Track by track - Not That I Care

 Originally posted on Barrietoday.com as part of the Scene Setter series (#23 - July 30, 2022).

We’re switching things up a little bit this time and taking a deeper-drive into an upcoming release and getting the inside scoop, track by track. 

Not That I Care, the all-female four-piece who currently call Barrie home were making their way in the local scene and ready to unleash their original music. Unfortunately, they were primed to hit the clubs in early 2020 when, well, you know. 

Two years later, Leighla-Jane Quail (Guitar & Vocals), Samantha Brown (Lead Guitar), Jessica Rosati (Bass), and Alyssa Rosati (Drums) are releasing their first EP this Friday, August 5th.. Before their EP release party on August 11th, I had the opportunity to ask the band a few questions about their journey so far and have a deeper look at each track. 

Richard: How did Not That I Care come to exist as a band and what prompted the formation of the band?

Jessica: We all took music lessons at the same music school at one point or another so we were all familiar with each other. Lyss, Leighla and I started going to the open mic nights at Sticky Fingers, which were hosted by our music teachers. It was really what got us jamming together. The three of us would get together and learn some covers and then play them at Sticky Fingers. Eventually we started going to The Foxx Lounge for open mic nights too and that led to us playing one of our first shows there. We were hooked. We started writing our own music and began bringing our originals to the open mic nights at The Foxx. It wasn’t long into writing more music together that we realized we needed another guitar player and that’s when we reached out to Sam and asked her to come be in our band.

Alyssa: After being a 3 piece for about a year, we decided that a fourth member was needed to complete the sound that we were aiming for. Sam Brown (lead guitar) was taking guitar lessons at Barrie Music School at the time, and we knew that her talents would fit perfectly in the band. After jamming all together, the band was finally complete and we were able to experiment a lot more with different sounds, styles, and song writing. 

Richard: What influences you as individual artists and how do your influences affect the overall sound or tone of the band?

Alyssa: 2 of my biggest inspirations in music have always been Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins. I can’t quite put into words how much those 2 have influenced me growing up as a drummer and inspiring me as much as they do. Almost every drum beat I play or make up is inspired by the way that they played, and everytime I’m physically playing I’m thinking “How would Dave/Taylor play this?” I try to bring this energy to every song we write as a band. Heavy, simple, rock and roll drums sound the best on any song. As much as it’s fun to play around with complicated beats and impressive time signatures, sticking to what inspires me creates an amazing energy while playing with the ladies, and nothing will ever feel as good as that. 

Jessica: We grew up listening to a lot of the same music yet our influences are a little bit different and I think that’s an important factor when it comes to our “sound”. I think the fact that we love a lot of the same music but are inspired by different bands/artists is what keeps our song writing interesting. We all get to feed off each other that way and it makes the writing process a lot more fun. To name a few, Rage Against The Machine, The Raconteurs, Nirvana and Paramore are huge influences for me.

Leighla-Jane: My personal & band influences include: Avril Lavigne, Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine, Foo Fighters, & Tool! 

Samantha: Personally, all the music that I love influences me equally. Namely bands like Taking Back Sunday, Midtown, The Academy Is, Armor for Sleep, Billy Talent, etc. I definitely draw inspiration from these bands and subconsciously I find myself using aspects of each one in the guitar bits I write. It’s a lovely mess!

Richard: Where did the title Lost All Sense come from and why did you choose it for your first release?

Leighla-Jane: We noticed that a lot of our songs were mentioning or based on the five senses or lack thereof; hearing (Silence, Tell Me), sight (Blind), lack of thought or common sense (Clueless).

Alyssa: We noticed a pattern with the names of our songs. They all related to a sense or feeling somehow - and that was not on purpose at all! The way it worked out just made sense to title the EP based on senses. 

Jessica: Once we decided on which songs would be on the EP, we started throwing around some names for it and Lost All Sense is one that kind of resonated with all of us. We did a lot of writing and all the recording during the pandemic, between lockdowns and whatnot. It was a pretty difficult time for us as a band since we were just starting to get some momentum at the beginning of 2020 when Sam joined and we had some of our first shows booked. We had all these plans and were so excited to put ourselves out there but then we ended up being apart for months at a time because of covid. Nothing really made sense anymore so I think that ties into the title a little bit.

Richard: What was the recording process like for the EP?

Jessica: Recording was a huge learning curve for us because we were all new to it. Bryan Lake, who is Lyss’ and my stepdad, did all the recording for us. We ended up scrapping almost everything and starting over again after several months as we kept learning about recording and what we wanted to sound like.

Alyssa: We started recording in Bryan’s (of System Status Red) jam space in the middle of Covid. Bryan had some recording gear and was experimenting with mixing so he wanted to help us get started. By the time the drums and bass & guitars were done, he had continued learning and practicing so much more that we wanted to basically re-do everything because he was able to do extra mixing/edits on the instruments. So Jess, Sam, and Leighla re-recorded every instrument on every song. It was a long process and they were all really long days. Bryan did most of the mixing and when it was done we sent it off to Catherine North studios to get fully mixed. It’s funny because we thought it would have only taken 6 months or a year, and it ended up taking 2 years! But we wouldn’t change anything.

Richard: As an all-female grunge band and using music as your platform, do you have any advice you would like to share or say anything to any haters? 

Alyssa: Women don’t get taken as seriously as men, especially in this male dominant industry. My advice would be to do what you love no matter what, and do it with people who constantly bring you up. Be strong and be powerful. Don’t ever let anyone have a negative effect on pursuing your passion. And hit your drums as hard as you possibly can! 

Leighla-Jane: Live as your true self no matter who you’re with and the right people will stick around. As for the haters, we love them too! They’re just fuel for new music.

Jessica: Honestly, we have a lot of support from our families and our peers but as young women in music, I think it’s a little more difficult for us to be taken seriously sometimes. I think it’s important to be genuine, if people don’t like that then that’s okay but we’re not looking to change who we are or how we write in order to make people happy. We write music for ourselves and getting to share that music with other people is a huge honour.

Track by track

Track 1: Blind 

Alyssa: One day when we were sitting in my kitchen, Leighla was just goofing around on the guitar, not meaning to play anything seriously. She ended up playing a super catchy riff - which is now the chorus to this song. I remember being like “Stop! Play that again! It has to be a song!” and I immediately went upstairs and wrote lyrics to it. The lyrics are about the effect of being manipulated and not seeing it, and when you finally do, it’s extremely eye opening. Being so blinded by toxicity can be painful and cause so much anger, and that’s what is expressed through the lyrics of this song. With the song expressing so much anger, we wanted it to have a super heavy tone, and I think it’s perfect for the emotions that are reflected through the lyrics.

Track 2: Tell Me

Alyssa: I wanted to write a really fun & groovy song. As much as I, and all of us, love heavy tones, distortion, drop D tuning, I wanted to experiment with a bit of a different sound and get some groove out of me. I originally wrote this song on the guitar before the drums, and Jess helped with the bass line once I brought it to her. It’s definitely a love song. It’s about finding the perfect person and just wanting to be told that you’re loved. Eventually, Jess and I practiced on bass and drums and then Leighla of course sang it so beautifully. This song was written when we were a 3 piece, and now with that extra guitar, it’s one of my favourite songs! 

Track 3: Clueless

Leighla-Jane: Clueless to me is basically a story about a rocky relationship. This one person is suspicious of their partner cheating. The one cheating has no idea that their partner knows everything that’s been going on. The one who’s suspicious is just waiting for the moment they catch the other red-handed. One goes crazy and ends up going out of their way to catch this cheater but doesn’t know what to do when or if they catch them. I guess the moral of the story is to trust your instincts and do your best to get out of a bad situation. You’re never alone, you just have to ask for help and 90% of the time, you get it. 

Track 4: Silence 

Jessica: Silence speaks a lot about anxiety and overthinking - the intrusive thoughts in our heads that just won’t go away. I think a lot of people can relate to having those recurring thoughts of doubt or self hatred and it can be incredibly overwhelming, even tormenting. We all have stuff that keeps us up at night and I think that’s the biggest reason for why it was important to include this song on our EP.

Track 5: Ignorance Never Dies

Samantha: I wrote the lyrics for this song in a poem for my English class in highschool, maybe around 2019. It was mostly written out of frustration for the state of the world at the time - namely the Trump administration, and the rampant racism on the rise in the US. While we aren’t American, these issues still manifest in Canada and affect us all. Little did I know that the world was about to get even more aggravated and confusing with a multitude of things, such as Roe v. Wade. As a woman and also a person of mixed race, these things hit close to home for me. I find it important to speak about these things, even if you feel powerless. The song came together very quickly if I remember correctly. I brought the lyrics forward and then we wrote the rest of the instrumental in no time. It was almost called Recipe for Disaster!

Richard: Which song is your favorite?

Samantha: Clueless. I’m not sure why, but when we wrote this song something about it just really felt like we were officially coming together as a band. I am, of course, proud of our other songs, but songs like Silence and Tell Me were written before I joined the band. This was the first song that I was really like “Okay, this is the real deal here, I’m in a band!”

Alyssa: My favourite song off the EP is Ignorance Never Dies. Every time I listen to it or play it, it hits me with so much power and emotion and it’s just so much fun to play. It’s one of those songs where I can smash my drums super hard which is the best feeling ever. I remember Sam bringing that riff to us, and we instantly knew that it would be a powerful song. I love the message, and I love the riffs & beats. 

Jessica: It’s hard to choose a favourite song but Ignorance Never Dies was a big deal because it was the first new song we all got to work on together after months of lockdowns and not being able to see each other. It was also the first song that Sam wrote as a member of Not That I Care. 

Richard: Tell us a little about the release party.

Alyssa: We are SO stoked for our EP release show! When choosing which bands we wanted to play with, we had to pick our closest friends and some really inspiring people. Absolutely You, Crast, and System Status Red were such easy picks as they are some of the best people out there. We knew we had to include SSR because without them letting us use their jam space, and without Bryan recording us, this EP would not be happening, so we are extremely grateful for them and knew they would be an important part of this show! We will have lots of new merch at the show too! We can’t wait to see everyone and celebrate with our lovely friends.  

Lost All Sense drops this Friday, August 5th and the EP release party will be August 11th at The Queens Hotel, located in downtown Barrie.