Back during the winter of 2008, a new band emerged out of the Edmonton music scene containing members from both The Get Down and Les Tabernacles. Calling themselves the Old Wives, they released a 7-inch during this time. Although their Bassist, Ted Wright, decided to bow out of the Old Wives and continue on with his other projects, they decided to re-define their sound toward a more pop-punk genre and leaned away from their current garage intonation. The Old Wives then regrouped with Bassist, Ryan Dix. Coming to play at the Distillery for Knucklehead’s CD Release party with the Vicious Cycles on Friday, November 5th, Audio Distortion decided to sit down with their current guitarist, Liam Harvey Olswald, to ask him a few questions.
AD: Tell me three things you could not play a show without (other than your instrument)
“A shot of whisky, a beer and a hat to cover my bald ass head.”
AD: Is there any meaning behind the name “The Old Wives?”
“Yes and no, I guess. I think a couple of us were just trying to name the band and a lot of the names we came up with were either too cheesy or too ‘rad’. So, Darren had all of a sudden came up with the name The Old Wives, and right away we were all laughing because throughout history we had always been called ‘the old wives of the band,’ probably because we’re too old or we bitch too much. However you want to put it. But at the same time nobody ever thought that Darren and I would play together again, so it was kind of an old wives’ tale.”
AD: Can you tell me about your most memorable show?
“Opening for Screeching Weasel, but only because I’ve been a fan since the early days of punk rock when Epitaph was coming out with this stuff during the 90s’. Screeching Weasel was kind of the band for me that blended a lot of the old school with the new school and it touched home because that’s how I was writing songs. I mean, not all of my songs are focused on a political agenda and not all of them are focused on girls; I just write what I write. I’ll also never forget that Ben Weasel wore our shirt on stage and we had about 200 people come up to us and say, ‘Holy Shit, Man! That guy loves your band!’ but I don’t even know if they saw us play. He just wanted a shirt.”
AD: If you could describe The Old Wives in only one sentence, how would you describe them?
“Old, bald, fat & fun!”
AD: What are your top 3 favourite albums of all time?
“Oh, that’s a tough one! I bet every single band you’ve ever asked that to either has no fucking clue or they know it right away. I’m going to say,
‘The Ramones,’ Ramones. ‘Steve Earle,’ The Mountain, and anything from Sun Records back in the early
days.”
AD: Do you think that any of this music has influenced the band you play in now?
“Well, the Ramones for sure. Sometimes it beats me down that I’ve never really become an accomplished guitar player and I just play the way that I play. But, I taught myself how to play and the Ramones really influenced me for life.”
“I’ve never really had the aspiration to be a great guitar player but I love to write songs, I love to sing and I love being in front of a crowd. For that reason alone I’m going to say the Ramones because less is more, you know?”
AD: Sex, Drugs, or Rock & Roll?
“Shit, that has to be somewhere right smack-dab in the middle. I love the sex, the drugs and the rock and roll, but throw a line in front of me and I’ll do it.”
AD: What does the future for the Old Wives look like?
“We’re just going to keep on keeping’ on I guess. I mean, we’ve had our best year ever that any of us has ever had. We went down to the States to record the record that we released in May with Mass Giorgini, who has recorded really anything that you can think of.”
“We’ve played some amazing shows and received some amazing feedback opening for shows like Warped Tour, Pennywise, the Misfits and Screeching Weasel. Yet, it’s been really hard because we’re not ‘cool enough’ to be in the underground pop-punk scene and not ‘mainstream enough’ to be in mainstream pop-punk. We all love Canada first and foremost, but we are really hoping to get down to the places that actually appreciate what we do like Europe, Italy or Japan.”
AD: Tell me three things you could not play a show without (other than your instrument)
“A shot of whisky, a beer and a hat to cover my bald ass head.”
AD: Is there any meaning behind the name “The Old Wives?”
“Yes and no, I guess. I think a couple of us were just trying to name the band and a lot of the names we came up with were either too cheesy or too ‘rad’. So, Darren had all of a sudden came up with the name The Old Wives, and right away we were all laughing because throughout history we had always been called ‘the old wives of the band,’ probably because we’re too old or we bitch too much. However you want to put it. But at the same time nobody ever thought that Darren and I would play together again, so it was kind of an old wives’ tale.”
AD: Can you tell me about your most memorable show?
“Opening for Screeching Weasel, but only because I’ve been a fan since the early days of punk rock when Epitaph was coming out with this stuff during the 90s’. Screeching Weasel was kind of the band for me that blended a lot of the old school with the new school and it touched home because that’s how I was writing songs. I mean, not all of my songs are focused on a political agenda and not all of them are focused on girls; I just write what I write. I’ll also never forget that Ben Weasel wore our shirt on stage and we had about 200 people come up to us and say, ‘Holy Shit, Man! That guy loves your band!’ but I don’t even know if they saw us play. He just wanted a shirt.”
AD: If you could describe The Old Wives in only one sentence, how would you describe them?
“Old, bald, fat & fun!”
AD: What are your top 3 favourite albums of all time?
“Oh, that’s a tough one! I bet every single band you’ve ever asked that to either has no fucking clue or they know it right away. I’m going to say,
‘The Ramones,’ Ramones. ‘Steve Earle,’ The Mountain, and anything from Sun Records back in the early
days.”
AD: Do you think that any of this music has influenced the band you play in now?
“Well, the Ramones for sure. Sometimes it beats me down that I’ve never really become an accomplished guitar player and I just play the way that I play. But, I taught myself how to play and the Ramones really influenced me for life.”
“I’ve never really had the aspiration to be a great guitar player but I love to write songs, I love to sing and I love being in front of a crowd. For that reason alone I’m going to say the Ramones because less is more, you know?”
AD: Sex, Drugs, or Rock & Roll?
“Shit, that has to be somewhere right smack-dab in the middle. I love the sex, the drugs and the rock and roll, but throw a line in front of me and I’ll do it.”
AD: What does the future for the Old Wives look like?
“We’re just going to keep on keeping’ on I guess. I mean, we’ve had our best year ever that any of us has ever had. We went down to the States to record the record that we released in May with Mass Giorgini, who has recorded really anything that you can think of.”
“We’ve played some amazing shows and received some amazing feedback opening for shows like Warped Tour, Pennywise, the Misfits and Screeching Weasel. Yet, it’s been really hard because we’re not ‘cool enough’ to be in the underground pop-punk scene and not ‘mainstream enough’ to be in mainstream pop-punk. We all love Canada first and foremost, but we are really hoping to get down to the places that actually appreciate what we do like Europe, Italy or Japan.”
Written By Hayley Instigator Sands
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