Canadian Alt-Rock band Signal Static has just released their brand new single 'Under The Skin'. The band, who formed in 2015, are influenced by the likes of Tool, Chevelle and Pendulum. Through their music they explore personal introspection and social commentar, delving into the struggles and victories that shape the human experience.
We caught up with the band to talk all things 'Signal Static' and about the important message and meaning behind the new single.
Introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the band?
Certainly, the band is: Ryan Stringer - Lead Vocals
Gino Klein - Guitar
Randy Camponi - Drums
Alex Beaudoin - Bass
Tell us a little about your band, how you got together and the story behind the name if there is one.
The origins of the name are a bit controversial. Randy claims he came up with it, and Gino says it was him. Ryan, meanwhile, maintains that he came up with it in the shower, but that’s mostly just his way of stirring the pot. The true story is lost to the vagaries of time.
As far as the meaning of the name goes, the world is full of static and noise, and our songs have always tried to find some kind of truth in all of that. Looking for signals in the static, as it were.
The band originally started with Ryan on bass, Gino on guitar, and Randy on drums in late 2015 or so. Ryan had been in other bands with Gino and Randy separately and introduced the two of them at his wedding, which is when the wheels started spinning to start a band. The three of us wrote the first few songs that would eventually appear on our debut album “Start Transmission”. We eventually found ourselves a lead singer and frontman, Connor, who was with us for the first few years and recorded that first album with us.
We finished the album right on the heels of Covid lockdowns and then found ourselves stuck without being able to do any of the normal things that a band does to promote new material, play shows, etc. Connor left the band and the three of us spent the next three years or so pretty much reinventing what Signal Static was. Ryan started to take on the lead vocalist role as a stop-gap for recording new demos, etc, and eventually we decided to make that a permanent move.
As Ryan will be the first to tell you, he didn’t feel he could adequately perform the frontman role while also holding up the bass end of things, so we went on a hunt for a bassist to replace him. After jamming with some people, Alex came along and impressed the hell out of everybody.
And this is the new era of Signal Static. We’re super excited about what’s to come!
Tell us a bit about your latest single, what’s the story behind the song?
‘Under the Skin’ is our new single which we’re about to drop on May 13th. The song is inspired by countless stories told by friends and acquaintances in the trans and non-binary communities about their challenges, but more importantly their victories.
It’s kind of an uncharacteristically upbeat song given our tendency to write a lot about political and social issues in a way that isn’t always particularly optimistic, but at its core we are addressing something which carries with it no small amount of pain and strife.
It is important to be clear that we are not telling our own stories here, but amplifying the stories of others who are often overlooked.
What is your writing process like? Do you start with lyrics and then come up with a melody or is it the other way round?
We have a pretty democratic process, and we’re open to songs coming about through a variety of different means. Typically we’ll come up with a basic song structure somewhat on the fly together based off of some riff, or a drum beat, or even a bit of a lyric. Sometimes one of us will bring in a more fully formed idea that the rest of us will then build on and develop together.
Gino comes up with a lot of our tastiest riffs, while Ryan writes a lot of the lyrical content, and Randy has always been the rhythmic glue that ties it all together. Now that we have a few songs under our belts that we’ve built with Alex, his particular take on bass has started to assert itself in a way that complements and expands upon what Ryan established on bass previously.
What bands were you listening to when you were writing this release? Do you think it had an effect on the end sound?
Tool, Chevelle, Filter, Queens of the Stoneage, Royal Blood, Platinum Blonde. You know, all the classics.
If you have a music video to go along with this single, what is the story behind that, was it fun to make?
We are working on a video for ‘Under the Skin’ which should be out in the next little while. We decided to take a sort of a hybrid approach, similar to what we did with our previous single ‘Objects of Affection’, where we mix the filmed sequences along with stock footage to create a visual story.
In ‘Under the Skin’ we’re using the imagery of astronauts going on a journey into the unknown in the hopes of ending up in a better world, and we’ll leave the rest for people to see once it’s done!
What can you tell us about the release that the song has come from?
Not much just yet. ‘Under the Skin’ will be dropping as a standalone single for now, and a full album will be coming hopefully later this year.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
We jam in an underground bunker that would be the perfect hideout in a zombie apocalypse.
Do you have any shows coming up that we should get ourselves along to?
We do! We’ll be playing our first show since the pandemic on Saturday May 13th, here in Victoria at the Phoenix Bar & Grill. Then in a couple of weeks we’re playing as part of FallenFest 2023 on May 27th at the same place. If you’re in town, get your ass out there, it’ll be a great time!
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