The Black Maria are a new band out of Toronto with Kyle Bishop, formerly the singer of Grade, on guitar. They're a good melodic rock band with some nice hooks and are worthy of checking out if you're into that style. This interview went down on January 13 at the Call in Providence, RI.

PL: Introduce yourself.

BM: I'm Kyle from the Black Maria.

PL: Is it difficult to tour without an album release?

BM: At first, it was very difficult during the first month, but I've toured for so many years of my life that it wasn't that big of an issue for me. Getting people to get into the band and understand the music is tough at times. We went to the UK and now on this tour, the kids have been very open and I think a lot of it has to do with advertising, our samplers, and we've had some songs available on websites. Kids have opened up and embraced us, and its been surprisingly very positive.

PL: You had a decent reaction tonight.

BM: Yeah, it was a little tough tonight-

PL: Rhode Island is always tough.

BM: Its okay because I think this was a crowd that stood there and just listened to you.

PL: Thats usually what Rhode Island does.

BM: There's areas where people listen to you, watch you and pay attention to what you're doing, and the next time they come around, they'll be a little bit crazier, and then there's places that just go nuts.

PL: In your interview with Outburn, you mentioned some 7" of bands that influenced you guys, but you never mentioned the names of the bands. I was wondering who the bands were.

BM: They weren't 7" that influenced this band specifically-

PL: Yeah, I was just wondering who the bands were.

BM: There was this white 7" by a band called Julia, which was one of the most amazing records ever released. Another one was a band called Lincoln, which was on Watermark. Those were two specific 7" of the early 90's. There's other ones, like a Californian band called Indian Summer. Their very very first 7" was absolutly mind boggling. And at the same time in the early 90's, there were a series of bands that came out and had these amazing records and amazing songs and they sometimes put out full lengths after, but they never got to where they should have.

PL: Do you think new bands featring members from past popular bands start out with an advantage because of the previous band's reputation?

BM: For certain bands, yeah. For this band, I'd say no. To me, I find that being in Grade was more of a stigma than a positive thing. A lot of kids come out and they want to see what I'm doing now, but sometimes they don't give it a chance because its not Grade and its not me singing in it. That, to me, is a major fault. Do you think that Walter of the Gorilla Biscuits, Youth of Today, then Quicksand and now he's in Walking Concert. Its not really helping him out, even though he's one of the greatest songwriters in hardcore history. Every single band that he's ever done has been absolutely mind boggling, but as he's gotten older, a lot of the younger kids now are not connected to him. The same thing with Grade where people that knew the band were fanatical and were obsessed with the band and they loved it. People either really really loved it, or they had no clue who we were, so sometimes it really matters little.

PL: I was also wondering if it was easier for you guys to get shows and interest when you were first starting out because of your past band? Maybe not even with kids, but with labels.

BM: Definitely. I've been touring for so damn long and I've been in bands and part of the scene since the late 80's, so its very easy and I've been connected with a lot of people, like managers and booking agents and stuff, so that stuff is all there. Getting those people involved was the easy part. What the hard part is is gettung the kids to connect to the music and understand who we are as a band. Thats the difficult part and thats the most important part.

PL: I could be incredibly wrong on this, and its speculation that I've read on message boards, but a lot of people have been saying that some Victory bands had a clause in their contract saying that they had to put out a Victory release if they start a new band. People were saying that that is what happened to Straylight Run and Streetlight Manifesto. Is that true?

BM: I have no idea. Its not part of my contract. I'm my own free person, and Victory as a label has always treated me extremely well. Tony is a very good friend of mine and everyone at that label has treated me like a God at all times. Not because I'm cool or something, but because that's the way they treat their artists. They do that with every single person there and I love them. We could have gone to many other labels, but we chose Victory because they're a strong label that knows what to do with their bands. They're the best label around now, period.

PL: So, how do you feel about people who say that Victory treats their bands like shit?

BM: That's their perogitive. I'm sure that there's a reason why they say that. Not every label is going to do what you want them to do. The grass is always greener on the other side where that major label or indie label is gonna be better for you, and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Those bands need to do whats best for them, whether its staying on their label or going somewhere different. And not everybody can always be satisfied with where they are. Does everyone always wear the same pair of shoes or have the same haircut? Things are always difficult in a working relationship, and not everyone always likes their boss, even though their boss is usually doing whats best for them and best for their business. Its the same thing in the music business: sometimes shit happens. When it comes down to it, when reading message boards and stuff like that, who cares? It doesn't really matter and it doesn't affect anyone else except for the bands involved and I don't think people should really care in the long run.

PL: Whats a little known fact about Toronto or Canada that you think people should know?

BM: Most Americans don't even know that Toronto is the third largest city in North America and Canada is the largest country in the world with the smallest population as well. Toronto also has the tallest free standing structure in the world. And we invented hockey, basketball and everything else that is great within this world. There's so much about our area itself and our country itself that its hard not to go on and on and on about stuff. There's so much that happens in our small little area where we come from, either on the entertainment side of life or the greater perspective of the world. It has a very influential part in the existence in the community.

PL: What was your favorite childhood movie?

BM: Tron.

PL: Name one album, besides your own, that you think all kids should have in their collection.

BM: I'd say Grace by Jeff Buckley, or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Black Sabbath. My two favorite albums ever.

PL: Do you have any final comments?

BM: Thanks. I appreciate it and go buy the record please. Give it a chance.

Interview by: RF

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