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Edwin doesn’t like to use the s-word.
“We don’t like to call ourselves a supergroup,” says the well-known frontman of newly minted Can-rock outfit Crash Karma.
“The term is almost a setup to fail. So we’re not allowed to say the word at all. We cannot refer to ourselves that way. Of course, we can’t stop what other people say.”
And when your band includes a trio of Canadian alt-rock veterans — former I Mother Earth singer Edwin, erstwhile Our Lady Peace guitarist Mike Turner and ex-Tea Party drummer Jeff Burrows, along with Zygote bassist Amir Epstein — people are going to talk.
Fortunately, the 41-year-old vocalist is no slouch in that department either. Shortly before the quartet hit the road in support of the self-titled debut album that arrives Tuesday, Edwin filled us in on everything from the band’s birth to their back catalogs:
How did you guys get together?
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It was a funny situation. I had a friend who knew Amir. He fancied himself a songwriter and wanted to meet to see if he could co-write on my next solo record. I was only meeting him to be nice to my friend. I wasn’t really interested. But we sat down for coffee, and he had this amazing energy. The conversation quickly turned to, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we started a band?’ He told me he knew Mike and Jeff and he could get them involved. I was going, ‘Yeah, sure.’ Then he went to Mike and said Jeff and I were in, and told Jeff that Mike and I were in. He kind of conned us all! But when we were in a room facing each other, we thought, ‘Well, this could actually work.’ We originally thought we’d do a three-song thing, but before you knew it, we were recording 11 songs. And I actually started to really like them. And things just took off from there.
What makes it work?
It’s a completely new approach for me, and I think for everybody in this band. We’ve all done our thing — but together, we’re unique because of the pedigree we have. In the beginning, we weren’t sure we were going to get along. We knew each other, but we had never created together. But as soon as we started working together, it had this aura about it. We all felt it was special...
What about dealing with everybody’s ego?
Funny thing; you would think there would be egos involved. I thought that coming into this. But honestly, nobody had any attitude. We’ve all had a mutual respect for each other over the years. Nobody has to prove themselves. Nobody is standing up going, ‘It has to be this way!’ And because we all respect each other, you have faith in the other guy. It’s quite refreshing, to be honest.
Your album sounds like you’re drawing on your past without dwelling on it. Were you intentionally walking that line?
Absolutely. We didn’t just want to do the same thing we were doing 10 years ago. We wanted to do something fresh. But we also wanted to bring what we do best to the table. All our previous bands define who we are. So we knew we were going to make a rock record. And we did want our fans from previous bands to look our way and give us a little attention — and hopefully we can give them more of what they used to love, but in a different, somewhat evolved form.
Are you going to play any songs from your old bands on tour?
Yeah. We tossed that around a little bit. We realize it’s tough to go out and play an hour of new material that people don’t know. So we decided to throw in some songs that they do know. So we’re going to do an I Mother Earth song, a Tea Party song and an Our Lady Peace song. One of each. We’re tipping our hat to where we came from.
Crash Karma Tour Dates
March 11 | Oshawa | Karma Lounge
March 18 | Burlington | Boston Manor
March 19 | Peterborough | Red Dog
March 20 | Chatham | Encore
March 25 | Winnipeg | Silverado’s
March 27 | Cold Lake | Energy Centre
March 29 | Calgary | Rusty Cage
March 31 | Edmonton | Whiskey Jacks
April 1 | Red Deer | Wild Bill’s
April 2 | Grand Prairie | Rock City
April 3 | Fort St. John | Egan’s
April 7 | Vancouver | Venue
April 9 | Saskatoon | TCU Place
April 10 | Regina | Distrikt
darryl.sterdan@sunmedia.ca