by Gilad Carroll
Surprise Party is without a doubt one of Winnipeg’s busiest (and tightest) bands. Between full time jobs, school, music video filming and editing, recording, weekly shows, and ironic T-shirt shopping Stylus managed to sit down with them and talk about all that goes into Surprise Party. Luckily, Mischa Decter (guitar and lead vocals) figured he, Danny Hacking (Bass and vocals) and Kyle Loewen (Drums) could fit Stylus in one night after work, and before a fiercely competitive race to see who could eat an entire box of ice cream using only chopsticks the fastest (Mischa won). I quickly realized that Surprise Party is much more than just a loud and fun Winnipeg band: it is a state of mind, a way of life if you will…
Stylus: You guys put on an amazing live show, which occasionally feature some popular covers like The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” and Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust,” as well as the theme song for professional wrestling legend Shawn Michaels. How do you decide what covers to play?
Mischa Decter: We play mainly a bunch of joke covers, but me and Danny love wrestling. I have wanted to play “Sexy Boy” all my life.
Danny Hacking: I Love Wrestling
Stylus: Have you ever seen live wrestling?
DH: Once, In Selkirk
Stylus: Take me through a Surprise Party jam / practice / rehearsal session.
Kyle Loewen: New Song, Boom, New Song, Boom. We play it twice and then boom, new song.
Stylus: With so many new songs coming together, do you have any recordings in the works?
Surprise Party: [in unison] Yeah!
MD: We finished recording our album today! It is a pop album, the next one will be punk.
KL: We should just record ten albums and release them all at once!
Stylus: You went on tour last April with The Hoots, what did you take from that experience that will help you next time around?
MD: We played in a Russian restaurant with a private party in the back so no one paid us and just went to the party [in the back]. That was bad.
Stylus: Were people into the band at least?
DH: It was packed house.
Stylus: What’s the best part about being in Surprise Party?
KL: Danny.
MD: Kyle.
DH: I would probably have to say my bass playing. It’s fun. My bass is sick.
MD & KL: Danny is fired.
Stylus: What is the best or the worst part about being a Winnipeg band?
MD: It is easy to get good shows.
DH: My bass playing?
KL: The worst part about being a Winnipeg band is that we have to be compared to Royal Canoe.
Check out Surprise Party at the ANAF on River Ave January 24 as part of Big Fun, and their latest music video for “Jealousy” off of the album Beach Station Blues II.