Vancouver BC – ROYAL STRAYS vocalist Ani Kyd Wolf shares her thoughts on the bands new music video for the track “SECTIONS”.
“This song is about compartmentalizing different pieces of an old relationship and the painful parts that stick with you. Pieces of it are gone but other pieces are embedded deep. I compare the removal of the past to a surgical procedure slicing away sections of my heart and brain to feel whole again.”
ROYAL STRAYS consists of Alternative Tentacles recording artist Ani Kyd Wolf and the fierce rhythm section of Sons Of Freedom, Don Binns and Don Short.
This unique three piece swings through sounds of dark cabaret to haunting country and everything in between while creating their own sound. This new project sounds more like a combination of 16 Horsepower meets Portishead then their driving heavy previous sonic adventures of yesterday.
Don Binns plays Acoustic guitar and piano as his main instruments in this trio. Don Short is a versatile, brilliant drummer, utilizing his brushes and jazz chops in these songs, while Ani Kyd Wolf pulls out her haunting vocals that weave through the songs in a somewhat untypical way.
The album was recorded at Hipposonic Studios in Vancouver B.C.
Produced by Royal Stays and Dave Rave Ogilvie.
ROYAL STRAYS are:
| Don Binns – guitar, piano, bass, backing vocals |
| Don Short – drums, backing vocals |
Ani Kyd Wolf is a Canadian Metis vocalist, musician and filmmaker. She is the CEO of the film company Sugar Skull Films and has been in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. She started out in the 1990’s as the lead singer for the punk band Rumble Fish, then guitarist and vocalist for Spank Machine with Gerry Jenn Wilson. Ani has played in various bands in the Vancouver area over the years and has played with some incredible musicians like Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud.
Ani played guitar for THOR in the early 2000’s and is on THOR’s 2003 album “Triumphant” as well as being in many of THOR’s videos.
She has sung back up vocals on Jello Biafra’s albums for over 20 years and in 2005 Ani released her first album on Jello’s record label, Alternative Tentacles called “Evil Needs Candy Too”. Since then she has released two more albums on that label “ Entangle” and “Past Demons”. On Aug 15th 2023 Alternative Tentacles released Ani’s fourth album on the label, the 30 year old recording of her band Spank Machine, as a tribute to the late Gerry Jenn Wilson. Ani is in the process of writing her fifth album for A.T. with Marc L’Esperance and Don Binns.In April of 2023 Ani was invited to play acoustic guitar for Ministry on the Ministry / Gary Numan tour. Ani and Al Jourgensen are working on a new side project called BOOTS.
Don Binns is most known for his powerful electric bass playing but what many do not know is that he plays upright bass, acoustic, electric guitar and studied piano as a child. He is an award winning songwriter and has won a Juno working with ART BERGMANN on “What fresh hell is this?” for Best Alt-Rock album in 1997. Don also played bass and co-wrote songs on the ECONOLINE CRUSH album “The Devil You Know”.Binns is a founding member of his other current band RAT SILO with Jim Newton.
Don Short is famous for his heavy thunderous drumming in Sons of Freedom but he is a versatile brilliant drummer who pulls from all sorts of influences. Compositionally he tailors parts to the mood that the music is trying to convey.Although not a latin or jazz player, He can pull bits and pieces of these genres into what he is doing if the song calls for it.Short has an eclectic ear and is attracted to the vibe and emotion behind it.
He describes his influences this way. Any piece of music that catches my ear ends up in the Rolodex of my subconscious. Yes, Rolodex. Some influences that came up for him during the making of the album include the Grand Budapest Hotel soundtrack, Ringo, Dave Brubeck, Latin music, Sly and Robbie, Disco flavoured New Wave music (1980!), Gang of Four and Cop shows from the 1970’s. Oh and the soundtrack to Cabaret.There may be more.
Don Binns and Don Short have been a west coast Canadian, drum and bass duo for over 40 years. Ever since their first band together “Buick Makane” in the early 1980’s. In 1986 they formed SONS OF FREEDOM with Jim Newton and Don Harrison. S.O.F became a huge success in Canada.
They were nominated for a Juno in 1989 for their debut album and remained a powerhouse of a band for over 10 years until their split in 1995.After the demise of S.O.F, the powerful rhythm section continued to work together on other projects such as BLACK EYE BUDDAH, 2 PRECIOUS, TRAILERHAWK and as part of LEE AARON’S back up band in 1994.
Visit ROYAL STRAYS online:
Website: https://royalstrays.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/royal_strays/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/742296108587408/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@anikydwolf
Bandcamp: https://royalstrays.bandcamp.com/album/royal-strays
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/royal-strays/1845211313
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