Cowlick Wing It

Dylan and Jackson Hudecki prefer their album-making uncomplicated. For their debut as Cowlick, the brothers went into a studio for four hours — with no songs or mandates — and jammed out more than enough material for a full-length. After some home editing, those raw tracks were trimmed down to 12 songs and 41 minutes. If only every group had it so easy.

"We then emailed the songs around to our friends in Toronto and other cities for them to add their colours," says Dylan. "One friend edited his string part on his laptop on a flight to L.A."

Those friends included Mia Sheard, Ryan Granville-Martin, Kevin Lacroix, Lily Frost, Holy Fuck's Graham Walsh and By Divine Right's Jose Contreras.

"They all sent their stuff back and I edited the pieces together, telling everybody beforehand that all or none of their stuff may hit the editing room floor, so no one was upset," explains Dylan. "I even stole voice clips from people's messages to me on my phone... So beware anyone who calls Cowlick at home."

The resulting record, Eternia Hernia (named partly from a reverence of He-Man and partly for an amp-lifting injury) is being released by Hamilton's Down By The Point Records, a musical collective that the Hudecki siblings are part of. The brothers differ slightly in their opinion on what their brand of rock sounds like, but they both seem excited about the release.

"It's a witch's brew of fun, ferociousness, riffs, and an eye of newt," says Jackson. "It's all over the map, so bring your compass."

"Multi-genred, eclectic, wicked awesome," adds Dylan. "We also made it easy for the listener and the radio folk by putting each style in brackets beside the song titles on the back of the CD... radio single #1, surf rock, stoner rock, self-indulgence."

Cowlick are planning a multi-towned tour, but details have yet to be cemented. The pair's stage act — which often includes guest appearances by the album's other contributors — is still under development as well.

"We hardly have any time to jam, let alone learn the arrangements of half of the songs, so we just wing it," Jackson explains. "The album was created using improvisation, therefore our live shows have that element as well.

"I go to school in Lindsay, Ontario, and the Dyl hails out of Dundas, so we only play live when I have a break from school. It provides tenacity and an eagerness to play harder, faster, longer, since our shows are so spaced out."