Vancouver’s SLIP~ons Announce Debut EP with Video for “Heavy Machinery”
What do you get when you combine two Canadian music legends into one guitar-heavy, power-pop unit that strives to sound like Minneapolis in the 90s? You get SLIP~ons! They come by their brand of rock honestly, with Brock Pytel of The Doughboys on guitar and Brian Minato of Sarah McLachlan on bass. Add to the mix Rob “Shockk” Matharu of The Spitfires on guitar, and Shane Wilson on drums and you’ve got a rock ‘n’ roll quartet with a vibe not unlike The Lemonheads, Hüsker Dü, Ash, The Replacements, or Dinosaur Jr.
After a long run of obstacles, SLIP~ons have finally been able to announce their debut EP Heavy Machinery (mixed by Dave Ogalvie of Skinny Puppy fame) with a single and accompanying video for the title track of their new vinyl release.
The black and white video (directed and edited by the R.D. Cane, shot by Ryan C. Clark) consists of layers of short montages of the band in rehearsal with heady, swirling edits that play with time and space. Viewers get a frenetic and intimate side stage view of the band rocking, with Shockk’s sick guitar solo a climax in the middle of the video.
The visual style of the video allows the deep rhythm of the track to shine through, and as director RD states,
“It’s cool to provide a comfortable playground to let the boys be as comfortable and real as possible.”
The video highlights real-time recording of the band to capture the feel of their enigmatic live performances.
Reflecting on the video shoot, Brock says,
“I’ve always been a bit iffy on music videos, so we just borrowed some grip gear and lamps from my film buddies and created a bit of a playground in our rehearsal space for RD to do his thing. Jam Space Confidential was the theme. RD was really working up a sweat directing traffic, and I love that you can see the crew moving around with us moving ladders and waving light wands.”
The track “Heavy Machinery” has Pytel’s signature gravelly vocals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics that paint a picture of a night out wandering around Vancouver’s East Side. The pounding guitars offer grungy, punchy licks with hints of The Pixies and build up to a crescendo that echoes the name of the track. Sparse but poignant gang vocals round out the sound and add an interesting depth to the song.
Looking at the EP as a whole, Pytel mentions some early praise it has already garnered:
“The mastering engineer, Ronan Chris Murphy, is a dear friend that I’ve known since the Doughboys played with his band Pumphouse at Rockitz in Richmond, Virginia in the late eighties. He got back to me after I sent him the audio files to work on and said, ‘This might be the best music I have ever heard from you. Good job doin’ us old guys proud.’”
Watch the video for “Heavy Machinery” below and learn more about SLIP~ons via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
Sure! My name is Brock Pytel. I sing and play in a band called SLIP~ons. I used to play drums and sing
in a Montreal pop-punk band called Doughboys back when “Paradise City” by Guns ‘N’ Roses
was a top-10 hit.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Our latest single, “Heavy Machinery” just came out today (May 19, 2023) and is the title track
to a five-song 12” EP coming out June 30th (you can pre-order now). It was recorded by the late
Olivia Quan and mixed by Dave Ogilvie here in Vancouver. So far, people have said I sound like
Bob Mould, Chris Cornell, and the Boss, which to me is pretty all over the map, but I’ll take it!
We do like big electric guitars and Shane (Wilson), our drummer, plays very hard, so maybe
those comparisons are not far off…
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
I tend to draw from things that happen in my life, generally stuff that I have a strong emotional
connection or response to, as far as lyrical ideas are concerned. Behind most of the music I love,
there is often a crazy idea that somehow, everything is going to be ok, so reaching after that
inspires me. Sometimes, the music just sounds a certain way, which puts an image in my head.
When Shockk played the opening riff to Mosquito, that is what I heard. The extended metaphor
of a mosquito being problems in life that don’t go away, came from that image.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We are doing a release party for the new record at Green Auto here in Vancouver in August.
Indications, one of the rad bands on Early Onset Records, is joining us, with some other guests.
We are also doing the 12th Street Festival in New West, which Shockk is excited about because
it’s all ages so his younger students can actually come to see him shred (or trip and fall over his
guitar cable when jumping in the air!). Beyond that, we’ll see what we can get sorted once the
dust settles with the new record.
What’s your goal for 2023?
The goal for 2023, is to stay healthy, and positive, and to reach as many ears and hearts with our
music as possible. We’d love to sell out the first pressing of the EP and find licensees in the US
and Europe so we can play everywhere from Staten Island to Barcelona. Thanks for asking!
Connect with SLIP~ons:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok