Fast punk or slow punk? These Fast Times are fans of both, and produce something that falls kind of in the middle…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Montreal, Quebec in Canada
How did you meet?
Ryan and Jeff were previously in a band called W!ndslow, after breaking up Jeff put up ads looking for a guitarist. Jason answered one of the ads and after the original bassist dropped out of the band Jason took over. Not long after that Thomas wrote us, had a few jams and joined the band.
How long have you been playing as a band?
We’ve been playing together since about 2013, so about 6 years.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We’ll never get tired of answering questions! Originally we wanted to be called “Excited School Girls” or something to that effect, but we realized that searching for this band name online could potentially bring up an astounding amount of porn sites, so we rethought about it and decided to change it. These Fast Times comes from the lyrics of the song “Fast Times” by Bouncing Souls, from their Comet album. At one point in the song they sing “These Fast Times” and Ryan, being a big Bouncing Souls fan, always wanted to name a band after that phrase. After hearing the name we agreed that it would be a great name for us, seeing as we play fast and everything was coming together for our band fast.
What are your influences?
We all grew listing to pop punk like Blink 182, Sum 41, and New Found Glory. we all like the same music but love different bands. some of our biggest influences are Bouncing Souls, Foo Fighters, Gaslite Anthem, Against Me!, Andrew W.K, Blink 182, Amber Pacific, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dropkick Murphys and Rancid. Pretty much anything fast, aggressive and loud!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Our style is a mix of punk / pop punk / rock. It stems from Ryan and Jeff liking the “faster punk”, Jason liking the “slower punk” and Thomas liking rock music. It creates a nice medley of music that we love playing.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Heartbreaks, anti-love, infidelity, the insanity of staying in an upsetting situation and the first world problems of being in a band.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Besides Thomas and Jason falling off stage, and having people scream randomly into the mic that Jeff left it in the crowds, we haven’t had too many wild things happen! We apparently need to step up our game!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
- Jeff: plays a Gretsch Electromatic Jet, into an Orange Crush CR120H and an Orange 4X12.
- Thomas: plays an Epiphone black beauty into a Fender Stage 100 head and a Fender 4×12.
- Jason: plays with 2 custom basses ( one p bass and one jazz bass style) into an Ampeg SVT-4 pro and a custom 4×12 cab.
- Ryan: plays a Taye Pro X 3 piece drum set, with Pearl Master stage snare. he also uses 2 Zildjan Z Custom 19″ crashes, AAX 14″ Rock hi-hats, AAX 20″ ride, and uses proMark 5a standard sticks.
What are your plans for 2019?
Play more shows and record more music! We’re looking into doing a cross-Canada and a European tour. We like to release a bunch of singles throughout the year.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
It’s hard to say because we all love different bands. but a quick breakdown of bands we’d love to open for would be:
- Jeff: Against Me!
- Jason: Amber Pacific
- Thomas: Nirvana if Kurt was alive/ or the Foo Fighters
- Ryan: Bouncing Souls
As for openers it’s hard to say because we’ve played with a lot of great bands. to shamelessly drop a few names there’s Crown Vic, Far South, Down Memory Lane, and once we get a bit bigger maybe Ten Foot Pole or Guerilla Poubelle.
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