Sloan Bones interviews Simon Stockner of "The Racket".

WAIL: Why did you as a band choose Santa Fe a song from the musical rent?  
 
Simon: Elijah, our lead singer/guitarist and songwriter of the band, chose to do a rendition of Jonathan Larson’s song, Santa Fe from his musical, “Rent”, because the musical is one of Elijah's favourites. As a band we love stripping down other artist's songs and building them back up in our own way. 

WAIL: The Idea behind your band is to make people more informed about their surroundings. How do you find the balance between the two?  

Simon: Our song writing is so inspired by event’s around the world, but in particular, event’s close to home such as the occupation of Lelu Island in Prince Rupert fighting against the proposed construction of an LNG plant that would devastate the wild salmon. On the other hand, it is in our nature to just jam and throw together some fun lighter tunes with the goal to get people dancing and having a good time. The balance between the two would be to play songs that can really bring people together and share a dance floor, then play our songs that send a message about social change. We believe music is a way to spread awareness of social issues by bringing people together, sharing the “vibe" of the night, and singing/playing from our hearts. 
 

WAIL: Your rhythm and blues influence is evident in your music. Which musicians have made it into your songs?

Simon: To name a few acclaimed artists that have made it into our original music would be Jack White, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Matt Corby, and Led Zeppelin. 

WAIL: When are you guys recording new music ? 

Simon: We will begin recording a full-length LP this April. Since we already have two EP’s out, "Out of the Cold" (2012) and “Fortune” (2015) and available on Bandcamp, we are really looking forward to recording our first LP. 

WAIL: Have you any plans to tour in the spring or summer?  
 

Simon: Yes, we do have plans to tour in the summer. We have applied to seven music festivals on Vancouver Island and are waiting to hear back from them and we'll soon start applying to play at bars, coffee shops, house concerts etc.. all over the island. A tour around the island is something we’ve been wanting to do for a while. Aside from that we do have a couple confirmed shows up north in the Bulkley Valley where we’re from. It’s pretty early to have any definite idea of what the summer will look like but we have hopes to play a lot and promote our new album (when it comes out). 

WAIL: What is best thing you like about Vancouver so far?

Simon: The thing we like best about Vancouver so far is probably the diversity in people. People from all over the world, all types personalities etc… and we are really excited to bring our music to as many of them as possible. We are super stoked to now live in this socially diverse city and call it home!

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