Interview with Rob Eddy of Quick Wicked

Energy. Depth. Intensity. Bliss…. That is what you will get when you take a listen to Quick Wicked out of Brantford, Ontario, Canada…. I recently told you about how I was blown away when I first heard Quick Wicked just only a few weeks. Read more here

They are an amazing Progressive Hard Rock band that have some great bass intro lines that just captivate you and the vocals are spectacular as is the guitar and drums. They are definitely adding layers to their progressive rock and making their own unique sound. Quick Wicked is Kyle Love, Kevin French, Rob Eddy, Jeff Love.

We recently had a chance to talk with guitarist, Rob Eddy and are pleased to bring you that interview here:

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Music Junkie Press: How did Quick Wicked form?

Rob: Jeff, Kyle and I were in another serious project prior to Quick Wicked and after that ended we took some needed time off. Up until that point Jeff played guitar and I played bass. Jeff wanted to start a new project and so did I although I wanted to switch to guitar and he knew that before approaching me. At some point (probably after realizing that we would most likely spend years trying to find a singer) I think he just decided he was going to give it a shot.

Jeff wrote a few tunes and got his brother Kyle to lay down some drum tracks on them. When those were finished he knew he wanted to get a full band together and see how it went in a live environment. He contacted me with the idea of playing guitar on these songs to see if it would work. He also needed a bass player and Kyle had a friend (Kevin) that played who he thought would be into it. We all agreed to find a rehearsal spot and feel it out. So in a dingy rehearsal space in Hamilton Ontario we started jamming the songs. All those songs that we started playing eventually were scrapped and didn’t make it on our album. What they did do is create the platform that was used to get us to bond together as a group and start writing better songs as a unit.

Music Junkie Press: Tell us a bit about your name?

Rob: I don’t put much stock into what a band is called. We have always created temporary names while songs are being formed so that we can identify them. “Quick Wicked” was blurted out by Jeff as we were in the process of writing “Blix” so that’s what we started calling that song. When we were recording these songs we were all trying too hard to think of a “cool” name for the band and nothing was sticking. It was our engineer on the album “Matt Gauthier” that said he thought “Quick Wicked” was a good name and we all kind of just looked at each other and immediately knew that should be our name.

Music Junkie Press: Blix is an amazing song! Can you tell me more about that song?

Rob: Blix was written off of the intro/verse bass line that Kevin wrote and is the backbone of the song. I came up with the chorus and Kyle came up with the bridge breakdown part. Once someone has an idea that helps to further progress the song, the rest of the group writes their own parts around that. In most cases with us everyone is responsible for themselves when it comes to writing. We try to treat all instruments equally and vocal melodies are usually fit in by Jeff after the song is structured. I have the feeling that is not the way most bands go about writing songs but it is the way that has always made sense for us.

Music Junkie Press: What do you have in store for 2014?

Rob: We are hoping 2014 will be a big year for Quick Wicked. The feedback that we have received since the album dropped in August has been overwhelmingly positive. Our goal is to get the music in the hands of people that are craving to hear something new, a sound they haven’t necessarily heard before but still resonates with them in some way. We want to fill up our calendar with live shows and just play the scene and get our name out there so that we start earning people’s respect as a band that not only has talented musicians but also good solid song writing. One thing I know and that has been proven time and time again to me is that those 2 things are completely independent of themselves.

Music Junkie Press: If Quick Wicked could put together their dream tour, what three bands (living or dead) would you want on the bill with you?

Rob: I think if you asked the band members individually the answers would be entirely different. For me it would be something like Jimi Hendrix, Tool, and Alice in Chains.

Music Junkie Press: Can you tell us what was the first concert you ever went to?

Rob: It was a festival called Edgefest in 1998 at Molson Park in Barrie Ontario. Green Day played in the middle of the day and blew my 15 year old mind. I just remember them having so much energy and the crowd atmosphere completely changed and everything went crazy when they came on. Creed played the 2nd stage and I think The Tea Party or Moist headlined.

Music Junkie Press: Us at Music Junkie Press are strong believers that music can heal, help, inspire, comfort and so much more. Can you share a particular time in your life where music helped or healed you?

Rob: Music has always been there for me since I was a teenager. The Smashing Pumpkins and their masterpiece double album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” probably got more plays than anything else I have ever listened to. I completely wore that album out when I was younger and it was my go to record for years. I still have a special spot for them and always will. As for being inspired, the day my bass teacher put on Tool’s “Aenima” and taught me how to play 46&2 I think everything changed for me. I didn’t know who Tool was prior to that and after listening to the entire record I never felt a stronger connection with any band in my life. Tool showed me just how powerful music can be and also helped me gain a much better understanding of timing and precision, 2 things that would serve me well when it came to writing my own music.

Music Junkie Press: If you could go back to your 14 year old self, what advice would you give to yourself?

Rob: At 14 I was just getting wet behind the ears with music and didn’t know that I wanted to be a full time musician. When I was 18 or 19 I was in my first “real” band where we were writing original music that I was proud of. I thought that all we needed to do was get our music to Sony or Universal and they would be knocking down our doors clamouring to sign us because the music was so good. I truly thought that. I had no idea or concept of fighting for what you believe in or the grind that just about every successful band needs to endure no matter how good their music is. The business side of the music industry is a whole other animal.

Music Junkie Press: What shows do you have upcoming?

Rob: We are taking a small break until January. Here is what we have confirmed so far for 2014:

January 24th – Brantford Ontario, Club Sagittarius
January 25th – Oshawa Ontario, The Moustache Club
January 31st – Toronto Ontario, The Rockpile
February 8th – Toronto Ontario, Rancho Relaxo

Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

Rob: I would tell them that in my experience, the music that lasts and has staying power, you probably will not actually even like the first time you hear it, or you might say to yourself something like “What did I just listen to”. Sometimes if you give it enough of a chance something grabs you. Then after some more listens something else that you didn’t hear the first few times catches your attention and you all of a sudden “get it” and start falling in love with it. That is music with depth, feel and layers; that kind of music is what I search for, try to create and doesn’t get old quickly. Of course sometimes you can give it that same chance and then realize your just listening to bad music.

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One of my favorite songs is Blix which is off of their self titled album and is available for download on Bandcamp here. You can check out their video for Blix here:

Make sure to visit their social media sites and stay up to date on the latest Quick Wicked news. Check out some more videos by Quick Wicked below too.

~Enjoy, Marisol

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