From Toronto, Garage Rock Extraordinaire , Meet – Pow Wows



Pic by Mike Novalski

Just in time for the beginning of their Tour, today we bring you Pow Wows. They are like a bridge for us , bringing together all that we dig in one sweet kickin band. From Toronto , with Records out on Get Hip and a new single out soon on Hidden Volume Records who helped score this meet for us. It’s always great fun to cover Bands that you play and pick as your best bands of the year, such is the case with Pow Wows. I love the noise these guys make, great tunes and I’m always looking to see if they have anything new. Rest assured when their new single comes out on Hidden Volume we will bring that to you. Plus for me it’s a treat to feature a band that is with Get Hip Recordings out of my hometown of Pittsburgh . For those unfamiliar with Get Hip…

Founded in 1985 by Gregg Kostelich, Michael Kastelic, and Bill von Hagen—all three musicians who wished to release albums by their band the Cynics on their own terms, without the constrictions of a major label, Get Hip Recordings began to release records by local and national acts. Get Hip Recordings has since added bands from all over the world to its roster of rockers and released records on four continents. Get Hip also created the Get Hip Archive Series, dedicated exclusively to reissue classic bands from the 1950s and 1960s—essential to any true rock ’n’ roll collector.

Now led by the persistent and driven Gregg Kostelich -guitarist of the Cynics- and Barbara Garcia-Bernardo, the Get Hip Recordings team continues to release new bands and buy, sell, import and export great music to and from Europe, Japan and America through their warehouse in the North side of Pittsburgh.

Above all it is important to understand what it is that makes Get Hip vital to the modern music business. This company was created by musicians who quite simply adore music. The passion and tenacity with which we approach the music industry is vital to our success. We simply envision people everywhere getting a small taste of that raw rock ’n’ roll we love so much



from Get Hip:

Since 2010 Pow Wows have released two albums and two singles on Get Hip Recordings and have shared the stage with the likes of The Cynics, Reigning Sound, The Fleshtones, Black Lips, No Bunny, King Gizzard, Night Beats, Crocodiles, Bleached, Jaill, The Nerves, Paul Collins Beat, The Ugly Beats, Rocket 455, Bad Sports, Timmy’s Organism, Jack Of Heart, Muck & The Mires, The Leather Uppers, The Brimstones, Twin Guns, The Above, The Electric Mess, The Higher State and many more!

With great excitement and anticipation Pow Wows take to the skies, head across the pond, and join forces with comrades-in-punkrock-arms Bobkat’65 and Jose & The Wastemen to lay sonic waste and demolition across the Iberian peninsula and the south of France. Supporting their critically acclaimed Broken Curses release on Get Hip!



Meet- Pow Wows



for those unfamiliar with your bands history, can you tell us all how you all met up and decided to start a band ?

Ryan: I started the band with a group of friends in Toronto in 2010, some line up changes ensued and Chris joined in 2011. It’s been the two of us ever since with whomever we can find to bash the drums.

Chris: They asked me to learn 12 songs and jam a few times right before heading out on tour with The Cynics.

who would you list as your musical influence?

Ryan: Big Band, Rock’n’roll, Garage, Mod, Reggae, Punk, lots n lots of that.

Chris: Poison Ivy, Bo Diddley, Cyril Jordan, Wayne Kramer, Davie Allan, Pops Staples, Buffalo Springfield era Neil Young.



whats the coolest thing that’s happened to you as a band since you started up?

Ryan: There has been more highs than lows thankfully. I’d say our upcoming tour of Spain and France is up there.

Chris: Just getting to cut records for Get Hip and now Hidden Volume and working with wild artists like Jorge Alderete, Ben Lyon, Darren Merinuk and Olaf Jens.

what are your hopes and dreams as a band for the next few years.

Ryan: To make lots of great records and play them for people all over the place.

Chris: Writing some tunes for a film soundtrack would be a trip and playing Mexico City.

what are some of your favorite albums from the past few years?

Ryan: The Blind Shake – Fly Right lp is a killer. Bazooka – Useless Generation is also amazing, and the whole record is sung in Greek. Slovenly is doing some cool stuff right now. Our label Get Hip has a new band out of Prague called The Maggie’s Marshmallows. They just finished recording their debut lp with Jim Diamond which i’m excited for, the 7″ they did recently is great.

Chris: The last albums from The Resonars, Reigning Sound, The Sadies, The Abjects EP, Insomniacs 45 on HiVo, The Othermen, The Above and Baby Shakes out of NYC are always up to awesome stuff. Are New Bomb Turks gonna make a new album??

Do you see any real use for social media , or is it all just a pain in the ass to keep with?

Ryan: Chris does most of that for us, I can barely keep up with my emails. It has a place in the world now that can’t be denied, and is a great way to share ideas. It can also be invasive, annoying, petty… there are at least two sides to every post.

Chris: It’s a pain in the ass! but when you have something big to promote or just want to connect with people it’s a good thing to take advantage of. I don’t hate it.



Do you pay attention to reviews or comments from people about your music or do you just turn that noise off.

Ryan: I’m largely unaffected by good or bad press.

Chris: Same here, but yeah it can be hard to miss press these days. Critics go pretty easy on us, so far.



If you could tour anywhere in the world , where would you want to go.

Ryan: Easter Island.

Chris: Spain!! See you in April!



Can music save the mortal soul or is just a good backbeat to your life.

Ryan: Music can be pretty powerful stuff if you can connect with it. It’s like an onion. Lots of layers. Peel away, if you dare!

Chris: Yep music saves me everyday. Lately I get exposed to a lot of radio pop and dance music and even some of that stuff can pick me up and lift me through the day. That’s good for the mortal soul.

Any last thoughts for your fans?

Ryan: Thank you for supporting our rock’n’roll music, hope to see you on the road!

Chris: Start a band and play a show with us!! Blood, sweat, tears and 2 drink tickets are guaranteed…

listen to some great tunes…

Shock Corridor 7" by Pow Wows

Broken Curses by Pow Wows

Coming Soon from , Hidden Volume Records

Pow Wows .com

Pow Wows / Facebook

Pow Wows / Twitter