If you mixed Mötley Crüe, David Guetta, Nirvana and Deadmau5 the result would be that of California-based house-rock band, Siiines.
At least that’s the belief held by bandmates Travis Nesbitt, Morgan Gies and DJ Gene.
On Friday (May 9) the Californian-based but Canadian-rooted trio will be performing at the Queen’s. Residents of the Harbour City will get a chance to hear what that mixture sounds like through Siiines’ unorthodox combination of electronically charged beats, sex-driven lyrics and guitar riffs.
“We just do what we do,” Nesbitt said about Siiines’ style of music.
In February, Siiines released their debut album, Fukushimarama. Nesbitt explained that the album touches on their feelings about the music industry and popular culture.
“It’s got some themes of where pop culture is at right now, where mainstream music is at right now, you know looking up at celebrities and American Idol and all that bullshit is about these days,” Nesbitt said. “We just wanted to make a statement.”
Nesbitt and Gies were previously members of Social Code, a St. Albert, Alta.-based rock group that disbanded in 2012. During Social Code’s prime, they were signed to Interscope Records and toured with the likes of Theory of a Deadman, Buckcherry, Three Days Grace and Finger Eleven.
“That was a just a straight up rock thing,” Nesbitt said about Social Code. “So this new project [Siiines] is a like a hybrid between rock and electronic music.”
Following Social Code’s breakup, Nesbitt and Gies decided to relocate to Southern California where they began top-lining, a process where they would write lyrics and melodies on top of already produced beats.
“They [publishers] basically get music from bigger artists … anybody world and then you give it back to a publisher [after writing lyrics and melodies for it] and the publisher would send it and then you could have a hit on say Britney Spears’s next record,” Nesbitt said of top-lining. “So there is whole network of writers in the world and mostly in L.A. that are doing top-lining, so we were kind of getting into writing lyrics and melodies on top of other people’s beats.”
It wasn’t long before Nesbitt and Gies grew tired of top-lining and decided to create Siiines in 2013.
“It just kind of felt like we were behind the scenes. We were doing all the studio work, all the writing and so on, but you don’t get to see the payoff because you’re not necessarily performing it,” Nesbitt explained. “It was that other side that was kind of missing and we just wanted to start a new project.”
Siiines will take a bit of a break from touring, following their Vancouver performance and focus on writing. They hope to perform at a handful of festivals in the summer before embarking on another continental tour.
Siiines performs at the Queen’s on Friday (May 9) at 7 p.m. For more information, please visit www.siiines.com/wp.