About
Honeysuckle Serontina
Now Called "Honeysuckle" - please see new listing - Admin==============
With discord riddled fits of harmonious passion, doused in a wash of the loudest of feeding back guitars and throat stripping screams of honesty, comes sincere emotional rock and roll that is finally ready to take the foreground once again. If you like the mellowness of Sunny Day, yet long for the crunch of that Jehu guitar then jot today?s date down because it just turned lucky.
Ruling the punk rock scene in two of the finest bands out of Victoria, (Breakwater and Republic of Freedom Fighters) Jode Shortreed and Dave Truscott have played together since their early teens and forged their own road through the North American Underground all ages scene, selling over 10,000 records through various American indie labels and quitting high school to tour constantly from ?94-?96. The massive roadwork took its toll on both bands, (whom coincidentally both broke up in Baltimore MD in the middle of 50+ tour schedules) and feeling fed up with where the scene was heading, Jode and Dave branched off to redefine their style and sound with something they knew hadn?t been done before and HONEYSUCKLE SERONTINA was born. They immediately traveled south to California, where they lived out of their van for three months in Santa Monica playing a bunch shows up and down the coast until the insurance ran out and the thought of eating out of another dumpster just wasn?t as appealing as it was when there was enough money to buy cheap wine to wash it down with.
Once back in Canada they relocated themselves to Vancouver with ex-Fine Tooth Combine Guitarist Paul Kovach and searched desperately for a new drummer by putting an ad in the Georgia Straight stating ?Need Drummer. Must tour. Be prepared to be tortured if you suck. Jehu, Quicksand, Sunnyday?. No one called. Ironically enough, at the latter bands Vancouver show, an old time White Rock skate friend, and ex-Shortwave drummer, Galen Rigter bumped into Jode. Galen would become the last drummer Honeysuckle would ever ask to join their band. Rigter eventually brought bassist Steven Fairweather into the fold, who toured the US twice with the band in support of their sophomore indie release Bloodsuckers (?99-Miss Teen Universe) where they shared the stage with bands like At the Drive In, the Vue, Pulley and National Skyline (ex-HUM). Steve remained to record a portion of Fireworks and Fur (?01-Miss Teen Universe) before leaving the band to join post hardcore heroes Byathread. Undaunted, Honeysuckle recruited Steve?s roommate and Ottawa transplant Andy Bond who was thrown to the Southern California masses within a matter of weeks as the band hit the states again to tour Fireworks and Fur, a record that just happened to be plastered with the image of a burning airplane crashing to the ground. Three months later September 11th happened (luckily, the majority of the initial pressing of that record sold during it?s first touring and it would not be pressed again) and Honeysuckle Serontina would have to wait until NXNW 2002 before getting across the border ?legally? again. Not ones to sit around drowning their sorrows in Jagar and Beer, the Honeysuckers funneled their restlessness into a blast of mach decibel discord they call a live show. It garnered them a Georgia Straight Music Award for ?Best Live Vancouver Act? in 2001 and they were rewarded again in 2002 with nominations for ?Best Vancouver Act? and ?Best Live Vancouver Act?.
Recently, Honeysuckle signed a shopping agreement with Vancouver lawyer and 604 records chief Jonathon Simkin (Nickleback, Theory of a Deadman, Default) who hooked the band up with ex-Matt Good Band guitarist Dave Genn, and Brad McGiveron, to produce four songs for the band to shop in hopes of securing a major label deal Stateside. As soon as the four songs could be burnt, they were getting airplay on Vancouver modern rock stations CFOX, XFM and Victoria?s Extreme, as well as netting the band appearances on MTV Canada Select, Urban Rush and on a host of West Coast News Media Stations. The recording gained HS ?buzz band? status at the 2002 New Music West Festival and prompted Much Music VJ Chris Nelson to state on air:
?Honeysuckle Serontina was the best unsigned band in Vancouver, now they are the best unsigned band in Canada?.
HS continued to use Vancouver as a springboard as they began to conquer their homeland, touring Canada in 2002 with friends All State Champion, and again across Western Canada with Byathread while also playing a multitude of shows with the likes of Sensefield, Modest Mouse, POD, Matt Good, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphy?s, Swollen Members and many more.
Currently Honeysuckle Serontina are poised to set out on the road they know so well, in a van they know even better, to take a new batch of songs to listeners across Canada as they tour in Feb/March 2003, and showcase at this years Canadian Music Week Festival in Toronto. And as they?ve done hundreds of times before, they will throw it down with a volatile explosiveness stemming from the expression of raw emotion through songs that focus on strife as much as they do beauty. Because just when you thought there wasn?t anything real out there anymore this little band comes along to kick your teeth in with the revelation that there?s a long since forgotten drug out there called adrenaline, kids, and the Honeysuckers are the biggest fucking dealers in town.
Continuing Under New Name
Past Events
Mesa Luna
15
Mar
2002
21:00