Special Ops
Drawing on rich musical roots, personal instinct and a healthy dose of alternative rock, new artist Special Ops brings a style all their own- and fans of their new single ‘Dead Are Calling’ all across the world are loving it.
ANDREW: Let's just get this out in the open- What is the craziest thing that has happened to you in your music career?
SPECIAL OPS: We were on tour and had finished the show, the place was packed, and we had a hard time getting to the van. We were in PEI (Prince Edward Island), and it was an all ages show, but that night it seemed like entire families came out, anyway, so we had finished loading the gear into the van, it took forever because we got swarmed for autographs, pictures, merch and so on. The band had gotten split up, I was with the drummer at the time, on the stage making sure no one forgot anything, I looked at him and said "Let's take the side exit, the vans right there it will be easier to get to." he agreed, and when we opened it boy were we wrong, it's as if the entire place was waiting outside. We hug, and sign and take pics all the way to the van, about 20 feet away I see movement in the back windows, I tell him, "Good they are already in, let's hop in and get going", we had a long drive ahead of us. So we get there, I hop into the front passenger seat and I say, let's get out of here, and I hear two teenage girl voices saying "Yeah let's get out of here!" I quickly turn around, recognize the jail bait that snuck into the van while the guys were loading, and as I was telling them that they couldn't come with us and that they need to go home, there was an angry knock on the window from the angry parent. There seemed to be fumes coming out of her ears. lucky for me she had seen us just getting in, so she knew it wasn't any of our doing, imagine if she hadn't! Anyway, a bunch of curse words and yelling later, one got dragged out by her hair (by the mom!) and the other meekly followed, we all hopped in and drove off. I'll never forget that night, best show ever, we were new at the time, it was our first tour, and the first taste of what could be heading our way.
ANDREW: Your song is receiving a positive listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard your song playing on radio? ’Dead Are Calling’
SPECIAL OPS: It was a series of reactions all at once. "Hell Yeah!", "I hope they are getting the right message from it," "Ops is BACK! How do I tell the world?" That was my initial reaction, then I picked up the phone and let the rest of the boys know.
ANDREW: What was the inspiration behind your radio single?
SPECIAL OPS: As you get older life gets more complicated especially relationships. You wake up one day and find yourself a slave to societal rules and expectations and somehow you can't get out. Dead are Calling is about the struggles of the average man in this world with being lied to, cheated and beat down by social pressure to conform. Like a voodoo puppet dancing to the beat of their drums, dance puppet dance!
ANDREW: It is often said that great art arises from difficult experience. Is there something in your life experience thus far that you would describe as the ‘catalyst’ or ‘fuel’ for your desire to create music?
SPECIAL OPS: We each have our own experiences, as for me, I grew up in a place that always told me that I couldn't, and that I would never amount to anything. Bullied for my race on one side and for being Christian on the other, so I learned to get tough fast, and the handful of friends that I did make, are still there today. S.Ops itself has had a ton of hard experiences, after 15 yrs together we are family really. We've been through the good the bad and the ugly together, but at the end of the day, you zip it up, pick up your instrument and let it do the talking for you.
ANDREW: How would you characterize yourself as an artist/musician?
SPECIAL OPS: Special Ops is a group of guys that really break most molds. We all come from different backgrounds and influences that one would never think it would work, but what we do have in common, other than the love to rock out, is that we have all been through some kind of seriously rough time in life and still come out fists up and ready to take on more. Being a musician in today's world is in my opinion the hardest it's ever been. You not only have to be a writer and a performer, but you also have to be a businessman, an investor, a retailer, a travel and logistics expert and manage a full team yourself and yet somehow still find time to create "Art!" Yes you have control, but...
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ANDREW: What has your experience been like working with the other people on your team?
SPECIAL OPS: My band mates are quirky bunch, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. We've been working together for ages and it just jells at this point. in terms of the rest of the team, there are a few new faces, all of which pulled their weight to make this happen, there were a few disappointments along the way, there are those that like to take advantage instead of help out but that is alright, you just gotta cut the chord and suck it up buttercup. All in all great team, from booking agents, to promoters to agents all the way down to friends and fans who helped along the way, those are the ones that made the biggest difference.
ANDREW: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
SPECIAL OPS: Personally, not at all! not one person in my immediate family or that I was growing up with really played any instruments. I remember my mom blasting her tunes while she was cooking but that was pretty much it. I was raised in the middle eastern desert, getting any kind of good music was difficult. We used to trade with those who traveled with their families on vacation, and pass money down, here buy me this or that. then that original would get copied so many times and passed around the entire country. Anything with distorted guitar was seen as devils music and mostly taboo or even banned at the time, times have changed A lot let me tell you. I was 9 when i heard Anthrax's Metal Thrashing Mad and something came over me, I remember thinking, "This is what I wanna do for the rest of my life, I wanna do what these guys are doing." From there, I saved pennies, begged kicked and screamed until I got my first electric, and that was the beginning of the end.
ANDREW: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
SPECIAL OPS: The most rewarding thing to any artist, in my opinion, is when your work touches another person on a deep level. When that song makes someone cry or laugh because it triggered a personal experience. When that level of communication, when you can touch many people with your work, that is the true reward. Standing at the front of that stage with all those people in front of you, hands raised, singing along, moving with the music that is what it's all about. To think to yourself "Hey, that song just touched all those people out there." which also means you have a responsibility and a message to give out. Which is what I find a lot of artists nowadays are not doing, when you have influence, use it for the positive, don't be going on and on about nothing, there are people looking up to you out there.
ANDREW: Who are your role models in music?
SPECIAL OPS: Oh boy, growing up I really listened to everything, but I do have to say that Blackie Lawless from WASP was a huge influence, I was young and the edgy lyrics were catchy too! Then there were the 90's, with Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and PJ, The vocal styles of all 4 of them, I remember driving my mother nuts yelping at the top of my lungs all day long. Then as my musical tastes matured there was Nina Simone, I will truly say, she taught me how to sing! not personally, but her records and trying to sing along endlessly day after day until I got the song right. Of course there was the big huge metal bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden and so on, but Nina was queen and Blackie was King.
ANDREW: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
SPECIAL OPS: There is a few, but the one that stands out is a Canada Day performance in one of the towns along a tour. We had to fight tooth and nail at the time to get on that bill for free, and they didn't think it would fit, I remember the day very well, we were all over checking the festival and so on, and people were just walking around ignoring the bands for the most part, as if that giant stage was just background music until the main headliner came on or something. We huddled in the back right before going on and said lets kick some ass. It was hot that day the sun was beating down on the stage, and yours truly, didn't think of sunblock (lesson learned, trust me). We hit the stage and gave it all we got, sure enough half way through the second song, they started gathering by the front of the stage, which fueled us even more and we just kept givin'er, my head was pounding like it was going to explode, so I bit my tongue and rocked out the pain! We got off the stage and they were cheering, we figured yay our jobs done, and here I am dowsing myself with cold water at the time. we look over to the tour van and there was a huge line up of people wanting T-shirts and CDs and autographs, so we ran over, and sure enough, by the end, that day was the best day on the entire tour both crowd and pay wise.
ANDREW: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists out there who are unsure and need guidance?
SPECIAL OPS: You can be as passionate as you want about your music (which is a good thing), but if you never put yourself out there and play to the world, and organize yourself and do something with it, it will never leave your basement jam space. As a wise man once said, "A true musician is one who makes a living from his music!" On a different note, there is nothing more ignorant than a musician putting down or dissing a different style of music, or genre. You should listen, appreciate, get ideas and be influenced by everything from classical to death metal if need be, because listening ears don't actually know genres, the know a good song. Lastly, if you are a band, talk with each other, communicate and make sure you all want the same goal. This is crucial in avoiding drama while making important decisions.
ANDREW: What's next for you as an artist? Is there an album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
SPECIAL OPS: There is definitely an album in the works. It's actually being mastered as we speak. it is the complete work from the Baby Take it All single, so those three songs will be on there as well with a whole bunch of new ones. New videos, touring etc .... you know, a band's gotta do what a bands gotta do.
ANDREW: Can't wait to hear everything! Thank you for sharing more about your life with me. I wish you continued success in the future.
https://www.theakademia.com/artistkit/SpecialOps-DeadAreCalling.html
https://www.facebook.com/specialopsband/