By Kate Foote
You may not have heard of Money Money yet, but the Peterborough, Ontario quintet won’t let this situation last long, they’re on a mission to save the world from bad music and fashion. Having toured with a cornucopia of different bands in their two year existence, Money Money is ready to start cashing in on success.
“I think we’re like, the weirdest band in the world for touring partners,” explains frontman Ryan Kennedy. “The bands we’ve played with run the gamut from Billy Talent to Nashville Pussy to Sloan.”
Most bands find themselves pigeon-holed into a specific genre by being paired with similar touring partners but Money Money has managed to avoid this trend. Playing with bands spanning various genres has allowed Money Money to experience different kinds of crowds and their respective forms of appreciation. For example, touring with pop-punkers Billy Talent and Sum 41exposed Money Money’s indie-rock to a younger, more enthusiastic crowd.
“[They are] more likely to show their appreciation physically or vocally,” Kennedy remarks. “They’re going to be up at the front, they’re going to be screaming, they’re going to want your autograph afterward.”
Conversely, their bar shows with bands like the Stranglers and Nashville Pussy present a more musically jaded crowd. Unlike the kinds, in such settings you have to coax appreciation out of cynical show goers.
“[Crowds at bar shows] are going to stand at the back and wait until you impress them,” Kennedy elaborates. “Although I love playing in front of an all-ages crowd, there’s something cool about winning over a tougher older crowd that probably had in their mindset that they weren’t going to like you.”
Money Money hopes to use their live experience as a spring board to bring their music to radio. This desire is not so much based around wanting to taste the fruits of mainstream success but should be seen more as an attempt to take down the bad generic rock music plaguing commercial radio today.
“There’s just so much good stuff out there that never gets played,” Kennedy laments. “I have trouble with stations that pretend to be alternative, or on the edge, and pretend to play modern rock. I don’t need to hear Nickelback 12 times a day.”
In addition to combating mainstream radio, Kennedy also seeks to start a war on bad fashion. While many bands tend to shy away from the image-conscious aspects of their careers, according to their bio Money Money has been working on their own clothing line with designer Liz Hunt. However, the line has yet to be revealed.
“Yeah… that’s not totally true,” Kennedy admits. “When we first started out we had nothing to put in our bio so we decided we would write about starting our own clothing line. We were going to do that, but then recording music and playing shows and recording a record got in the way and we never got to do it.”
Despite their dormant clothing line, Kennedy still reinforces his band’s fashion aptitude in the face of critics who assume if they are preoccupied with their image, they are less likely to be focused on their music.
“While it’s true in some cases, it’s not true in ours,” he clarifies. “I just think that people don’t like to talk about [image-consciousness], and the bands that do talk about it get slammed for it.”
While certainly style-conscious, Kennedy avoids coming across as an elitist in the world of fashion. Money Money is about the music first and foremost. the attire and image come afterwards.
“I think that whether you wear a jean jacket and a trucker hat, or you wear leather pants and a tank top, or whether you wear a sock on your cock, it doesn’t matter.”