Lithium Magazine

By: Alex Young
Conducted on Monday, September 6th 2010

www.myspace.com/eldebrockband

Cut from the same cloth as Nickelback, Three Days Grace and Theory of a Deadman; Eldebrock is a newly founded Canadian rock band that has recently released their self-titled debut album. This band’s arena sized sound and hard rock influences have given birth to anthemic choruses and power ballads that will have your horns in the air one moment and singing along the next. The album was mixed by the renowned hands of Michael Wagener who has mixed such legendary albums as “No More Tears” by Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica’s seminal album “Master of Puppets”. The album’s first single “Release Me” should be hitting radio waves soon and will have you crooning along to some new commercial Canadian rock.

Del Bannerman, rhythm guitarist for the band and one of the first members, took some time out of his schedule to discuss plans for their album release, ideas for their upcoming tour, and let fans know where their future is headed.

Alex: How were you guys able to come together to form one band despite your busy schedules?

Del: Yeah, actually that was one of the hardest things was getting good guys together. We’re all spread apart, Richard (Lalonde, Eldebrock’s bassist) and I are in the same town here, (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and Jay (Wegenast, lead singer for Eldebrock) moved here from Vancouver. He (Jay) had a buddy who ended becoming the lead guitarist (Barrett Moore) and I had cousin that became our drummer (Shawn Bannerman) so we just got together and went from there.

Alex: What was it that tipped you guys off from turning this into what could have been just a passion project with your buddies jamming in your garage to a full-fledged band making a full length album?

Del: It was a goal of mine and once Richard and Jay, the three of us got together and that was the goal from the start and we started going at it really hard. Once we realized we could get Michael Wagener (who mixed the album) it really went into high gear.

Alex: Yeah. How did he (Michael Wagener) come to fit in the picture?

Del: Actually I just looked at some albums I liked from the past, I just picked up a Skid Row album and he was the producer and mixed on that one (Wagener mixed the self-titled 1989 debut from Skid Row and their 1991 album “Slave to the Grind”). I grabbed the Ozzy “No More Tears” album and he also mixed that one, I shot him an email and he got back to me and he was all over it. So we just booked a date and went out there.

Alex: How perfect is that? What’s it like to work with a guy that’s had this Midas touch on so many powerhouse albums and been so close to so many of your influences?

Del: It was pretty amazing just being in the studio with him, seeing how he works and hanging out with him for the few weeks we were there. It’s pretty cool.

Alex: For sure. I’m sure it was nice to have someone you’re more familiar with too like Ryan Anderson (who produced the album).

Del: Yeah.

Alex: It’s kind of the best of both worlds where you’re sticking around with a familiar face and trying new things.

Del: Yeah, for sure.

Alex: What were you guys able to accomplish than any of the other bands you’ve been in because they were headed in different directions?

Del: It’s just the level we wanted to take it; we wanted to make a living doing it instead of just jamming and hanging out. We work at it from eight in the morning until bed essentially every day trying to make it happen. It’s the effort put into it that’s makes the difference.

Alex: Definitely. First of all, to focus more on the album itself, I was wondering where the songs “Lost and Lonely Souls” and “Release Me” came from being a riff to being a full-fledged song?

Del: I guess some of that was just looking at our situation and wanting to do more in life and we just kind of worked on it from there. Jay put all the lyrics to that.

Alex: Are there any songs that stick out particularly in your mind or struck a personal note for you guys?

Del: I guess “Lost and Lonely Souls” does it for us as a band because it just talks about doing more, following your dreams and making it happen.

Alex: And watching things go from ideas in your head to an actual part of reality?

Del: Yeah, exactly. Like when you have the physical album in your hand and that kind of thing.

Alex: What do you guys have in store for the tour? Are there any bands in particular you’re looking to tour with?

Del: We are, there are so many different options and even talking with different agencies and deciding which route to go. We want to do it as big as we can. We’ve made a list of forty bands we’d like to tour with that we’re trying to work on to.

Alex: In a perfect world what’s one band you would love to tour with or share the stage with?

Del: I guess the main one for us would be Alice in Chains.

Alex: Yeah, they’re actually on tour with the Deftones and Mastodon right now. On top of that, if you guys were able to collaborate with any bands, who would it be?
Del: Alice in Chains would be one that would be massive for us and someone like Zakk Wylde would be pretty crazy.

Alex: Is the album dedicated to anyone or did you have anyone in mind while you were making it? Was there anybody that really inspired you to keep pushing on?

Del: I guess not really any individual thing but for me I had to prove it to myself and I think it’s the same with the other guys, that we could actually do it.

Alex: Essentially, what drew you to the band in the first place on top of a personal relationship with your buddies? What was it that drew you in to making this something real?
Del: Originally it was just a concept. I started the band originally to take it further; I guess the main thing was getting the guys that have their shit together to make it happen.

Alex: Yeah. Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk.

Del: Thanks a lot for doing this.