We have always been fans of The Standstills here at SlowCity.ca and they have always been very supportive of our efforts working the scene in Oshawa. They are a special couple and the deeper you dig into The Standstills the richer your experience of their music will be. So follow them on their journey, you will be rewarded with music, art and the wildest stories to tell your kin.
The Standstills, a two piece from London and Oshawa, come across on one level as straightforward blues rock, but guitarist and singer Jon Fox and drummer Renee Couture are no so-so S. Ont. power hour couple. To think so is to miss the depth of the intelligence of the duo.
They are on tour with I Mother Earth and Our Lady Peace, making a stop in Oshawa at the General Motors Centre, the venue is not a rolling stone away from their condo in ShwaRock city’s downtown. It’s a hometown show although Couture is from the Forest City originally. The tour has taken them across Canada including a two night stand at the hallowed Massey Hall and provided them a once in a lifetime experience and perhaps a truly Canadian one to boot. On a cold road they spotted a grizzly mowing down on a moose, mere feet away from their passing tour van. The resultant video clip has gone viral, 820,000 when I checked last.
Photo by Derek Cutting
Video is something the band seem to view as almost another voice in the band, as an extension of their music rather than something separate. They have taken that idea of cohesion between the two media into their latest, a 360 degree video for the track “Shotgun” from the album From the Devil’s Porch.
The video is an immersive experience, best viewed on a mobile phone, and it is also a fantastic visual metaphor for how music is experienced. Think of the video, the first of its kind in Canada, as headphones for the eyes. Great execution too. It was shot in Docville, a Wild West replica site in Newcastle, Ont. Those familiar with the Oshawa music scene may notice some familiar faces.
