"Joydrop"

by: Shawna Kenny

-courtesy While You Were Sleeping

Joydrop is a two-and-a-half-year-old Canadian band with a radio hit called "Beautiful". When they played LA, singer Tara Slone, guitarist Thomas Payne, and drummer Tony Robao all sat down with me for a few (and I do mean a FEW) minutes at the Whiskey before their show with Other Star People. I had a fever of 101 F, so I didn't stay for their show. Blah. Plus they wouldn't bust out the opera for me. Hmph. To learn more about them, check out their fancy schmancy website at www.joydrop.com.

Do you have mail groupies?

Tara: I don't know. Actually, yeah, I've had some. Tony: She's got some admirers! Tara: We've got some "superfans" of both sexes.

Ever get sick of singing "Beautiful"?

Tara: Occasionally. It's a different experience every night with different energy and a different crowd so...actually it doesn't bother me. I've started to forget words, though!

Ever make 'em up?

Tara: Yup!

So, you have an opera background? Will you bust out some opera for us right now?

Tara: No.

Did you ever sing the Canadian national anthem?

Tara: Well, every day at school when I was a kid and at hockey games and baseball games. I did the Canadian and the American Anthems at a Rafters game in Toronto.

What did you think of 'South Park'?

Tara: Didn't see it. Tony: I saw it. It was amusing. I mean, you can't take that stuff too seriously. I actually found it quite funny. We don't say "abouuut" like that but just for what it is, it was well-done and funny!

What's the best part of being a rock star?

Tara: We wouldn't know!

You don't feel like rock stars?

Band: No!

Tara, are you still a Buddhist, and how does that play into your song writing, if at all?

Tara: That's kind of like asking how having hands plays into your song writing. It's something I've grown up with all my life, so it's hard to say. I don't really know what life would be like without it..

What does the future hold for Joydrop?

Tony: More work, more touring, more things to do to support this record. Tara: We have another single coming out called 'Spiders'. Tony: WE just got released in Australia, so that'll probably take us on some kind of tour at some point. Creatively, we're always writing and working on other tuff.

What do you think of graffiti?

Tara: Graffiti can be wonderful and productive. I think tags are stupid, personally. It's like a male cat---you've got to put your mark on everything and ruin something that's perfectly fine. Thomas: I think it's actually healthy for the culture to have voices of dissent. The thing that used to always freak me out in the subways of Toronto was that you'd have this graffiti go up, and it wouldn't be offensive or anything, and then it would get painted over with gray paint. I was like, well, they're doing the exact same thing...applying this paint onto this surface. Tony: I think a lot of art forms that were considered "bad" when they first arose are now acceptable, like hip hop or jazz.

-end of interview www.whileyouweresleeping.com