Music

Getting to know Open Letters, Abbotsford's perfect suburban pop-punk band

by Josiah Hughes

My quest for finding the perfect suburban pop-punk band started with Jelly Boyz, and now, after a brief visit to Newfoundland’s hardcore scene, I’m back in the lower mainland, travelling 20 minutes east to the manure-scented British Columbian shitstain known as Abbotsford, BC.

Abbotsford has a special place in my heart — I grew up there, put on shows with my friends (some of whom, inexplicably, haven’t left) and endured the soul-crushing boredom that results in daily trips to 7-11 and long nights learning about the outside world on Soulseek.

The three members of Open Letters come a generation after me, so we have few mutual friends. Still, their over-the-top, fist-pumping pop-punk anthems resonate with me in a way I wasn’t expecting when I first clicked play on their incredible five-song EP.

Opening track “How It Is / I’ll have the milk steak, boiled over hard, and your finest jelly beans, raw” is as ridiculously long and earnest as its title suggests, but it’s got everything from absurdly busy, showy drumming to an insane melodic bass line and accomplished guitar work.

That’s not to mention the gruff sing-alongs that would have sounded perfect being screamed along with in a janky church basement in 1999. There’s a shouted count that goes “1-2-3-4-5 fuck everything” that’s basically the best thing I’ve ever heard. This song is nearly five minutes long and yet I almost wish it was 15 minutes long.

The band’s whole EP is packed with accomplished musicianship, emo-leaning vocals and the sorts of tasty musicianship that’s only birthed in suburban basements. Imagine how much it would rule if Tim Kinsella joined Cloud Nothings and they went back to high school.

Since they rule so much, I talked to the members of Open Letters about all ages shows, never practicing and, of course, T.V.

AUX: When and how did you form? Why did you start a pop-punk band?

Kyle Shields (bass / vocals): Sometime around the winter of last year, I guess. Ruby came to me with some riffs and lyrics that he had written about the really shitty year he had. I was going through a pretty rough time too so the bummer songs hit me pretty much instantly. Trent responded just as positively so we started getting together in Vancouver and writing the EP! Open Letters kind of started after a couple of our other projects halted or slowed down. I think we all needed it as a means of expression because, for the most part, we weren’t in emotional bands for quite some time, being in a pop-punk band was the easiest way to cry in public and not get made fun of.

What’s it like to live in Abbotsford in 2013 and be a punk kid? What do you do with your time? Where do you hang out?

Honestly, it’s getting a lot better. For a couple years all-ages shows were pretty scarce and the only chances we got to go to punk shows usually involved a solid six hours a day of transit to and from Vancouver or biking home from Aldergrove because the bus back to Abbotsford would stop running at like 6 p.m. Now we have some really awesome spaces putting on all-ages punk shows which is the coolest thing that could possibly have happened in this town. We have endless respect for Del Boca Vista and Champion Jack’s Emporium for putting on non-exclusionary shows! I pretty much sit at home and play League Of Legends every waking second of my existence hahaha. Lots of Arrested Development, lots of Bored To Death, lots of Party Down. TV party never ends. For real though, when there aren’t shows going on, this town is quite the bummer. Castle Fun Park is the shit, backed HARD.

Do you like living in Abbotsford?

A lot of the people here are really awesome and most of my best friends are here so it’s super nice to be around them. That being said, it sucks spending like $7 on a bag of Daiya because it is such a specialty item here. It sucks seeing lunatic conservatives all day. It sucks being around racist, homophobic shitlords every time you leave your house.

What high schools did you go to? What do you all do now?

Trent and I went to WJ Mouat, it was pretty shitty, there were probably eight or nine student deaths while we were there. Jocks sucked, classes sucked, being a nerd sucked, same old shit haha. Reuben does landscaping full time and Trent works at a Caffè Artigiano downtown, I am an unemployed piece of shit. Reuben went to Abbotsford Christian School, hilariously enough.

Where do you practice? Tell me about your practice space.

We actually don’t practice. Like, not at all. Reuben and I live in Abbotsford and Trent lives in Burnaby and quite frankly, we are all too poor to be able to get to Vancouver with gear, rent out a room, and then come back to Abbotsford. It’s time-consuming, expensive, and ridiculous. We basically just practice to the recordings and play enough shows that we can stay tight haha. In the near future we hope to find a space that we can use for as cheap as possible!

Where do you play shows?

We only play all ages shows but we would play at near any all-ages venues that would have us. We have played this rad record store called Zoo Zhop, some houses like Twin Towers and Del Boca Vista, restaurants like Simply Delicious and The Prophouse Caffe, a new all-ages venue called Astorinos (hosted in an old catering hall downtown), and some other rad halls and stuff that are willing to put on shows.

What bands are you guys into? Were there certain bands you had in mind when you started this one?

I think we all worship pretty different stuff, from Woolworm to The Locust. We draw a lot of inspiration from bands like Title Fight, Glocca Morra, Daggermouth, The Ergs, and RVIVR!

What has been the toughest part about being in Open Letters so far?

We are all reeeeeaaally good friends so there is absolutely nothing tough about our relationships with each other. The only major challenge for us is probably the distance between us.

What do you hope to accomplish with this band?

It would be nice to tour as much as possible. If we could be on the road for nine months of the year we would never cry again. Other than that, it would be cool to be in a position that we could fundraise for good, charitable causes from.

Did you play in bands before this one? What were they like?

Trent and I played in a pop band together called Joyride and a hardcore band called Relentless Ben. Joyride was cute as fuck and Relentless Ben was violent and mean. Reuben still plays in a post hardcore band called GSTS who rule super hard.

If you’re up for it, each of you tell me a weird secret about yourselves.

I really like the way a balaclava feels on my face, if I could I would probably wear one everyday.

Trent Otter (drums / vocals): I occasionally role-play a post-war, nuclear fallout, Pokemon tabletop game with friends.

Reuben Houweling (guitars / vocals): Is a good secret that I once watched Sleepless In Seattle three times in a row by myself and that I regularly watch it alone? Always alone.

You’re being interviewed for an international publication — it’s the perfect chance to offer up a brief open letter to someone… who would you address it to and what would you say?

I would do everything in my power to convince HBO to bring back Bored To Death for one more season. Jonathan Ames already has the season in mind, just let him finish his fucking masterpiece for Christ’s sake.