MUEN: HI, THANKS FOR DOING THE INTERVIEW, YOU GUYS DEFINITELY HAVE YOUR OWN SOUND! IT'S SORT OF 70'S DISCO ROCK WITH A LITTLE BRIT FUSION MIXED INTO IT... HAHA, AWESOME! HOW DID YOU ALL GET TOGETHER, AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST FORM THE BAND?

THE SESSIONS: We were friends that always had an acoustic guitar or two where ever we'd go, and sometimes a jambe or two. With another friend we'd all previously formed a reggae band called Hello Dolly, which only lasted 6 months because of creative differences. We formed The Sessions in the summer of 2005.

MUEN: JOSH'S VOCAL SOUNDS LIKE HE'S GOT A MANCHESTER ACCENT, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS ORIGINALLY FROM? DO YOU HAVE ANY ENGLISH ROOTS, OR IS IT JUST ADMIRATION?

THE SESSIONS: When I was a kid I listened to the oldies a lot, and mainly The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I guess that growing up singing along with them, and other Brit bands like Oasis, really rubbed off on my singing style. It was something I did subconsciously and I didn't know that I sounded British until people started to comment on it.

MUEN: YOU WON THE EMERGENZA MUSIC FESTIVAL LAST YEAR. NOT AN EASY TASK CONSIDERING IT WAS BASED ON VOTES AND STARTED OUT WITH OVER 8000 BANDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. SO A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS! COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THAT?

THE SESSIONS: Winning Emergenza basically served as confirmation to us that we weren't crazy like so many of those kids you see on the Idol shows who think they can sing and perform but really they're horrible. We had to overcome the competition of some great bands to win and that really made the whole thing so special in the end. The overall experience was very exciting because it took place over several months, and the further we made it the more we got to travel and the smaller the list of finalists became. At every final in each city there was always at least one band that really made us think we were done, but we came out on top.

MUEN: IT SEEMS THAT THE SESSIONS PLAY LIVE QUITE OFTEN - HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SHARE THE STAGE WITH ANY BIG NAMES AND WHICH SHOWS WERE THE BEST, OR MOST MEMORABLE SO FAR?

THE SESSIONS: We've played at Killers, Hot Hot Heat and Bravery partys, played in front of an audiences of 20,000, opened for The Presets, played on national Canadian and German television several times, and had so many exciting shows that it's hard to choose the most memorable so far. A beach party last summer comes to mind, though. We set up all our gear and our PA system, which is what we use to amplify vocals, keys or tracks from our laptop in our jam room/studio, right on the beach and the crowd was one of our wildest and most interactive yet.

MUEN: WE'VE NOTICED ALOT OF GREAT TALENT OUT OF CANADA LATELY, DO YOU THINK THAT BANDS FROM CANADA HAVE A MORE DIFFICULT TIME GETTING THE EXPOSURE THEY NEED TO BREAK, AND WHAT IS THE SCENE LIKE IN THE VANCOUVER AREA LATELY?

THE SESSIONS: I think in the past bands from Canada had it rough trying to make it in other markets, but now with the help of Myspace and Youtube bands from everywhere are able to shine more. It's also helped that Canada has been producing great artists lately, yeah, so I think the spotlight is being shared with Canada more these days.

MUEN: YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN THE STUDIO RECORDING... ARE YOU WORKING ON A FULL-LENGTH RELEASE, AND WHO IS PRODUCING AND ENGINEERING?

THE SESSIONS: At the moment we're doing recording with a laptop in our own jam room/studio, but we did just finish a project with producer Bob Rock to create our latest EP. Jamey Koch, Bob's long time friend, engineered on it. It's got 5 songs and we're calling it "The Sessions are now listed as In a Relationship".

MUEN: HOW WILL THESE RECORDINGS DIFFER FROM PAST RECORDINGS, IN YOUR OPINION?

THE SESSIONS: "The Sessions are now listed as In a Relationship" EP is much better than our past recordings because we spent more time in the studio getting things right, and had the talent and skill of Bob Rock on the production side, whereas the previous recordings were demos and were just quickly thrown together.

MUEN: WHO WRITES THE LYRICS AND HOW DOES THE SONGWRITING PROCESS BEGIN FOR THE SESSIONS, DOES IT USUALLY START ..S OR GUITAR?

THE SESSIONS: Our music is primarily created with equal input from all four of us.

MUEN: WHAT INSPIRES YOU MOST TO WRITE THE SONGS YOU WRITE?

THE SESSIONS: Anything.

MUEN: HOW OLD ARE YOU GUYS, AND WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE NOT DOING MUSIC?

THE SESSIONS: We're 21, 22, 22 and 22. Martin's the youngest, then me (Josh), then Tobias and Tristan's the oldest. When we're not doing music we're doing things with friends, watching movies, partying and you know.. Just trying to enjoy life. Lately I've been teaching myself french, and we all like music magazines like Rolling Stone and Vice and band autobiographys.

MUEN: YOU WERE ON A TV SHOW CALLED "URBAN RUSH"... WHERE YOU GOT TO PLAY LIVE AND WERE INTERVIEWED. WHAT WAS THAT EXPERIENCE LIKE, AND HOW DID THAT ALL COME TOGETHER?

THE SESSIONS: Yeah twice now, thankfully. We've been fortunate. A lot of times in this industry it's all about who you know, and the producer of Urban Rush happens to be a good friend of our manager, Graham.

MUEN: LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME DATES IN HOLLYWOOD AND LAS VEGAS.. AFTER THE ALBUM IS DONE, DO YOU PLAN ON TOURING AGAIN, OUTSIDE OF CANADA?

THE SESSIONS: Yeah we're playing Hollywood, Vegas, LA again, San Francisco and San Diego. Warner music is interested in us and one of our shows in California will be a showcase for their top executives, so let's wait and see what happens. Either way, yes we definately plan on touring outside of Canada again.

MUEN: YOU SEEM TO HAVE A PRETTY STRONG FOLLOWING WITH REGARDS TO MYSPACE FANS, SOME HAVE COMMENTED HERE KNOWING THAT WE WERE INTERESTED IN YOU, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THE ONES WHO SUPPORT THE SESSIONS AND THE MUSIC THEY PRODUCE?

THE SESSIONS: I love you and thank you for supporting something that we enjoy doing so much. We're nothing without all of you and it's been cool chatting with some of you on myspace.

MUEN: WHAT OTHER BAND IN OUR TOP FRIENDS WOULD YOU DO A SHOW WITH IF ASKED?

THE SESSIONS: The Birthday Massacre.

MUEN: ANY LAST WORDS, OR OTHER SESSIONS NEWS YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

THE SESSIONS: "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." - Jimi Hendrix

MUEN: THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW!

THE SESSIONS: Thank you! -Josh Abel

Interview by G. Cataline / Lissy MacMillan