SOUNDSPEED: Degrassi Boys Rock Out

February 4th, 2010

SoundSpeed

Wellity, Wellity, Wellity – looks like our boy Drake isn’t the only Degrassi kid making waves in the ocean of musical awesomeness. Meet Soundspeed – a dope new alternative rock band that just so happens to be comprised of actors from one of your favourite TV shows (said TV show = the greatest thing to come out of Canada since Poutine and Ketchup chips if you didn’t already know…). Sav, Spinner, Danny, Peter and Jonny – I mean… Ray, Shane, Dalmar, Jamie, Scott and their buddy Sean (who isn’t on Degrassi: The Next Generation but is cuuute enough for you to swoon over anyways) dropped their debut EP Soundspeed Hello! at a packed (and rather badass) showcase on Friday night at 6 Degrees nightclub.

You best believe that your girl O’Nizzle was there to score some juicy VIP deets for your oh-so-sexy MuchMusic blog reading pleasure. A whole whack of photographic evidence + exclusive interview with the band can be found after the jump… SO JUMP!

Alright, so here’s the quick & dirty: Soundspeed = Raymond Ablack on vocals, Dalmar Abuzeid on bass, Jamie Johnston on guitar, Scott Paterson on trumpet (and keytar!), Shane Kippel on the drums and Sean Farquharson on guitar. Much like the characters they play inside your television box, these guys like to rock out in their spare time.

Being SoundSpeed-y.

How did this all go down, you ask? Welllll some musical banter between the boys while they were chilling on set led to a few jam sessions and yadda yadda yadda – the chemistry was correct, the band was born, and now girls throw panties at them when they hit the stage.

No jokes. Shane put them on his head.

pantaloons in da fayce

The house was packed. It was unlike any other EP debut I’ve ever been to – then again, most bands aren’t already famous to begin with. I’ve got to give props where they’re deserved though – the crazy reception was justified. Soundspeed put on a hell of a show; great stage presence and, I’m no music critic, but I dug their sound too. I dug it all the way to CHINA, son!

But enough of this mushy “OMG I LAHV THA BAND!” shite. Like I said, I’m no music critic – I’m a BLAWGER, and a faux-tographer too! Wanna see some piccies? HELLZ YES YOU DO!

Adamo Ruggiero, Michael Seater & Lauren Collins came out to show some love for their buddies, awww!:

Adamo and the rest

More Degrassi!:

Girls Gone Degrassi

I am the meat in this hottie sandwich. Shane Kippel and Josh Trager (from Sam Roberts band) are sexy, sexy bread. Guy making funny face in background, you are my hero. Let’s get married.:

PHOTOBOMBZ

The Soundspeedsters signing autographs for fans – ALL of the fans. This took a long time.

Autographz

Some chick sent the band a flowery love letter, which they opened after the show. Cute AND creepy – my favourite:

lahv lahv lahv

The guys sit down in a corner and prepare to be interviewed by the world’s blondest journalist:

Shut down that ruckus!

I was planning to ask them about their musical influences and all of that typical band interview jazz, but I got side tracked trying to get the guys to stump me with dead baby joke punch lines (Shane was the only one who could.) Did I mention that they’re funny as fahk? Now you know.

I also wanted to get some juicy Degrassi gossip (ya know – find out who’s schtooped who, who’s a DIVA on set – that kind of stuff), but the boys keep it classy. No naked cell phone snaps or catty remarks from this corner. Bummer…

Here’s what I did learn about Soundspeed when I wasn’t busy trying to score Joey Jeremiah’s phone number:

Soundspeed = “SHUT UP AND LISTEN, BITCHES!” – Sort of.

Apparently, in the TV-show-filming biz, when somebody shouts “Sound Speed!” it means that audio is being recorded and it’s time to stop yapping. For a group of guys who’ve practically grown up on set, the name seems appropriate. In the writing biz, when our bosses want us to shut up and listen they just yell “STFU YOU LIPPY BLONDE IDIOT!” I like “Soundspeed” better.

Keytar = a keyboard that you wear like a guitar.
I wasn’t even aware that such a thing existed (again – I suck at music), but it’s freaking AWESOME and I want one. Maybe Scott will teach me how to play…

The band likes BOOBIES (who doesn’t).
They got a chance to sign a luscious pair after they played and were very excited about that (wouldn’t you be?). In case you were wondering, it was an over-the-bra type of situation. This is a PG-13 blog, ladies and gentlemen.

Dynamic frontman Mr. Ray Ablack writes Soundspeed’s songs.
Fitting, as he’s the guy who sings them.

I had to ask the obvious: “Sooo, what’s cooler? Being a TV star or being rock star?”
The general consensus was that they’re both pretty stellar roles to play (obvs). Soundspeed loves music AND acting – and the lucky bahstahds get to actually make a career out of doing both. Jamie put it well, however, when he said that acting on the show is sweet, but he’s more proud of what he’s doing with the band. “It’s something we created from scratch,” he said. “This is all us.”

Playing a live show feels like riding a unicorn over a rainbow into a pot of gold. Yup.

Their families and friends are super supportive.
I know this because their families were all there! Dalmar’s little brother Daru was the cutest boy in the club by far:

D'awww.

In conclooojeeeyon – Soundspeed’s showcase was solid.

I’ve got to admit, I was skeptical when I heard about this band – actors turned musicians? Yeah, been thurr, wasted money on that before (If Lindsay Lohan is reading this blog, please send $14 to Lauren O’Nizzle. I accept paypal). Soundspeed is legit though. Legit aaaand cute. Two pigtails up from this blogger – but I’m sorry guys, my favourite Degrassi-related band is still, and will always be, The Zit Remedy.

zitremedy

Oh Oh OH! And SPEAKING of old-school Degrassi heart-throbs – GUESS WHO ELSE came out to support the band?

Snake

SNAKE!!!

I was obviously very excited about this.

Missed the showcase? Sucks to be you… but FORTUNATELY you can catch the guys rocking out on February 9th at ‘We Day’ in Hamilton. In the meantime, check out their MySpace and watch this hilarious promo video. It only took them 4 takes to do the “everybody say one word of the sentence in order” part without messing up:

Noooice :)