CMW 2007: You Say Party! We Say Die!

Hometown: Abbotsford, B.C.
Official Website: www.yousaypartywesaydie.ca
Members:
Becky Ninkovic (lead vocals)
Stephen O'Shea (bass)
Krista Loewen (keyboards)
Devon Clifford (drums)
Derek Adam (guitar)

So, you're about to play the big industry event that is Canadian Music Week. What's the most shameless thing you've ever done to promote your band?
Becky Ninkovic: I don't know... getting banned from the United States? It's going over very well in Britain and Europe. They seem to love us because of it.

What's the hardest part about being an up-and-coming band?
There's just so much hype and buzz in the media. It creates this level of expectation and pressure that you've never really paid much attention to. For me, I've never known this side of the music industry or music world. I never used to read anything I wrote, to anybody. Now I'm sharing it with thousands of people that I'll never meet.

Describe your best and worst gigs ever.
Birmingham was pretty terrible. I had somebody throw a cup of beer at my head and there was this kid in the crowd that kept giving our drummer the finger the entire time. Best gig? Probably Berlin. We played at this awesome club called Rio. Peaches' boyfriend is the owner of the club and it was this grand opening after it had been closed for a while. It was just packed full of people. It was about three in the morning when we played and it was just a really amazing show.

How important is it for your band members to "circulate and flirt" with the audience before or after the show?
I think it's good to talk to people. We all hang out and chat. Some flirt more than others. We like to have fun and connect with the people that are at our shows.

Have you ever stolen from another band's rider? If so, who was it and what did you take?
There was this really bad band in France. They were all older men and they poured glitter all over their outfits before they went on stage and they had gotten glitter all over our stuff in the band room. Derek and Devon hate glitter, especially Derek. He despises glitter. It's one of the top three things that he despises. So, he went through their stuff and found their glitter and threw it away.

At CMW, you'll have the honour of being graded on one of ChartAttack.com's Rock 'n' Roll Report Cards for the first time. Do you think you'll get a passing grade?
On our performance, we'll get a really good grade, I think. We sure have fun up there.

Have you done anything new or interesting this week?
We learned our first cover this week. It's a song by Rick Agnew, from the band D.I., called "Falling Out."

You Say Party! We Say Die! play the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday, March 9 @ 10 p.m. as part of the annual Chart/Horseshoe/Canadian Music Week showcase.