The 351’s started with a band falling apart. Kev had been playing in a group that went through several line up changes, with Dom and Tin joining towards the end. When that band split, the three decided to carry on together. No master plan, no grand ambitions, just the pleasure of making music. As Kev puts it, “The project took shape quickly and grew better and bigger than we could have hoped”.
Three years on, the Quebec City area band have two EPs behind them, another in the works and ambitions that stretch well beyond their corner of Canada. Their sound looks back to the early days of punk, their lyrics are beginning to explore more layers of meaning, and they’d be more than happy to bring their music to Poland.
I grew up listening to Punk and Oi! in France in the late 80s, when I was a teenager. Bérurier Noir, Ludwig Von 88, Komintern Sect, Reich Orgasm, Gogol Premier, and plenty of others were part of the soundtrack to those years. Maybe it’s because I’m getting old, but sometimes I feel that the bands back then were more raw and authentic than many bands today. But then again, maybe it’s true, or maybe it’s just because those years were such an exciting time in my life. So when The 351’s sent me their music, something clicked. Their old school punk sound brought back something familiar, a connection with the music I grew up listening to. I liked it, not simply because it reminded me of my teenage years, but because the music itself got to me. And that made me want to know more about the people behind it.
Three Guys, Three Different Routes Into Punk
Kev handles guitar and vocals. He’s been a truck driver for more than thirty years, a job that has given him a close view of working life and the realities facing ordinary people. His introduction to punk came in the mid 80s through Bérurier Noir and their album “Concerto Pour Détraqués”. Dom plays bass and backing vocals. He works in IT and is a father of four. His own punk awakening came through another record by the same French band: “Macadam Massacre”. Tin, meanwhile, plays drums, runs a business in the food industry, is the father of twin boys and loves travelling. His starting point was The Sex Pistols and “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols”.
Different lives, different responsibilities, but a shared desire to keep playing. That last point matters when you consider how The 351’s came together. There was no carefully designed career plan behind the band. The three of them got along well, and they wanted to see where it could lead. Their approach to the music is equally straightforward. They know what they like and they know what they want to sound like.
Back To The Early Eighties
“Our sound is very old school; we want it as close as possible to what was being done between 1979 and 1983”, Kev explains.
He’s not convinced by the direction much of modern punk has taken. “I find that today’s punk rock is too heavy, with an overly compressed sound; the bass blends too well with the guitar, which is played in ever lower tunings, or even on 7 strings…”
That’s a fairly clear statement of intent. The 351’s aren’t trying to compete with increasingly heavy production or turn punk into a technical exercise. They want the guitars, bass and drums to sound closer to the records that first made them fall in love with the genre. Kev isn’t claiming that the band are going to reinvent punk, either. In fact, his explanation of their approach comes with a healthy dose of self deprecation.
“We don’t pretend to be able to reinvent the genre, but we want to start over from the beginning, maybe out of nostalgia or lack of talent!”
I’ll take that kind of honesty over a lengthy explanation about how a band is redefining the boundaries of alternative music. The 351’s know their reference points. They’re not embarrassed about them, and they don’t need to pretend they’ve invented something entirely new. Even the title “No Replacement For Displacement” comes with a joke attached.
“HAHAHA! Good question… nobody has ever asked us that!”, Kev explains that it’s an old mechanical expression from the early days of turbocharging. Old mechanics believed that a bigger engine block meant more power, and that nothing could replace a large engine displacement.
“For us, it’s a wink: only big amplifiers can make a lot of noise!”
Fuck All the Fuckers
The title “Fuck All the Fuckers” doesn’t exactly hide its intentions, but Kev’s answer goes deeper than a general desire to tell the world to get lost. It is one of the most interesting parts of the interview, particularly because he answers with his own experience of social class.
“Oi has always been associated with the working class. I came from it, but as I got older, I managed to get out of it (really?), reaching the middle class, the stifled class, the class with no recourse: too poor to enjoy the privileges of the rich and too rich to benefit from any kind of help for the poor”.
That parenthetical “really?” says a lot. Kev questions whether moving into the middle class actually means escaping the difficulties associated with working life. His description of the middle class is bleak, but recognisable to anyone who has watched the cost of living rise while the rewards of working hard become harder to see. He continues: “It has become numbed by exhaustion in the face of the injustices it suffers”. You can be angry about what’s happening around you, but when most of your energy goes into working, paying bills and getting through the week, finding the time and strength to do something about it becomes another challenge.
Kev is careful about how he positions the band politically. “We’re not a political band, nor activists, but that doesn’t stop us from making observations about what’s happening in society”.
A band doesn’t need to declare itself an activist to write about the world it sees. Punk has always made room for frustration, social observation and the occasional blunt expression of contempt. Sometimes a short song can say what a long political speech struggles to communicate.
Listen To The Two EPs In Order
If you’re new to The 351’s, Kev has a specific recommendation. Don’t necessarily start with one supposedly definitive track. Listen to their two EPs in release order and hear the development for yourself. “Since we could barely play at the beginning (just three years ago!) and don’t have much experience, I’d say listen to our 2 EPs in order of release (and eventually the third, soon), to see our progress”.
It’s an unusually candid way to describe a band’s early recordings. Kev isn’t trying to sell those first songs as lost classics. He’s asking listeners to hear the learning process.
“The further along we go, the more I try to bring a certain poetry and varying levels of depth to my lyrics”.
He offers a new song, “Hell Dust”, as an example. At face value, the song sounds like a junkie talking about heroin. Change the title to the name of a young girl, however, and the interpretation shifts. “But if I replace the title with a young girl’s name, it becomes a song about impossible love”.
That’s a clever idea because it leaves the listener room to make the connection. The lyrics can tell one story while suggesting another, without the band needing to explain every line. Kev also stresses that the musical progress has been a collective effort. “Musically, we’ve developed a lot; each of us has put in a lot of effort on our own”.
The band are still relatively young, and there’s something appealing about a group willing to acknowledge how much it has to learn. Rather than claiming to have arrived fully formed, The 351’s are documenting their own development, one release at a time.
Keeping A Tiny Punk Scene Alive
The 351’s are based around Quebec City, in the province of Quebec. For a band looking to play regularly, the local scene presents some familiar problems: limited venues, limited audiences and not enough opportunities for lesser known acts. “Our neck of the woods is really Quebec City, in the province of Quebec. It’s a bedroom community with a fairly older population. The punk scene here is tiny, and I hesitate to even call it alive”.
“So it’s difficult; everything is difficult for lesser known bands: not many places to play cheaply, and since there aren’t that many fans, we can’t play too often”. Kev doesn’t sugar coat the situation.
The picture isn’t entirely bleak, though. There are people working to keep the scene going, established bands can still put on decent shows, and the atmosphere at gigs is generally good. The challenge is making sure that the scene has enough opportunities for new and lesser known bands to develop. As Kev puts it, “there’s a will to survive”.
For him, that means people getting involved and supporting one another. When asked which promoters, media outlets and bands deserve more attention, he starts with the people doing the practical work. First up is Max Noise, an old timer who makes leather goods, including belts, bracelets and collars, and also works as a local booker. His interests lean towards streetpunk, but Kev describes him as open minded. You can find his shop at Stay Punk and his booking work through Punx Make Noise Productions.
Then there’s Martin Samson, another old timer who books several shows a year, with a focus on local bands, and also books in Montreal through Inside Crew Productions. Kev is equally enthusiastic about Med and Chicks Rock Media, a new discovery for him, a media outlet run entirely by women that covers the local underground scene. “They cover shows and do photo shoots… They’re awesome!”
Independent scenes rely on photographers, promoters, small venues, record collectors and people who keep turning up. Not all of them play in bands, but without them, many bands wouldn’t have anywhere to play or anyone to tell their stories.
Kev also has a list of local groups he wants people to check out: Dirty Cheetah, La Gachette, Les Toffes, Morsure, Moé Pis Mes Bottes, The Abnormalz, Bauxite and Out Of Order. For an international recommendation, he picks Skinner Brothers, describing them as “a breath of fresh air”.
That’s a decent list to start exploring. And if you believe in supporting underground music, don’t just save the names to a playlist and forget about them. Find their releases, follow their shows and pass their music on.
English Lyrics, French Roots and a Global Audience
Quebec’s francophone identity gives the question of language a particular context. The 351’s sing in English, but Kev insists that this wasn’t a calculated decision designed to attract international listeners. “First of all, singing in English isn’t part of a plan. It’s just easier for me to write in English”.
He also makes a point of saying that the band spend time with groups that perform exclusively in French, and that he respects what they do.
“But yes, in the age of Spotify, singing in English allows for greater worldwide visibility”.
It’s a practical consideration. English can make a band more immediately accessible to listeners who don’t speak the language of its home country. But that accessibility shouldn’t be confused with artistic quality. Kev makes the point directly when he turns the question towards Poland. “You have artists who choose to sing in Polish; that doesn’t make them any less interesting than those who opt for English, but unfortunately they’re less accessible outside your country”.
It’s a fair observation, especially for a publication covering music in Poland for an international readership. Language can help a song travel, but it isn’t a measure of how good the song is. Plenty of brilliant music never reaches a wider audience because listeners don’t understand the words, don’t know where to find it or simply haven’t been introduced to it. The internet has made those borders easier to cross, but it hasn’t made them disappear. Bands still need people to discover them, share their music and give them a reason to travel.
Twenty Five Shows and Counting
Ask Kev about the band’s best gig and he struggles to pick one. The three members agree that their two shows at the now closed Trashcan in Montreal were memorable. In the band’s words, it was the place closest to the squats, or self managed venues, of Europe. He explains that “best” doesn’t necessarily mean the band’s strongest performance. “For me, “best” doesn’t mean a good performance, but a pleasant evening”, and I totally agree with that!
That distinction is worth making. A gig can be technically brilliant and still feel cold. Another can be messy, loud and imperfect, yet leave everyone with a story to tell. Kev looks back fondly on those Trashcan shows, but he also sees something worthwhile in the experiences that don’t go perfectly.
“I’d say that out of our 25 shows to date, they’ve all had something special: whether in our performance, a pleasant encounter with members of another band, or even a disturbing performance that allowed us to grow!”
I like that last part. Not every gig needs to be a triumph. Sometimes another band’s performance gives you a shock, exposes something you need to work on or makes you reconsider what you’re doing. The 351’s are still building their live experience, and that willingness to learn will matter if they want to move beyond their local scene.
The Bags Are Packed
At the time of our interview, the band were preparing to enter the studio for their third EP within a few weeks. A fourth was planned for the spring, provided everything went well. After that, they wanted to look more actively at booking shows, and get out of Quebec. “We want to get out of Quebec, first English Canada, and then who knows, maybe the world!”
Europe is very much part of that ambition, with Eastern Europe especially appealing to them.
“Obviously, Europe (especially Eastern Europe) is very appealing… Our bags are packed!”
Choosing a first destination, however, is a different matter. “But choosing a city is like asking a child to pick a treat in a candy store!”
Rather than insist on one particular city, Kev says the first place that welcomes the band will become a lasting memory, wherever it happens to be. “Without being able to choose one, I know that the first city (scene) that welcomes us, whatever the country, will mark us for the rest of our days, and that’s the kind of experience we’re looking to live!”
A small venue, a promoter willing to take a chance, a room full of people who have never heard the band before: those can be the nights that stay with you. If he could choose one band to share a bill with, Kev has a personal favourite. “The Adicts, because I really love them, but also for everything I could learn about stage presence!”
For Kev, a bill with The Adicts would double as a lesson in stage presence. But first, they need a promoter willing to bring them over.
Poland, Are You Listening?
I asked the obvious final question. If an independent venue in Poland offered The 351’s a show, would they pack their bags and instruments and come over? We have plenty of punk shows and festivals here, including Punk Fest in Gdynia. Kev’s answer leaves absolutely no room for doubt. “Honestly, our bags are packed!”
The band also sent a message in Polish to We Shoot Music, its readers and the country’s punk community:
“Dla całego zespołu We Shoot Music, waszych czytelników i wszystkich polskich punkrockowców: dziękujemy za zainteresowanie The 351’s! Punk nie zna granic, a świadomość, że słuchacie nas po drugiej stronie Atlantyku, naprawdę nas wzrusza. Mamy nadzieję zobaczyć się z wami już bardzo niedługo. Niech wasze głośniki grają na full!”
In English, that reads:
“To the whole We Shoot Music team, your readers and all Polish punk rockers: thank you for your interest in The 351’s! Punk knows no borders, and knowing that you’re listening to us on the other side of the Atlantic really moves us. We hope to see you very soon. Let your speakers play at full volume!”
The 351’s are working on new music, learning their craft and looking for opportunities to take their old school punk across the Atlantic. They aren’t pretending to have everything figured out, and they don’t need to. They have their influences, their own songs, a growing live experience and the enthusiasm to see where the music takes them. Now all that’s missing is someone in Poland willing to put them on a bill.
Promoters, venue owners, punk organisers: The 351’s have made themselves available. If you’ve got a stage, a date and a sound system loud enough for them, you know what to do.
The 351's
Official Website | Bandcamp | FacebookCredit Photo: Marie-Ève Desmeules – Chicks Rock Media (https://www.facebook.com/CHICKSROCKMEDIA/).
