Since Daniel Paiken’s departure from Soul Plane, we’ve had to scramble to get replacements. Dan’s roles and responsibilities assumed in this band were anything but minimal; as a result, the last couple weeks leading up to the beginning of September were more chaotic than most war-torn regions of
Besides the Dan situation, we also had Blythe to worry about; she was going to be going away to Kingston for university, a three-hour drive from Toronto – realistically, there was no way she would be able to come back weekly for practices – that she would even be able to come back for the local shows we put on from time to time was still a big question. There was no going around it – she would have to find a substitute. Or so we thought…
To her credit, when we spoke to her about it, she was very understanding and mature in her reasoning. She knew that she was going away, and that getting back during the 8-month-long school term would be difficult. She knew better than to be selfish about it, however, and immediately agreed to introduce Nickie, her good friend (and the only other girl she knew who could sing at her calibre) to Soul Plane, and prepared to wave her goodbyes to a band she genuinely loved and wished she could commit to.
This is where having the ability to see the bigger picture pays off: Blythe never said her goodbyes, because she is still very much part of Soul Plane. The minute I hung up with her after the Nickie conversation, I realized that there was a simple solution to this: with Dan gone, we’d be missing harmonizing vocals to make the choruses of our tracks sound more full. Both Blythe and Nickie are great singers, and having been taught extensively by the same teacher, their voices would have a similar tone to them – meaning that they would also sound heavenly when singing together. On top of all that, they’re both gorgeous; one’s blonde, the other’s a brunette (it’s going to feel like a motherfucking Archie comic at every show and practice from now on). Why the hell would we not want to get the best of both worlds?
And so we did.
Nickie is now going to be singing full-time with Soul Plane, but when Blythe actually gets back for any given show, it has been agreed that they would sing on stage together, with me rapping in the middle – any man’s wet dream come true.
Soul Plane’s new line-up:
Yui: Emcee
Blythe/Nickie: Vocals
Kevin: Guitar
Gideon: Guitar
Patrick: Bass
Aaron: Drums
Soul Plane… we’re still here, haters.
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