rose. “We have had the opportunity to open for bands like Sam Roberts or Stars - that is awesome. Seeing how they do it, their sound check, all the little things we can pick up. Being in their company on the same bill is good for morale.”
For Carrier it’s the chance to gain insight into others experiences that he has enjoyed.
“Touring with bands like Electric 6 or Dragonette, we get to sit down and swap war stories. We have so much to learn and they have been doing it for a little while so they tell us a few tips along the way. It is nice.”
Sweet Thing has received critical praise from ChartAttack and has been raved about by George Stroumboulopoulos. Carrier and Rose met in theatre school in Toronto so they embraced theatricality and drawing the audience in. So my expectations were high when I returned to Broken City later that night.
Holy shit. Not only were my expectations met, they were blown out of the water. Live, Sweet Thing is AMAZING. While an engaging personality one on one, somehow Owen Carrier transforms onstage into this incredibly charismatic front man, dancing in the audience, strutting the stage, and holding the fans in the palm of his hand. Like many great bands, the “front” of the band is always a team of singer and guitarist: Jon and Ritchie, Mick and Keith, Steven and Joe. You can add Owen and Nick to that list as the two play off each other brilliantly. The rest of the band more than holds their own, but I had a hard time tearing my eyes off of Carrier.
Although the crowd was small, based on this show, that won’t be the case for long. If you want a sample, take a look on YouTube as there are several live performances. They don’t quite capture the experience live, but it gives you an idea. Or better yet, check them out on tour this fall. From top to bottom their debut album is excellent. Based on their overall package, I am going to make a prediction – it won’t be long until Sweet Thing is headlining arenas. It will be different from their current tour of six guys in a van driving across country.
“There is a funk starting to come from the inside of the van a little bit but that is to be expected I guess,” said Carrier. Rose ended the interview by clarifying what Owen was trying to say.
“It smells like balls...sweaty, sweaty balls.”