Punkomix with Benjamin Rispin

The Flatliners have come a long way since their inception in

2002. I remember vividly their ska punk beginnings in the

suburbs of Toronto. Although their songs were always well

written and performed, they always seemed to be laughing, caring more

about positive surroundings and having a good time than anything else going

on in their careers. This genuinely humble yet ear ripping presentation

was perhaps the reason The Flatliners as a group seemed to sky

rocket so quickly. In an often competitive southern Ontario

punk scene, The Flatliners seemed to unify even the

most stubborn of local punks...

BY Ben Rispin

...Over the next 12 years we'd see these kids, who were barely passed puberty, conquer Canadian main stream radio, record deals with huge labels, international notoriety all the while earning the respect of so many name worthy, modern punk rockers it'd be embarrassing to mention them all. It's with great pleasure I introduce my guest and friend...

...CHRIS CRESSWELL of THE FLATLINERS!

Hey man!

Thanks for being here

man. let's start at the beginning. why don't you tell us how you got into

playing live music? Where and when did your love of music

begin?

I discovered my love and adoration for music

at a very young age...

...I must have been 5 or 6 years old when my grandma would play Elvis Presley songs on the piano while my brother and I danced around her living room like a couple of dummies.

Having an older sibling really gives you a

leg-up too with that initial discovery, because when you’re a kid all you want to be is as

cool as your older sibling. In my case, all I wanted was to be as

cool as my older brother Andrew. When he was 10 years old and

listening to cool 90’s rock bands and loud, fast punk rockbands, I

was 7 years old and just soaking it all in. It really is

true that a child’s mind is like a giant fucking

sponge.

Before I had even gone to my first show, I would obsessively watch Andrew’s videos of a Smashing Pumpkins MuchMusic special, or Green Day's set from the ’94 Woodstock. Both of which he had taped off the TV and stashed in his bedroom...

...He had a copy of the Nirvana Unplugged set as well which we both just watched over and over and over again. Between the two of us we must have worn those tapes down pretty damn thin...

When we were both about 10 years old,

Scott and I started taking guitar lessons at the same

time so we could start a band together. So once I was old

enough to finally go to shows myself, I was

already playing a bit of guitar here and

there...

How old were you when you knew this was something you wanted to try? Was it a certain band or show you

saw?

*Editors Note, The Flatliners guitarist scott brigham*

...Witnessing these musicians belt out their songs to a huge crowd, live and in person, had a pretty profound effect on me. I think it would on anyone in those shoes.

...Once I saw that kind of magic right in front of me, in the flesh, I knew I had to take the full plunge.And now that whole damn circus has become my life!

THIS.

How did the flatliners

form?

The Flatliners formed just as

innocently as I think any other band would when all its members are fourteen

year old geeks. The four of us were just really inspired by all the bands around us....

...We got to see great local bands play live every single weekend, and once we all had it figured that, out of our entire group of friends, the four of us should play together...

at this point in our lives, we all play instruments,

john and scott have timeless facial hair and paul has decided to stop aging altogether. lets start a

band.

..we were happy just to get

together and mess around...

We never thought that 13

years later we’d still be doing the

same thing.

...Maybe spend an afternoon learning and covering our favourite songs, or maybe work on a song of our own together...

It's always exciting for bands when record

labels get in the fold. Do you mind sharing how these

opportunities arose for you?

I must have been 16 or 17 years old when I wrote an email to Matt Collyer from the Planet Smashers and Stomp Records, asking him if I could send him a copy of the album we had just finished..

..That would have been the first version of ‘Destroy to Create’ that we released ourselves, with the help and funding of my older brother Andrew...

...I guess looking back I was always a pretty big keener when it came to things like that. I used to call up Tony Lima at Call the Office on the phone all the time and ask if we could open every single punk or ska show they would announce...

RING

RING probably just that kid from the

fucklingers again..

We weren’t from London, we didn’t live in London, and shit,

we couldn’t even drive ourselves to shows yet. Man, I must have been his nightmare for a while,

haha!

...But Matt was very gracious when I approached him about our first record, and I guess he liked what he heard so much that he offered to re-release ‘Destroy to Create’ in stores across Canada.

editors note* Visit call the office in london, ontario. it rips.

Chris cresswell? this is matt collyer at stomp records. I heard your demo and i'm gonna make you a

fucking star...

A FUCKING STAR!!!

... They were how we got to meet some of the first bands who would take us across Canada and the U.s. on big tours. They really helped open the door for us to really hit the road in our beginning...

We put out our first two records in Canada with Stomp / Union 2112, and they always showed us a lot of love...

Somewhere along the way we gained the attention

of Fat Wreck, through an introduction to Melanie Kaye by

a mutual friend. We were working on demos for what

became ’The Great Awake’ and we wanted to show Melanie

some songs.

We were shocked when she told us she was going to send our songs to Fat Mike for him to hear them...

I'm going to send thiese

songs to fat wreck..

editors note* visit Mel Kaye at www.melaniekayepr.com

Lo and behold, a couple weeks go by and Paul’s mom calls him up saying that ‘Big Mark’ from California wants to talk to him on the phone about The Flatliners. That was pretty much that once Mike got into the picture. We feverishly worked out some details and started recording ‘The Great Awake’ shortly after.

TO BE CONTINUED...

... To a group of kids who all grew up on the original Fat Wreck bands, and who, at the time of this record being written, absolutely worshipped the newer wave of bands like None More Black, Dead To Me, The Lawrence Arms, Against Me, etc, this was an absolutely crazy thing to hear....

...we had zero expectations, because we almost knew that we didn’t have a chance in hell of piquing Fat Mike’s interest...

kids grow up on....

Pauly theres someone called

"Big Mark" on the phone asking aboout your

band..

We are fucking stoked to be coming back to Hamilton for Northern

Rights, dude. Been a damn while and we know we’re going to have a great time. We’re working on some new songs this year and playing a

couple shows coming up. And I’llprobably hit the road a little

bit with the acoustic stuff this year too. I am really looking

forward to it all.

LOOK OUT FOR FOR PART TWO OF #PUNKCOMIX with Chris cresswell this spring!

WWW.BENRISPIN.tumblr.COM / @benjaminrispin

this concludes part one of our chris creswell

interview, What's up next for the flatliners and your solo

stuff Chris?