Marianas Trench Have Big Dreams And Incriminating Photos

“I think my big dream involves having bands like the Foo Fighters open for us. It’s good to dream small,” says Josh Ramsay, front man of Vancouver band Marianas Trench, and looking at the band’s current situation it wouldn’t surprise me if that “small” dream came true in the next few years.

With Marianas Trench’s first album for 604 Records, Fix Me, due out this summer, Josh and crew (drummer Ian Casselman, guitarist Matt Webb and bassist Michael Ayley) are doing whatever they can to get their name out now, including playing NXNE and a big Canada Day festival, all while clearly not taking themselves too seriously.

For most bands, signing a deal with 604 seems farfetched, much like Josh’s little Foos dream, but for Marianas Trench, it wasn’t as difficult as most may think.

“When I was about 17, I started sending demos to Jonathan when he was just an entertainment lawyer. Later on he did offer it (a contract) to us, but before that point my only solution was to visit his office every day and be a real dick.”

On top of having an album ready to come out on 604, the band was lucky enough to work with Dave Genn (Matthew Good Band, 54-40) as their producer and it was another thing that came naturally.

“When I first started working with Jonathan he introduced me to Dave and he started to give me his Dave Genn/Yoda music advice. But the only way Dave would produce our album was if I blackmailed him with lurid pictures of him and Matthew Good. “

All kidding aside, Marianas Trench also have their serious side, especially when it comes to describing their sound and how they work.

“It’s hard to classify what we do. There aren’t a lot of bands that sound like us. There are a lot of pieces that sound like us. We’re guitar driven, pop-rock, with complex vocal harmonies.”

All the band members share some sort of vocal duty in Marianas Trench so it’s those vocal harmonies that make the band stand out just that little bit compared to the rest.

“I think what sets us apart is that our writing is really focused on melodies. And everything follows that.”

In a world full of technology overpowering actual musicianship in the studio, Josh makes one thing very clear, what you hear is what you get.

“We didn’t do any Pro-Tools, no vocal fixing, no drum fixing and that’s good for when people see us because we sound like we do recorded.”

And since he mentioned it, I guess we’ll all have to get a copy of Fix Me this summer and then head out to a show to see if he’s right.

- Alyssa Caplin

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