The 80th Action:
Monday, November 22nd, 2010The band The 80th Action may be the most underground band around. I guarantee unless your in the tiny Vancouver Island scene already, these guys are truly unknown to you. I grew up with these dudes, played in bands with everyone of them, smuggled wine out of our parents basements together, skipped school together, took up, quit and took up smoking many times together, growing up in a western hick ‘Stand By Me’-esque town setting, hopping for excitement, getting little but trying to make our own. We loved the same music, went to all the same shows, we where nothing short of brothers. So now we’re older and we’ve seemed to mature our musical tastes at the same speed. We where a group of kids raised on radio rock, thrown into the world of late 90′s Skate/Pop Punk and then forced into the genres of what we called experimental, screamo, grind, ambient, tech, blah blah blah. So this is exactly what I would expect to hear. Melodic pop sensibilities, technical execution, constant riffing… again, blah blah blah. There is a genre coming, I’m dubbing it Evolved-Pop Punk and I believe these bros are at the forefront.
This being true my opinion of The 80th Action is defiantly bias. There is however an old Yiddish saying “shtick naches” which translates to ‘sharing in a joyful moment’ and that’s how I feel with The 80th Action. They symbolize the process of coming to terms with adulthood and as I’ve watched this band blossom from it’s infancy the members have matured in both song and lyric writing. The first demos I heard where insturmental and raw. On the surface one could easily the potential these four guys had together and in the past year it is proven on their album Mega Problems released today. The songs are dense yet playful. Flailing violently from back and forth guitar shredding, piano driven drivers, and of course the smile inducing gang vocal. I managed to ask a few questions to members Maarten and Chris quite a few months back.
Hey, please introduce yourself and describe the role you play in The 80th Action:
C: Chrid Living for the rhythm section, smooth peanut butter bass
M: i’m maarten bayliss. i play the cute one.
You’ve played in many of bands throughout the years, would you consider The 80th Action to be your masterpiece:
C: We were formed by fate, somewhat vicariously, and I can admit that the 80th Action is one of the most enjoyable groups i have ever been part of. We’ve incorporated nearly everything that I am currently excited about musically, this is exactly the type of music I want to be creating right now. Though it never hurts to have a theremin.
M: well if you do then i do.
What where you able to take from your other bands and bring to this new project:
C: Signature busy major/blues scale fusions as i love to do. Transbalc inspired enthusiasm, Los tycoons inspired insanity, Bikes Mine inspired gang vocals, Hollywood Noise’s Eric Brunning.
M: mmmmprobably being true to the way you play
What is it like trying to promote and book yourself in such a small town, which seems to cater solely to Alt-Emo and Metalcore:
C: I hardly have an idea, we just rock out and if people seem to enjoy it, that’s their problem. Its not hard to tell the difference between good music and that “alt-emo” everyone is raving about.
Who’s the hardest member of The 80th Action to deal with:
C: Eric to keep up with, Maarten with his special effects and Nolan who just picks on Maarten but is often mistaken as an englishman, but he’s not.
M: Nolan James Bayliss
Describe The 80th Action in 2 words:
C: graduation day
Whats your tone like:
C: I like to think of it as if there was a fight between kids with scissors, but they were, like, really loud, and then some really big elementary school principal who thought of himself to be more of a friend than a principal with a low, soothing voice that comes and breaks it up, whilst losing his “cool” a little.
Some of your biggest musical influences:
C: Mostly punk rock
M: other musicians, thoughts, doing shit, not doing shit, and radiohead
Tacos or Pizza:
C: Ideally, I would like a double layer pizza taco, (pizza folded onto an existing taco) but If I had to choose I’d probably go with taco pizza
Are you working on any other projects right now:
C: avro arrow stays close to me. nothing like acoustic folk punk with splashes of electric jams, splashes of splash cymbals
What IS The 80th Action:
C: trampolines, bocce ball, granny smith apple ball, maple trees, Ghost dogs, picklebrau, and midnight a cappella!
Title of your next album:
M: hopefully ‘Mega Problems’
Any last Words:
C: I would always prefer soup, regardless of weather
M: dakota fanning looks hella old now
Please take the time to check out Mega Problems here, it’s a free download and certainly worth your time.
The 80th Action – Spin turn Mega turn
lionsteeth








