The Age Of Electric: Heir Apparent

I do a double take. The Age of Electric's Ryan Dahle is staring at me, and he's got jet blue black hair. When I had first met him only six days before, his locks were a cool, bleached blonde. Yet sometime yesterday, between his other band Limblifter's all-ages matinee and evening sets, the guitarist/vocalist decided to join The Age Of Electric's other three members and cross over to the dark side. (As a dye-hard user, I definitely approve.) When I pull out the artwork for The Age of Electric's newest album, Make A Pest A Pet (Universal), I notice he's sporting a head of bright violet. In fact, all four members have changed hair styles since this promotional picture was taken a few weeks before.

If you think it's stupid to begin a band's story with a discussion of haute coiffure, I wholeheartedly agree. But it's equally dumb to dismiss this foursome as Sven Gali-like spineless, shedding their long, '80s 'dos for a trendy alterna-image. But that's exactly what critics and tastemakers did to The Age Of Electric's self-titled 1994 release — dismiss it. Mostly because the band didn't pass the cool background check. Something about playing a lot of covers at one point, or maybe it was all that classic rock radio support. In any case, even today, The Age Of Electric is still seen as far from "where it's at."

"I know that's been the case," says lead vocalist Todd Kerns when asked about credibility. "But I've always sort of reveled in that. I've never been interested in being 'cool.' Look at the guy who says 'Aren't those the guys who used to look like a hair band?' if you go back and look at pictures of him from the same time, he looks exactly like we did. Our past, unfortunately, has been fairly high profile, but, if anything, it's the cool people who need to check themselves, not us. It's always been cooler to be yourself."

And so I come forth, bearing witness to the fact that Ryan Dahle, Todd Kerns, Kurt Dahle (drums) and John Kerns (bass) change hair styles all the time, because they feel like it, not as part of any master marketing plan. Case closed. (Although if you're really, really hung up on it, you could direct some grief towards Edwin from I Mother Earth...)

If The Age Of Electric had continued making music akin to its obnoxious rawk hit "Ugly," we'd hardly be having this discussion. The reason any of it matters is that Make A Pest A Pet is a great, refreshingly unpretentious pop record, perhaps the best you'll hear come out of Canada this year. And it deserves listen without prejudice.

It's a few weeks before the February 25th release of Make A Pest A Pet, and the Vancouver band is spending a week in Toronto taking care of business: interviews, photos, an industry showcase at a sports bar/video game midway, a video shoot with director Derek Horn for the album's first single, "Remote Control," and two Limblifter shows for Ryan and Kurt. Oh, and it's John's birthday.

It's taken The Age Of Electric eight years, one five-song cassette, three independent CDs (The Latest Plaque, The Ugly EP and The Age Of Electric) on its own label, God's Teeth Ethel, three hit songs ("Aphrodisiac Smile," "Ugly" and "Untitled") and one successful side project (Limblifter) to get this treatment. That's O.K., because in many ways, Make A Pest A Pet could be considered the debut of The Age Of Electric's true identity.

"I think that one of our problems has been that we wanted to be something, but we didn't know what it was," admits Ryan. "We didn't know what the fuck The Age Of Electric was besides the four of us playing live. And I think that's made us not make a good record before. We'd write something and say 'That's not us... no, that's not us either.' Nothing would be The Age Of Electric except full-out, on-ten shit, which was good, and it's good rock, but it kept us away from deeper expression, something with more value."

While the band can attribute the unsatisfactory sound and style of its previous work on either a rushed recording (Todd calls the self-titled CD a "glorified demo") or an identity crisis, I say: Bob Rock, I'm looking in your direction!

The Vancouver producer was an early supporter of the band, and although his contributions were primarily financial (he's the "Executive Producer" of The Ugly EP) and back-patting, and not creative, but I distrust his Bon Jovi leanings that have led more than one band down the wrong path to irrelevance. (See: The Cult. Jury still out on Veruca Salt.) I mean, doesn't anybody remember Rock & Hyde? But I digress... For its part, The Age Of Electric doesn't play up the association, Todd stating simply that he's "thankful" for Rock's patronage.

And so where a straight-up sonic assault and Todd's wailing vocals once burst forth, now emerge little pop gems. Make A Pest A Pet can — and does — rock when it has to ("Real Stumper," Scare Myself"), but it does so without pomp.

Originally scheduled to work with producer Gil Norton (Catherine Wheel) before he left to do the less-inspiring, albeit more high profile, Counting Crows record after only two tracks, the band ended up producing itself, again. More instrumentation was added to the mix (like mellotron, acoustic guitar and piano) and the band took more time in the studio, too. The foursome also explored new ways to craft songs together.

All four members actively contribute to songwriting for The Age Of Electric, with Ryan producing most of the words and music. Todd pens some of his own lyrics, while Kurt and John's input is more in the musical arrangements. (although John is credited as co-songwriter on "Unity And Grenadine," the closest thing this album has to a "ballad"). So while The Age Of Electric could be considered a four-headed monster, while creating Make A Pest A Pet, the group honed its creative process and played nice.

"We've tried many different ways of writing before," explains Ryan, "but we've never tried this many different ways. Todd would bring in a song, then I'd bring in a song, but that didn't work after a while, so we tried to write as a band, which worked some of the time, and still does. I just don't think that one set way works, because it ends up sucking after a while. Somebody doesn't get what they want."

"There's no formula," continues Todd. "We're all capable of writing. With this, we used every possible way that a song could come about. We just did whatever needed to be done to get the best possible song."

The band members also practiced congeniality this time 'round. They admit that in the past it was easy to become defensive about songs, perhaps forcing ideas on those with doubts. For this record, it was all about making more compromises between themselves and listening to each other's ideas.

"Everybody has certain things that they really strive to do, and I think it's important to use everybody's talents to the fullest extent," says Ryan.

While The Age Of Electric endeavours to be more democratic, it's Ryan who remains at its songwriting core.

"I wouldn't say that one person is more creative in the band," he says, "but I would say that I'm more constructive. I spend a lot of time on things."

"I definitely love the live aspect so much more," counters Todd. "The whole idea for me has always been to get songs out, get on the road and get on stage. [But] more and more as we've gone along, there's been more internal searching for lyrics and stuff."

On record and on stage, the individual members of The Age Of Electric have a harmony, a chemistry which keeps everything together. And even though they may exhibit some collective behaviour (most likely caused by prolonged confinement in a small, enclosed area — i.e., a touring van), during downtime the idiosyncrasies of each character emerge. Allow me, then, to indulge in a paragraph or two of adolescent-like field notes.

Todd Kerns, leader of the pack, is the most charismatic. Tall, with model good looks, he was recruited off the street to star in Horsey, the upcoming film about heroin directed by Vancouver's Kirsten Clarkson. While the O.Z.Z.Y. inked onto his knuckles at the showcase/party was probably mostly jest, he did consider ordering a Coney Hatch disc from his record label's catalogue. (It eventually lost out in favour of Nine Inch Nails, although a WASP video remained requested...) A film/television junkie, he covets a large Star Trek collection at home. And, sorry girls, he's the father of two.

Ryan Dahle, although not the official frontman, is the guy who makes The Age Of Electric go. Intensely interested in the business side, he's often quietly absorbing, and seems to be the most respected. Very outgoing, he loves Kinder Surprise and has over 100 in his collection. In fact, Ryan and Kurt considered calling Limblifter "Dust Kinder Egg" but worried about copyright infringement.

Kurt Dahle also collects Kinder Surprise toys, and likes Pavement, My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver. Master of pop culture/music trivia, he can play anything. Rambunctious (verging on bratty) amidst the media/industry circus, one-on-one conversation reveals little — each question is answered with a one-liner. He produced and and guested for friends Bloody Chicletts on their debut.

John Kerns is the most elusive. I suspected that anyone who plays bass like Soundgarden's Ben Sheppard is probably just as enigmatic and I appear to be right. While I didn't actually speak to John much, rumour has it that he's into martial arts and is a dad, too. And that is him naked on the cover of The Age Of Electric.

Back to your regularly scheduled serious article...

After almost a decade together without any line-up changes, any band with such personalities would experience both synchroicity and tensions. With The Age Of Electric, being two sets of brothers throws a unique element into the group which they find positive.

"I think it probably makes it easier because you're so used to each other's bullshit," explains Todd. "I think between brothers you can tell each other when you're fucking up."

Because he was on the road with various bands from an early age, The Age Of Electric provided Todd's first opportunity to share a band with his brother John, but Ryan and Kurt have been playing together all their lives.

"We started a band with my older brother," Ryan says. "He got us playing in bars when I was 15, or younger. I had my 16th birthday in a bar, playing."

These collaborations have continued even while Ryan and Kurt have been active in The Age Of Electric, most notably in Limblifter. That project gave the two their first major label release (through Mercury in the U.S. and MCA in Canada) and a chance to reach an audience not yet enamoured with The Age Of Electric. More than a few people have been known to admit they like Limblifter quite a lot more, actually. I ask Ryan what would happen if his side-project became more popular than his full-time gig.

"People always ask that," he says, "but it wasn't. I think that any success we have with one rubs off on another."

Limblifter also put Ryan up front-and-centre as the main vocalist. How did he like being in the spotlight?

"Well, it changes my idea of things. It gives me more respect for everybody and the whole band as a unit. And, it makes me kind of think 'I'm glad I'm not singing this one' sometimes.

As with previous Age Of Electric recordings, Ryan does take the mic for certain songs on Make A Pest A Pet. "Blow Up" and "Real Stumper" both feature his vocals, which lends more of a Limblifter flavour to them. The dual voices bring a variety to both the live set and the record. And Todd's a big enough boy to let Ryan take over sometimes.

"Why step in and do something if it already sounds good?" he asks. "What am I going to add to it? I mean, I've never really been interested in being the biggest, loudest singer/performer/entertainer/juggler. When we put the band together, sure, I was the singer, but it was never a question of I'd have to sing everything."

"I mean, just because Todd's the best driver doesn't mean that he's got to drive all the time," adds Ryan.

Make A Pest A Pet won't just appeal to the Limblifter fans because of Ryan and Kurt's input. The record is more uplifting and bright than what The Age Of Electric used to do. The band which made itself known with the lyric "All I feel is ugly" has found the light. Several songs share the lyrical theme of optimism and intolerance for stagnation. Even the album's title is a clue to the band's new outlook.

"We tend to be really negative in lyrics," explains Ryan. "Now it's getting more positive. We're kind of frustrated with the attitude that we've always had. The title kind of has relevance to the record, because we have always felt that we've never made a record with our full potential like we could have. With this, we've finally made good of something that was always hard to do. Plus, it's a catchy title."

If you've always been a non-believer, let yourself get caught by The Age Of Electric this time around when the band tours Canada throughout the summer.

This cover feature originally appeared in Chart Magazine's April 1997 issue. This issue is now sold out.