To celebrate their 25th anniversary, The Headstones are going back to the beginning.
The rock group from Kingston Ontario has re-released their debut album, Picture of Health that went Certified Platinum after it was released in 1993.
Lead singer, Hugh Dillon says he never thought they would be playing music 25 years later.
“We were nihilistic and self destructive, it was so crazy—it was the 90s, it was crazy self-destructive where we were at mentally, it didn’t seem like an option (to be playing 25 years later) but funnily enough it was the band that saved us from a dark place,” said Dillon.
When Picture of Health was released, the band hid the true meaning of the album, which was dedicated to a friend who died while they were recording.
“At that time people didn’t talk about mental health or drug addition to the extent that they do now. A friend of mine killed himself and he was a really great person and part of that music. The album is dedicated to him. We were carrying a lot of that baggage and darkness,” Dillon said.
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By remastering the album, the band hopes that fans will learn why they never played certain songs such as the middle part of their song Three Angels. They couldn’t relive it because it was too personal and raw, Dillon said. He never held back when writing lyrics and he was so inspired by bandmate Trent Carr’s guitar playing that he would rip off parts of his soul to share with their fans, he said.
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“I am inspired to write lyrics because of their playing,” said Dillon. “I forgot for so long why that stopped me on my pursuit of destruction. Why did Trent’s playing inspire me to write lyrics? Those are the questions you ask yourself and now you see why,” said Dillon.
The band reunited in 2011 after taking a break in 2003 and look to release another album next year.
“It’s easier (to write from a personal place) because the older you get it’s too exhausting to bullsh*t, it’s way easier to be up front with our fans and with ourselves, ” said Dillon. “We weren’t doing it for the girls and we weren’t doing it for the parties, it was a way for us to cope.”
The Headstones will stop in Kelowna Nov. 26 at the Kelowna Community Theatre with special guests The Matchstick Skeletons. Tickets are available at selectyourtickets.com.
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