Sneaking backstage at the Buzzcocks’ show at Sled island in 2011 turned into a professional relationship for Miesha Louie of Calgary punk rock duo Miesha and the Spanks with Buzzcocks drummer Danny Farrant and his partner Paul Rawson.
“I actually snuck backstage at their show at Sled Island in 2011 and was drinking their beer. He caught me and said ‘you look like you know where all the fun spots are.’ So I became sort of a tour guide for them,” chuckled Louie, who is about to begin a tour with Miesha and the S
panks’s new drummer Sean Hamilton in support of their brand new “Stranger ” Ep — the first fruits of their long distance partnership with Farrant.
Miesha and the Spanks come to Attainable Records, on Wednesday, Oct. 12 on a tour which takes them out to Winnipeg.
“I kept in touch with them. They have a studio where they do songs for shows like Sons of Anarchy and Vampire Diaries, and asked me to sing on some of the songs,” she continued.
She sings on a song called “I Dare You,” which appeared on the Vampire Diaries.
“It’s cool. It‘s on Youtube now and I can read all the comments,” she said.
That relationship expanded into an agreement where Farrant and Rawson agreed to work with them on a new Miesha and the Spanks CD.
“ It’s a 24 hour cycle. When I am going to bed, they are starting their day. So when I wake up, I have notes from them,” she said. They plan on going to England to record the full length CD in person.
“It’s expensive to record in England especially with the exchange rate so there will be a lot of applying for grants. It is a long process, so we’ll be lucky if it comes out in 2018. But we can sit on these two songs on the EP ( “Stranger” and “ Motoring”),” she said, adding they may release another single.
But in the meantime, they can concentrate on fine tuning the new songs and road testing them as they will be doing on this tour.
“ We’ll figure the arrangements out here, so the songs will be ready when we go,” she said, adding the “Stranger” EP has received a positive reception.
“When I got these songs back, I said yes. This is definitely the direction we want to go,” she said.
“We’re getting a lot of good feedback.I just did the campus mail-out and DJs and music directors love them,” she said.
She is excited to welcome Sean Hamilton aboard as the other Spank on drums.
“When Emelia Lovink (former Spanks) decided to move to Victoria. Me and 11 other Calgary musicians were at an all inclusive resort in Mexico. Sean was there and he had been filling in as drummer for me, so I asked him to join the band,” she said.
“We both want to play music for a living, so we‘ve been able to set a lot of goals,” she continued.
She noted for the Lethbridge show, they will be playing the new EP as well as songs from their CD “Girls, Like Wolves,” as well as some new songs.
She is interested to play a show at Attainable Records.
“The first show we ever played in Lethbridge was the basement of a house in 2002,” she observed, adding several prominent Lethbridge music people were there including Paul Lawton.
Miesha and the Spanks will be joined at Attainable Records (314 7th St South) by local rock duo Cope and Biloxi Parish.
Doors open at 8 p.m. There is $10 cover.
