Whoa! She's a Babe

By JOE LEARY

Whoa! She’s a Babe is garnering attention by ‘spiking the musical punchbowl’ with their brand of ‘unapologetic party rock.’ Prior to their Jan. 26 show at the Roxy’s annual Jagermeister Blackout Party, Joe Leary spent 24 Seconds with singer Ryan Goodwin and guitarist Graham Pence.

24: How did you arrive at the name Whoa! She’s a Babe?

RG: We named the band after a few jams together. It started as a joke. It comes from Wayne’s World but it just seemed to fit the personality of all four of us. We don’t take things too seriously and boys will be boys.

24: How did you come together as a band?

GP: A good friend of ours had a wine bar tucked away from the usual hustle and bustle of Granville Street. Late at night we would stumble back there and play our favourite rock songs until the daylight streamed in. Over time, more and more people came out to sing along and hang out and we realized these gatherings were the most fun we had all week … it just grew and grew.

Full choirs stopped by. There were violins, an old funky-tuned piano, tambourines, electric guitar rigs, harmonicas. Ryan and I were always there and tapped into that age-old innocence of live music and just laughing and singing anything and everything. Whoa! She’s a Babe emerged from that spirit.

24: Describe the style of music that best fits what you do.

RG: A friend once described our music as desert rock - which we’re still trying to figure out. But we tend to play upbeat dance-y rock and roll. We all bring those tastes together and we tend to keep whatever gives us energy and makes us move.

24: Do you all contribute to the music or is there a primary writing tandem?

GP: It varies depending upon the song. However, we do most of our writing live when the four of us are jamming. Jordan Irwin (guitar) or me will stumble upon a riff we like and sometimes that’s all it takes and then we’ll add parts and the songs around them. Sometimes Ryan Steward will play a drum rhythm that will inspire me to play a part to match it on guitar. Typically, the vocals and lyrics we leave to last and Ryan will come up with something on instinct.

and we’ll polish things down and try our best to keep the energy of the initial idea.

24: Who’s your audience and how do they respond to your live shows?

RG: Our shows are more of a party than a ‘stand and watch a band’ type of show. We feel like hosts and we love what we do. There’s always such high energy that cycles up from the audience and we try to give back even more. So far, our shows have been filled with really fun partiers that come and rock out with us.

24: Who would you say is the band’s most obvious musical influence?

GP: There’s not solely one band we go for inspiration, it’s more of a feeling for classic and authentic rock and roll that we tend to appreciate. We have some bits of 90s grunge, 70s Detroit rock, as well as 60s surf guitar; any rock that creates a party and doesn’t draw too much pretentious attention to itself.

We’ve gone to too many shows where the audience is too bust tweeting and crossing their arms like a panel of judges to be actually having a good time.

24: Have you done any recording or are you in the process of releasing any material?

RG: We’ve recorded an EP to give a three song introduction to our band, but we’ve been narrowing down an album’s worth of new material which we’ll have ready by the spring. - 24 Hour Vancouver

For the last year Whoa! She's a Babe have been rocking their party style desert rock to great audiences. The crew all hail from parts of Vancouver and have come together through their service industry (bartender) backgrounds. As the name suggests, there is no shortage of eye candy. Now back to the music, this party driven party rock drives right to your drinkin' bone and doesn't let up through their 45 minute set. On stage, Ryan Goodwin (vocals) romances the crowd with his love of craft. Ryan Steward (drums) lays an Animal style beat to both Jordan Irwin and Graham Pences guitars.

Find photos and music at, http://whoashesababe.com - Release