By: Jack O’Sullivan
just fine is a soft alt-rock band from Ottawa, ON with a very misleading name. They are commonly described as “more than just fine” (or “the nickel back of Ottawa” by some die-hard fans). In the summer of 2022, the group quickly worked their way onto the local radar after catching attention for their stellar debut release and striking live performances. Just in time for your 2023 summer playlist, they released a brand new single called Blue Eyes.
In the fall of 2018, Celine Stanton was getting ready for a Halloween party with her coworker, Cal, when she played one of her favourite Taylor Swift songs on a guitar that hung from the wall. Like most people, Cal was amazed when he heard her enchanting, yet haunting voice so he offered his help recording in the future.
“I only knew like 3 chords so I played a Taylor Swift song,” Celine recounted. “He said ‘Oh fuck, you should come record… You speak like a trucker but your voice is nice’.”
Thankfully, Celine took Cal’s offer and they began hanging out at his home studio where she would eventually meet ronwell. The two of them quickly became friends, spending lots of time jamming songs at Cal’s and on Ronnie’s back porch. This newfound love for playing music with other people kick-started the songwriting process for Celine.
“I think summer of o9 is the second song I ever wrote,” admitted Celine.
Of course- in March of 2020 the world stopped- but Celine had lots of time to refine her songwriting during the pandemic. Passing the days reminiscing, reflecting and channelling all those emotions into music. Once the lockdown restrictions began to relax, Celine and ronwell got back to hanging out and testing out the new material that had been written. The songs started to come together, so it was time to take the next step: find a drummer.
“ronwell and I were jamming on the songs that I was writing during the pandemic when I was.. depressed,” Celine laughed. “ronwell was making them cool.”
ronwell enlisted the first drummer that came to mind, his long-time friend, Ted Zeisner. They had met in high school band and had played together for years so they already had a musical connection. Now a trio, the group met at Record Runner Rehearsal Studios for what would be the first just fine practice. It felt completely natural and there was a shared feeling of excitement about how the sound was coming to full effect.
“I was so scared, I had never played with a drummer before,” Celine said.
“Ted and I met in grade nine music class,” ronwell remembered. “We’ve been musical soulmates since then.”
*Celine laughs*
Immediately, Ted was driven to develop a plan for the band to make their debut. He knew where to start, so Ted took Celine and ronwell to Little Bullhorn Studio to record with Dave Draves. In April of 2022, the three “musical soulmates” laid down the foundation for their band in the form of a stunning four-track EP called Sink or Swim. Each song on the project would fit as part of the soundtrack for an early 2000s movie with themes of lost love, longing to leave, and looking back on the past. Celine’s soothing voice is accompanied by ronwell’s tasteful guitar playing, uplifting and melancholic, with a rock-solid backing from Ted’s drums.
“The only reason there is an EP is because of Ted,” Celine mentioned.
“It’s all because of Ted… We’re lazy and never follow through with anything,” ronwell joked.
just fine released their EP on June 23rd, 2023 and started preparing for their first show, which Ted had prematurely booked. Although, there was a slight issue: they still did not have a bass player, and finding one on such short notice seemed more difficult than imagined. Luckily, ronwell’s other high school friend, Francois Mollicone, was willing to take time from his other bands to act as their temporary bassist. They practiced over the next 5 weeks, teaching ronwell’s bass lines to their hired gun. All the roles were filled and the band was ready to take flight.
“We would say to each other like once a week, ‘How are we gonna get out of this show’ but we ended up playing it,” ronwell admitted. “If it wasn’t for Ted we would still just be hanging out in my backyard,”.
News of their debut show at Cafe Dekcuf on July 29th, 2022 spread like wildfire. Throughout the Ottawa-Gatineau area last summer, people would commiserate outside local bars on hot summer nights about how they have been wanting to see this new band that sounds like a cross between The Cranberries and Mazzy Star.
This great reception and budding fanbase motivated the four-piece to book more shows. With a busy schedule on the horizon, the need for a full-time bass player became more urgent. Originally when they asked Adam Gallaro, he was too busy, but this time around he was interested in joining the team.
The first show with the new just fine roster was on November 26th, 2022 at The Rainbow Bistro, and their set was electric. Their amazing chemistry on stage in front of their biggest audience at the time proved that Adam was a great fit. Excited by the new energy, the band was itching to start the lineup of shows they booked for the next few months while “band horny,” according to Celine.
Trying to adjust to the updated version of the band, just fine was jamming a lot. All this time together naturally led to the creative flow taking over. During a late November practice, Ted began playing a riff on guitar that caught the room’s attention, and everyone dove in. Typically, Celine would write the skeleton of a song before bringing it to the guys to finish, but this was the first song the band started together.
“I came home and said I didn’t know how to play a B minor and I was like ‘Can you send me the chords’,” said Celine. “You said it was a B minor and then I had to learn how to play that to finish the song,”.
It continuously changed over a few months as they performed and reworked the song, making it better each time. Once the single reached a point where it was ready to be recorded, Celine reached out to Stefan Jurewicz from Kick Me Records. She had been a fan of his project, Desert Island Big Band, and he was a fan of just fine, so Stefan offered his production services. At the next practice, Stefan listened as they played the song multiple times, making slight alterations to perfect the sound.
“My opinion on the matter is that the Producer is like a fifth member of the band and the mix is their art,” explained ronwell.
Blue Eyes was recorded at Loretta Studios in the span of a single weekend. The gang arrived with an idea of the plan but it was thrown out the window when they stepped into Stefan’s science lab. Experimenting with different techniques, while staying true to the raw sound of the band’s catalogue, created a huge sonic picture. The song is a great testament to how much the band has developed over time.
“I had my pedal board and all my tones planned out but we didn’t use any of it,” said ronwell. “It was just my guitar into that [Fender Twin Reverb] and I swear I have never heard an amp cranked that loud.”
Blue Eyes kicks right into the triumphant guitar riff as the drums slowly build up before blasting off with two triplets on the snare. The instruments die down as Celine begins singing the verse in a sober tone and her lyrics paint the picture of a blue-eyed summer romance taking place in a mountain-town hostel.
Progressing into the chorus, the guitar and bass become more syncopated to make room for the explosive drum fills. Halfway through, the drums pick back up, the stringed instruments follow suit, and the hopeful lines are further emphasized with ethereal vocal harmonies.
“I can’t do harmonies in my head,” Celine stated. “I thought they were going to be weird but now they are my favourite part of the song.
These same harmonies lead out of the second chorus into the bridge as if flowing down a river. The guitar melody carries along before an earth-shattering tremolo section echoes through the sky to start off the final chorus.
Blue Eyes is the perfect summer soundtrack. The new single gives listeners a nostalgic feeling, like a warm night-time breeze.
Those who want to see just fine perform their latest song live can catch them at the Fan Behaviour Birthday Bash on April 29th or at The Rainbow Bistro on June 17th.