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Once stars of the Supernova.com Battle stage, Down with Webster exploded onto the tour scene this summer. Playing 30 dates on the Warped Tour, plus a hometown slot at the Virgin Music Festival, these hip hop alt rock mash-up artists are commanding some serious attention. Comprised of 8 members, each with their own musical talents and tastes, Down with Webster creates their own musical mosh pit on stage with a style impossible to pin down.

Amidst preparing for their album launch on October 6th and promoting the new single ‘Back of My Hand’, the boys took a moment out at Vfest to chat about their memories of Supernova and what it’s been like to rock the massive crowds at this year’s festivals.



It’s awesome to see Down with Webster on the BIG STAGE… what’s it like playing at a colossal event like Virgin Music Festivall?

Well our favourite shows are still like house shows… or if we play for 300 or 400 kids, and they’re only there because someone told them to come. But this type of festival is good too. Warped Tour was amazing, and Vfest is pretty huge!

It’s great timing too, with the new album coming October 6th… a solid single on iTunes…

Yeah we can’t wait to see how people react today at the Vfest stage. We’ve also got a bunch of Canadian frosh week University shows, plus a couple of tours in the works. Oh, and we just shot our music video for Back of my Hand which should be on MuchMusic in a few weeks.

That’s awesome… it’s pretty cool to be billed at Warped Tour and now Vfest; and it’s amazing that you once played with Supernova! Remember?

Absolutely… those were some of our first concerts; of course we remember. It’s a great way for bands to get a chance to see if their friends and peers initially take a liking to their music.

I know for us, if it wasn’t for a few kids after our first show being like, that one song you played I want to hear again? It keeps bands alive. If your peers – and their friends, and their friends – are liking what you’re doing, you’ll keep doing it.


Now Supernova.com has a big online presence, it really helps to promote bands and their talent… but the work behind self promotion can turn some people off.

Well… it’s a grind, but that’s music. Ticket selling and promotion just depends on how bad you want “it”. We also had a good side system going, because we had a studio; so we took studio time and sold it to other bands. Supernova just builds that recognition and support. Bands always need to start there.

So do you get more recognition in Canada?

Well there’s better beers here…(laughs)

Going down to theWarped Tour we were like, Oh my god - 30 cities in 30 days! But every city is about the same. Especially when you’re oming from Toronto here, we forget we’re like the 5th largest North American city…

When you go on tour, do you have the baller buses, with video games and stuff?

With Warped Tour we did! But not here… not that we’re huge video game nerds.
(The photo with Chris from Supernova.com says otherwise... :)

What’s your favourite place you remember playing?

The Opera House. The first time we played the Opera House and people were actually partying… oh man! It’s got a lived in, worked in feeling. Seen a few bands play there, and it’s one of those places where you run and tell people the next day, and say, Whoa I saw this band last night!

We haven’t travelled that much… but Montreal is also wicked.


It’s pretty cool that you’ve gained the ‘notoriety’ of playing Vfest too… is this a different kind of gig?

Yeah you can only go 5 or ten minutes over, we were literally in rehearsal with a stop watch - seriously. But we just shortened a bunch of songs, kind of made a medley of the good stuff.

What about the crowd and time slot, between Thunderheist and Pitbull… is this a good fit for DWW?

It’s a different crowd for sure, and our music is more focused/less jammy… but the cool thing about performing here is that you have no idea how people will react. It’s exciting to see how people at Vfest are going to respond.

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And respond they did! The boys from Down with Webster rallied a respectable crowd around the tiny Virgin Radio Stage at Vfest ’09, and easily took the cake for the most crowd interaction on the side stage. Down with Webster’s new single, Back of My Hand, totally rocks and exemplifies the ‘tighter’ style of the band’s new music, without detracting from the party atmosphere on stage.

The boys will return to Toronto, playing The Phoenix on October 8th along with additional tour dates to promote the new album. Thanks for the good times mixed with Bacardi at Vfest, boys; see you at The Phoenix!