Another Joe

Another Joe
Origin Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Genres Punk rock, Melodic Hardcore
Years active 1995–2001, 2012-Present
Labels Positive Records, Landspeed, Smallman Records
Associated acts Gob, Feuz Box
Website anotherjoe.com
Members Jon Glen
Alison Toews
Past members John Simmonds
Ritchie
John Rylance

Another Joe is a punk rock band formed in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada in 1995 when founding members Jon Glen (guitar & vocals) and John Simmonds (drums) recruited Alison Toews (bass) to complete the trio. Another Joe have recorded 4 studio albums, Pee Against The Wind (1996, Positive Records), a split album with Gob, Ass Seen on TV (1997, Landspeed Records), Crandoodle Daddy (1998, Landspeed Records, Smallman Records), and Platiscene (2000, Smallman Records). Another Joe toured extensively throughout Canada and the United States, and grew a large following as well as a major buzz within the college radio circuit. Another Joe changed drummers twice before their breakup in 2001 but reunited in September 2012.

Origins

Another Joe was born out of the ashes of local Richmond, B.C. band Feuz Box, formed in August 1994. Cameron Burt (vocals), Rob VanDyk (bass), Jon Glen (guitar & vocals), brought in John Simmonds (drums) to create a new punk influenced group inspired by Nirvana, Green Day, NOFX, Lagwagon, and other new school punk bands. Feuz Box wrote several songs, a few of which would end up on Another Joe's first album, Pee Against the Wind. Shortly after their creation Cameron Burt left the band, and not long after Rob VanDyk followed, leaving Jon Glen and John Simmonds to begin what would lay the foundation for Another Joe.

Glen and Simmonds recorded a few demos on a 4 track with Glen playing guitar and bass in addition to taking over on lead vocals, while Simmonds drummed and helped engineer the process. The demos were rough sounding but had something to them that was promising.

Jon Glen worked in a sign shop at the time and would often bring John Simmonds along to help out with doing installs. During this time they would talk about ideas for the band they knew they were destined to get off the ground. They would figure out song lyrics, goals, tour plans, and even what they would want on their rider one day. While stuck in traffic in a smoke filled van driving to a job site is when they came up with the name Another Joe.

Jon and John auditioned several bass players before meeting Alison Toews. Alison was immediately the front runner, not only for her skills on the bass or her punky cute look and bubbly personality, but also her ties with Tom Thacker of Gob. Alison and Tom were high school sweethearts prior to either bands formation. This connection would prove more than beneficial in the early going for Another Joe.

History

1995-1997

Another Joe wrote and rehearsed vigorously for several months before playing their first show in a dingy little bar in Vancouver called The Abyss in July, 1995. This was there only live performance before hitting the road with a box full of demo tapes, a van full of gear, and not a lot cash, heading south of the boarder to California with only a handful of shows booked. Their first tour included shows in San Jose, and the surrounding area. Many shows got canceled on the road leading to a lot of downtime and frustration within the band.

Upon their return from a semi-successful first tour, Another Joe focused their attention towards recording their debut CD release, as well as performing wherever, and whenever any venue would give them the stage in Vancouver and the greater Vancouver area. The Langley all ages scene was booming in the mid nineties with bands such as Gob, D.b.s., Brand New Unit, and Manor Farm. These bands attracted national attention and hosted many shows featuring headliners such as, No Use for a Name, High Standard, AFI, The Swinging Utters, and more. This scene consisting of mostly under age teens became the life force of Another Joe and would partly inspire their first music video.

Recording for Pee Against The Wind began in September 1995 at Sporadic Studios, Victoria B.C. engineered by Jason Flowers. The sessions were recorded over a weekend using a 6 channel multitrack cassette recorder for the drums, bass, and guitars, and an 8 channel DAT recorder to add vocals. The vocals were eventually re-recorded in Vancouver by "Some guy named Ernie" at Big Midget Sound, where the final record was also mixed. Pee Against the Wind was released by Positive Records, owned by Tom Thacker of Gob in March 1996, and a video for the single Eat at Bernie's" was shot February in 1996. Eat at Bernie's debuted on Much Music in Canada in April 1996.

Another Joe embarked on their second tour in the summer of 1996. They targeted Western Canada playing shows throughout British Columbia and Alberta, gaining a great reputation as a hard working live band along the way. They sold hundreds of copies of Pee Against the Wind as well as T-shirts to support their tour.

In October 1996 Gob and Another Joe recorded a split CD called Ass Seen on TV. The 21 song collaboration included 9 songs from Gob, and 8 songs from Another Joe including "Simon Says", "What", "Spam", "Outta Here", and a cover of Canadian Punk Legends The Ripcords "Whatever Happened To". Both bands recorded 2 bonus songs that are available only on the Vinyl release, Another Joe's being the songs "Dink" and "I'm Hungry".

Another Joe and Gob took off on a brief post recording tour in November 1996. The 3 shows in 3 days included winter driving conditions from Vancouver to Prince George B.C., to Edmonton Alberta, and finally Calgary Alberta. Over the following months Gob and Another completed the mixing and mastering of Ass Seen on TV, and it was released on May 13, 1997 by Landspeed Records.

In January 1997 original drummer, John Simmonds decided to leave Another Joe to pursue other musical endeavors. He would go on to form the band "Willis" with original Feuz Box member Rob VanDyk (guitar), Amy Ferguson (vocals) and Mike Adair (bass). In 2000 he founded the independent record label Worn Records which released the likes of "Selvatone", "The Misconducts", "Earlstown Winter" and "The Assassination".

Jon Glen and Alison toews added Manor Farm drummer "Ritchie" in April 1997. The 3 would tour extensively across Canada in summer 1997 in support of Ass Seen on TV and build on what was already becoming a huge national following.

1998–2001

Their full length album, Cran-Doodle Daddy charted heavily on radio across Canada and re-affirmed their spot among the top punk bands in Canada. In 1998, Another Joe toured through North America with other bands such as AFI, No Use For A Name, Diesel Boy, High Standard, SNFU, Guttermouth, Chixdiggit, and The Suicide Machines. In Fall 1999, Another Joe began working with Smallman Records. With the technical assistance of drummer John Rylance, they created their hit album, Plasti-Scene. Plasti-Scene was released in February 2000 charting quickly on National College Radio Charts and reaching number two on the National Loud Radio Chart in April 2000. Plasti-Scene was seen as a departure of their classic "snotty Punk Rock" sound. Featuring a more serious sound, learning towards Melodic Hardcore and lyrical content guided towards a social commentary rather than focusing mostly on relationships. In support of Plasti-Scene, Another Joe hosted the first annual Smallman Records tour, going to 14 ski resorts in British Columbia and Alberta. After returning to Vancouver, British Columbia in May 2000, John Rylance decided to leave the band and return home to Windsor, Ontario. Jon and Alison searched for a replacement drummer but were not able to find one. Another Joe eventually disbanded in January 2001.[1]

2012-Present

On September 24, 2012 Another Joe created an official YouTube account[2] and reopened their old website.[3] Comments from the channel confirm a reunion and Jon and Alison remain in the line up, but it is unknown whether Another Joe has recruited a new drummer or not.

Personnel

Lineup

Previous Members

Discography

  1. ↑ "Another Joe". Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  2. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/user/AnotherJoeMusic
  3. ↑ http://www.AnotherJoe.com