The Creekside Strays are a Southwestern Ontario band whose star is quickly on the rise. James Vinyard, guitarist and vocalist; Nic Cavaliere, bassist; and Justin Shorey, drummer, all grew up in and around London. Their singles are being played on London-based radio station FM96 and throughout Canada on CBC Radio. The band played at the Out Back Shack on January 20, but I had the chance to talk to Vinyard a few weeks before the show to get his opinions and to talk about what is next for him and the rest of the band:

It's said that songwriting is very important to you guys. Can you describe your songwriting process?
"It takes a variety of forms. Sometimes we can just jam out and come up with stuff, sometimes someone will just bring an idea in and we will work with it that way. It starts and then branches off from there. Then we just keep kicking it around the room until it's gotten to a point where we think it's really cool and feel it's something we like and would listen to ourselves. It really becomes a band effort as opposed to an individual effort, like, all three of us really get our teeth in there and try to get our ideas and give way to whatever is going to be the best idea. It's a very collaborative effort. Then, once the music is done, I'll throw in some lyrics and will just play with those and just keep on playing with it until it's done."

Your songs received airplay on multiple radio stations throughout London. Where were you and what did it feel like to hear your songs on the airwaves?
"It was pretty awesome. The main radio station we knew it was going to be played on was FM96, so we all got together at our drummer Justin's and kind of just stood around waiting like little kids. We kept waiting and waiting and then eventually it came on and it was great. It was really cool to get to hear it amongst the other songs that were on the station. It was nice after the song ended to hear that it held its own with everything else that was being played."

You guys were filming a music video at Fanshawe. What was that like and what can we all expect from it?
"We did it in the TV studio in M building with Nate Wilson, who is our drummer's roommate. The video is for our song called 'Shaky.' It is a very kind of funk inspired song, and the whole premise for the video was that we are all auditioning as background dancers, so we all went in there and just danced around. We all had a really good time. We had other people in there with us also along with our bass player's mom, who owns a dance studio. She brought in a couple girls who were great dancers who were also featured in the video. Overall, we all had a great time."

You are currently on the last leg of your tour. What are you plans after your last show on February 28?
"We have been pretty busy. Starting (January 15), we are going back to the studio again and we are going to start work on our second EP. For the next month and a half we will be working on it and then we plan to release it in April so we can tour around that summer and promote it."

For more information on the band, check out thecreeksidestrays.com for videos, links and news.