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After hearing more about the Hope For The Sold show, I looked into the other bands playing and was definitely impressed by the line up. I knew I had to talk to the other bands playing, and one of those other bands was Distance Between Stars. After checking out their MySpace, and loving the two songs they have up there, I sent them a message, knowing that I definitely wanted to talk to them as well. They agreed, and, well, here it is!

"I think we are a band that needs to be seen live."
- Dawn, Distance Between Stars

For our readers who don't know who you are, roll call. Who are you and what do you do for the band?

Mike Mitchell - Drums

Dondrea Erauw - Vocals

Thomas Brow - Guitar

Mike Wilson-Bass

How did Distance Between Stars come to be?

Mike: Myself, Thomas, and Mikey were in a band together that fell apart in 2005, and we started writing some stuff in late 2006. We had a different singer before Dawn, named Gabi. We played a bunch of great shows with Gabi, but she left the band in February 2008 right before we were scheduled to start recording our EP. We decided to record the instruments anyway and search for a singer afterwards. We asked some friends in bands if they knew anybody, and Dawn was recommended to us. We auditioned her and the rest is history! Our first show with Dawn was in July of 2008.

You've recently finished recording an EP, what can we look forward to hearing, and when can we look forward to it being released?

Mike: The 4 songs that are on the EP that we recorded were some of the first songs we'd written as a band. They've got a pop-punk vibe to them. I think we've progressed more with the newer songs we've written since we wrote and recorded the ones from the EP, but the ones on the EP are a really good representation of our overall vibe as a band. Hopefully we'll have this thing released by mid February.

You've shared the stage artists like Lights, Ill Scarlett, Hostage Life and Bayside. Is there anything that you've taken from those experiences? And anything that these bands have taught you that will help you on future tours?

Mike: We love playing and love having as much fun as possible while doing it, but playing with big names like that is a totally different experience. To see the business side of music, and how much goes into even small club shows for bands like Bayside and Lights, it's been really eye opening. It's great to see how bands like that function so professionally in even small venues is a real inspiration, and really helps us out with keeping our focus on what we want to do.

What is it that inspires your lyrics, and is there one particular lyrics that means the most to you?

Dawn: Like most artists, our lyrics come from experience. Sometimes its experiences i've been through or it's an experience that someone close to me goes through. Its easier to express things when you've been through them, that way the words mean more. As to particular lyrics that mean the most to me, none specifically mean more than others, they are all really important. Some of our songs are more fun and others are more serious but I think our song "Who Are You" means a great deal. It's a song about people who go through life pretending who they are and constantly trying to impress people, rather then just being themselves. Everyone has a person like that in their life, where you look at them and you ask yourself, "why are you acting like this!?"

For those readers who haven't seen you play live, can you describe your live show? What gets the best reaction from the crowd?

Dawn: I think we are a band that needs to be seen live. Personally I think thats where we shine a little. Some bands are great on an album and not so great live, and others are amazing live and you just can't capture that in a CD. Our live show is purely based on energy. We love it.

What is your favorite part of being on stage?

Dawn: The energy. I love seeing people actually digging our sound. Its different so watching people dance and bop their head to our music makes me feel awesome.

You're performing at the "Hope For The Sold" benefit, can you tell us a little more about that, and what is it that got you interested in the cause?

Mike: We actually kind of just stumbled into the Hope For The Sold stuff. We were looking for a Toronto show and got in touch with Aberdeen, who were working with HFTS. Once we were confirmed for the show and found out about the benefit, we started looking into it and the more we found out about what they were doing, the more we got into their cause. Human trafficking is such a huge thing, that not a ton of people are aware of, and we're more than happy to help out something that brings awareness to such a big problem.

What is it that fuels your passion for what you do?

Mike: Connecting with people, and the people that come see us. Even if they're not there to see us, I love going up on stage for 30 minutes and playing my ass off, and watching 3 other people in the band do the same thing, knowing that we'll get through to at least one person. Dawn: Music can truly change people. Music isn't just a melody and lyrics, it makes people feel accepted, and makes people feel like they can escape. It saves people and it means more then just a 3 minute song. Kids who go to shows to support bands who have faith in them more than anyone is what fuels us. The energy of playing a live show, the feeling you get is a huge rush it's amazing.

What has been the biggest moment for the band? What has been the biggest challenge?

Mike: We've played some pretty great shows so far, but the biggest one has either been opening for Ill Scarlett when they were number 1 on the MuchMusic countdown, or opening for Lights in November. We're huge fans of both Ill Scarlett and Lights, so those were pretty awesome. The biggest challenge so far has been trying to go from where we are, playing almost every weekend, to doing full out tours. We've all got other things going on; school, work, but it's completely worth balancing out all of those things to do what we love so much.

Here at the Sound Faction we are five of the most random people you will ever meet, so we like to end our interviews on a less serious note with five random questions.

If you could have lunch with any fictional character, who would it be and why?

Dawn: Ariel but I'd have to wear a scuba suit or something and that could get complicating, haha.

Mike: Michael Scott from the Office. I don't think I'd be able to eat I'd be laughing so hard.

If you could be the champion of anything, what would it be? (and if you say The World, I might have to die of laughter!)

Mike: Stanley Cup Champion man! For the Detroit Red Wings. If there's anything I love as much as music, it's hockey.

Name one guilty pleasure anything!

Dawn: I'm addicted to sour patch kids, haha.

Mike: That band the bloodhound gang...

And here's your shameless self-promo spot: anything you'd like to add about yourselves, the music, or anything else?

Mike: Like Dawn said earlier, our live show is where people will get the most out of our music. We'll be doing dates all around Ontario this spring, so if we're in a city near you, come out and say hey.

Thank you so much to Dawn and Mike for taking the time to answer our questions, and if you want to look into Distance Between Stars, you can find their MySpacehere, and to learn more about the cause, Hope For The Sold, you can find it here.