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Seriously unserious
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With 15 years behind them, and just a year less for their label Stomp, Montreal’s Planet Smashers know the secrets of longevity. “Honestly,” says singer/guitarist Matt Collyer, “the biggest one is, don’t take yourself seriously. “I think that’s what we’ve done with the present line-up. Everyone is similar in that we can go, ‘Okay, we’re in the Planet Smashers, a fun party ska band. We’re not writing symphonies or the anthem for the Olympics.’ The pressure really isn’t all that great. As long as we’re having fun, we’re gonna be okay.’ Okay or better—aside from the Warped Tour and a European jaunt this past year, the Smashers flew to Japan for the release of the Catman DVD and soundtrack, the latter lovingly provided by Collyer and co., natch. The animated series by Ryosuke Aioke began as a Web-only project in 2001, but its third season was picked up by Fuji TV for countrywide broadcast. Since then, Collyer admits the quintet has been “just recuperating from seven years of full-time touring,” and chilling on the new-material front. “It doesn’t mean we won’t do something down the line. Actually, we probably will, but it has to be good.” Damn right it does. The Planet Smashers are the last men standing of the ’90s third-wave ska scene, and among the first too, having formed a full week before the Kingpins (who might disagree, but they broke up so nobody’s asking them). As such, they have an obligation to show the next wave of ska kids how it’s done and done right. Uh, there is a next wave, isn’t there? “It’s percolating. There’s a bunch of new bands with interesting stuff going on. Will Montreal still be the stronghold of North American ska? It’s hard to say. It’ll take a bit of work to get it back up to what it was, but that’s okay. It has to ebb and flow. “When we started, Me Mom & Morgentaler were at their peak, but they finished pretty quickly around then, so there was a real low. Maybe the same will happen with the Smashers—we’ll be wrapping it up and a bunch of new young bands will be partying together and arguing over who formed first.” WITH THE CREEPSHOW AT CLUB SODA |
